On Saturday afternoon October 25, 2014, the Williams County Chapter of Pheasants Forever held their first annual Ohio opening youth hunt and it was an outstanding success.
Headed up by Jayson Scantlen the chapter invited 8 hunters from ages 12 thru 15 to go out hunting and experience the thrill of being in the field while a birddog works the field to find what they were there for, Pheasant, and to have the opportunity to be in on the flush and perhaps place a pheasant in the back of their coat.
Kevin Carlin and Jayson Scantlen both provided the dog handling and the dogs to make the day one that won’t soon be forgotten. It was a beautiful day in the field with a blue sky and cool breeze, which only added to the fun.
The shooters got in a little warm up with clay targets from a thrower to take the edge off before getting started. While the warm up was going in birds were being planted in the fields full of cover to get ready for the start.
Chili, cookies and drinks were provided by PF and prepared by the highly acclaimed Joni Scantlen. Good food kept everyone full and happy while they waited their turn to hunt.
Before anyone got started hunting for the day, a safety talk was held to remind everyone about safe shooting zones, safe gun handling at all times, safe gun carries and if there were problems, what to do and what to expect while out in the field. Each hunter had someone with them in the field to help and find them when they were in the tall grass.
Of the 7 hunters, 2 were girls. They showed that they could hold their own in the field, both in hunting and shooting. Most of the hunters had received their hunter education training in previous classes hosted by Pheasants Forever.
A total of 22 roosters were released into the field for the kids to hunt. Not all birds were put to bag, but all kids put birds into the bag.