Youth Outdoors Unlimited

It's All About You

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Updated Website

Posted in:Blog

Happy Tuesday Morning

I have heard over the years that our registration process is tedious and sometime complicated.  I have looked for plugins for our site but have never found one that really fit our needs until now.  

You will see when you register for camps a brand new registration process and a brand new check-in process at camp.  I hope this process will help smooth out the rough edges.  We will still need to send you an AZGFD link to register with them but as along as we continue to receive grants that will never change.   When you complete the registration process there is link to download your tickets, but if you forget no problem because an email will be sent to you with your tickets attached. 

I hope this new process works better for everyone.  And as usual all of our events are free of charge. 

The next part of the website I am revamping is the photo sections.  I want our event photos to be on the website but the current plugin is so glitchy.  

So let me know what you think and have a great day. 

My Experience With YOU

Posted in:Uncategorized

This is a letter from one of our dads about his experience with YOU.

I wanted to take the time to write in today to share my experience and appreciation for Y.O.U. (Youth Outdoors Unlimited).

As a boy, I didn’t grow up hunting, spending a lot of time in the outdoors. I did have the occasional camping trip every few years. Just those few times, I fell in love with being outdoors. As I continued to grow older, those same camping trips continued with friends and family, but yet I still felt a piece was missing. I got married, had kids and felt my kids should at least have some of those experiences I had as a kid, being in the outdoors. We had gone on the once every couple years camping trip, and for the most part, my wife and 4 kids love doing it. I was comfortable with my knowledge of camping that I could make it an enjoyable experience for my family. But if you talked about firearms and hunting I only could listen and not add anything to the conversation, because I was clueless. I had never been hunting before and didn’t know the anything about it. I wanted to do it, but was fearful because of my lack of knowledge. Then in 2018, I stumbled across Y.O.U. while reading through the hunter regulations. Mentored events, no experience needed… Sounded like just what I needed.

The first event I attended with one of my sons was the Robbins Butte Dove Hunt in September. For the hunt, Y.O.U. made it really easy, bring your own ammo, borrow a firearm if you need to and go hunt.
I remember very vividly the week leading up to the hunt, I was excited and nervous for what was to come. We got up early that Saturday morning, and met up with two friends and their sons, I told about the hunt. That day my son shot his 1st 20 gauge and bagged 2 doves. Because of Y.O.U. mentors and volunteers, I didn’t have to worry about what to do next; they showed us how to clean and harvest the meat, even how to cook them. From that event, it was now in us to continue to pursue this hunting privilege.

Fast forward to present day, and I have attended 4 events with my two sons and Y.O.U (Dove Hunt, Squirrel Camp, Predator Camp, and Javelina Camp). Each camp, we have learned so much valuable information from the mentors, not just in hunting, but tips while being outdoors, handling of firearms. We have gone from owning no firearms to owning 3 rifles, 1 handgun, and 1 shotgun. Y.O.U. has helped put confidence in me as a father, that I can learn from these camps and continue to help my sons and hopefully down the road other people’s children on the wonderful experiences of hunting and being outdoors.
This past Javelina Camp, one of my sons got his first big game kill, and it was all made possible by Y.O.U., it’s mentors, and volunteers. The memories made that day will last forever, and as a person with no knowledge before, I truly am appreciative of an organization like Youth Outdoors Unlimited.

Thank You Youth Outdoors Unlimited for your passion and giving of yourself to invest in the children of the future.
David B.
Litchfield Park, AZ

My First Big Game Hunt

Posted in:Blog, Hunting Adventures

My 1st Big Game by David (Age 11, Litchfield Park. AZ)

Miss Donna asked me after killing my pig at the Javelina Camp if I was going to write something up for her. I told her “maybe,” she then laughed and told me “it’s not an option”. I don’t want to get in trouble so the following story is my experience with my 1st Big Game Kill.

