There’s a quiet confidence that comes from knowing you can feed yourself. It’s not loud or flashy. It doesn’t need a soapbox. It’s just… steady. Grounded.
And it’s exactly what we’re giving kids in the Texas Youth Hunting Program.
In a world where inflation is breaking grocery budgets and convenience has replaced capability, things like hunting, fishing, and foraging aren’t just hobbies—they’re life skills. Skills that shape kids into more than participants—into doers, givers, and providers.
Hunting: More Than Just a Weekend in the Woods
When a young hunter takes their first deer, they’re learning far more than shot placement. They’re learning:
- How to track and observe wildlife
- How to respect the life they’re taking
- How to field dress and process an animal
- And yes—how to fill a freezer with healthy, hormone-free meat
That meat means something. One deer can feed a family for months, and those meals come with the pride of knowing they made it possible.
Fishing: Food, Patience, and Focus
Fishing offers kids another essential skill: calm. There’s no scrolling. No “next video.” Just water, bait, line—and the slow work of paying attention.
Whether it’s bank fishing or pond fishing with a borrowed rod, every kid remembers their first catch. And every family benefits from fish that go straight from lake to skillet.
Foraging: Old Knowledge for New Times
There’s an overlooked richness growing in our woods, fields, and sometimes even in our backyards. Dewberries in spring. Loquats in early summer. Pecans in fall. Dandelion greens, wild onions, and prickly pears.
We’re not suggesting your kid lives off the land with a pocketknife and a tin cup—but knowing how? That’s a quiet kind of super power.
Foraging teaches:
- Observation
- Plant identification
- Seasonality
- Safety and discernment
And it shows kids that real food doesn’t start on a shelf—it starts in the dirt, in the wild, and in the work of their own hands.
Why It Matters
The goal isn’t to raise survivalists—it’s to raise capable kids.
Kids who don’t panic when the power goes out. Kids who can cook a meal, fix a fishing line, or ID a wild edible. Kids who grow into adults who know things. Who feel confident. Who know where their food comes from and how to get more.
Inflation may rise. Systems may wobble. But the skills we teach them? Those stick.
Let’s keep raising kids who are ready.
Support the mission: Your Texas Wildlife Association membership helps keep youth hunts possible—for this generation and the next.
https://www.texas-wildlife.org/membership/
Resources for recipes and foraging information:
TPWD has tons of FREE wild game recipes here!