By Mark Demko Seventeen-year-old Elisbeth Tejada-Moya walks into the classroom, shaking the water off her coat. She’s just taken a 15-minute bus ride from her school, followed by a 15-minute walk in the rain, to get to an afterschool program where she learns about foxes, firearms safety and forestry, all in the same afternoon. While many kids might opt to skip a voluntary program like this on a day when the weather is so bad, one after another the students file into the room eager to learn their next lesson. The reason? They’re part of Camp Compass Academy, one of the most innovative outdoor mentoring programs in the nation. “When I come here, I feel safe. It’s like home,” Tejada-Moya says. “I started coming to this program last year, and as soon as I did, everybody was so fun and so nice. For people to do that when you come in, you feel loved. So, I said, ‘Why not continue coming and learn?’”

A Challenging Start

Growing up in a housing project in Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania, John Annoni needed an escape from troubles at home and in the projects. He found it in an adjacent woodlot, where he would marvel at the birds and squirrels while dreaming of far-off destinations he’d read about in magazines like Boys’ Life. “I allowed Mother Nature—the squirrels, the starlings and the rat—to consume me by me chasing them,” Annoni says. “What I found was that when I was doing that, there was an absence of worry.  Mother Nature, her critters and that pursuit saved me. “One day I saw a ringnecked pheasant in a dump. It was the most beautiful bird I’d ever seen. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I went back weekend after weekend after weekend to see if I could find it again. That’s where the passion first came from.” From those humble beginnings, Annoni developed a rich fascination with the outdoors, learning to fish and hunt and ultimately deciding to pay it all back while serving as a teacher in the Allentown School District. He started Camp Compass in 1994. But rather than setting up shop at a local rod-and-gun club, he opted to stay in inner city Allentown and make a difference in the lives of the students who might need it most. “I was sitting in the classroom, working with the kids, the same kids I’m working with now, thinking that the books aren’t cutting it,” he says. “I was coaching basketball, and I just really wanted to do something I thought could change lives. “In the city, there are enough [afterschool] programs, but there was nothing here that was based on what helped me as a kid. I looked around and started working with kids, using an outdoor curriculum.” Today, Camp Compass is widely recognized as one of the most unique outdoors education models in the country. The nonprofit organization is geared towards introducing inner-city youth to hunting and the shooting sports. While Annoni is reluctant to put a figure on how many individuals he’s impacted, he says thousands of students have been exposed to the outdoors via Camp Compass, while well over 200 have gone through every level of the program.

Growing Kids Through the Outdoors

Through Camp Compass Academy, students are introduced to firearms safety, hunting and shooting over an extended period of time, something that’s especially important since most come from families that have little to no exposure to the outdoors pursuits. Visit the classroom and you’ll see individuals from diverse ethnic backgrounds, both male and female, soaking up everything Annoni and the other academy instructors have to share. [caption id="attachment_3247" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Students at Camp Compass Academy spend two years learning in the classroom as they earn the opportunity to go afield.[/caption] The curriculum is broken into five levels called “The 5Es”—Exposure, Exploration, Extension, Effective Application and Example Mentoring—and students work their way through the stages over a period of years. Annoni says the most important level is Extension, where the kids participate in the academy weekly. “Growing kids into [hunters] in a place that’s nontraditional (like downtown Allentown) is not only high-risk, it’s high reward,” he says. “It has to be very strategic, and that’s what we’ve built here. We are as diverse as it comes and that is the beauty of us.” [caption id="attachment_3249" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Image Courtesy of Amanda Snyder.[/caption] When students enter Camp Compass, they must first prove their dedication to learning and their classmates before they head afield. In fact, an individual has to complete two years before he’s even able to go on a hunt. The reason: Annoni’s goal is not to just take them hunting, but to help make them hunters. That’s why the most dedicated students end up heading afield on multiple occasions, sometimes traveling to destinations as far away as North Carolina, Texas and North Dakota to pursue big and small game. Petersen’s Bowhunting Editor Christian Berg says Annoni has been successful with his students because he’s authentic. “He came out of the Allentown projects and faced many of the same struggles as today’s teens,” says Berg, who’s known Annoni for two decades. “The outdoors was instrumental in shaping his life and helping him achieve personal success. Now, as an educator and passionate outdoorsman, he is pouring his life back into the lives of others. “There are many, many great things about the Camp Compass program, but, at its essence, I believe one of the big reasons it succeeds is because John sees himself in his students and his students see themselves in him.” Talk to the students and it’s easy to see the passion they have for the program and their mentor. Sixteen-year-old Hector Buxo, who comes from a family that doesn’t hunt, says his parents were surprised when he told them he wanted to join Camp Compass. Now, five years in, he has pursued whitetail deer, Canada goose, pheasant, turkey and more. “I liked how different this was from the other programs there were,” Buxo says. “It was something totally new. I really liked how we all work together, and we all talk together.” Shane Reznick, 14, who has been in Camp Compass for two years, agrees the comradery between students is what makes the program work. “It’s a community of people as well as hunters,” he says. “We learn a lot about the environment, protecting the environment and making sure you respect the animals.”

