Archery, primitive skills, water safety, trap shooting and a canine demonstration were some of activities that took place at the annual JAKES Day event presented by the Missouri Department of Conservation and National Wild Turkey Federation.
“A lot of times these kids don’t get a chance to get outdoors,” said Stoddard County Conservation Agent Michael Collins, “and do things like shooting shotguns or shooting a bow or learn about turkeys in general.”
JAKES Day gives kids an opportunity to get outdoors and gain hands-on experience with guns, bows and tomahawks. While the kids do have fun, the most important message of the day is safety.
“I hope out of today that they get some safety ethics,” said Collins, “and gain some new skills.”
Safety was emphasized at every station as they were operated under close supervision. One safety lesson was surprisingly simple but effective.
A peg board sat by a five gallon bucket of ice water at the water safety station. Under each peg on the board was a letter. The word hypothermia was spelled out. The task seemed simple, reach into the bucket of ice water and pull out the washers at the bottom one at a time. The washers had letters corresponding to the board. When the word hypothermia was spelled out you were done.
Not so simple. With each plunge into the icy water the task became harder and harder. This was done to simulate how quickly the extremities as well as the body can shut down in extreme cold.
Proper use of life jackets and making a fire was also shown. At the primitive skills display a presenter showed how lint off your jeans could be used to build a fire. He scraped, not cutting the leg of his jeans, with a pocket knife and produced a ball of lent. Upon providing a spark with a flint he produced a flame that could be used to start a fire. The kids were not permitted to scrape clothes with knives.
The kids were eager to try everything in front of them from archery to guns to survival skills. Collins spoke about the kids’ eagerness.
“It means a great deal to us, these kids are our next generation of resource users,” he said. “What they learn today or throughout their lives may intrigue them to the outdoors and maybe in the future they will be someone who hunts or fishes.”