If there’s one thing about anti-hunters that I find particularly galling, it’s their never-ending quest to tell other people how they should live their lives.

If someone does not want to hunt, I have no problem with that.

What I DO have a problem with is someone telling me that I should not hunt because they disagree with it. Anti-hunters love to sit in their moral high towers pontificating on the morality of a tradition they know nothing about.

Such was the case in a Feb. 4 letter to the South Florida Sun Sentinel expressing outrage over an article about a 9-year-old girl who recently killed her first deer. The author of that letter, Bruce Martin, M.D., of Boca Raton, said that getting pleasure from killing an animal is “an expression of a moral sickness or depravity.”

“You described a scene that is virtually a study in moral depravity, made exponentially worse by the fact the killer is a 9-year-old girl,” Martin writes. “If the hunting and killing of such a majestic, serene animal were not bad enough, the depiction of a father teaching a young child to enjoy causing such a death takes it well into the next level, into the realm of the truly repulsive and shocking. What kind of callous, morally bereft individual would feel ‘overwhelming joy’ upon seeing his little daughter get pleasure and titillation from killing?

“Most people would be horrified by the prospect of their children expressing such a lack of sensitivity and heartlessness. The father describes the scene as ‘priceless.’ I describe it as abhorrent.”

In short, Martin doesn’t like hunting and thinks that anyone who disagrees with him is amoral, sick, etc.

He apparently can’t see the value of the time that father and daughter spent together outdoors, the lessons passed from one generation to the next, or the memories that will last them a lifetime.

Sadly, it’s likely he never will.

But Martin also said something so intellectually bankrupt that I can’t believe it came from a doctor.

He writes, “The need for hunting and killing of animals is obviously a debatable topic. Two common justifications used by hunters is that it is a sport, and that the hunter eats the animal after killing it. But in today's world, one no longer needs to kill an animal himself in order to eat. There is no shortage of meat in our supermarkets.” [Emphasis mine.]

How can a doctor of all people not see the absurdity of that statement? So, if I understand him correctly, he believes that hunting and killing a wild animal for sustenance is immoral, but purchasing and consuming the meat of a domesticated animal is morally acceptable?

Both involve the taking of life. The only difference is that the wild animal (aside from not having been injected with hormones) lived a free-ranging life, while the domesticated animal was born and raised inside a fence for the sole purpose of becoming someone’s dinner.

Martin goes on to say that getting any sort of enjoyment out of killing an animal is wrong. If that’s the case, then isn’t enjoying a pre-packaged steak one bought at the story equally immoral?

That’s another thing I find infuriating about anti-hunters: the hypocrisy of their arguments.

By Corky Pugh, Executive Director of the Hunting Heritage Foundation

With 2012 marking the 75th anniversary of the Pittman-Robertson Act, now is a good time to take a look at some of the things that have made this hunter-funded wildlife restoration program so effective. This landmark program, enacted by congress in 1937, has provided millions of dollars to the states for work aimed at enhancing wildlife populations and habitats. Funding is derived from federal excise taxes on firearms and ammunition, paid at the manufacturers’ level. Money for approved projects is apportioned to each state annually based essentially on the number of licensed hunters in the state. The projects and work activities are funded on a 3 to 1 basis, providing 3 federal dollars for each state hunting license dollar.

In this era of dire economic times for state governments across the country, elected officials face daunting challenges in finding ways to fund essential governmental services. Some are tempted to dip into any fund that carries a positive balance in order to find money. A few look at the Game and Fish Fund with dollar signs in their eyes. Not only is this short-sighted in terms of adversely affecting the state’s ability to sustain wildlife and fisheries resources that provide the base upon which hunting and fishing and the related huge economic engine depend, but it is illegal. Thankfully, our money, as hunters and anglers, is protected from such raids by both a provision of the Pittman-Robertson Act (P-R) and a provision of the Alabama Constitution.

Carl Shoemaker, an attorney and journalist, is referred to by some as the “father” of the P-R program. Shoemaker began his career as an attorney in Ohio, later tiring of the profession and moving to Oregon and becoming owner and publisher of the Roseburg Evening News. His interest in conservation matters eventually led to his appointment as head of the Oregon Fish and Game Commission. Shoemaker frequently travelled to Washington, D.C. on state business, and learned his way around. In 1930, he was appointed special investigator for the newly-created U.S. Senate Special Committee on Conservation of Wildlife Resources.

