Young hunters partake in special weekend

Todd Berning (left) 13 of Columbia, and Logan Smith 12, of El Dorado Springs, display some of the ducks they shot while hunting at Schell-Osage Wildlife Area Saturday during the special Youth Weekend Duck Hunt. (Ken white/Special to the Daily Mail)

It was a special weekend for young hunters as both the Youth Deer and duck weekend youth hunts took place in the middle zone. The statewide youth hunt for deer was the 15th year youngsters, age six to 16 got a jump on their elders. The youngsters also got an early hunt for ducks in the middle zone.

The young hunters at Schell-Osage found the weather just about right for duck hunting as a cool, damp and cloudy morning saw the ducks, mostly teal, moving early as shots rang out across the water.

Although the numbers of ducks haven't built up yet, there were enough birds available to make it a good hunting day for the kids. The weekend was something special for the youngsters and in visiting with some of them, they all said they would be back after the regular season opens on Nov. 7.

Brandon Farmer, 13 from Fair Play, shot his first deer during the statewide Youth Deer Weekend Hunt, Oct. 31-Nov.1. (Ken White/Daily Mail)

Eli Householder,15 from Milo, was on his first duck hunt. He said, "The ducks were moving early and I got several shots and got two teal. I am still working on duck hunting, but I got a good start."

This was his first duck hunt, but he has been turkey hunting for several seasons and has taken two turkeys including one this past spring.

Among other young hunters who took some teal were Todd Berning 13, from Columbia and Logan Smith 12, El Dorado Springs. Both hunters said they had a lot of shooting and a lot of misses. After spending the morning duck hunting, both boys had big plans to go deer hunting in the afternoon. The youngsters are veteran deer hunters having shot 8 deer each in past hunts.

Eli Householder,15, Milo, shot two teal on his first duck hunt during the Youth Weekend Hunt at Schell-Osage. (Ken White/Daily Mail)

Josh Cussimanio,manager at Schell-Osage said, " There were 20 young hunters Saturday that took 56 ducks making it an average of 3 ducks per hunter. There was a mixture of teal, gadwell and pintails. We have plenty of water when the regular season opens Saturday, but the food will be in short supply compared to past seasons.. Today we have around 5,000 ducks using the area."

The young deer hunters over the past weekend took 14,095 deer with Franklin the top county with 388 deer checked, followed closely by Osage with 387. When the first Youth Deer Weekend Hunt took place for hunters age 6 through 15, back in 2001, the young hunters took 6,277 deer. Last year they took 18,091 deer.

The statewide Youth Deer Weekend Hunt for youngsters who are at least 6 and not older that 15 on the opening day of the hunt. Their limit was one deer of either sex and the antler point restriction did not apply during the early youth hunt. Conservation officials say they don't think the youth season will significantly affect the total statewide firearm harvest which is expected to top 200,000. The November portion of the firearm season will open Nov. 14-24. The young hunters will end the firearm season on Jan. 2-3, 2016 in the late youth portion.

H. T.Thomas,Nixa, was at Shell-Osage Saturday to check on condition prior to the opening of the regular waterfowl season. He said, " I had a visit with some of the young hunters and was pleased with what I saw. They were all happy to be hunting and most of them were also going deer hunting sometime over the weekend. They are the future of hunting and I think we are in good hands. I remember my first duck hunt years ago so I know how much of an addiction it can become. I am in my 70s now, but I still look forward to another waterfowl season this fall."

Meanwhile the fall turkey season that ran the entire month of October saw hunters harvesting 6,158 birds with the top counties Dent with 210 followed by Greene with 159 turkeys.