Beyond the Classroom

As a result of Camp Compass and his work introducing others to the outdoors, Annoni has been featured on outdoor television shows and national news like CNN and NBC Nightly News. In 2008, Outdoor Life named him one of the 25 most influential people in hunting and fishing, and two years ago he was one of the first non-faculty members selected as a co-principal investigator for a Cornell Lab of Ornithology National Science Foundation study. Not surprisingly, he receives high praise from others in the industry. “John has quietly gone about his mission of reaching inner-city youth for decades,” says Mossy Oak’s Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland. “He does it with little money, little support from the hunting industry, little exposure—but big passion. He reaches kids we cannot because he was one of them. His story is amazing, and he makes me humble.” After a quarter-century leading Camp Compass, Annoni is as committed as ever to his students, but he is also looking for other ways he can help grow hunting and shooting sports. As a person of color, one area he feels he can lend his expertise is in broadening diversity and inclusion efforts. He also wants to share the Camp Compass philosophy with others from coast to coast, as well as start teaching adults who want to learn about mentoring in the hunting and the shooting sports. While acknowledging it would be hard to start other Camp Compass-type programs due to the time required, he says he’s proud of the work he, his assistants and Camp Compass supporters have done over the past quarter-century. “I did not think I would be doing this program this many years later because of the stamina that it takes,” he says. “I knew that somewhere along the journey, whether it was five or eight years in, that we were going to impact kids and families who would not have been impacted otherwise. “Is it practical to say Camp Compass will be celebrating a 50-year anniversary? No, that’s not practical. But, while I’m still breathing and able to help, the Camp Compass philosophy can be shared across the country and what people do with it is their choice.”

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John Anonni and Camp Compass clearly demonstrate that mentoring is key to growing hunting and the shooting sports. NSSF’s +ONE^SM Movement, which encourages all active hunters and target shooters to extend an invitation to someone new and show them how safe and enjoyable these pastimes are, works to achieve the same goal, but on a nationwide basis. Annoni says the National Shooting Sports Foundation is a keystone when it comes to recruiting and retention in the hunting and shooting sports. “Its +ONE Movement is a critical initiative. It is really needed and it is able to move the needle with the long arms it has. NSSF is positioned like no one else to impact the future of hunting. “While my focus has been primarily youth, lately adults have been reaching out to me about hunting,” Anonni added. “The +ONE Movement has the ability to be a spectrum of support for people of all ages.” For more information and to learn how you can help introduce someone to hunting and the shooting sports, visit LetsGoHunting.org and LetsGoShooting.org. You may also be interested in: https://www.letsgohunting.org/articles/the-ultimate-hunting-plus-one-goal-building-lifelong-hunters/

Looking for a great way to introduce someone to hunting? Check out one of our nation's many fantastic hunting preserves. If just one in three hunters adds one new person to our sport, we’ll secure a strong future for generations to come. So be the one. Ignite the passion that can change the course of someone’s life forever. For all hunting has done to enrich your life, join the +ONE movement and invite someone hunting. Share your experience with posts on social media.     "Hunting businesses range from the smallest “do-it-yourself” operations to the grandest hunting and recreational facilities. Hunting resorts provide opportunities for all ages to savor bird hunting. There is a hunting facility to satisfy every hunter’s desire and budget." ~ North American Gamebird Association

Find a Hunting Preserve Near You!

By Jason Houser In Part 1 of this column, I talked about the details that can help ensure a person you’re mentoring goes from being a new hunter to a life-long hunter. Fun should be at the top of the list there, but you also need to cover the realities of a hunt.