Shoemaker wrote the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration bill, and did the necessary work in Washington to secure legislative sponsors. Shoemaker called Congressman A. Willis Robertson of Virginia and invited him to lunch in the Senate Dining Room. Robertson was chair of the House Select Committee on Conservation of Wildlife Resources. Before being elected to Congress, Robertson had headed the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries Commission.

Shoemaker and Robertson met for lunch, and Shoemaker handed Robertson a copy of the bill to read. Robertson read the bill and asked Shoemaker for a pencil. He inserted a short clause, and said, “With this amendment I have inserted I will gladly introduce the bill in the House.”

The words Robertson inserted made the bill foolproof, prohibiting the states from tampering with or diverting their own hunting license dollars and receiving the federal matching funds provided by the bill. What he wrote following the enacting clause itself, read, “…and which shall include a prohibition against the diversion of license fees paid by hunters for any other purpose than the administration of said State fish and game department…”

Robertson’s experience on the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries Commission had taught him that state legislatures, in that era, were not above taking hunting and fishing license receipts from state game and fish agencies and using them for other purposes. This was a common occurrence in those days, but Robertson put a stop to it with 29 penciled-in words. Those simple, straightforward words have meant many millions of dollars for wildlife conservation work over the past three-quarters of a century.

In order to qualify for funding under the Act, states were required to pass legislation “assenting” to the provisions of Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration, specifically Robertson’s 29 words. Within 12 months of the passage of the Act, 43 of the 48 states had passed the required “assent legislation”, prohibiting the use of hunting license revenue for any purpose other than to operate the wildlife agency. In time, the remaining states passed the required legislation, with all states then becoming eligible to receive 3-to-1 matching funds for wildlife work.

In the late 1960’s the Alabama Senate raided the Game and Fish Fund, attempting to divert hunting and fishing license moneys to other purposes. In a groundswell of public outrage from hunters, fishermen, landowners, and people in general who recognized the importance of the issue, a Constitutional Amendment was adopted by an overwhelming margin. Amendment 272 of the Alabama Constitution makes it very clear that our hunting and fishing license moneys can only be spent for the purposes of managing and protecting fish and wildlife resources.

In these challenging economic times, we should all be both thankful and ever-vigilant. We should be thankful that the program of state government that provides the resource base upon which hunting and fishing depend stands on its own bottom financially and is protected from political tinkering. We should be ever-vigilant in order to assure that things stay this way. To do anything less invites trouble for the incredibly wonderful hunting and fishing opportunities in Alabama and for the resultant benefits economically and societally.

The Hunting Heritage Foundation (HHF) is an Alabama non-profit organization established in 2011. To see what HHF stands for, go to the organization’s website at www.huntingheritagefoundation.com. You can also write to them at P.O. Box 242064, Montgomery, AL 36124, or send an e-mail to corkypugh@mindspring.com.

Corky Pugh is the former director of the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division and past president of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Having retired from Alabama’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division last December, Pugh is now executive director of the Hunting Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organization he formed to build participation in and support of hunting. This is the third in a series of monthly columns by Pugh titled, “Our Outdoor Heritage.”

Today we’re turning the blog over to Corky Pugh, former director of the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division and past president of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Pugh, who retired from Alabama’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division last December, is now executive director of the Hunting Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organization he formed to build participation in and support of hunting. Starting this week, Pugh will be writing a monthly column through his foundation titled “Our Outdoor Heritage.” The first of those columns is below and focuses on the 75th anniversary of the Pittman-Robertson Act.

By Corky Pugh, Executive Director, Hunting Heritage Foundation

2012 marks the 75th anniversary of the passage of the Pittman-Robertson Act, otherwise known as the Wildlife Restoration Act. All the abundant wildlife we enjoy today would not be here but for this congressional act passed in 1937.

Sen. A. Willis Robertson of Virginia, along with other leaders in the early stages of America’s great conservation movement, had the foresight and vision to create a funding mechanism that has been at the heart of Alabama’s and every other state’s programs to bring back wildlife populations. In the 1920s and early ‘30s, most game species were nearly extinct. There were few hunting laws or regulations, and year-round, mostly unregulated hunting had taken its toll. Sharecropper cabins dotted the landscape every 40 acres or so and, to the starving inhabitants, a deer taken by torchlight in February was meat for the table. Six or eight young turkeys killed with one shot from a blind at the end of a corn-filled trench in June were that many frying-size birds for the table.

