Total Immersion Wilderness Hunter Skills Camps, Northern Idaho
“Northwestern Outdoor Leadership Institute’s hunting program, under the direction of Brian King is on target in all ways. Tt will transform boys into men of heart who respect life and the earth.”
—Randall L. Eaton, Ph.D. International authority on youth hunting and wildlife conservation and the author of Sacred Hunt and From Boys to Men of Heart: Hunting as Rite of Passage
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To register please return to the teen camp summary
Objectives
To master the skills needed to safely and responsibly enjoy hunting, trapping and bowhunting.
NOLI Hunting Camps
It is outstanding that kids can learn the skills of comfortably camping, recreate, or working in the wilderness; however, learning to take game raises it to an epic level. Our rifle and bowhunting camp teaches our campers the skills that all of our ancestors had, it is a rite of passage to put food on the table, and they are doing a task that actually helps protect wildlife and the habitat. The act of taking the life of an animal and converting it to meat be it in our farm camps (returning soon) or in our hunt camps makes them more compassionate and thankful for their food.
Our trapping focus takes this one step further, yes trapping of fur bearing predators helps protect a healthy balance between predators and protected and in some cases endangered birds and mammals. Trapping of fur bearing rodents can help forest, farm, fisheries, and suburban communities protect the habitat for others. It is an asset to have a skilled licensed trapper in the family or neighborhood for the occasional chicken coup raiding raccoon or weasel, or if beavers start destroying landscaping or wood lot, or even rats and mice in the home. An added benefit to teens is they can recoup their expenses by selling skins and other parts of the animal, or providing rodent control for the neighborhood.
When the participant enrolls in one of our teen wilderness camps of 2 or more weeks in length or in 2 or more consecutive weeks of wilderness preteen camp they may choose to focus on firearms hunting, bowhunting, or trapping, either one or all three. Please note regardless of focus all of our campers may have instruction in firearms safety portion of the hunter focus. Some students may want to hunt wildlife with a camera click here to go to our wildlife photography camp.
These camps have the time for us to go deep into the skills to become hunters as well as go deep into wilderness skills, field biology, and just have fun being kids. If a student already is a hunter they can go deep with their mentors into advanced skills such as navagation, cutting and wrapping meat, tanning buckskin and leather or many other related topics.
!These camps exceed the requirements to earn hunter education cards in most states in hunting with rifle and bow as well as trapping. Please note that hunter education is required in all 50 states, there are 15 states that require bowhunting education before getting an archery tag, and most states that allow trapping require training. These camp help prepare the student to take the state class and exam. Click here to register for Idaho Department of Fish and Game Hunter Education classes
Our aim of this total immersion camp is to grow our teens into competent, safe, legal, ethical, and compassionate hunters, as well as develop those that have the skills and mindset to someday lead hunts or work in related fields.
All participants may go deep into the skills of wilderness survival and safety, habitat and wildlife management, and firearm safety and shooting, ethics and laws, and more. Students adding bowhunting additionally learn skills specific to archery safety, shooting, laws, and knowledge specific to bowhunting. Our teens may want to add the trapping. Trapping is highly regulated, challenging, and a highly rewarding discipline. We teach the Best Management Practices for Trapping as developed by the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.
All three focuses are hands-on exploration with each day participants working to master skills under the supervision of experienced certified mentors. We are not teaching to the test, this is not sitting in a classroom hearing lectures but our participants living the material and participating in group discussion, working to and demonstrating mastery.
”It didn’t look or feel like camp or school; It feels like hanging out with a big cool family doing really cool things.” Kobe Pole after one of our camps.
Integration into NOLI School
Much of the material covered in this and many of our camps and our school is covered with our students; many of the activities we do in this and many of our other camps the students experience daily in our school. Therefore, this camp and many others can be used as part of the students 180 days of instruction in our school. Your child may be able to earn science or physical education credit at their home school, there is more information on this below.
Detailed Material Covered: More than Firearm Safety:
Firearm safety is number one but we go beyond it. We all descended from successful hunters, it is in our DNA to hunt At Northwestern Outdoor Leadership Institute we truly believe that youth benefit at many levels by hunting. We all benefit from getting connected to our food and understanding what it takes to put food on the table. Plant or animal, something is giving its life for us; be it cabbage, chicken, or deer. It has been our experience in 4 decades of working with youth that when youth participate in taking life to eat it makes them more compassionate and less wasteful of food. The experience both humbles them and makes them walk taller. The experience of securing food to feed themselves with their own skills is a rite of passage it makes people more confident it gives them more grit.
