By Wayne Beyer Sep 23, 2022 Updated Oct 31, 2022
“R3” is a nationwide effort to recruit, retain and reactivate hunters and fishermen. Wildlife clubs support this important work to get young people outdoors. The Red River Area Sportsmen’s Club (RRASC) has accomplished great things by sponsoring a Jr. Wildlife Club.
Since 1983, the club has sponsored 155 fishing derbies with 11,000 participants, 40 waterfowl and pheasant hunts for 700 youths and 240 Jr. Wildlife events attended by 3,600 girls and boys.
The Neil Heitkamp Ice Fishing Derby shows fishing can be enjoyed year-round. Some years, 300 children have participated. The club partners with Heitkamp Construction, who do a phenomenal job on their private pond. Ice fishing equipment is made available. Holes are drilled, bait is provided and hot dogs and hot chocolate are served. It is important to keep the events fun.
The Vince Herding Spring Fishing Derby is held on the first Saturday in May. Young people learn about fishing readily available on local natural resources like the Red River. A casting contest is held and club members teach youths about river fishing tips.
RRHSF has a terrific partnership with the ND Game & Fish Department (NDGF). There are four fishing piers on the local Bois de Sioux and Red rivers, along with a boat ramp, fish cleaning station, Aquatic Nuisance Species cleaning station and shoreline fishing areas provided by NDGF grants.
The Dick Bell Catfish Tournament is offered on the first Saturday in June. The world’s largest catfish, Wahpper, reminds everybody that channel catfish offers hot fishing and we are a destination for catfishermen.
Brunk’s Carp and Sucker Fishing Derby has been offered the first Wednesday in August. Rough fish are fun to catch and fishermen often don’t know their catch until the fight is nearly over. Only carp and suckers get tournament awards.
R3 needs to have multi-faceted approaches. Special events have much value. Families remember their hunting and fishing experiences as the best times of their lives. Every time you can get a youth outdoors is a great thing! You never know when that once-in-a-lifetime experience will happen.
Three youth hunts are offered. A Giant Canada goose hunt is set up on a Breckenridge grain stubble field after some careful scouting. NDGF and the Minnesota DNR are youth friendly to each state’s residents. There are many Canada geese broods, then flocks in our Twin Towns.
The Marv Manock Youth Waterfowl Hunt is held on Waterfowl Production Areas near Tewaukon Refuge. Puddle duck decoys are set up in shallow wetlands. Youths and mentors crouch in shoreline cattails and the kids are awed by blue-winged teal that coast at warp speed.
The Youth Pheasant Hunt is held on wildlife habitat – prairie and wetlands, of a retired Hankinson farmer – Chuck Haus. It teaches youths the importance of friendly relationships with landowners. Many farmers like Chuck are the best conservationists in our state and we are lucky with 90% private land.
Much goes into youth hunt planning. Hunter education is required. A pre-hunt trap shoot is held so youths become accustomed to moving targets. Ethics, safety, wildlife identification and commitment to conservation are stressed. Ammunition is provided and shotguns can be loaned. Duck and goose calls are given out after some calling instruction. Mentors with dogs volunteer to make the hunts high quality. Many children do not have hunting parents. A delicious venison sausage and pancake breakfast is held for ravenous hunters after a few outdoor hours. Gun cleaning and processing wild game for delicious meals are demonstrated.
There are life lessons. Discipline, patience and meaningful conversation come naturally. Experienced RRASC mentors have positively influenced many young hunters.
The Jr. Wildlife Club enjoys many outdoor activities. A spring birding field trip to Tewaukon Refuge near Cayuga, North Dakota, or Prairie Wetlands Learning Center near Fergus Falls, Minnesota, are among outings. The youths have seen ruddy ducks dancing on a slough, snipe with howitzer flights and American avocets prancing in shallow water. Birdwatching is a lifetime activity, either outdoors or from your home window with a backyard feeder. In the fall, brilliant colors of maple, birch and oak at Maplewood State Park near Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, are toured.
Hands-on classes are held to make fishing jigs, bird nest boxes, trout flies, bat houses, fishing spinners, wood duck nest boxes and wood carving.
Shooting sports with BB guns, air rifles or .22 rifles are offered. Archery is practiced indoors and outdoors to interest youths in our local National Archery in the Schools (NASP) program. Trap shooting and NASP are supported by RRASC.
Extra fishing experiences include three Family Fishing Nights that offer terrific instruction, fly fishing, spear fishing for northern pike and bow fishing for rough fish coming up.
Outdoor and Dutch Oven cooking teaches just how tasty wild game made the right way is extravagant fare. Outdoor photography has shown how special memories can be retained with pictures.
Other activities have included canoeing, kayaking, dog care, trapping furbearers, boat safety, zoo tours, nature hikes, dog sledding, camping, animal tracking, taxidermy, scrapbooking, wild turkey calling, wildlife museum field trips, nature journaling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, flint knapping and pollinators.
Oftentimes, there are willing outdoor partners like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Wild Turkey Federation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, NDGF and Pheasants Forever.
Wildlife clubs are made up of sportsmen who do more than buy a hunting and fishing license. They invest in young people to get em outdoors to enjoy the same opportunities this generation has been most fortunate to experience. A Jr. Wildlife Club is an excellent way to make it happen!
Wayne Beyer is the retired director of Wahpeton Parks and Recreation.