The impact of this year-round, practically unregulated and widely distributed wanton slaughter combined with habitat loss and market hunting to meet demands for meat, fur, and feathers led to virtual decimation of many species.

Robertson’s plan, with the support of prominent hunters and the arms and ammunition industry, was to dedicate an 11 percent excise tax on guns and ammo, collected federally at the manufacturers’ level, to wildlife management. This “new money” was apportioned to the states to foster the emerging work of wildlife management on a 3:1 matching basis. Three federal dollars were made available to match each dollar of state hunting license revenue for work on approved wildlife restoration projects.

Wildlife biology was an emerging profession, and little scientific research or knowledge related to wildlife existed. The challenges were great. Habitat work was needed. States had to adopt and enforce effective hunting laws and regulations. Massive educational campaigns were necessary to shift public sentiment from wanton waste to wise use.

The first hunting laws in Alabama had been passed by Sen. John Wallace from Huntsville. In the next session of the legislature, 66 of Alabama’s 67 counties were exempted by local legislation, leaving only Wallace’s home county of Madison affected. But Wallace and others did not give up easily, and slowly public sentiment shifted toward conservation of natural resources. Through the cooperative efforts of hunters, landowners and wildlife professionals (biologists and conservation enforcement officers alike) huntable populations of deer, turkey, and other wildlife were restored to the landscape.

This is a huge conservation success story of which we can all be very proud. Eleven percent of every dollar spent for hunting arms or ammunition has been put to good use by the states in restoring and sustaining the resource base that supports millions of man-days of recreational hunting and billions of dollars of related economic impact every year.

The Hunting Heritage Foundation (HHF) is an Alabama non-profit organization established in 2011. To see what HHF stands for, go to the organization’s website at www.huntingheritagefoundation.com. You can also write to them at P.O. Box 242064, Montgomery, AL 36124, or send an e-mail to corkypugh@mindspring.com.  

Commenting on the final hours of the California state legislative session, the Sept. 4th edition of the Sacramento Bee reported that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) was handing out checks to lawmakers who supported the HSUS-backed SB 1221, a bill that would ban the use of hounds for bear and bobcat hunting.

The Bee's take:

"Whenever the houses were meeting, lobbyists clogged the hallways, buttonholing legislators and their aides to make their arguments. When there were breaks, many – but not all – legislators scurried to watering holes across from the Capitol to raise money from interest groups that were seeking their votes.

"The insurance industry had various bills pending. It gave out six-figure donations to key legislators or candidates. The Humane Society sought a ban on a certain kind of hunting, and handed out $1,000 donations, too. So it went."

I would not put it past HSUS to bribe any elected official for a supportive vote, although admittedly it can be hard to prove that a contribution is a bribe as opposed to a donation. But if the Bee's report is true, the suggestion that HSUS offered a cash reward in return for a specific service is not hard to believe. And if we add this story to the lies and misinformation HSUS has already put out regarding this bill, it ought to clarify for anyone how unethical HSUS's tactics are.

As if we needed more proof.

If you were making a reality TV series called "Ultimate Survivor Alaska," would you want someone on it who had hunting experience? I would, and National Geographic, the producers of the show, actually did, too, and signed up well-known outdoor writer and TV host Melissa Bachman. One could hardly have picked a better person.

Then they fired her after a viral Internet petition gathered the names of 13,000 protestors, led by animal rightists who decried the employment of a -- dare I say it -- "trophy hunter."

There are many aspects of this issue we could discuss and we've already linked to a good article that does so. For example, what is wrong with "trophy hunting" and why do animal rights groups get so much sympathy when they use the term? How does one define it, anyway? Why would National Geographic back down to animal rightists' protests when a show about surviving Alaska might, just possibly, have to involve something like hunting or fishing in a survival situation? If it doesn't, I don't think it qualifies as survival at all. Finally, when a group as well-known as National Geo fires one hunter, they insult all hunters--many of whom are (or were) no doubt members of the National Geographic Society. Shame on NGS.

But the main aspect to me is that we are all giving too much credence to the importance of a TV show. TV is entertainment. Sure, there are very good, educational documentaries one can actually learn from--and National Geographic has made plenty of them. But a reality TV show is just not something I am going to turn to for guidance in shaping my opinion about anything.

