September 15, 2017 - The 20th Annual National Wild Turkey Federation Texas State JAKES event is set for at 8 a.m. on September 16 at the Winston Tree Farm located off U.S. 59 South in Nacogdoches County.
JAKES stands for Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship. The annual event places an emphasis on teaching a wide variety outdoor skills to youths under 17 years of age. The gathering typically attracts 75-100 kids, but there is always plenty of room for more.
The upcoming event is co-hosted by the April AWOL and Pineywoods Chapters of NWTF and promises to be an educational experience in a number of ways. Organizers say there will be eight different stations youths to rotate through. Among them are archery, target shooting, turkey calling, trap shooting and rock climbing.
"The JAKES event is held to give the kids an experience of the outdoors and also to teach safety," said Craig White, president of the April AWOL chapter. "There are some shooting stations at our event, and safety is a No. 1 priority. Many of the youth that attend have never held a firearm of any type before and it's important that each of them knows a firearm is only dangerous when not handled properly, so we teach them that first and foremost. We have sparked the interest of many kids over the years. We have watched, and heard stories of, many of these kids learning to hunt and becoming avid hunters and outdoor enthusiasts because of their experiences at our event. In our eyes, that's the payoff for what we do. Without our youth, we have no future."
Cost of the event $10 and includes a NWTF JAKES membership, JAKES T-shirt and a hotdog lunch. For more information contact White at 936-552-1942 or Dale Bounds, 936-637-4972.
