KAMO Newsletter for July, 2018

Hello KAMO members and friends,

This is Kids And Mentors Outdoors, President Mark Walters with my monthly update. I think that the most important thing that I can tell you is that for the upcoming future much of my KAMO ambition will be in doing the best that I can to help build the MarshPoint Chapter to the best of our ability. On Wednesday, July 25th that process officially began when KAMO, Vice President Bob Nicksic and myself met with five former and future members of MarshPoint. I might add that 30 minutes before this meeting began which was held at Zion United Methodist Church in Marshfield the tornado sirens were going off in Marshfield and as I waited in the parking lot in a crazy storm I thought I was going to be the only person that showed up.

Folks this is going to be a process but I honestly believe that given time, MarshPoint is going to blossom. The five people that attended besides Bob and myself were intelligent and really want to see MarshPoint grow and what I really liked to see is that they were a very diversified group as far as interests.

For myself this new challenge arrives as my daughters cross country season begins as well as my busiest time of the year as an outdoor writer but like the American flag, I am not letting MarshPoint go down.

Our August BOD meeting is coming up and I ask each of you to send your thoughts to myself or someone else on the BOD for our agenda. This meeting is going to be fun and short!

I have to ask this, has every chapter contacted Mike Brown about his question last month on best utilizing your space on the website? Mike has completed some research and now understands what most viewers are looking at most often.

Here is another important piece of news! Tom St Clair of The Meadow Valley Chapter is now officially KAMO’s Treasurer and Tony Biasi is our Assistant Treasurer. Our bank account has been changed to another bank and I want to thank both of these guys for their hard work.

As always I want to thank all of you for your hard work and time!

As always, thank you for all that you do for KAMO!

Mark

KAMO Outdoor Tip of the Month:

When mentoring shooting and/or hunting, besides the obvious and most important concerns of knowing the basic firearms safety rules and correct handling and operation of the rifle or shotgun being used, mentors should do their best to provide the following, First, make sure your mentee has a firearm that fits him or her properly, If the gun’s stock is too long, the mentee will have a difficult time learning to shoot correctly and accurately. Also, smaller calibers or gauges with reduced recoils, give a first-time shooters a better experience with their first exposure to firing a gun. Try to have several types of “youth” firearms available for kids of smaller stature.
Secondly, if you take your mentee on their first hunt, especially for waterfowl, make sure they have the proper clothing and footwear (e.g. “camo” for ducks and turkeys; blaze orange for deer or upland birds, etc.) and don’t overlook warm, waterproof gloves or mittens. Also having proper size raingear can make or break their first hunt. Our experience is that most first time hunters do not have adequate clothing, boots, or gloves. Mentors should do their best to accumulate a variety of hunting gear in a range of sizes. We’ve found that many hunters are more than willing to part with their excess gear but finding the smaller sizes, especially rubber boots and waders, can be a problem. Finding a sporting goods dealer that might either donate items or sell to KAMO at reduced cost, might be one place to start.

Submitted by Jim March, Coulee Chapter

News from the Webmaster:

The site was viewed 181 times in the last month. Views on individual chapter pages is increasing. Time spent on site is dropping, probably because people are looking for and not seeing activity information. Please allow me to help your chapter promote the activities you have coming up. It is quick and easy.
Submitted by Mike Brown

No news from the Baraboo River, Northwoods, MarshPoint nor Meadow Valley Chapters.

News from the Coulee Chapter:
Coulee has been taking small groups out fishing. River conditions have been generally poor for fishing, but it is always nice to get the valley scenery. We had a small golf clinic hosted by a local golf enthusiast in Trempealeau on June 24th.
There were 22 kamo attendees at the July 12th Loggers game near Copeland Park.

Some kamo families took their kids to the Youth Outdoor Festival on Saturday, July 14th.

On July 17th we provided the U.W. – La Crosse Mississippi River Summer Camp outdoor-themed activities on the northside Octoberfest grounds. We did fish casting, fishing off a dock, outdoor art on canvas frames. The canvas art is a great alternative activity, is inexpensive, and can absorb kids for long periods of time and leave them with something they can take home. After the summer camp activities, we brought in nine pontoons and gave the summer camp participants, kamo families, and the general public rides on the Black River. 109 people came in for a ride. Kids had fun taking turns at the helm.

We are gearing up for an August trap/ pigeon shoot, a hunter’s education class, and to prepare for fall hunting. We are offering a number of “by arrangement” activities to people who view our page off the website or via our group mailings.These include trips to the range, lock and dam tours, and going out on water quality test runs.

News from the Indianhead Chapter:

About 17 mentors and friends of KAMO worked at the JayCee Concession stand on the Sunday afternoon of the Northland Mardi Gras. We served a lot of food to a lot of people. Thanks to all that helped.

Jim will be teaching archery at the Trails End Girl Scout camp August 8 and Floyd will be doing the same during the Rusk County Junior Fair August 10 and 11. We will provide 2 more North Cedar Academy pontoon fishing days on August 7 and 13.

We will be canoeing/camping/fishing on the Chippewa River this weekend with several kids. Fishing has been great lately.

Submitted by Jim Kurz

News from the Lake Wisconsin Chapter:

Hi All,

We fished in June and July with the Baraboo chapter, had a few bites in June with a couple Sheepshead caught and July bites only, still some one on one fishing. Already lining up target practice for the Joe Hunt. A lot of our families are on vacations or out of town so kind of slow this time of year.
Tradition Forward!

Bob and Linda Brodeur

Newsletter collected and edited by Jim Kurz, KAMO State Secretary