All the protestors really wanted was to draw some attention. I doubt they really expected National Geo to cave in. Doing so gave those idiots a credibility they don't have, and maybe that's the greatest danger here. When elected officials vote on hunting issues, will they now look at National Geographic's fear of antis as a fear they should share? If enough hunters let National Geo know they made the wrong decision here, perhaps not. Send your opinions to: comments@natgeochannel.com.

As antlers begin to harden, the weather cools, and the days grow shorter, our minds naturally turn to hunting season.

Even if you don’t have any hunting trips booked, it’s not too late to plan an adventure for this fall. Nor is it too early to start looking ahead to next year.

NRA Outdoors, a new hunt-booking and planning service available to NRA Members, is offering two incredible specials that are just too good to pass up.

Hog Heaven

Greg Ray, President of NRA Outdoors, along with outdoor writer Brian McCombie and tactical guru/photographer extraordinaire Jonathan Owen from SHWAT (Special Hog Weapons and Tactics) just finished a hog hunt in Texas, and the NRA Outdoors outfitter they hunted with is offering an unbeatable price on hog hunts.

During the month of September only, the outfitter is offering weekday hog hunts (Monday through Thursday) for just $600 per person! This includes two nights lodging, two days of hunting (actually NIGHT hunting) and all meals during your stay.

“We enjoyed incredible home cooked meals, comfortable lodging, and more than 100,000 acres to hunt,” Greg said. “Plus, the bonus is we saw more than 300 hogs in two days of hunting!”

Interested hunters will need to contact Greg (918-407-2586 or greg@nraoutdoors.com) right away to reserve their spots for this hunt. Hunters must be in pairs for this special.

Hunt Elk, Win a Weatherby

The second special is a 2013 Wyoming elk hunt with a special twist courtesy of Weatherby and Kryptek gear.

Not only will you have the opportunity to hunt some of the best elk country America has to offer, but you will also have a 1 in 8 opportunity to participate in a long-range shooting contest where the winner will take home a Weatherby Mark V Accumark rifle chambered in .338-378 Wby. Mag.—along with gear provided by Kryptek!

The hunt is with R&K Hunting Company and includes five full days of guided rifle hunting, accommodations in an 8,000-square-foot lodge, chef-prepared meals, airport and on-mountain transportation, and game prep. Hunt dates are October 14-20, 2013. Rates are as follows: 1x1 - $7,500; 2x1 - $6,750.

NRA Outdoors will help members with their Wyoming applications, and the purchase of a preference point by September 2012 will guarantee the draw of your tag. Only eight spots are available for this once-in-a-lifetime hunt.

For more information on this hunt or to book your spot, call 888-712-NRAO (6726), send an e-mail to info@nraoutdoors.com, or visit www.nraoutdoors.com.

More information on both hunts, as well as other opportunities available through NRA Outdoors, is available at http://blog.nraoutdoors.com/.

Also, be sure to check out NRA Outdoors’ Facebook page (www.facebook.com/NRAOutdoors) for the latest news, along with information on future specials and even trip giveaways.

Several states—Illinois, Iowa and Ohio, just to name a few—ban deer hunters from using centerfire rifles.

These relatively flat, Midwestern states mandate that gun hunters use shotguns with slugs (or muzzleloaders) on the premise that slugs are safer because they can’t travel as far as a centerfire round.

But is that really true?

American Hunter’s Jeff Johnston examined this issue in his latest BullShooters blog. His findings: Rifle bans are unjustified.

Find out why here: Are Shotguns Safer Than Rifles?

It’s really important to check your hunting regulations every year for that little section that says something like, “What’s New for 2012.” Here are just a few new laws we noticed from Kansas. (Note: this is a partial list only of new regs. Click here for a more complete summary.)

For example, note that you will now be in violation of the law if you fail to mark your tree stand with your name and address, or KDWPT number, when hunting on public land. That’s a new, one-sentence regulation that could get you fined if you don’t happen to read it.

On the up side, I’m personally glad to see Kansas and other states making attempts to open up crossbow hunting. Yes, like many hunting issues this one can be divisive, but if it creates more opportunities, particularly for anyone who, because of age of physical problems can’t handle a compound or recurve bow, then I’m for it.

Some other new laws in Kansas:

Big game animals

Crossbows may be used during the archery season by hunters who possess a youth big game permit valid during the archery season and hunters 55 and older who possess a big game permit valid during the archery season.

