2012 Postal League Awards

Awards for all 2012 Texas  4-H Shooting Sports Postal Leagues have been shipped to county offices!

Upcoming Registration Deadlines

Don't forget! Registration for the following events closes December 30! Late registration is open through January 6, 2013.

January 19-20—District 9 Shooting Sports Coach Training-Brazoria County, TX (Open to all leaders statewide)
Registration on 4-H Connect
Registration Open December 1-30 2012                           $120/Coach or Assistant Coach Candidate. $0/Extension Employee
Late Registration December 31, 2012-January 6, 2013   $200


February 2-3—Hunting & Wildlife Leader Training-College Station, TX
Registration on 4-H Connect
Registration Open December 1-30  $50/Coach, Leader or Assistant Coach/Leader Candidate. $0/Extension Employee
Late Registration December 31-January 6, 2013           $75

Happy Holidays!

2013 DAISY 4-H SCHOLARSHIP

The 2013 Daisy 4-H Scholarship Information is available by clicking HERE. Please note this major change for 2013:  Each state 4-H program must review the applications from their state 4-Hers and select two to submit for consideration through the National 4-H Shooting Sports Committee.   This committee will forward the two selected from Texas along with the other states' submissions to Daisy.

The application deadline is April 1, 2013.  Applications and all required paperwork should be sent to the Texas 4-H Office.

Last year, 46 scholarship applications from 22 states were received from applicants vying for the 2012 Daisy 4-H College Scholarship. With so many applications received, Joe Murfin of Daisy Outdoor Products made a decision that Daisy would award two $500 scholarships.

Those selected in 2012 were Emily Bordelon from Mississippi and Kyle Barringer of Victoria County, Texas. 

Congratulations Kyle!

Travis County 4-H Shooting Sports Club Posts Information On Their March Madness Shoot

The annual March Madness Shoot held by the Travis County 4-H Shooting Sports Club is scheduled for March 2, 2013 in Manor, Texas at the Austin Rifle Club.  This match will include 14 events in archery, pistol, rifle (including BB gun), and muzzle loading.  Registration deadline is February 16, 2013.  The event announcement with match rules and information, registration forms, and other necessary forms are posted on the 4-H club's website at https://sites.google.com/site/tc4hssweb/2013-march-madness.

The event organizers can be reached by calling Terry Vaughn at 512-853-0490 or Phyllis Gibich at 512-844-5831 or email marchmadness@tc4hss.org.

4-H Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) Contest -- 2013 Rules and Procedures Posted

Rules and procedures for the 2013 4-H WHEP contests held here in Texas have been revised and are being posted to the Texas 4-H WHEP webpage soon.  Those contests include the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Contest and the State Contest.  The Rules and Procedures for each provide specifics such as contest location and natural resources region for study, age divisions, activity descriptions, scoring description, and appendices to supplement the information found within the 4-H WHEP Manual which is the study curriculum for the program.  These rules and procedures documents can be viewed from the webpage as well as through the following links: State Contest; HLSR Contest.

Texas 4-H Archery Camp-Updated Information

View the Texas 4-H Archery Camp itenerary with activity descriptions HERE!

Registration is open on 4-H Connect through December 16, 2013

Texas 4-H Archery Camp is open to any youth 4-H member wanting to improve their shooting knowledge and skills in recurve and compound archery.  The camp is also open to certified 4-H archery coaches and other adult leaders desiring to learn more about coaching archery, archery equipment, archery games, and improved shooting skills. *Note: Adults will NOT receive Coach certification as part of this event. Youth participants should have beginning or intermediate experience in shooting archery and understand the basic archery safety and range rules and whistle commands.  Adult and youth participants must provide their own equipment.  Registration is limited to the first 40 youth registrants and the first 10 adult coach/chaperones.

Hunting and Wildlife Coach/Adult Leader Training-Register Now!

