Youth Pheasant Hunt To Be Held Sept. 25
CANTON - As numbers of licensed sportsmen and women decline, the Federated Sportsmen's Clubs of St. Lawrence County and the Conservation Alliance of New York are looking for youths to become involved in hunting, fishing and trapping.
To this end, the organizations have scheduled the fifth annual youth pheasant hunt for Sept. 25 at the Upper and Lower Lakes Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and Basswood Lodge and Hunting Preserve.
"We as sportsmen and the state of New York felt this was important to encourage our young sportsmen and women to become involved in our outdoor sports to correct a decline in participation of our youth in hunting," said Larry I. Kring with the Federated Sportsmen's Clubs, who has been a part of the youth hunt for four years.
Last year, the event drew 26 youths. A total of 40 can be part of the free youth shoot designed for junior hunters, ages 12-15, according to Mr. Kring.
"We would like to have 40 individuals 12 to 15 years old to sign up to participate. This event is free to all involved including lunch and shells. It is required that all participating individuals have a current small game license," said Mr. Kring.
A current license year is Oct. 1, 2009 through Sept., 30, 2010. Youths 12 to 13 of age must be accompanied by a parent; 14 and 15-year-olds must be with an adult 21 years of age or older.
The River Valley Gun Dog Club will provide trained bird hunting dogs and handlers for the event that coincides with the special youth pheasant season that allows only individual 12 to 15 years old only to hunt pheasants prior to the regular opening of pheasant season.
Each youth will be given a gun handling safety reminder from a certified sportsman education instructor and will have an opportunity to shoot a limited number of clay pigeons as a practice session and to allow the instructor to evaluate the gun handling of the participant.
The pheasant are stocked at the WMA and in limited groups the young hunters are taken to the fields with a dog handler and bird dog and an adult safety officer. One individual at a time works with the dog handler to harvest a bird. Successful hunters are shown how to properly dress the bird and allowed to take it home for the table, according to Mr. Kring.
Mr. Kring said that the event involves the "donation of time and resources of many individuals and businesses." He stated that Basswood Hunting Lodge has generously provided the use of its lodge as a headquarters for all four years of the youth hunt and the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has been supportive in providing the pheasants and the use of Upper and Lower Lake WMA for the hunt.
He feels the youth hunt is a way for the two groups to try to increase the numbers of sportsmen and women for the future.
"We as organized sportsmen are continually trying to have more of our young people in our community become involved in our proud heritage of hunting, fishing and trapping. The declining number of licensed sportsmen and women is of concern to us because it is the license buying public that pays for the wildlife management in this state that is enjoyed by all," said Mr. Kring.
Youth interested in participating can call Mr. Kring at 375-8980 or Robert G. Flavin at 393-2709. When registering, you will be asked to provide name, address, phone number, age, and gauge of shotgun to be used.