In a two-year pilot project, any person with an archery or any season deer permit valid in deer management units 1, 12, 15, and 19 may use a crossbow during deer archery season, regardless of age or disability. Each person age 16 through 54 shall obtain a free crossbow hunter survey number from the KDWPT website before hunting with a crossbow during archery season.

Public lands (including WIHA)

Commercial guides must have a permit, available on the KDPWT website, to guide on public lands. The permit is free and must be specific to the land where guiding takes place.

Baiting while hunting or preparing to hunt is illegal on public lands.

Only two portable blinds or tree stands are allowed per hunter.

Portable blinds may not be left unattended overnight.

Tree stands and portable blinds must be marked with the owner’s name and address or KDWPT number.

Decoys may not be left unattended overnight.

Upland Game

Prairie chicken hunters must purchase a $2.50 prairie chicken permit before harvesting a bird this fall.

NRA wrapped up its 27th annual International Youth Hunter Education Challenge (YHEC) last month in northern Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1985 as an advanced hunter education program, no program (outside of conventional hunter safety classes) has reached more young hunters (more than a million) than YHEC has over the past 27 years.

A complete YHEC tests a young hunter’s marksmanship skills, safety awareness, and ethics. But what is a YHEC, really? Below is an event-by-event, nuts-and-bolts breakdown of the YHEC program—with a bit of perspective from the people who have helped make the program so successful. As you’ll see, YHEC is not your average hunter ed program.

Muzzleloader Challenge

When you ask folks what makes NRA’s YHEC program so special, the answer is always the same: the people. And one man in particular, Pennsylvania’s Charlie Fox, represents all that is good about YHEC.

Charlie is one of two people (fellow Keystone Stater Bill Bower is the other) who have attended every single International YHEC event since the program’s inception in 1985. “I’ve hung around this long because the kids are an absolute pleasure to be with,” Charlie said.

Charlie is the event director for the Muzzleloader Challenge at the International YHEC, an event that tests the kids’ knowledge of and proficiency with blackpowder firearms. Using any flintlock, percussion cap or 209 primer-type muzzleloading rifle (.54 caliber or smaller), participants fire a total of 15 shots at metal knock-down targets. Five shots are fired at each of three distances: short, medium and long range.

“Because we try to simulate hunting conditions, we don’t tell them the exact distance,” said Charlie, who noted that each shot is worth 10 points for a total possible score of 150. The balance of the scoring for the event is determined by a 150-point examination consisting of 30 true/false questions relating to the safe use and maintenance of muzzleloading firearms.

Every member of Charlie’s volunteer crew—who call themselves the “Blackpowder Gang”—has a minimum of 10 years of experience at YHEC. Many of those volunteers have been associated with the program for 20 years or more. Charlie says he and his fellow volunteers are so committed to the program because of the quality of the kids they are able to mentor.

“When the day is finished, more than 300 competitors will have fired more than 22,000 shots,” he said. “I have not heard one bad word. I have not heard anyone be disrespectful. These are the finest, best trained young people in the country when it comes to the shooting sports. I don’t know how you can say it any better than that.”

Hunter Safety Trail

Studying hunter safety in a classroom is one thing. Applying it in the field is a different animal altogether.

On the Hunter Safety Trail, participants navigate a 300-point course filed with real-life safety scenarios commonly encountered by hunters in the field. Do I unload my rifle and hand it to a hunting buddy before crossing that fence? Do I shoot that buck if he’s at the crest of a hill with no backstop? Is it legal (and ethical) to shoot a sow black bear with cubs? These questions and others like them are encountered along the trail.

“The Hunter Safety Trail is meant to evaluate the skills learned in hunter safety classes,” said Jennifer Morgan, Hunter Safety Trail event director at the International YHEC. “We focus on firearm safety, ethics and responsibility. We evaluate them as if they were out hunting in the real world.”

Morgan, who is the hunter education program coordinator for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, took over as Hunter Safety Trail event director in 2009. Her affiliation with the YHEC program goes back much longer, however, due to her passion for hunting and commitment to passing on her knowledge to new hunters.

“Hunting is a privilege and we need to preserve that privilege—not just for this generation but for many generations to come,” said Morgan, who is also active with the New Mexico state YHEC event. “If we don’t get these kids hunting and shooting, then hunting has no future.

“It takes a lot of time to train these kids, but it’s worth the investment.”