• February 2-3, 2013, College Station, TX

• Registration via 4-H Connect December 1-30, 2-12, Late Registration December 31, 2012-January 6, 2013

• $50/Coach, Adult Leader Candidate, or Assistant Coach/Leader Candidate. No charge for Extension Employees. ($75 late registration)

• Certification is mandatory for all adults who will lead a 4-H Shooting Sports Hunting & Wildlife project.

4-H Hunting & Wildlife is a 4-H Shooting Sports discipline and much more. During the 4-H Shooting Sports State Games each summer, youth can register to participate in this discipline that offers live firing events as well as interactive events that challenge the knowledge and skills of the contestant. The live firing events are designed to simulate as closely as possible the type of shooting one would do in a hunting field rather than on a shooting range. One design of this training is to prepare an adult leader to coach youth in the Hunting & Wildlife Shooting Sports discipline and certify them to train their youth to safely and responsibly use the four firearms (shotgun, smallbore light rifle, muzzle loading rifle, and bow) in live firing situations. This certification will allow the coach to regularly instruct their local youth and coach them in the Hunting & Wildlife events sponsored by 4-H. This certification will not allow an adult leader to become a coach of a specific shooting discipline within the 4-H Shooting Sports Program that involves further competitive use of a specific firearm (i.e. an adult attending this training cannot return to a county to become a lead coach in any particular discipline—rifle, shotgun, archery, or muzzleloading—in that county 4-H program.)

The training is also designed for any Adult Volunteer Leader wishing to work with their local youth in a hunting or wildlife project or a combination of the two. During the training, participants will become certified as Texas Hunter Education Instructors. This certification does not obligate the recipient to provide courses to the public. However, the certification does allow them to provide basic Hunter Education training and certification to the youth they lead. The agenda will also include information on the Texas Youth Hunter Education Challenge (a competitive event through NRA, sponsored by the Texas Hunter Education Instructor Association), the Texas Youth Hunting Program, and many more related programs, activities and opportunities for youth.

The training will be interactive with indoor and outdoor activities including live firing of all firearm types, simulated hunting scenarios, and various other outdoor skills and education. Participants will take home a variety of curricula, resources, and experiences that will allow them to begin or enhance a Hunting & Wildlife project for their local youth. Registration for this event is completed online via 4-H Connect. Any actively enrolled Adult Volunteer Leader, Extension employee, or senior 4-H youth is eligible for this training. Actively enrolled youth who have reached age 14 by September 1 of the current 4-H year may participate in a training as an Assistant Coach/Leader Candidate. Please Note: to be eligible to become a Certified Coach in the Hunting & Wildlife Shooting Sports discipline, you must be minimum 21 years of age or older. Adult Volunteer Leaders under age 21 may be certified as an Assistant Coach. All Assistant Coach Certifications are eligible for upgrade to full Coach Certifications upon reaching age 21.

San Antonio Livestock Exposition Junior Shoot Out

The San Antonio Livestock Exposition (S.A.L.E.) has announced their newest addition to their youth programming, the S.A.L.E. Junior Shoot Out.  Its a 100 target trap shoot open to any 4-H Shooting Sports project member and any FFA member in the Ag Clays program.  The event will take place on February 8-9, 2013 at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.  Registration for 4-H members is through the local county Extension office with a deadline of January 10, 2013.  Registration information should be available soon at the S.A.L.E. website; www.sarodeo.com.

Registration Now Open . . .

We opened registration on December 1 for the following events:

District 9 4-H Shooting Sports Coach Training, Brazoria County, January 19-20, 2013

4-H Hunting and Wildlife Coach/Leader Training, College Station, February 2-3, 2013

Practice Contest for 4-H Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP), Fort Boggy State Park, Centerville, February 9, 2013

Each of these are open for registration on 4-H Connect (https://texas.4honline.com) and will close soon after the New Year.  If you're interested in any of these, don't wait to register and forget over the holidays.  More information on each of the events can be found on our website at https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/natural.