To apply, send a post card with the both the hunters and mentors names, ages, address(s) and phone number(s) to: 2001 Youth Hunt, C/O Rydell National Wildlife Refuge, Rural Route 3, Box 105, Erskine, MN 56635. Applications must be received by July 30, 2001 to be considered. Twenty-five hunters will be selected to participate and successful applicants will be notified by Aug. 10.
Each selected hunter will be required to attend a certified whitetail deer hunting clinic to be held at Rydell National Wildlife Refuge on Sept. 8 and 9. Clinic hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. The goal of this clinic is to provide young hunters with information on the habitats and biology of deer, as well as hunter safety information and hunting techniques. Topics to be covered include: role of the mentor, photography, management responsibility of hunters, tracking, range estimation, firearm use (safety, sighting-in, shot groups, etc.), land navigation, hunting principles and techniques and field-dressing deer. After completing the course each student will have the basic skills required to participate in a safe and successful deer hunt. A $5.00 fee will be collected to cover the cost of a 91-page handbook each participant will receive. This course is required. Failure to attend will eliminate the student from the deer hunt. Mentors are required to attend this training with the hunter and may purchase the handbook and take the class for credit.
If hunters do not have an adult mentor who can attend the training and hunt, the refuge staff will try to find a volunteer. Please contact the refuge if you are interested in volunteering for this or other refuge events.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 520 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
For further information about programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our website at http://midwest.fws.gov
