"When I was a boy, ducks darkened the sky."
- George Bragaw, Sage of South Marsh Island (RIP)

Periodically, through the grace of God, they do so again and again. Now is one of those "agains" Take the youthful who are interested and worthy and put them "In the Blood", so to speak. If they disdain, no matter - it's not for everyone, but for those who take to it, they are the future of us afield with rod and gun again.

I think, with a little cooperation, this would be a fairly easy undertaking to launch. There are SxS shoots held in various parts of the country in which the pgca has a presence. We would have to establish rules and guidelines and get the event sanctioned by the BOD. Youth would be encouraged to participate and be entered in the drawing. Whoever is at the event representing the pgca could could contact the coordinator and let him know who participated and how many entries they get. At the designated time and place a winner is drawn. If things are kept light and fun and not made into anything more than a way to encourage youth participation it wouldn't be that hard to do.

Aside from David Dwyer's very generous $500 seed money offer (which is a big commitment for certain) we still haven't seen anybody step forward and offer to put on the "Youth Program Coordinator" hat and start the ball rolling.

It was a little over a year and a half ago that one of our fine members sent a "youth program" outline to the members of the BOD, in which he had been involved with a youth archery program. It was an extremely well thought-out outline and it left no stone unturned inasmuch as spelling out every step of the process. There's no reason why a PGCA Youth Program coordinator can't adopt this very same outline and adapt it to a program of our own.

The PGCA has previously donated handsome amounts to the youth shooting and firearms education programs of the NRA and Pheasants Forever. No sense in re-inventing the wheel, but it would be nice to expose youth to classic double guns.

I teach a lot of shot gunning at our local Boy Scout camp ( plus pistol and rifle , and cowboy action shooting in the summer) and I always bring along a 20ga Parker and let the advanced shooter kids break some clays with it.

I think I would consider it if no one else wants to do it. I enjoy kids and have worked with them in my karate schools for years.

Mike, thanks for your tentative step forward.

Please get in touch with Robin Lewis - he has expressed an interest in the PGCA Youth Program.

This may be a good start.

Now that we have a couple of guys who are interested in getting this thing off the ground it should be easy to find others who will be willing to get involved. All it takes is someone to show that this is nothing to be ignored and certainly nothing to be afraid of - the workload can be shared and the rewards will be gratifying.

At the ripe old age of 25, I promise to continue emptying my bank account to acquire more double guns.

If anyone in South Carolina would like to help begin a youth program of some sort, I would be more than happy to try and run with it. I have many friends my age that enjoy shooting sxs guns.

Thanks John!

This is really looking like it will go somewhere.

So, with Mike and John and with some good ideas from Robin it is getting very encouraging.
Thank you gentlemen! Onward and upward...!

John
I am in SC and shoot at Backwoods at least once a week. I also have several Parkers from 28ga to 10 ga I let people shoot. I will talk to Rick Hemmingway tomorrow about how to best go forward. Now we just need to see what commitment the BOD will make to this program?
David

At best, most kids view old SxS shotguns as novelties. I am a Scoutmaster with a troop here in Richmond and we take the boys out a couple times a year to shoot clays. This is in addition to the shooting merit badges at scout camp in the summer. I always bring a couple Parkers with low pressure 7/8 oz handloads, as well as blackpowder for a #1 frame hammergun. They LOVE it. However, in the final analysis they opt for the Benelli or some other modern contrivance because these things are convenient, can shoot off the shelf shells, and their friends and fathers have them. Plus, any kid who is serious in the sport wants a O/U. The care and proper feeding of a vintage gun takes time and effort, something their fathers can do but they cannot. Kids have numerous distractions nowadays. We see scout membership falling because of the myriad of sports and other activities dividing their time. These are facts. Sorry to be a downer, but this is my experience. Your mileage may differ. I think the PGCA should support existing efforts like Bruce noted. Special efforts to get kids shooting at events like the Southern are great, but that only happens when fathers/grandfathers are involved. Edward and I will be at the Southern. He's 18 now and first shot at the Southern when he was 12. I don't know how many more he will be able to attend with college, sports, etc. getting in the way. I'm hoping he will stick with it. If you ask him to choose between his Benelli and his 32" #2 frame DH 20 he would have to think about it.