Field Report: Dustin Ellerman’s Youth Marksmanship Camp

Not far from where I hang my hat, nestled in the Piney Woods of East Texas is Camp His Way, run by Season 3 Top Shot Champion Marksman Dustin Ellerman. When Dustin is not busy with shooting exhibitions or running his Summer Youth Camp, he also offers weekend Adult and Youth Marksmanship Camps. Me and my 10 year old were fortunate enough to attend this camp recently, so I wanted to give my readers a run down on this outstanding 2 day Christian oriented marksmanship camp.

First off, you should know this is a camp that YOU attend with your kid, it is not something where you drop your kids off and then pick them up in 2 days. You will definitely get some quality bonding time, but understand up front, that this is a camp FOR THE KIDS, so don’t think you will get any trigger time on the cool weapons!!

Also, it is an all-inclusive camp;  all of your eats and boarding are taken care of, all you are required to bring is a minimal list of personal items and shooting safety gear for you and your child. The camp is equipped with a very nice cafeteria, where breakfast, lunch and dinner is served. The male dorms come with all the mod cons and are big enough to sleep over 50 people.

Secondly, the kids will get a chance to use a variety of “Top-Shot-Esque”  primitive weapons also.

The list includes:

• bow and arrow
• blowguns
• tomahawks
• spetsnaz shovels
• throwing knives
• slingshots and even rocks!

Dustin creatively uses all of these challenges to teach basic Christian character principles in a way that kids can easily grasp and apply everyday in their lives. Dustin also uses competition to teach teamwork, dividing up the 16 kids in our camp into two, 8 person teams. The kids all get a chance to have a turn on each weapon and then a team competition is held. The team that has won the most events at the end of the camp get a special “prize.”

Of course, after the primitive weapons, and after an intensive firearms safety lecture, Dustin breaks out the Rimfire’s; including the Smith & Wesson AR .22 Rifle, the HK (Umarex) MP-5 .22 and the uber-cool, extremely accurate,  Volquartsen scoped .22 Target Rifle (The same type of rifle in which Dustin in Season 3 of Top Shot shot a golf ball at 100 yards). The kids get plenty of time on all the guns, and Dustin was very generous, despite the ongoing .22 ammo shortage, giving each child 15 rounds per gun.

Unlike most training classes, this one is unique in that the fun does not stop when the sun goes down. Dustin has combined 2 things that scream FUN to any kid and most adults: a Zip-line and A Semi-Auto Paintball gun rigged with a powerful light and laser! The zipline runs about 70 yards through the camp and set up along the way are various paper targets and at the end of the ride a reactive steel target. Use your imagination to fill in the rest..and yes, the kids had a blast!! I can tell you I had just as much fun watching them!!

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In closing Guys, this camp is something you need to do with your kids!

Dustin has made it affordable and extremely accessible so everybody can enjoy it. He has taken care of everything but your transportation, so you really have no excuses not to attend. In comparison to similar type camps, you definitely get more than what you paid for!

There is also the aspect that some people may not see as I did going into the camp; In the world that we currently live in, where Christianity and Godly character are under attack and our Constitutional Freedoms regarding Firearm Rights are being challenged everyday, what better way to ensure both survive than to invest and teach the next generation how important they are?

Stay Dangerous, Stay Armed and Pray Hard!