KGOC Annual Upland Bird Hunt A Success

Each year youth from the King George region are selected and then invited to try their hand at hunting. These youth first have to take Hunter Education. This first step has two purposes. First, all of our hunters MUST learn how to be safe while afield and they have to show a serious interest in trying hunting.
Our club offers a handful of hunting and shooting opportunities to include an introductory fun shoot for both youth and their parents if they are new to shooting. We often will have a mentored and structured goose hunt for a few youth, our annual youth deer hunt and sometimes one on one youth deer hunts. We also have our annual Sgt. Frank Spuchesi rabbit hunt. Our final hunt for the season is usually our upland bird hunt.
We always hold our annual upland bird hunt at Rose Hill Game Preserve in Culpeper, Virginia. The guides out there are top notch and we are treated very well each year. Some may think taking youth brand new to hunting on a bird hunt is not a great idea but I beg to differ. There are a lot of moving parts to include dogs moving, people nearby and in adjoining fields, and of course the birds suddenly changing course. This is why we require all the youth not only take hunter education but they have to prove to us that they are mature enough to make sound decisions while afield when things are constantly changing. We also require all the youth to come practice shooting clays with us several times prior to the hunt. Gun safety is observed and those not up to the maturity and safety level are asked to try again another time. The annual bird hunt is good training because each youth has a mentor to stand right with them during the hunt to advise, encourage and direct their actions as needed. Hunting at a game preserve is an excellent choice for R3 because the youth WILL see birds and get shots!
Our group always consists of 8 youth and we try to keep it half girls and half guys. As I stated before, we require ALL the youth to have Hunter Education AND attend some clay shooting practice with us to make sure they are safe and able to hit targets. All youth have to be able to hit targets at least 50% of the time, and preferably more often, to go on the hunt.
This year we had Austin, Mason and Madison, Layla, Adom, Wil, Chase, and Chloe attend the hunt. We met in the parking lot overlooking the snowy fields on the chilly March 9th morning. At least it was not blowing 30+ mph like it was the previous year! We were joined by KGOC cofounder, Sgt. Frank Spuchesi and his friend Roger Summers, who helped mentor the youth. Our local NWTF Rappahannock Spurs Chapter President, Julie Abel, was on hand. She never misses this hunt and she always jumps in to mentor a group of young ladies. KD Fike also joined to help mentor. She loves going on these hunts and seeing the youth get their first birds.
Dean, the office manager at Rosehill, beckoned us to come fill out liability paperwork. As soon as that was done (and while we all jumped into the pastries and coffee Julie brought!) we held a safety brief in the warmth of the office. Then we gathered our shotguns and ammo and headed down the hill to watch the guides put the youth their paces at the 5 stand clay range. The clay shooting was done for two reasons. First, we wanted the youth to warm up, get used to shooting with heavy coats on again and the guides were observing the youth not only to learn their strengths and weaknesses but also to see where their bad habits were. The guides judge the youth secretly as to who is the safest hunter each year. At the end of the hunt, we give a small prize for the hunter that the guides agree was the safest from the moment they got on the property until their gun was put up for the day.
Anthony, a former Marine and energetic host, took off work just to come over to help the youth fine tune their shooting skills. He is incredibly patient, knowledgeable and he is super friendly with the kids. He gets them laughing some and sometimes he messes with them a bit by secretly calling for clays to be thrown from a direction they are not expecting them to be thrown. This is all great training and he makes it fun.
Each youth got plenty of opportunity to shoot clays from various angles until Anthony and the guides were sure they were good to go. Then Matt, the farm manager and a guide, held a second safety brief for the guides in general. I have to say that the guides, Matt, Anthony, Mike, Cody and Kirby, very much look forward to the youth coming out each year. I overheard some banter back and forth about which youth the guides hoped they got to take out to the fields. The kids definitely feel they are getting attention from their guides and they are welcomed at the hunt. Matt finished up his safety brief by saying that no bird is worth any accidents and he expected the youth to be safe and keep fingers off the triggers until they moved up on a bird.
