By Wayne Beyer Aug 27, 2022
The Red River Area Sportsmen’s Club is committed to getting youths outdoors and continue shooting sport culture, traditions and outdoor recreation of our North Dakota-Minnesota area. Youth hunting has been among its most successful ventures.
North Dakota Game & Fish (NDGF) and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation offer great support for the 3R Campaign – Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation. The youth hunts address “Recruitment.” It is like the days when we went to school and the 3 R’s were reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmatic to emphasize commitment to education.
Hunters and shooters provide most of the funding for all wildlife species, habitat and conservation. The sales of Federal Duck Stamps, for example, purchase wildlife habitat. Be grateful every time you step onto a Waterfowl Production Area (WPA). I sure was when my daughter Kayla and I hauled duck decoys onto WPA’s around Tewaukon Refuge to hunt mallards, teal, redheads and buffleheads on many wetlands.
Dylan Teberg and Cindie VanTassel organize a Canada goose hunt Sept. 10-11 around Breckenridge, Minnesota. They do a terrific job of an A-Z hunt, even scouting for geese feeding areas prior to the hunt. Early goose hunts are a benefit of the burgeoning Canada goose population. Many geese nest in the Twin Town area. We are fortunate that Minnesota DNR and NDGF are youth-friendly, allowing dual-state ease at reasonable costs to get afield. Call Cindie at 701-643-4374 to sign up.
Eligibility for the youth hunts requires hunter education certification. We are grateful for local instructors like Al Giese, Billy Gauslow, Joel Johnson, Greg Gerou and others who devote time and their experience to teach gun safety, ethics, conservation and wildlife identification.
Mentors are a key component of the youth hunts. Hunters go afield with youths to teach safe shooting, hunting techniques and identification. There are lots of “brown ducks” without colorful adult plumage and young rooster pheasants yet without brilliant turquoise, red and copper.
The Marv Manock Youth Waterfowl Hunt is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 17 around Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge. Kevin Manock does an outstanding job with the hunt to remember Marv, who was a long-time Sportsmen’s Club president. Tim Phalen and Jack Lalor strategically set out decoys many years along shorelines of small sloughs on WPAs.
Trap shoots are scheduled the night before the youth hunts to accustom youths to shooting at moving targets. The Head of the Red and Mooreton Trap Clubs have been super hosts.
Youth hunts are tremendous family opportunities. It is the best of times to be sitting with your son or daughter in cattails waiting for ducks to spread their wings or walking in the prairie during the great Minn-Dak fall outdoors. They are impressionable connections and memories.
The Youth Pheasant Hunt will be held on Saturday, Oct. 1. Mark Althoff has managed the hunt since its inception and shares his love of the outdoors by thoroughly offering a high-quality experience with dogs afield. The hunt is held on the Chuck Haus farm, important because it shows the value of conservation-minded farmers and establishing landowner relations.
Everybody enjoys tasty pancake breakfasts at the waterfowl and pheasant hunts and learn how to process game for healthy eating. Call Parks-Recreation at 701-642-2811 for these hunts.
Big picture results of youth hunts include the health of being outdoors, self-confidence, appreciation for nature, self-reliance, character building, patience, respect and fun.
Fond childhood memories include hunting with Dad along Tewaukon fence lines when snow geese staged on the refuge and walking Milnor corn fields for pheasants on my uncle’s farm. Treasured parental memories are crouching in cattails with my daughter, identifying overhead ducks and walking the prairie coteau near Center for pheasants and sharptail grouse.
The youth hunts are opportunities for young girls and boys, mentors and family members to experience your own treasured outdoor memories.
Wayne Beyer is the retired director of Wahpeton Parks and Recreation.