Last year, Tucker Scott was interested in showing chickens at livestock shows.
Little did Tucker’s dad, Tim, realize that it was going to open the door to the possible formation of a wildlife club.
And that’s exactly what happened.
You may have been milling around Facebook lately and seeing posts from the recently formed Montague County 4-H Fish and Wildlife Club.
“I discovered there are 4-H programs for sport fishing and shooting sports,” said Tim Scott, one of the club’s founders.
In 4-H, the WHEP program is available. WHEP stands for Wildlife Habitat Education Program.
It’s a natural resource program available to junior and senior level youth ages eight to 19 years old.
The curriculum comes with a manual in which students learn wildlife terms and concepts, wildlife habitat, learn how to judge wildlife quality, management practices and what happens in case of disaster.
In 1996, WHEP was awarded the Conservation Education Award from The Wildlife Society, the only professional organization that certifies wildlife biologists nationwide.
Scott said originally it was going to be simply the formation of a fishing club – but it’s turned into a whole lot more.
“I am amazed at how many kids and parents wanted this,” Scott said.
During the group’s first meeting, youth were given an introductory lesson on fishing while at Tommy Fenoglio’s compound in rural Montague.
“I showed kids how to undo tangles,” Scott said. “One-third of the kids had never even fished before, and every one of them was able to catch one fish.”
It leads to the old adage from the Spanish philosopher Maimonides, doesn’t it?
“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
The group includes children from all around the county, not just a specific area. Scott reports there are about 20 youth already involved.
Last weekend, the group had its second activity at Whitetail Deer Ranch outside of Saint Jo. Read more from this column in the Oct. 22 Bowie News.

Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.

Montague County resident Keely Burnam shows off one of two crappie caught during a fishing expedition at Tommy Fenoglio’s acreage in Montague. (Courtesy photo from the Montague County 4-H Fish and Wildlife Club)