ADWA ACTION ALERT

Join Our Online Community Receive action alerts, tips, news and special offers via e-mail.

Cross Trail Outfitters Announces Expansion

SAN ANTONIO - Cross Trail Outfitters Youth Hunting and Fishing Club today announced a regional expansion into Missouri, as a strategic step in its plan to grow into a nationwide organization.
 
Founder and Chief Outfitter Mike Arnold said the club plans to launch its first local unit in the Missouri in 2009, and begin hosting regional Summer Camps in 2010.
 
CTO is a non-profit club for boys and young men ages 7-20 that offers year-round hunting and fishing outings, club gatherings, skills training and leadership development. Additionally, the club runs popular Hunting and Fishing Summer Camps and international mission trips.
 
One of CTO’s most popular programs is its First Hunts, which are weekend trips geared for first-time hunters as young as six, in which youth learn gun safety, marksmanship, shot placement, tracking, game processing and more – and end up harvesting a trophy exotic ram.
 
The club operates as a collection of self-sustaining local units supported by a Central Office. Each local unit is anchored by a full-time local director with the title of Outfitter. The four-year-old organization currently includes five units, four in Texas and one in Shreveport, Louisiana.
 
Arnold said that the regional office will be led by Brian Utecht, currently the CTO Outfitter in the Coastal Bend area of Texas, who is in the process of relocating his family to the Branson, Missouri area.
 
“Our first step is to raise support and secure sponsorships in Missouri,” said Arnold. “Once the regional office is on solid ground, we will begin planting local units. The goal is to get ramped up at the local level, and begin working with youth, as soon as we can.”
 
CTO leaders are seeking contact with individuals, businesses, landowners, community leaders, groups, churches and others in the region who are interested in helping establish the club.
 
Arnold said they selected Missouri for many reasons. He said several youth from the state have attended CTO Summer Camps in recent years. They looked at factors such as the legal environment for wildlife, property, youth hunting and liability protection for non-profits.  Additionally, they noted the strategic location for future club growth in the Central US.
 
“We’ve found that the demand for what we do is enormous,” said Arnold. “When we hang out a shingle and tell folks what we do, the youth and volunteers beat a path to our door. We’re confident that we’ll find the same opportunities in Missouri as we’ve found in Texas.”
 
CTO is a Christian-based organization that is not affiliated with any particular church or denomination. The club is a 501c3 public charity funded entirely by contributed support, and relies on the involvement of area volunteers, landowners and businesses. Youth are asked to pay only the actual cost of activities – mainly gas and groceries – such that their average hunting or fishing trip costs between $25 and $40, all inclusive.
 
Scholarship and gear contributions, including some sizable grants from Safari Club International, allow the club to keep costs low and offer need-based support. “We’ve never had to turn a kid away from any activity just because he couldn’t afford it,” said Arnold.
 
See more about Cross Trail Outfitters at www.TeamCTO.org. To contact Mike Arnold, call 866-KID HUNT, ext. 0.