AUGUST 27, 2015
Mule Deer Foundation Chapters in Arizona Receive Grant for Youth Hunting Camps
GLENDALE – Thanks to a $16,500 grant from the Arizona Game and Fish Department to the Arizona chapters of the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF), youth in the state will have the opportunity to participate in six deer hunting camps in fall 2015 and January 2016. The camps teach participants about hunting and the outdoors and provide each child with a mentor to take them afield to hone their hunting skills.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to continue our very successful youth deer hunting camps this season with the support of the Game and Fish Department,” said Terry Herndon, the Mule Deer Foundation’s regional director for Arizona. “These camps provide a vital link to connect our youth to our hunting heritage, to instill safety and hunter ethics in their outdoor experience, and to ensure that these kids realize their role in perpetuating our successful North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.”
The first camp kicks off on October 2 and additional camps continue the weekends of October 8, November 20 and January 15. The grant from the Arizona Game and Fish Department funds the food and drinks that are provided to the participants throughout each camp, as well as ammunition, targets, liability insurance and more. Local MDF chapters provide the mentors and volunteer help as well as many onsite needs like canopies, chairs, tables and camp kitchens. Youth learn tracking, glassing and shooting techniques, as well as deer biology, field dressing and meat care, and much more. During each camp, the Camp Host explains how important each of the youth in camp are and let them know that they hold the future of hunting in their hands.
“We teach the youth all about the experience of the hunt from the time the sun comes up until it goes down,” Herndon continued. “There are always mentors with the kids to answer questions, show them how to walk quietly, and to help explain the emotional feelings that they realize after they have killed their first buck. It is a never-ending weekend of learning for all of us.”
