Youth-only hunts

Teen has had success, hopes for more

Hunter Vanessa Orf

Fourteen-year-old Vanessa Orf of Marthasville, Mo., last year bagged her first deer on a managed youth-only hunt. She's already submitted her entry in a lottery to participate again this year.

The Missouri Department of Conservation schedules a number of youth-only hunting opportunities for kids 11 to 15. Now is the time to arrange to get your hunting license and to sign up for the 2007 hunts.

This year's youth-only hunting opportunities involve deer, doves, rabbits, upland game birds and waterfowl.

(To get detailed information about the youth-only hunts, visit www.mdc.mo.gov. Then, click on the "managed hunts" icon.

(The first thing to do is qualify for your state hunting license. To do that, you need to take a series of hunter education classes. For a schedule of classes near you, visit the state website or call the MDC regional office at (636) 441-4554.)

Joel Porath is the MDC wildlife regional supervisor for the St. Louis area. He said the managed youth-only hunts "provide Missouri kids with the chance to experience hunting with a trained mentor." MDC personnel conduct hunting clinics before each hunt.

The youth-only hunts are held in specific areas and MDC staff personnel are available to help them with any questions they have.

For instance, in the St. Louis area, youth-only deer hunting areas are at the Busch Conservation Area as well as the Weldon Springs and Columbia Bottoms areas. This year's youth-only deer season will be Oct. 27 and 28. A deer-hunting clinic will be offered in all three places on Oct. 13, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sign-up for youth deer-hunting lottery started July 1 and will continue to Aug. 15.

Mr. Porath said 60 hunting permits will be issued for both the Busch and Weldon Springs areas. Another 25 permits will be for Columbia Bottoms.

If you don't get permits for the youth-only areas, the state also has youth-only dates during the regular hunting seasons. Kids can do their hunting statewide on those dates. Check the state hunting seasons for details.

Other youth-only seasons in specific areas are:

Doves: There are three St. Louis territories. One is at Busch Conservation Area and others are in Lincoln County and Columbia Bottoms. The hunting clinic is Aug. 31 with the hunt on Sept. 1. The permit limit for Busch and Columbia Bottoms is 20 kids each but the Lincoln area has support from 30 to 40 hunters.

Rabbits: Both the Busch and Henges ranges will have rabbit hunting clinics early in 2008. The hunts will be in January and February, 2008.

Upland Game Birds: The Busch range will have a hunting clinic on Oct. 6, 1-5 p.m. with a hunt on Oct. 7, 7a.m. to l p.m. An additional clinic will be Dec. 1, from 1-5 p.m. with the hunt on Dec. 2, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Henges range will have a clinic on Dec. 5, 6-8 p m. with hunting on Dec. 8. The birds to be hunted are pheasants, which have been purchased from game farms specifically for these hunts.

Waterfowl: Busch range will offer waterfowl hunting clinics. Both the dates of the clinics and the hunting season will be established in September after the MDC checks with national bird migration schedules.

Mr. Porath said the hunting permits are awarded based on random drawings. He said in most cases applicants have an equal chance of being selected after the signup period.

However, among dove-hunting applicants, kids seeking a permit for the first time are given precedent, he said. That's because dove hunting is considered to be an excellent breaking-in hunt for first-time hunters.

He said dove-hunting applicants who got permits in previous years still may have a chance if first-time applicants don't get all this year's permits.

Vanessa Orf said her first hunting experience came when she was in 1st grade when she went hunting with her father. When she got her first deer in the youth-only hunt last year, she was using her dad's 30-30 rifle.

She said she has a 12-guage shotgun of her own and uses it for turkey hunting.

She said she's going to do all sorts of deer hunting this year. Besides the youth-only application, she plans to participate in both statewide archery and rifle deer seasons.

In addition, she plans to do rabbit and squirrel hunting this year. Vanessa said she hunts on private land near New Melle.

The teenager will be a 9th grader at Washington (Mo.) High School this fall. She said she'd like a career either as a deer biologist or an interior decorator.