Nebraskaland

August-September 2024 • Nebraskaland 35 Safety and Ethics Hunting incidents didn't only involve city dwellers. Russ Mort of Nebraska City has been a Game and Parks conservation offi cer for 47 years. Like many of his classmates at Pawnee City High School, he grew up on a farm, had experience with guns and spent time hunting. His father, however, wouldn't let him hunt with other kids. "He was always scared of me getting hurt," Mort said. "He said, 'I doubt if you will shoot yourself, but your friend might shoot you.'" The Mentored Youth Hunt Program Endures Some kids grow up hunting with their parents, grandparents or other family members. Others become interested through other means, be it a friend, something they read, or something they saw on TV or the internet. Both are required to complete a Hunter Education class. When that task is complete, one of those kids can head back to the field. The other might have no place to hunt, and no one to take them. Since 1995, Game and Parks and its partners have been helping Hunter Education graduates take that next step with its mentored youth hunt program, allowing them to spend time in the field with experienced hunters. The program began in March 1995 at Pheasant Haven Shooting Preserve near Elkhorn. Announcements were sent to 800 recent graduates, and 300 youths applied for 45 spots, illustrating the need for such a program. They learned about pheasants, shot clay targets and had a chance to hunt live birds. That December, five youths were selected to participate in an archery deer hunt on the Lincoln Water System well field near Ashland. Wes Sheets, then wildlife division administrator with Game and Parks and a Hunter Education instructor since 1974, helped organize that first deer hunt and has been mentoring young archers ever since. Last fall, he mentored youths on nearly 50 hunts at the age of 84. Sheets remembers some youths who would beg to go hunting 25 times a year. He still hears from some of the young hunters he mentored, some just calling to let him know about a recent hunt or the bird dog they got and trained. "When those stories come along, you just love them because you know you had an impact by putting them in a tree stand a bunch of times," Sheets said. "Some of the best days of my life have been building relationships with those young people." The mentored hunt program has grown substantially since. Hunter Education staff continues to organize archery and muzzleloader deer hunts. Pheasants Forever, a partner in that first mentored hunt, has had more than 16,000 youths attend its youth mentor pheasant and dove hunts since 1996. More recently, it has offered a Next Steps program to pair young hunters and a family member with an experienced hunter to pursue wild birds. Game and Parks conservation officers have organized many turkey, waterfowl and other hunts. Several National Wild Turkey Federation and Ducks Unlimited chapters offer learn-to-hunt programs, as well. "These programs let Hunter Education graduates put to use what they learn in the course in actual hunting situations," said Aaron Hershberger, mentor hunt coordinator. "For the ones who don't have the contacts or resources to do it on their own, that's really important." Now the mentoring program has expanded to help another type of Hunter Education graduate take their first steps in the field: adults. LearnHunting.org, an innovative program developed by Nebraska and other states, pairs new hunters with certified Hunter Education instructors who teach them more outdoor skills, including things like setting up a tree stand, field dressing game and taking them hunting. "These people have the knowledge, skills and abilities to mentor and to be some of the best mentors in the world," Rawlinson said. "Some instructors are really liking that. It's almost hunter ed in its truest form, taking someone hunting." by Eric Fowler Since 1974, instructor Wes Sheets has been mentoring students like Grant Stutzman, shown here with the buck he harvested in 2022 on City of Lincoln property.

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