Friday, March 12th, 2010...6:44 am
Mississippi Quail Hunting Youth Event
Last Saturday I attended my first Quail Forever Youth Quail Hunt. It was one of the most positive things I have been a part of to help support the future of hunting in general.
These youth hunts were supported by funding from the 2009 Youth Participation Initiative Program of the MDWFP and from the generous support of
our two event hosts, Millbrook Plantation and Prairie Wildlife Preserve.
Mississippi Quail Hunting Youth Event was sponsored by the Golden Triangle Chapter of Quail Forever in cooperation with The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks and Mississippi State University Extension Service.
These youth quail hunts were developed to introduce young hunters and their parents to quail hunting, quail management and conservation.
The objective was to introduce quail hunting to kids that may have hunted before, but have not had the opportunity to bird hunt. The long term goal is that some of them will maintain an interest in quail habitat management and upland bird hunting.
The first hunt was at Millbrook Plantation in Stonewall, MS on February 27, 2010 and the second hunt was at Prairie Wildlife Preserve in West Point on Saturday, March 6, 2010.
These two quail shooting preserves were selected because they have realistic habitat settings and practice sound upland wildlife management.
The Mississippi Quail Hunting Youth Events taught the principles of hunting and firearms safety, particularly as it pertains to upland bird hunting. Habitat management was taught based on the the daily life needs of a bobwhite quail throughout the year.
Other activities included wing-shooting practice (clay targets), field dressing quail, quail biology and a prescribed burn demonstration.
Youth participants also had the opportunity to watch bird dogs work and participate in a real quail hunt.
I missed the first event since I was quail hunting in Texas but I made sure I was around for the second one. It was really nice to see kids that had never had the chance to quail get to experience it.
I thought hunts went very well and were well received by all participants. Special thanks go out to all the volunteers that made it possible.
The Youth Participation Initiative Program is a great idea. In it’s first year, MDWFP was able to fund 24 YPI applications. In total, nearly $900,000 was requested with over 1 million dollars in matching monetary. This program has helped highlight a great deal of interest and concern for youth outreach and recruitment when it comes to getting Mississippi’s youth back into the woods and on the water.
Contact Justin Thayer, MDWFP Youth Outreach and Recruitment Coordinator at (601) 432-2014 for more information.
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