Safety — First, Last, Always

Hunting has one of the lowest percentage rates of accidents of all sports. This is because hunters have been taught right out of the gate that if not handled safely guns can be dangerous — and we take that seriously. Once your new charge is ready to actually participate in a hunt as a hunter, rather than an observer, firearms safety should be the first thing you teach them. If you’ve been doing your job as a mentor up to this point, you will already have imparted many lessons — load your gun only after you’re in your treestand or blind, don’t cross a fence with a loaded gun, make sure of your target and what’s beyond it, etc. — but now that the gun will be in their hands, strict attention to all aspects of safe firearms handling must be adhered to until your new hunter is fully, consciously committed to the rules of firearms safety. When your new hunter is a youth, know that keeping them from holding a firearm only makes them more curious. Under your supervision, allow your children to handle your firearms. Show them how to check and make sure the gun is fully unloaded. Let them hold the weapon and show them how to point it in a safe direction. Explain to them to never take the safety off or to put a finger on the trigger until they are sure of their target and ready to shoot. [caption id="attachment_3112" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Gun safety is top priority when introducing anyone to hunting.[/caption] My first gun was a BB gun. With this gun, I was able to learn how to properly handle a weapon. It’s still a great tool for teaching new hunters safe firearms handling (even adults). Start by treating the BB gun exactly as you would a rifle or shotgun — all the safety rules apply. Allow the new hunter to carry it alongside you in the woods, at first unloaded, and correct their hold, carry or aiming as needed so that the good habits become ingrained. When your charge is becoming reliable in their handling and demonstrating good safety, introduce BBs into the picture and head to the range for the lessons on aiming, breathing and trigger control. Allow one round in the weapon at a time initially. When both of you are comfortable, move on to a centerfire rifle or shotgun appropriate to the hunt you’ll be participating in. This is the time to talk about game anatomy and the importance of making a lethal hit. Stress that, in hunting, there is nothing worse than wounding an animal and not being able to recover it. Emphasize that a hunter should exhaust all efforts in the recovery process in the case that an animal is wounded — and explain that at one point in every hunter’s time afield, an animal will be wounded and not found. It’s unfortunate and tragic, but ethical hunters minimize the chances of it happening by practicing with their firearms and understanding how to place a proper, quick-killing hit on the vitals of the game they’re pursuing.

Dealing with the Kill

The death of an animal is part of hunting. Some will have a harder time accepting death than others, especially children. For new youth hunters then, help them understand that although it’s okay to be sad, hunting is important to keeping wildlife populations at healthy, sustainable levels. If you’ve already talked about that when they joined you in the field as an observer, it will be easier for them to see that hunting isn’t just about the killing. [caption id="attachment_3111" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Whether it is hunting deer, squirrels or anything in between, it is vital to be a positive role model.[/caption] Sadness isn’t the only reaction you’ll get from a hunter who has successfully taken their first game animal. Some will rejoice at a kill, others will be sad, and some will be scared to death. Whatever their reaction is should be acceptable, so long as they show respect for the animal. Understand that some will not be able to wait for their next hunt while others will not want to go hunting again. When the latter happens with a child, particularly younger kids, leave it at that. Do not pressure him or her to hunt again, as it will only drive them further away. Sometimes people, kids included, need time to digest the totality of hunting and will return to participate again whenever the “I’m ready” strikes them — but undue pressure is a sure way to make sure that “ready” never happens.

Their First “Trophy” is Whatever They Want it to Be

A new hunter should be allowed to harvest any legal animal. That may not be your choice. If you are, say, a deer hunter who won’t shoot anything less than a 130-class buck, that’s fine. Just don’t expect someone who’s just getting excited about hunting to show that kind of restraint. You want this to be fun! Asking a new hunter to continually pass up shots on legal game just because you wouldn’t take them is a great way to kill off their enthusiasm.

Emphasize the Positive

Every experienced hunter made mistakes on the way to getting that experience. If we were lucky, we had someone alongside us to correct us as we went along. That’s the position you’re in now, as a mentor, the position of making corrections. But a constant stream of “You’re too noisy,” “Sit still” and “Don’t do that” can quickly knock the excitement out of someone new to the hunt. When you’re in the field with a new hunter, make sure to let them know when they’re doing a good job. Let them know when they’ve made a good shot, handled the firearm properly, and made a good, quick recovery on a downed animal. This will give them the confidence they need to handle firearms safely and hunt on their own