Then the hunt was on! While I could not be with each pair of youth hunting, I did get to walk with Austin and Adom. None of our hunters in the entire group had ever shot at pheasants or chukar before. By the time we left the hunt, all of our youth had gotten at least one bird. Wil Emory got five birds! We had rough conditions with the wet ground, lateness in the season, and the snow covered areas, but the guides made the best of it and helped the youth learn about the cover, how the birds behave and some guides even gave some biology lessons in the field regarding animals. The scattered POP of shotguns going off in the various fields and some celebratory, “YEAAAAs!” could be heard too.
By the time we all got back up the hill at the completion of the hunt, there was a huge crock pot of homemade chicken soup made by Julie Abel and a huge crock pot of venison sage sausage soup made by KD Fike to warm the hunters up. The kids were sharing stories about the birds they got and even the ones they did not get. One youth was on the phone calling his mom to try to line up a time he and his dad could come back this year to hunt again. The guides were pleased with the kids and challenged them to come back when it was warmer to have a shoot off with them and learn more shooting skills at the 5 Stand range. We definitely are in for that!
Once everyone got a bite to eat, we took a group photo with the guides and then the cleaning started. The guides took the youth into the cleaning area and taught them how to properly clean their birds. The youth got to examine the organs, see the body parts and feathers up close and learn some more biology. One of the guides was offering some cooking tips too. This was a complete field to plate event and the youth learned so much about hunting all in one trip.
Was the trip successful? You bet. The youth had an opportunity to not only learn more about hunting but they were able to put in practice their hunter education knowledge, receive a few reminders and pointers about gun safety along the way and remain safe while in the field. The bonus? They were also able to learn about the way a bird dog works, how the guides find birds, work cover and train dogs and of course the youth were able to harvest some birds to take home to cook on their own. I know for a fact that they slept well that evening! I had to get a nap when I got home.
At the very conclusion of the hunt and bird cleaning session, the kids met with Julie Abel, filled out a Thank you card and put a tip inside before delivering it to their guides. We felt it important that the youth learn that the guides need to be shown appreciation for their time and efforts too.
Last, we announced our hunter safety award for the event. The guides all decided that Wil Emory exhibited consistent safety while afield and he was awarded an NWTF bag, a T Shirt and some funds to go towards his own shotgun. He was borrowing one from the club for the hunt and is currently saving his chicken egg money from the farm to get his own gun. We would be remiss not to mention that Austin Gray was awarded a second place safety award. The guides noticed him right away as did Dean, the office and preserve manager. Austin was careful where he had his shotgun pointed during the hunt and during the shooting practice. We greatly appreciate the youth practicing gun safety and want to encourage this as we teach them about the outdoors. We want all our hunts safe.
This hunt is a favorite of ours because our hosts are so good to us and the youth go home with a great memory. We hope to take more youth out next year if we can secure funding. These hunts are not inexpensive. We have some partners that we could not do this hunt without.
First, Rose Hill Game Preserve and the guides donate their time, efforts, some of the birds, the clays and the facility to the youth. They look forward to us coming out and we are always given top notch attention. https://www.facebook.com/RoseHillGamePreserve/
The Rappahannock Spurs chapter of National Wild Turkey Federation is a HUGE supporter of youth and women in the outdoors and of course of KG Outdoor Club. They sponsor just about all of our outreach events and we so appreciate Julie Abel and the members of the Rappahannock Spurs. https://www.facebook.com/rappahannockspurshttps://www.facebook.com/rappahannockspurs/
Big Dog Outfitters of King George County has always supported the KG Outdoor Club shooting and hunting adventures. They consistently help make safe shooters by supplying shells for the shooting practice, hunt and for our fun shoot. This is an incredible hometown business that genuinely wants to see kids safely enjoy shooting sports. https://www.facebook.com/BigDogOutfittershttps://www.facebook.com/BigDogOutfitters
Last, this program is supported by the 2018 Virginia Wildlife Grant Program through a partnership between the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and the Wildlife Foundation of Virginia. This program has supported our youth many times over the past few years. https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/shopdgif/virginia-wildlife-grant-program/ https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/shopdgif/virginia-wildlife-grant-program/