(music)
[Narration] One of the best ways for young people to learn
how to become a safe and ethical hunter is through the Texas Youth Hunting Program.
This is a joint project between the Texas Wildlife Association and the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department.
[Ed Huettenmueller] Now we made a big deal yesterday about keeping
the actions open on the firearms.
Everybody knows what we're talking about, with the actions open?
[Narration] It offers youth hunts that are safe, educational
and very affordable.
[Jerry Warden] A lot of our kids have never been on a hunt
before.
A lot of the parents have never hunted and we try to make it very easy, we provide, with
our volunteer base, quality trained personnel that will really, just carry them through
every step of our program, from the time they start the hunt until they've finished it off.
It's about eighty per cent education and about twenty per cent hunting and bonding with parent
and child.
[Kathleen Mount] I got to spend time with my dad.
And it, I learned that our relationship grew a lot more than I thought it would.
It was fun to get to sit in the blind with him and in case the deer came, talk about
what would happen and what we would do and it was really fun.
(quacking calls)
[Huntmaster] Out front!
(gun shots)
[Huntmaster] Good shot.
Send the dog.
[Clay Little] It's kind of an adrenaline rush.
Yeah!
And like, whoa, it surprises you.
[Curtis Little] You just show up.
They have decoys , they have dogs, they have calls.
You know if you don't have duck hunting equipment then you can go and see if duck hunting is
your thing.
[Narration] To participate hunters must be: 9 to 17 years
old, have a valid Texas hunting license and appropriate tags or stamps when required,
and be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Hunters must also provide proof of successfully completing the Hunter Education program for
Texas or another state.
[Rod Landorf] You know, I've always wanted to go deer hunting,
just never had the opportunity, more into playing golf and other things, and never though
my two daughters would really be into it and Kendall took hunter education and in middle
school and came home telling us that she has to harvest a deer.
So we applied to this program and that's why we're here.
[Kendall Landorf] I saw a bunch of bucks, we're doe hunting,
which is female deers and all I saw this morning was male deers.
We heard turkeys.
They were very noisy.
And we heard coyote, a huge pack, like twenty coyote.
(coyotes howling)
[Kendall Landorf] Sitting out there this morning, it makes you
appreciate nature a lot more and seeing all those animals really close, it was a different
experience for me and I really, really enjoyed it.
[Narration] Depending on the type of hunt offered, youths
can hunt deer, turkey, hogs, javelina, exotics, dove, small game, waterfowl, varmints and
other species.
[Mathew Spretz] This is my first hunt and I've, I got a rifle
for Christmas and we took it out to the shooting range and I really enjoyed it.
So we came on a hunt and loved it.
I harvested two deer a spike and a doe.
[Chad Spretz] And I've lived in Texas all my life, I've
always been kind of interested in it but never knew how to get involved or how to learn about
it, don't really have access to land so this program is perfect for a dad like me and a
son who have an interest but not really an avenue to get into it.
We've learned a ton in a couple of days that would allow us to pick this up as a hobby
fairly quickly after this, which was kind of the goal.
Clayton and Chris were very helpful on our last couple of hunts, helping us with everything
from identifying what it was, where to shoot it, all the way through the process, so it
was great.
[Clayton Wolf] Remember how we took a rock last night for
leverage?
[Lyndsie Anderson] This year I shot a doe.
This was actually my very first hunt.
So I shot a doe for the first time on my second time going out there and got to clean it.
I took out everything and then I got to quarter it also.
That was pretty neat.
It was a good experience.
[Justin Dreibelbis] Okay, and then run your knife right here,
and just cut.
[Narration] Normally, the program provides mentors, lodging
and meals.
[Lyndsie Anderson] Thank you.
[Jerry Warden] All right, the pressures on you other three
ladies in the morning, you know that, right?
[Maddie Stidham] I didn't even see anything tonight.
[Kathleen Mount] I've seen seven buck and hopefully I'll see
seven does.
[Bart Wulf] You get some real rewards out of seeing the
kids and how excited they are by the experience and what all they're getting out of it., that
for me at least it makes it well worth it.
[Troy Carsten] And you gotta, gotta kinda strike, kinda sharply.
(clang, clang, clang)
[Lyndsie Anderson] Oh!
(blows) (laughter)
[Troy Carsten] There you go!
There you go!
Don't put it right up to your face.
Hold it up away from your face.
[Lyndsie Anderson] I'm the oldest here, everyone else was younger
than me and we all got really close, really, really quickly actually.
It was pretty shocking but yeah, we all, we're all good friends now.
[Troy Carsten] You're almost there, keep going, keep going,
there you go!
(cheers, clapping)
(music)
[Ed Huettenmueller] I don't have kids of my own but every time
I get take someone and spend some time in the blind with someone on their first hunt,
it's like I, it's like I do have kids and I couldn't enjoy it more.
We enjoy meeting people.
We enjoy the weekends.
Sunday on the trip home is when it always hits me, when I start thinking back, you know,
the people we've met and the experiences we've had on these hunts and it brings me back,
you know, time and time again, so we get out of it much, much more than we put into it.
[Kathleen Mount] We had a blast and it was just so much fun.
[Narration] For more information on available hunts and
how to participate in the program go to the Texas Youth Hunting Program website.