Shelly Cartwright asked:


Hopefully your child will be among the 12 million other kids going to camp this summer. The positive benefits kids gain from a camp experience – such as learning to take responsibility for themselves, making new friends, and building self-confidence and esteem – are well-documented and indisputable.

You don’t want to make a mistake when picking a camp, so here are the top 7 things to consider before you sign on the dotted line.

Make sure your child is ready for camp

Kids develop at certain rates. Some kids are ready for camp before others. If your child is mature, gets along well with others, and is comfortable being separated from you, he or she is probably ready for a camp experience. Otherwise, you might consider waiting a year or two.

Include your child in the decision-making process

It’s been proven time and again: The kids who enjoy camp the most are those who’ve been involved in choosing their own camp. When parents pick a camp without consulting their kids, their kids usually don’t like camp as much.

Check references

One of the biggest mistakes parents make when signing up for camp is not checking references. Always ask the camp director for at least three references, and be sure to follow through on making your calls. If you don’t hear glowing reports from the references, look into other camps.

Only pick a camp with activities your child likes

This one’s easy. If your son wants to learn to surf, send him to a surf camp. If your daughter wants to polish her gymnastics skills, look into a gymnastics camp. Don’t send your surfer kid to cooking camp. Don’t send your daughter who’s obsessed with gymnastics to an archery camp.

Meet the director ahead of time

It’s not a good idea to register for camp sight-unseen. There’s too much potential for something bad to happen. The camp might not be as safe as you thought, the counselors might not be as nice, the director might not be as qualified, and the facilities might not be as clean. So meet the director ahead of time, and/or take a tour of the camp, if possible, before the summer starts. You wouldn’t buy a car without a test drive, so don’t sign up for camp without a test-drive, either.

Choose an ACA Accredited camp

Most parents would not send their kids to a non-accredited school, so why would you send them to a non-accredited camp? Picking a summer camp that’s accredited by the American Camp Association is the ONLY way you can be sure the camp meets or exceeds up to 300 best-practice industry standards relating to child safety and program quality, among others. If you don’t choose an accredited camp, watch out.

Find out the camp’s refund policy

What if your child doesn’t like camp? What if they break their arm before camp starts, or even during camp? What if something unexpected happens and you need to drop out? While many camps have no-refund policies, others are more lenient. Make sure you understand the camp’s refund policy in advance and get it in writing. You don’t want to make a finical mistake, especially in this awful economy.

These are the top 7 things to remember when choosing a camp for your child. Summer camp can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a child’s life when you pick the right program.



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Albie Berk asked:

Hunting is a favorite pastime of many and it is a sport that many people are becoming interested in daily. However, many hunters like to hunt for specific wildlife which have particular hunting seasons. If you are unsure about the hunting season for your particular hunt, then this article should help you to identify specific hunting season dates and locations so that you can plan your next hunting trip around these dates.

These are a few of the general hunting dates for some of your favorite hunts. Deer is a huge hunting season. The deer season lasts from November 1st until December 7th. However, hunting deer with a muzzleloader is from November 1st until November 7th while hunting deer with firearms is open from November 8th until December 7th. If you can get away for a weekend, there is a youth deer hunt from October 25th to October 26th , the last weekend in October. This is a fun pre hunting season challenge.

There is also a youth turkey hunting weekend which kicks off the turkey hunting season. From May 3rd until May 31st, the wild turkey hunting season commences. Later on in the fall, the fall turkey season begins with archery from September 15th to December 15th. If you use a shotgun to hunt turkey with, then the fall season for hunting with shotguns is from October 13th until October 17th. In this case, hunting is only allowed from Monday to Friday and is only available in certain areas of the country. Please check with your hunting range previous to making hunting arrangements.

Black bear hunting starts on September 1st. The closing date to this hunting season is still undetermined because of the method and particular location’s regulation. However, the season usually ends sometime in November, making October the perfect month for black bear hunting.

If you are interested in waterfowl hunting the seasons begins in September and ends sometime in January of the following year. Once again the opening and closing dates for waterfowl hunting differ depending on the zone and the particular waterfowl species. From September 27th until September 28th, there is a youth waterfowl hunting weekend.

Moose hunting season runs from October 18th until October 26th. However, be aware that moose hunting almost always requires a moose hunting permit. For any small game hunting, the season is open from September until March of the following year. As you can see, hunting is available year round. If you have a specific prey then you can find your prey’s particular season. If you are an overall hunter, then you can hunt year round.

Some wise tips for the different hunting seasons include calling ahead to your hunting lodge to make sure that your prey is in season and for how long the season will last from. Then make sure that there is space available at that particular lodge to make a reservation so that you don’t miss out on your prey’s hunting season. You should also verify if a hunting permit is required for the particular hunt you will be going on. This will make your vacation and hunting trip go problem free so that you can relax, enjoy and concentrate on your hunt.

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