Posted at: 10/20/2012 10:02 PM
Updated at: 10/20/2012 11:34 PM
By: Brittany Lewis
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Email to a FriendField Day Teaches Kids Hunting Techniques
(ABC 6 News) -- Hunting can be a fun and relaxing sport, but potentially dangerous if not done right. That’s why Pheasants Forever and the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association teamed up for the Fifth Annual Fall Field Day. Kids from the Albert Lea area spent the day learning techniques and safety.
Above the brush and behind the branches stood the target. Arrow after arrow, coyotes, pheasants and deer were hit. The chirping of birds was muffled by the sound of gun shots. The hunters were close to 30 kids from the Albert Lea area.
"We're learning how to hunt, learning all of the techniques,” said 13-year-old, Cody Ball.
Some kids were experts.
"Deer, pheasant, duck, I went to Wyoming this year for antelope and I got one,” said Ball.
Some were just starting out.
“My dad did it when he was a kid and he said it was really fun and it just made me interested,” said Shyan Close.
The hope was to teach the kids strategy and the importance of safety.
"We have to make sure kids understand what how guns can kill people and they also kill animals, but how they're a good resource for people to use when it's time,” said Mark Fenstermacher, the Chapter President of South Central Pheasants Forever.
By teaching kids how to build a fire and how to get in and out of a tree stand properly, the goal was not only to teach the kids how to hunt, but to pass on the desire to hunt.
"If late in the afternoon, you see that buck coming across the field and he's coming toward you and towards you and you know he can hear your heart beat, it's getting so loud, there's nothing you can do to replace it. There's no drug, no alcohol, none of that can replace it,” said Bob Ball.
Many of the hunters, dressed in camouflage, were able to be very hands on; learning how dogs sniff out pheasants, and even getting a shot at them.
“Unless we spend some time with these folks and learn how to handle themselves outside, they won't enjoy what nature is all about,” said Fenstermacher.
Some of the kids participating were as young as four. Organizers say bringing kids out hunting teaches them the value of the land.