These camps are designed to give the teens experience to make them skilled and self-reliant in the backcountry. Designed for teens that are new to hunting and firearms, as well as for those with years of experience wanting to go deeper in some areas of hunting that may be new to them or they want to hon their skills, we provide experienced solid mentors to guide them on that path.
Material Pertaining to Hunting with Firearms, Bows, or Traps
Wilderness Skills
This camp as well as all our wilderness camps covers all the skills necessary to he safe and enjoy your time in the backcountry be it for recreation or occupation. All our camps that are 2 weeks or longer cover all the material in our adult In the Wilderness Essentials: Essentials of Survival Block
Why People Hunt and Trap
We will address the history of hunting, and its current value to man, the wildlife, and habitat health, as well as it being a rite of passage.
How is Hunting and Trapping a Benefit
We will address how hunting and trapping is of benefit to wildlife, habitat, and the community.
Hunting Responsibilities, Rules, Regulations, and Ethics
We assure that everyone that completes this program with NOLI will be well educated, safe, and ethical hunters. We will not pass anyone that we do not feel is both safe and ethical.
Being a Humane and Compassionate Hunter and Trapper
We teach the skills so the student will be able to dispatch the animal humanely and not lose their animal.
Utilizing the Entire Animal
Meat, skin and hides, organs, bones, tendons, and glands; the students will learn what can be used for food, clothing, tools, art, and more.
Understanding Wildlife
Knowing how to identify game, tracking game, the behavior of game, and know what they see, smell, hear, and sense. We will demonstrate how we use what we know to be more successful hunters and trappers.
Material Specific to Firearms Hunter
Firearms Hunting Concentration Details
Firearm Hunting Safety
This section should be taught to all kids; we teach kids to learn to swim in case they fall into a body of water. We feel strongly that if kids are taught to be safe around firearms, if they find one or a friend brings one out they will know how to make the gun safe. We teach the skills and habits to ensure their own safety as well as the safety of others.
Modern Firearms
The students will have hands on training with the 5 most popular modern hunting long gun actions, as well as their configuration, how they function, and their maintenance.
Ammunition
We go into great depth into the topic of ammo. Learn how to properly select ammo for various applications. Students cast bullets, and hand make both shotgun and rifle ammo.
Shooting Rifle and Shotgun Shooting Skills
Our students will have ample instruction and time shooting with certified instructors in both rifle and shotgun shooting. The students can shoot trap and rifle.
Hunting with Muzzleloaders and Black Powder Firearms
The participants will learn to safely load and shoot both flintlocks and cap-lock rifles from our past as well as modern muzzleloaders. We will cover the limitations of air rifles as a means of take. We will also cover laws pertaining to muzzleloaders as a means of take.
Hunting Big Game with Air Rifles
The participants will learn to safely load and shoot air rifles. We will also cover laws pertaining to air rifles as a means of take for big game.
Material Specific to Bow Hunting
Archery Safety
The participants will practice the safe handling of bows and arrows, and other factors specific to archery hunting.
Modern and Traditional Archery Equipment
The students will have hands on training with the compound, recurve, and long bows. They will learn what bow is best for the type of hunting the participant plans on participating in it’s configuration, how they function, and their maintenance.
Arrows
The camper will learn how to properly select arrows to match their bow and the intended user. Students may make the arrows they will use in camp.
Shooting Archery Skills
Our students will have ample time shooting and coached by certified and experienced archery coaches. The campers may shoot both compound and recurve bows.
Material Specific to Trapping
Trapping is a highly regulated activity. Anyone who traps must follow strict rules established and enforced by state and federal wildlife agencies. Trapping requires knowledge, skills, and commitment. Trappers provide a great service to state wildlife agencies in terms of controlling population density of predators, help maintain a healthy balance between predators and pray, as well as keeping muskrats and beaver in balance with their habitat. Trappers also provide a service to farmers, ranchers, and homeowners in helping reduce property damage. Trappers also provide valuable data to state wildlife biologists. Skins and other animal parts may be sold by licensed trappers and can charge for their services from mice to coyotes.
Trapping Safety
The participants will practice the safe handling of traps and snares, handling animals, and environmental dangers and other factors specific to trapping.
