Kids study to get hunting licenses

Matt Davis

Fourteen-year-old Matt Davis wants to be a taxidermist when he grows up. But, so far he hasn’t hunted anything larger than squirrels.

However, after a special conservation day camp in June, he’s ready for bigger things.

Matt was one of 25 kids who attended a Youth Hunter Education Day Camp at the Busch Conservation Area in St. Charles County. Camp instructors taught the kids lots of things, such as hunter safety, wildlife identification and use of various hunting weapons.

At the end of the camp, the kids took a test to certify them for their own Missouri hunting license. Most of the kids taking the course had no hunting experience. (There’s still time to get certification for a license. See sidebar below for July training sessions.)

Carrie Giesen

Davis, who is from O’Fallon, Mo., has hunted for small game. That sort of hunting is allowed as long as a kid “is within 30 yards of a adult licensed hunter,” he said.

But, he and his other classmates wanted to try for bigger game, such as turkeys and deer.

Twelve-year-old Carrie Giesen of Defiance, Mo., hadn’t been hunting. But, after she was certified to have a license, she thought things were going to change.

“I think we’re going to go shopping for hunting equipment,” the seventh grader said. She hopes to get a .22 rifle as well as archery equipment.

Erin Meier

The 4-foot-8-inch Carrie knows she’ll have to settle for some smaller equipment. She said, “Shotguns don’t fit me too well. I can’t reach the trigger.”

Also, she said her brother has archery equipment “but the bow is way to too big for me.”

She doesn’t have to go very far to hunt or fish. “Our land borders on the Busch Conservation area,” she said. Also, she added, “We have a fishing pond on our land.”

During their camp week, the kids got a chance to try out all sorts of different types of hunting equipment. In addition to .22 rifles, there were 20-gauge shotguns, black-powder muzzle-loaders and archery equipment.

Karlos Bledsoe, Jr.

In addition to classroom instruction, they went to the range to fire various weapons.

Thirteen-year-old Erin Meier is from New Melle, Mo. She said, “I liked the muzzle-loader the best.”

The hunter loads that gun by pouring black powder down the barrel, then tamping in a cloth patch and rifle slug. After cocking a lever near the trigger, the rifle is ready to fire.

Erin said, after an instructor showed how to load the rifle, she was able to load it herself.

Eleven-year-old Karlos Bledsoe, Jr., and his dad both will be first-time hunters this fall. The Creve Coeur father and son took the hunter education classes together so they could both qualify for Missouri hunting licenses.

Karlos said being outdoors “is the thing I like the most.”

Ashley Wooden

Although he hasn’t been hunting, he has been fishing at the Busch and at Creve Coeur Lake near his home.

He also said he’s experienced a mishap in the outdoors. “Two years ago, our canoe tipped over,” he said. They were in a stream but were able to reach the shore safely.

Fifteen-year-old Ashley Wooden said she wants her hunting license so she can go deer hunting. She said her family is likely to go hunting out-of-state. She said her dad’s family has a farm in Kentucky.

“The place we hunt is more fields than woods,” Ashley said. Last year, her dad got a deer right where a farm field met the forest.

She said he hopes to hunt ducks and geese also. Her family hunts for birds in Illinois.

Matt Davis said his favorite outdoor experience happened last year. “My brother is in the Air Force and he was home on leave. We went hunting and fishing all one day, from sunrise to sunset,” he said.

He said the two hunted all morning and then, after lunch, fished all afternoon.

Concerning his plans to be a taxidermist, he said he’s started already. From his hunting trip with his brother, he brought back two squirrels.

After skinning the squirrels, he tried to tan the hides. “I tanned the gray squirrel’s hide but I messed up with the red squirrel,” he said.

“Right now, I’m working on a raccoon’s hide,” he said. Matt said preparing the hide for display is a complicated job. He said you have to clean the hide, then tan it, comb out the fur and put the hide on a stretcher before displaying it on the wall.

 

More hunter education classes in July

There’s still time for kids to complete their Missouri Hunter Education Certification Course. A number of classes are being offered in the St. Louis metro area in July.

The certificate is needed before kids can qualify for a Missouri hunting license.

Locations and July dates for area classes are:

Franklin County
     At Union Fire Department, Wednesday, July 21 - Friday, July 23; 6:30 to 10 p.m. each night. For information call
(636) 583-8471.

Jefferson County
     At Jay Henges Training Center, Saturday, July 17 - Sunday, July 18; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. For information call
(636) 441-4554.
     At Jefferson College, Tuesday, July 27 - Saturday, July 31; 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. For information call (636) 797-3000, ext. 144.

Lincoln County
     At University of Missouri Extension, Troy, Friday, July 23 - Saturday, July 24; 6 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday. For information call (636) 665-5374.

St. Charles County
     At St. Charles Community College, Saturday, July 10 - Sunday, July 11; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. For information call
(636) 922-8000.
     At St. Charles Community College, Saturday, July 31 - Sunday, August 1; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. For information call
(636) 922-8000.

St. Louis County
     At Florissant Valley Community College, Saturday, July 10 - Sunday, July 11; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. For information call
(314) 595-4444.
     At Meramec Community College, Saturday, July 10 - Sunday, July 11; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. For information call
(314) 984-7777.
     At Forest Park Community College, Saturday, July 17 - Sunday, July 18; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. For information call
(314) 644-9175.
     At Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, Saturday, July 17 - Sunday, July 18; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. For information call (314) 301-1500.
     At Florissant Valley Community College, Saturday, July 31 - Sunday, August 1; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. For information call
(314) 595-4444.