The importance of safety was a key element last weekend of the Northwest Missouri chapter of Pheasants Forever when it held a youth hunting event.

The event was composed of four different activities meant to give young hunters an overview of upland bird hunting including habitat management, gun handling, safety issues, and of course the opportunity to put all this into action during an actual real hunt, said Chad McCollough of Pheasants Forever.

The first station included Jim Pierson, a private lands manager with the Conservation Department who performed a habitat walk with the young hunters. Pierson stressed the importance of certain agriculture practices, plant species, quail and pheasant food sources, nesting cover and brood cover..

The youth were then taken to a safety course. After going over safe gun-handling practices and general safety tips while bird hunting, the young hunters were suited up in hunter orange and given non-firing replica firearms. The hunters walked through several hunting scenarios, including coming across another group of hunters. A local MDC agent who walked them through a typical encounter with an agent.

The youths were challenged along the safety course by several volunteers who used Frisbees to simulate flushing pheasants. Different colors were used to represent roosters and hens, and the young hunters were tasked with properly identifying their target and ensuring it was safe to shoot.

The third station involved hands-on wing shooting practice with sporting clays. Each participant was given the opportunity to hone their skills while shooting at a series of 25 clays. Shooting sporting clays was a great way to practice gun handling and safety while getting the kids more comfortable behind a shotgun, McCollough said.

“We split the group up into several smaller groups and our first group of hunters went to the actual hunting station before going to the practice range and unfortunately went 0 for 4 on their shots at actual birds,” McCollough said.

“The same group then went to the clay shooting area and received some instruction and practice. When they returned to the hunting area later, their success rate increased to 75 percent,” he added.

The fourth station placed each of the participants in an actual hunting situation. As they moved through the area behind bird dogs, each hunter was closely supervised by an adult as pheasants were flushed into the air. By the close of the event, McCollough was fairly certain each hunter had successfully taken a bird.

The event took place on Nelson Ridge Reserve east of Maryville. McCollough hopes to make it an annual event and expand it to other areas as Pheasants Forever strives to recruit future generations of outdoorsmen and women.

The event was made possible through the volunteering of time, equipment, birds, property and food which included. Those donating included the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Western State University Wildlife Society, Maryville Elks Lodge, Derr Equipment, Nelson Ridge Reserve and Heartland Game Birds.

McCollough especially wanted to thank MDC Agents Brandon Lyddon and Josh Roller, who are new to Northwest Missouri and were instrumental in making the event a success.

The Northwest Missouri Pheasants Forever Chapter will host its annual banquet Nov. 7 in Maryville. This is the chapter’s main fundraiser, and all money raised through the event is retained locally, where it is spent on habitat improvement, youth programs and public awareness.

For further information on the event, banquet, or becoming a member of Pheasants Forever, contact Chad McCollough at (816) 341-0188 or e-mail them at Treas0707@pfofficers.org.

Outdoors correspondent Jeff Leonard can be

reached at outdoors@npgco.com