Group enticing youth into outdoors activities
FOR adult hunters, Nevada’s 2022-23 waterfowl season has come and gone. Any shooting done now will have to take place at the range.
But for youth hunters 17 and younger there is one more chance to put a few ducks on the dinner table this season.
That opportunity is the youth waterfowl hunt scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in the state’s South Zone — Clark, Lincoln, Nye and Esmeralda counties. Included in that hunt is the Moapa Valley portion of the Overton Wildlife Management Area.
Youths who will be hunting at the Overton WMA on Saturday will find more than a chance to harvest a few birds. Waiting for them early that morning will be the “Youth Closer,” a special event hosted by Wildlife and Habitat Improvement of Nevada, a homegrown conservation organization that generally invests its funds and its sweat in on-the-ground conservation projects.
At the Youth Closer, hunters can participate in a duck-calling contest and throw their names in the hat for a drawing that will include the chance to win a new shotgun donated by the folks at Armscor, a firearm company based in Pahrump. In addition, participants will be served donuts and hot chocolate.
Some might wonder why an organization that is known for funding and building duck blinds, installing goose nesting platforms and woodduck boxes, constructing and maintaining water developments, planting seed and cutting cattails is hosting an event associated with a youth waterfowl hunt.
“It’s twofold. It’s a member recruitment tool. You know. ’Cause it gets parents and youth that are excited about hunting and sportsmanship in general to get out and get together,” said Ron Stoker, vice president of the organization “And also, it’s kind of training the next generation to pick up the torch.”
Stoker talked about his concern for the increasing age of members of conservation organizations and what that means for the future of conservation efforts.
“One of our goals is to increase younger membership, so that when we go to pass that torch on, I’m not 80 passing it on to a 70-year-old,” he said.
WHIN not only hosts the Youth Closer but also supports the Carp Rodeo each year at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge and the Ducks Donuts youth event held each year at the opening of duck season. Stoker believes that being a valuable member of the community encourages people to participate in conservation.
“We’ve been very big on promoting youth hunting,” WHIN president Brian Burris said. “Youth hunting, for us, is these youth hunters are going to be our future hunters.
And that’s going to be who we can depend on to go out and do the projects and be the boots on the ground.”
More than future boots, however, Burris recognizes today’s youth hunters as “those leaders who are going to go in and help write legislation to protect our hunting and our trapping and our fishing, and just our outdoor life in general.”
WHIN is working on another youth program that will focus on providing outdoor experiences and learning for inner-city youth who might not otherwise get the opportunity for those experiences. That has been made possible by a sizable donation.
Those who hope to hunt the Overton WMA on Saturday need to make a reservation through the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Many spots are taken. The Youth Closer gets underway at 3:45 a.m.
Information about the WHIN annual fundraising banquet can be found at whinlv.org. The event is slated for March 11 at The Orleans.
Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His “In the Outdoors” column is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. Find him on Facebook at @dougwritesoutdoors. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com