By: Ted Nugent
Ah, summertime and the living is easy, so the song says. So what are you doing this summer to make the Great Outdoors great again?
I am here to tell you it’s so simple it’s stupid, and to not do so is really stupid!
With pleasant weather and the kids getting out of school, this is the time of year to invest in conservation’s future. And I am convinced the ultimate investment into a great conservation future will always be with our youth.
Us old timers remember all too well a time when every kid in North America had a Red Ryder Daisy BB gun, a Whammo slingshot, a trusty bow and arrow and a fishing pole.
I cannot imagine how I would have ever understood or achieved my outdoor dream without that hands-on pragmatic “aim small miss small” discipline of the shooting sports and excitement of my daily outdoor adventures.
Even though I was born and raised in Detroit proper, lucky, lucky me had a wildlife paradise right across Hazelton Street where the wilds of the mighty Rouge River meandered through a wildlife rich heaven.
And you couldn’t get me out of the woods!
We have watched the world change dramatically over time, and not for the better I think we can all agree on.
With the zombie inducing, mind numbing, couch potato electronic technology reducing so many young people to soft, out of touch goofballs, all who care must dedicate ourselves to pushing hard for rugged individualism, self-sufficiency, independence and environmental, conservation awareness and respect.
We are celebrating our 27th annual Ted Nugent Kamp for Kids non-profit charity this summer where dedicated volunteers across the land sacrifice greatly to teach kids archery, firearm safety and marksmanship, slingshot basics, fishing, fly tying, trapping, taxidermy, hunter safety and the imperative of being clean and sober and putting your heart and soul into being the very best that you can be in everything you do.
Glory Glory Hallelujah and pass the Spirit of the Wild by the truckload!
With our Ted Nugent Kamp for Kids events in Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado and South Dakota, we will graduate our 16,000th kid this summer, and I assure you, these kids are the future of keeping our hunting heritage strong, free, safe and great!
We must all salute our army of gungho Kamp directors and volunteers who make it all happen, and take their lead to create and inspire these children’s activities everywhere we possibly can.
The salute and thanks also goes to the hundreds and hundreds of such conservation organizations all across America and Canada that continue to work so hard and make sacrifices for this exemplary cause for the future of the kids, wildlife, conservation, hunting rights, gun rights, freedom and a healthy environment.
It is easy to do, but it takes a Herculean effort and huge sacrifices, and we all owe a serious debt of gratitude to all such organizations and volunteers and we SALUTE them all.
The Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters (OFAH) – Youth Segment: https://www.ofah.org/programs/youth-hunting/.
