Oklahoma Waterfowl Dual Skills Camp Review:
What is it: A Dual Skills Camp is a learn-to ______ event. Attendees will be mentored through a hunting or fishing experience from the planning phase through the post-harvest meal prep. BHA mentors will host attendees in the field talking through the ins and outs of the outdoor pursuit being taught. After the day on the water or in the field a regional expert will walk participants through how hunting and fishing affect the conservation of the region, what is the North American model of conservation, and how participants can use their voices as members of the military community to support BHA's conservation mission.
See the You tube video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk4-2MgM3ac
BHA Armed Forces Initiative hosted 8 disabled Veterans, and one active duty Service member at a Learn to Waterfowl hunt event in Henreyetta OK in Jan 2024. Participants received instruction in:
Waterfowl Hunting safety
Waterfowl Identification
Waterfowl Conservation History
Conservation Struggles and Wins
How to call ducks
Types of cover and concealment
How to Decoy Ducks
How to prepare a Duck for the table
Participants spent three days afield with multiple mentors in various upland scenarios including:
A-Frame Style blind hunting
Open water diver hunting with Long Lines
Shallow-water Marsh hunting
Canada Goose hunting
Flooded Timber Hunting for wood ducks and mallards
Layout blind hunting
Texas decoy rigs
Participants also received a tour of the G&H factory. The only American-made box store decoy available. The owner of G&H decoys is a Marine veteran and personally walked all participants through their manufacturing process and let everyone pick out a dozen decoys fully outfitted with lines and weight. Some participants picked geese, some picked teal, and some picked puddle ducks based on the part of the country they came from. G&H also provided all participants with a duck or goose call of their choice, a G&H hat, and T-Shirt.
We appreciate the support of G&H decoys as well as the support of the private donor who made this event possible.
About Trevor Hubbs
I grew up running hounds on coyotes and raccoons, spent a fair amount of time public land waterfowl hunting, and have hunted upland birds behind my setters across the midwest.