Outdoors-themed camps get the kids away from video world

Children are counting down the days until the end of the school year, while parents are looking at the calendar and thinking about how to fill that three-month void to the next one. For many families, sending their young people to a summer camp or two is one approach.

Everyone has a different reason for enrolling their children in a summer camp, but parents increasingly seem to be using them as a means to address concerns their children are growing up in an environment that's too sterile, said Tom McDowell, associate superintendent of Three Rivers Park District, at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Roundtable event recently in Bloomington.

Parents who think that way, and now are narrowing down their kids' summer plans, have no shortage of options. Environmental learning centers and park districts throughout the state offer a vast array of outdoor-themed programming that not only introduces youth to such activities as hunting and fishing, but also gives them the opportunity to get dirty and, well, act like kids. Some camps are one-shot deals — the Minnesota Waterfowl Association's Woodie Camp, which is held for one week each summer near Fergus Falls, for example. Others, such as the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association's forkhorn camps, are held at locations throughout the state and offer a variety of levels depending on campers' experience. Three levels of forkhorn camps are available (children who attend Forkhorn I receive their firearms safety certificate) and each builds upon the other in terms of what campers learn about hunting and the weapons used in the sport.

And many camps today pull what amounts to double-duty, an important consideration in a time-crunched society. Not only do the kids learn about the outdoors, but they also earn their firearms safety certificate. Whereas firearms safety classes traditionally have been held on multiple weeknights and culminate with a weekend field day — and that format still exists, to be sure — some camps allow credit in a far more condensed timeframe.

"We really strive to do firearms safety and all these things really hands-on and outdoors," said Ryan Barth, outdoor education supervisor for Three Rivers Park District. "We try to not be boring. We try to have it be as experiential as possible and in a setting where we can literally walk out the back door and do things."

The district's summer camps are for children as young as 4 and as old as 15. The hunting-related camps at Baker Near-Wilderness Settlement generally start at 11 years old; those that include archery and trapshooting are especially popular.

The interest in summer camps is there — overall enrollment in camps through Three Rivers has quadrupled to more than 4,000 in recent years, McDowell said — yet in many instances camp officials are having a more difficult time attracting attendees. Brad Nylin, executive director of the Minnesota waterfowl group, admitted feeling a bit of heartburn about how the association, which has held Woodie Camp on an annual basis for more than 25 years, is just barely filling the cost-free camp. And officials at Three Rivers, who have similar concerns, have decided they need to market their camps more to get the word out.

Mike Kurre, mentoring program coordinator for the DNR, echoed that sentiment.

"Parents really need to do their homework. If they want to get their kids involved, they really need to make the outdoors a priority in their family," he said. "It truly is a competition for time. But (summer camps) really are good opportunities. We are building stewards of the outdoors, and not necessarily for just hunting and fishing. We want people to take care of the lands, whether that's prairie or waters or forests, and understand how they're all interconnected."

But if some entities are experiencing declines in enrollment, it's not necessarily a statewide trend. The number of kids who attend camp at the Deep Portage Learning Center in Hackensack has been stable, said Dale Yerger, the center's executive director. About 700 children from 9 to 16 attend.

"Everyone is concerned about kids today being more and more focused on screen time. First it was video games, and now it's iPads and smartphones," he said. "But for the most part — really, the past decade — everything for us has been holding steady. One trend is that our camps are definitely more hunter education-oriented. And we're also seeing more girls participating."

Yerger said camps have a focus — deer hunting, for example — "but you can't talk hunting 24/7 with kids," he said. "We also have a climbing wall, a bog walk and an observation tower. They go canoeing and go fishing. They also do all the other fun adventure things during the week."

"I believe it's our job to set the duck trap, so to speak, but we have to realize these kids may never duck hunt," he said. "From my standpoint, if they are interested in something we presented, then as far as I'm concerned it's mission success."

A glance at the Three Rivers camp brochure reveals that even in camps with specific topics — pheasant hunting, for example — the experience is broader. At pheasant camp, kids learn about pheasant ecology, hunting with dogs and shooting techniques. At an archery camp, which includes a stay in a log cabin, camp kids learn about big game and how to shoot bows and crossbows, while also doing more traditional things such as rock climbing, swimming and sitting around a campfire.

Camp officials also have taken steps to provide opportunities for families who don't want a one-off experience. Kids who attend one of the Three Rivers camps that includes firearms safety also can apply for special mentored hunts with knowledgeable hunters. Woodie Camp graduates can go to an "advanced" version. The organizers also maintain contact with campers and try to keep them involved as counselors.

"You run a youth program, and you're feeling like you're a champion of outdoor education and opportunities, but the fear is you're basically done with them once that experience is over," Nylin said.

Kurre sees camps as one step in the process of creating a citizenry with a connection to the outdoors.