This was my 4th YOU event that I attended, so we were anxious to get up to camp. We got up there Wednesday Night and setup camp in the dark around 10pm. Thankfully, Mr. Dwayne and Mr. Kurt were already up there. Thursday we went out to hunt coyotes, but we didn’t find any. Thursday night we found out we needed to meet at 6:30am to be paired up with our mentors. I remember not being able to sleep that well because I was excited. My dad asked me if I was ok, I told him “yes, just couldn’t sleep,” I turned on a story to listen to and finally fell asleep. We woke up at 6:30 instead of being ready to meet at 6:30, so we hurried to get dressed, checked in with Miss Donna, and met our mentors Mr. Jarrod and Mr. Clint. They told us we need to leave in 20 minutes, so we got everything ready quickly. I ran and got some oatmeal in a cup, but was in such a rush, it was more like soup than oatmeal. We followed our mentors to Kirkland and hopped in their truck. They took us to the 1st spot to glass for pigs, but we didn’t see any, so went to the next spot and sat down while we glassed. I was cold because the sun wasn’t shining yet. After about 20 minutes, Mr. Clint saw 1 pig far away in a wash. We then began to see more and more, until our count was up to 20 pigs in the herd. We headed back in the truck and decided to walk the wash and up the hill above them. I was so excited and nervous as we walked. We walked up the hill and I finally saw the 1st pig. We went a little higher on the hill to get a better shot. Mr. Jarrod setup a tripod so I could rest my gun and I took a shot. Missed him high! The herd of pigs started running all over. From out of my left side, I saw a big boar running right at us. He stopped about 20’ from my dad and brother. I quickly turned, aimed, and fired a shot. Got Him This Time! My nerves went away and I just couldn’t believe I got him. Mr. Clint and Mr. Jarrod showed me how to skin and get the meat off. While we harvested him, I saw that I shot him right through the lower jaw and Mr. Clint explained by looking at the colors of blood, the shot went through his lungs and heart. I was so happy to have my 1st Big Game Kill.

Thank You Youth Outdoors Unlimited for my experience.

 

2019 Winner of Photo Contest

Posted in:Blog

We ask our participants, volunteers and mentors to submit photographs that they believed represented YOU’s mission statement and purpose.  The 2019 winner is Jared Crimmins.  Here are the two winning photographs that come with a $75 cash reward.  Thank you Jared for submitting photographs that absolutely represent what YOU is all about.  Great job.  

First Annual Predator Camp

Posted in:Blog, Hunting Adventures

Well our very first predator camp is over.  There was a small group of kids there and it was soooo much fun.  I love the smaller camps because you really get to know the kids and their parents.  We had the awesome opportunity to partner with the Mule Deer Foundation.  Their new regional director, John Gebhart and biologist, Jake Jaeger, came to camp with lots of goodies for the kids.  They set up an archery range and arranged for people from the Arizona Raptor Center to come with four bird, including Helen, a 12 year old golden eagle.  Learned so much from that presentation. A few rabbits and a squirrel were harvested, but most of all a lot of friendships were made, and a partnership in MDF was formed.  Looking forward to next years camp.  Here are some pictures from that event.

2019 Hunters Education Camp

Posted in:Blog, Hunting Safety

Hi all.  Here are some more picture from our recent hunter education camp.  Thanks to everyone who contributed photos for me to post.  Also we would like to give a huge shout out to the firefighters, who come to camp and help every year.  Thanks Larry Kindred, Scott McDonald, and Scott Walker.  They always step up and help where and when they can. 

 

2019 Hunters Education Camp

Posted in:Blog, Hunting Safety

Each year YOU puts a ton of children and adults through our hunter education class.  We camp out for a weekend at Coyote Basin Ranch, thanks to the awesome landowner and hold class.  Here is a video courtesy of Sean Hatch of the range portion of the weekend. 

 

2019 Junior Turkey camp

Posted in:Blog, Hunting Adventures

So this year we had to move the camp to a completely new spot due to the weather.  The snow was all over the mountains.  We managed to find a great spot down lower where there was no snow.  The weather was certainly a lot different from the year prior.  Here are some picture of the camp.  Total we harvested 10 turkeys.  We did good.  All of the kids saw and heard turkeys so we were at 100 percent success.  Thank you to all of our partners and mentors for helping make this a great years. 

 

2019 Mentored Javelina Camp

Posted in:Blog, Hunting Adventures

Here are some photos from our javelina camp this year.  Thank you to all who attended, all who mentored and all who contributed and participated.  YOU could not do it without out you.