NWTF Chapter Hosts Two-Day Youth Education and Hunting Event

The education course, for youth ages 12 through 15, taught attendees gun safety and created a space for the kids to ask questions about gear, ammunition, shotguns and more. The course taught young attendees how to sit in the woods, locate birds, call and use decoys. The instructors also discussed hunting ethics with the young hunters.  

Attendees were paired up with their mentors for the season and were then given time to practice shooting.  

Educational classes with ECOs like this one are important because kids aren’t shooting for fun as much as they used to.  

“Our sport takes a backseat until the time comes, and then the kids feel like they aren’t ready,” said Jeff Root, Borderline Longbeards Chapter president and banquet chair. “But they have to start somewhere, so we offer that opportunity.”  

Root said that of the event’s 13 youth attendees, more than half had never been turkey hunting before.  

New York’s youth turkey hunting season opened on April 26^th, and attendees met mentors at a pre-determined location for the hunt. The morning was rainy, but two kids were still able to bag a bird.  

Root is hoping to take out those who couldn’t get a bird during the regular hunting season to give them another chance at a successful harvest. 

After the hunt, everyone was invited to meet at the Norfolk Gun and Rod club for lunch, prizes and to celebrate a day well spent in the woods.  

“I think it is important to expose kids to hunting with a quality experience and let them be the judge if this sport is for them,” Root said. “You don't always fill your tags, but they just need to see for themselves what nature has to offer.”