Eight people sat around a table at Teller Wildlife Refuge with a dilemma.  For three years the annual Youth Education and Outdoor Expo had sent area youth to the Boone and Crockett (B&C) summer camp.

B&C was just one of the summer camps attended by 80 kids drawn for a free week at prestigious camps in Montana each year during the Teller Wildlife Youth Conservation and Education Expo.  But this year the time slot was filled by a B&C director from the Carolinas leaving 20 Montana kids without a place to go.  What to do?

The eight people in the room represented trappers, hunters, and horsemen.  Refusing to allow twenty kids to go without an opportunity the group began making plans to host a local camp that was unique and got kids outdoors.  Ideas poured out like an artesian well but logistics and a good facility restricted options.

With millions of acres literally out the back door the Magruder Ranger Station located just over Nez Perce Pass provided a kitchen, bathrooms and a camp fire ring with a classic circular  bench.  What more could a summer camp need?  Well instructors for one and a cook.

Volunteers from the Montana Trappers Association, Montana Bowhunters,  Dark Horn Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation, Wild Sheep Foundation and the Back Country Horsemen rallied together to inspire youth to get outside.

For a full week, long classes teaching kids topics like scoring bucks and bulls, archery, trapping and horse packing were complimented by fly fishing, scat identification and bug collecting.

This summer camp was a pilot camp paid for entirely by donations.  Fortunately experienced instructors for each discipline volunteered their time to make the summer camp a success.

For more information or to make a donation contact Tom Powers at:

tphunter12001@yahoo.com