Rifle Challenge

Being a crack shot with a rifle is perhaps the quintessential characteristic of a good hunter. Legend has it that frontiersman Davy Crockett was given only one bullet a day by his father to go hunting. If his aim was true, he and his family ate that day. If he missed, they went hungry.

While hunters today are unlikely to go to bed hungry if they miss, marksmanship ability remains one of the most enduring marks of a good hunter. The YHEC rifle event puts youngsters’ rifle skills to the ultimate test on a 30-shot, six-station course designed to simulate hunting-type shots. The shots are fired at spinner targets at ranges varying from 10 to 75 yards. Participants use .22s with either open sights or scopes, but they are not given the range to their target, and they are told what type of shooting position is permissible for each station.

It is quite an accomplishment when a youngster is able to run the table and card a perfect 300 score. International YHEC event director Lenny Rees, a retired hunter education administrator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, says the time kids put in practicing and becoming better shooters teaches them lessons that not only prepare them for the field, but everyday life.

“YHEC really teaches kids life skills,” said Rees, who has run the rifle event at the International YHEC for the past 17 years. “First of all, to be able to handle winning, but, more importantly, how to handle times when things might not go as well as you had hoped. It also teaches young people how to concentrate and focus on what they’re doing, especially here on the .22 range. These are things that stick with a kid for a lifetime.”

Those life lessons learned through shooting are one of the major reasons why YHEC produces kids who are first-rate shots—and even better people.

Orienteering

Most young hunters today have no clue what a compass is, yet alone how to use one. Not so with YHEC kids.

The old-time skills of reading a map and compass are being kept alive through YHEC’s orienteering challenge, which requires youngsters to navigate a pre-determined field course using only compass bearings and distances (and not a GPS). There’s also a written portion to the challenge that involves map reading and identifying map symbols and vocabulary, such as contour lines, scale and declination.

“Over the years I’ve seen the scores climb,” said Bill Bower, who has overseen the orienteering event at the International YHEC for most of its 27 years. “It’s a lot like schoolwork, and the kids are putting in the time to learn it. Usually, the overall winners of the Youth Hunter Education Challenge are the ones who excel in the responsibility exams, such as orienteering.”

Bower has attended all 27 International YHECs that have been held since the program was started by NRA in 1985. He is also a retired wildlife conservation officer from the Pennsylvania Game Commission with 35 years of service. It’s a common theme for YHEC volunteers to stick with the program for so long because they see how valuable it is to recruiting and retaining the next generation of hunters. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the program, Bower says.

“The value of YHEC is that it produces card-carrying hunters,” said Bower. “Ninety percent of kids who attend youth field days held by other organizations probably won’t become hunters and shooters. The YHEC program, I believe, is really making hunters and shooters.

“Hunter numbers are dropping. This is the type of program all states and all hunters should be involved in to recruit new hunters.”

Wildlife Identification

Identifying a gray squirrel, raccoon or Canada goose sounds pretty easy, right? Most hunters—and even non-hunters—know what these animals look like. But what if you were given 30 specimens and asked to identify them all by just their skulls, pelts, wings or tracks? Sounds a bit more difficult, doesn’t it?

That’s exactly what the participants are asked to do in the Wildlife Identification event.

“The point of the Wildlife Identification challenge is to get the kids excited about wildlife, learning more about wildlife, and build their appreciation for it,” said Travis Casper, Wildlife Identification event director at the International YHEC and hunter education coordinator for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. “There is reference material for them to study, and it can be anything from there. We’ll show them tracks, pelts, skulls, head mounts, full-body mounts—anything that could be used to identify the species.”

And this is no multiple-choice test. Participants must come up with the name of each species on their own. That’s why the Wildlife Identification event, perhaps more than any other event in the competition, requires participants to do their homework ahead of time.

Having been involved with the YHEC program for 10 years, both nationally and in North Carolina, Casper has seen firsthand how the time spent getting ready for YHEC is helping kids to become better, safer, more dedicated hunters.

“YHEC—in North Carolina we call our state event the North Carolina Youth Hunter Education Skills Tournament—gives kids a structured event for them to learn how to hunt and shoot the right way,” he said. “It’s so important to get kids involved in hunting early on because they’re going to be tomorrow’s stewards. This program is setting kids on the path to continue the hunting heritage.”

Archery Challenge

Harry Street has been involved with the YHEC program for 27 years—almost all of them as the Archery event director at the annual International YHEC.

