| Youth Pheasant Hunting Adventure at Quail Point By Rocky Ferraro I received an email from one of our club members Dan Timmons in February that there was to be a free youth shoot at the end of the week and that spaces were filling up quick. I immediately emailed him back to make sure there was still an opening left. It seemed like a great offer from the flyer. It was for kids 16 and younger with a hunting license. They got a breakfast, sporting clays and a pheasant hunt all for free. Wow, what a bunch of lucky kids I thought. I had to get the ok and make sure everything lined up. I finally got the ok from my wife and daughters and called Dan back. One important thing about youth activities in general is that I always make sure that they really want to go because the drive is long and it could be longer if they do not want to go. We left early Saturday morning and there really was no traffic to speak of. We arrived at Quail point in about an hour and a half. There was quite a bit of low tulle fog along the way and once we turned off of Zamora road we could not even see quail point. My girls were asking me how they were even going to see the pheasants. I told them that things would be better once they were on the ground hunting. Once we turned into the parking lot we saw it was a sold out event with many a hunter walking around with orange on and many kids with much of the same. A fire was going in the barn to warm our hands by and of course donuts, coffee and juice. What else would you want for breakfast? Also they received a free hat at sign up. This event was sponsored by the Alameda Rod and Gun club and Pheasants Forever. They broke the kids up in 2 groups. One group went out to the 5 stand to shoot clays and the other stayed in the barn to paint decoys. My daughter did not really understand why the decoy painting was a part of this but she went along. Soon I joined her painting decoys. We started talking while painting and ended having fun. I explained to her that some people carve these birds out of wood, paint them and sell them for big $$. Later I told her my decoys at home needed to be painted and needed a little TLC. She volunteered to paint all my decoys. Once the first group was through the 5 stand it was our group’s turn. I have to say I have never been with a group of better behaved kids! It was a real pleasure just being around them. We walked over to our vehicle and got her gun and shells ready. At this age kids change and grow like weeds. The gun I purchased for her a couple of years ago now fits her like a glove. The 5 stand was well thought out and was run by volunteers from the Alameda Rod and Gun Club. I was thankful for the helpful guidance the kids got. This was a good warm up to the next phase, the pheasant hunt. Next we all jumped into the back of a pickup and were driven to one of the fields. This was fun I haven’t rode in the back of a pickup for quite a while. We were assigned 2 guides per one hunter, Wow another big plus. Parents were to stay behind and the kids were guided in the field so as not to pressure them. So, the kids got their own personal dog handler and their own personal guide. My daughter ended up with 2 pheasants that she was extremely proud of and this definitely sparked a renewed interest in hunting and shooting for her. She also retained what she learned in hunter safety and this I noticed of all the kids they were very safe minded. She also learned how to pheasant hunt by 2 pheasant hunting experts. What more can you ask for. She has always had the bug but opportunities were most of the time slim. At this age this type of hunting is just what they need. Also what many people don’t realize is that here you now have a supporter for gun rights and hunting. This young man or women may turn out to be a very influential person or just a supporter but none the less it is money well spent. In fact all the money we donate to use lobbyists does not buy the support we get when we take a youth hunting and show them a good time. We should make sure that some of the money we contribute to these organizations goes to support these types of programs. Think of it as planting seeds for the future of hunting and fishing. They will reap the rewards of success better and more efficiently than lobbyists. Think of how someone who genuinely supports the sport and is not paid to do so feels about his or her sport. That person will have a much greater passion to support hunting and fishing versus just another mouthpiece. |
| Youth Hunt at Quail Point |
| Foster City Rod and Gun Club |
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| Click To Enlarge Photos |