Traps and Snares
Participants will learn about the different types of traps to target specific types of furbearers and predators. How traps are designed to not hurt the animal restained. How they are set, how they are tuned to assure secure restraint of targeted animals and avoid restraint of non targeted animals, and how they are maintained. How to safely set traps without restraining yourself.
Types of Wildlife that are Trapped
Identifying furbearers and furbearing predators to prevent taking of non-legal animals, track them so you have a chance to take a legal animal, and become familiar with their behavior so you only trap target animals.
Anchor Systems
Participants will learn about the different anchor systems and components that are used for specific targeted animals.
Lures, Baits, and More
Participants will learn about the ways trappers attract targeted animals to their traps and dissuade nontarget animals.
Putting it All Together
Participants will have hands on practice building a variety of sets appropriate for the specific target animals and the conditions of the site. Please note students will not trap animals because only licensed trappers can trap animals. Only during the trapping season, late fall through late winter, can the licensed instructor leave sets out.
Releasing Animals
At some point trappers will catch a nontargeted animal and need to release it in a manner which is safe to both the trapper and the animal.
Collecting and Submitting Collection Data to the State
Participants will practice recording required data for the state.
Preparing Skins and Other Products for Sale
Licensed trappers can sell the skins and other parts of furbearers and furbearing predators; we will discuss and possibly have some hands-on experience with this.
This camp covers all the material in our adult In the Wilderness Essentials: Essentials of Survival
Podcast Training Series and Q & A
This will be an incredible journey for the teens and to help guarantee success for those teens that register early in the months leading up to the camp we will have podcasts. Every other week these podcast trainings are for the campers to meet each other as well as their mentors, to learn skills they will use on the trip, what to expect and the unexpected, and most importantly to get all of their questions answered. Beginning in March we will have 6 sessions, 2 a month just for the teens. We will also have a podcast just for the parents to get their questions answered and introduce them to our team. Podcasts Topics Include
- Introductions
- Basic Gear – What to Bring and What Not to Bring
- Wilderness Survival Topics
- Archery Topics
- Making Beef Jerky, Pemmican, Energy Bars
- Packing for Flying to Camp
- Q&A
A Word for Parents and High School Counselors
Our directors firmly believe that students’ best learn science and math when it is relevant to that which they are passionate about. All our academic camps are great models of this philosophy in action applying biology, physiology, earth science, and the scientific method.
Integral to School
We believe in the importance of all of our camps being integral to our school. Our director has seen firsthand the benefits that FFA had on his students when he was in FFA as a teen and with his students when he was an FFA advisor. He saw how it raised the bar in ways that could easily be measured and in ways only measured by students reflecting years later on how those experiences lead to their personal and professional successes as adults. Our academic camps allow our students to go deeper into skills and areas of study that in the constraints of the school day make it difficult or impossible to do. Our camps allow students to go deep into their own projects or assist others working on their project. How in the classroom can a student truly understand the beauty and value of wilderness and what it holds without experiencing it first-hand?
This Camp Can be a Capstone Project for Our Students
In our school our students must complete a capstone project to graduate; this camp can fulfill that need and can be used by students of other schools or by home scholars for their own capstone project. If your teen is not from our school and wants to use this camp as their capstone project, please contact us early so we can assist in planning. The students will also get deep exposure and hopefully connection with the flora, fauna, and geology of the Idaho Panhandle.
Physical Science
In the camp the students will apply skills in scientific measurement, length, mass, volume, density speed and velocity, temperature, humidity, and more. They will apply physics equations to analyze distance and drop, wind-resistance, kinetic energy.
Field Botany and Zoology
The students will learn to identify both plants and animals using field guides and dichotomous keys. They will learn to identify animals by their track and sign. The students will learn anatomy and physiology doing hands on dissection of birds and ruminating and non-ruminating mammals.
Earth Science
Navigation, Geology, and Weather
The Objective of this Project
To give the students the knowledge and skills to not only be good, safe, and ethical hunters but to also learn science skills.
School Credit
We will assist the students’ home school in assuring that the student can earn science lab credits through their school. We are currently working towards our own accreditation. We will provide the student’s home school with an outline of what is covered and we can discuss with their school what can be done to assure the student gets credit for the work performed.
At the End of Camp Each Student Will Have:
Those students that are to earn high school credit will have the following documents.
- Daily Nature Journal
- Daily Reading and Lexicon Journal
- A Link to the data collected and analysis
- A Link to a slideshow documenting the project and your students work
- Most importantly memories and friends that will last a lifetime
Those students that are not interested in earning high school credit may generate the above documents.