A retired game warden for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, Street says he’s stuck with the program for so long because he’s enjoyed sharing his hunting knowledge with the competitors and watching them mature through the years.

“I love working with the kids,” he said. “You’re seeing the kids grow up and get involved in an activity that is beneficial to them. It’s rewarding to see kids come through as junior competitors, move up to the senior ranks, and then come back to the YHEC program as coaches.”

Through it all he’s overseen the Archery course, which is always one of the participants’ favorite events.

“The kids really seem to enjoy the archery course because it is so fun to go through,” said Street. “It gives them a lot of perspective. The course consists of 3-D wildlife targets set up in lifelike situations in the woods. The kids move through the course, get to see a lot of different animals, try to judge the yardage to the target, and then make the shot. The kids are great competitors, and they’re always trying for the 10-ring to get the most points.”

Shots on the archery course cover varying distances from 5 to 40 yards, and the shots are designed to simulate common bowhunting situations. Scoring rings are located directly over the animal’s vitals, with any shot placed inside the vital area counting as a hit. The 10-ring is set up as if it were a heart shot, the 8-ring counts as a lung shot, and the 5-ring is just off of the lungs, Street said. The kids have to work hard and practice continually to post high scores, which instills a work ethic that translates not just to hunting, but life in general.

“They have to participate in their local or state YHEC events in order to come to the national event, so they’re working almost all year long to develop their skills for the YHEC tournament,” Street said. “Once the kids get involved with YHEC they just keep going and building their skills. If you get the kids into hunting when they’re young, you can get them into it for life.”

Shotgun Challenge

Most of the core volunteers who help Bob Davis and his staff in NRA’s Hunter Services Department run the International YHEC have been involved with the program for decades. Without these individuals and their years-long commitments, the YHEC program would not be what it is today.

But as some longtime volunteers have begun to retire from active YHEC involvement, new ones have been counted on to take their places. One of those (relatively) new faces is Barry Estep from Troy, Pa., who took over as the Shotgun event director at the International YHEC this year. An eight-year YHEC volunteer, Estep took charge of the event because, as he puts it, “my passion is shotgun shooting.”

He’s also passionate about passing on his love for hunting and shooting to a new generation. “I love to see the kids’ faces when they break a bird,” said Estep. “We have some young kids out here that are in the 11- to 12-year-old range and when they break their birds, they’re just grinning from ear to ear. That just makes you feel good.”

Fired on a six-station “hunter’s clays” course rather than a traditional trap or skeet range, the Shotgun event is designed to simulate running animals or birds in flight. On each station the targets come from different directions and vary in size. Some shots mimic a running rabbit. Others are like a duck coming in overhead. And still others are low, outgoing targets that simulate a flushing quail.

“It’s all hunting-type targets being thrown,” Estep said.

Outside of conventional hunter education courses, no program is doing more than YHEC to prepare young hunters for the field. The program is geared 100 percent to mentoring young hunters and fostering their growth in the sport. For any hunter interested in giving of his or her time to make a difference, there’s no better place to start than becoming a YHEC volunteer.

“The YHEC program is so important because these kids are the future of hunting and the shooting sports—and the NRA. I look at this as a training tool and an information tool for tomorrow’s hunters and shooters,” said Estep, who is also involved with the Pennsylvania state YHEC program.

“A friend of mine who had never been to YHEC stopped by today, and even though I had talked to him about YHEC in the past, he was amazed by the quality of the events and the way the kids handled themselves. He said he’s going to consider coming back and volunteering when YHEC comes back to Pennsylvania in two years.”

NRA’s YHEC program is made possible by generous contributions from companies like MidwayUSA. To learn more about the YHEC program or to get involved, visit www.nrayhec.org.

The Wisconsin State Journal has reported that as of August 14, 10,025 people had applied for 2,010 wolf hunting permits.

The hunt is schedule to begin Oct. 15 and go through the end of February. The application fee is $10, so about $100,250 has already been raised and all that money will go toward the Wisconsin DNR’s wildlife conservation efforts.

Anti wolf hunting groups have filed lawsuits to stop the hunt, as has become a matter of routine in wolf management.

Ever notice how the antis always to fail to suggest how the DNR might generate all that revenue if the wolf hunt were to be stopped?

Ever see the antis volunteer to come up with that money themselves to put toward conservation?

No, never. More proof that they do not really care about wildlife. They just don’t want anybody to hunt.