The application deadline for the Rolling Plains Bobwhite Brigade and South Texas Bobwhite Brigade, quail-focused versions of the Texas Brigades wildlife and leadership summer camp program is quickly approaching (March 15th)! The Rolling Plains Bobwhite Brigade will take place near Rising Star, Texas, from June 8 - 12, while the South Texas Bobwhite Brigade will be near McCoy, Texas, from June 21 - 25. There are also 7 other camps across Texas focusing on different wildlife species such as whitetail deer, waterfowl, ranch management, coastal fisheries and inland fisheries.
Texas Brigades summer camps offer hands-on activities and curriculum to immerse participants in sciences such as ecology, biology, botany, agronomy, and more. Participants are learning from field and collegiate professionals who offer insight on ag-related career opportunities and businesses, while learning how they can steward natural resources and advance natural resource conservation. Please share with any students within the 13-17 age range who show a passion for sciences, the outdoors, natural resources, wildlife, livestock, fishing, and even recreation. Applications made by the March 15th deadline are more likely to attend their preferred camp and they fill up fast.
Adults/Teachers can apply too! If you have 5 days to spare this summer consider applying for camp. You’ll learn and experience camp as a participant, leading & encouraging your team of adolescents throughout the week. Meaningful volunteer benefits include camp committee involvement, impactful relationships, outdoor passion re-ignition, professional development and networking, and youth hunting/fishing mentorships.
I am an active volunteer with the Rolling Plains Bobwhite Brigade and sit on the Texas Brigades Board of Directors. Feel free to reach out to me personally with any questions you may have. Tuition assistance is available should any applicant need it.
It's been a while but I got to have dinner with Dale Rollins and we had a good conversation about the program. I would have enjoyed it as an adult and if I had kids the right age I would have sent them. I don't know how hard it is to get in now, but I would think your boys would get a lot out of it scalebuster.
Jetdad, thanks for the good words about the program! I hope to see Dr. Dale this weekend as we host kids from last year's summer camp on a hunt up in the rolling plains. This cold front should make things fun!
Scalebuster, please let me know if you have any questions. I can give my own testimony on the program and the impact it had for me. I grew up in the outdoors but was a shy kid for the most part. In 2010 I attended the North Texas Buckskin Brigade at the age of 15 and it changed my life. I ended up going back to the Bass Brigade and Waterfowl Brigade as an "Assistant Leader" where I earned a college scholarship for spreading the word about the program in my community. I also was a part of "W.I.L.D.", Texas Brigades' graduate level program where I traveled the state with 15 other Texas Brigades graduates and studied bighorn sheep, spoke to the Texas Legislature, hosted a service project and then traveled to Aldo Leopold's Shack in Wisconsin. I then worked for Texas Brigades for four years helping run camps during the summer, and then transitioned to a volunteer role with the Rolling Plains Bobwhite Brigade where I still serve.
This program helped me earn college scholarships, gave me a pathway to a job with AgriLife Extension as a student worker during my time at A&M under the wing of Dr. Jim Cathey, and ultimately lead me to pursuing a law degree where I now work with landowners and represent them in negotiations with developers where I get to make sure properties are taken care of and landowners are provided for as much as possible. I do not think I'd be where I am today without the Brigades program.
Thanks for the replies gentlemen. My oldest son is excited about the program and is working on his application. Another buddy we hunt with sent me a link a while back and thought Dax would enjoy it.
