Quail Forever members pass on hunting knowledge

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Zeb Jordan stands outside a circle of hay bales on which a group of 10 young men, many of them in camouflage pants and jackets, are sitting, listening to him. Jordan, an outdoor skills specialist with the Missouri Conservation Department, is explaining the visual differences between male and female pheasants.

“The male is not as drab as the female,” Jordan said. “The plumage is more colorful, there is a red patch around the eyes and a white ring around the neck.”

Jordan explained that when hunting a pheasant the hunter should look for the white ring around the neck, not just to identify whether it is male or female but also to prevent missing the bird.

“If you aim for the body of the bird you may miss it,” Jordan said. “Look for that white ring and aim for it and that will help you hit more often.”

The group, Cherokee Plains chapter of Quails Forever, was meeting at the home of Lee Wilson north of Nevada for a quail and pheasant hunting clinic. Participants from all over the area including Fort Scott, Joplin, Lamar and Milo participated in the event. Activities included a demonstration of a Labrador retriever flushing pheasant and a pointer working a bird.

“When flushing birds a dog is never out of range of the hunter,” Jordan said. “The reason for flushing a bird is that a pheasant would rather run than fly. A pointer gets further out and will stop and point when it locates a bird, it stays put until released.”

In addition to Jordan several adults with the clinic. Scott Sudkamp, president of the chapter; Pam Hayes, youth chairman; Elsa Gallagher, Quails Forever organizer; Chris Daniel, Derek Farwell and Mackenzie O’Neill all helped make Saturday’s event successful.

According to Hayes, Gallagher helps educate land owners about improving quail habitat. Quail populations are down in the state and that contributes to fewer hunters participating.

“She helps make people aware of what they can do to make their land better habitat for quail,” Hayes said.

Jordan said that declining numbers of bird hunters have the Conservation Department concerned and they introduced the youth hunting programs to help counter the trend.

“Today’s focus is youth bird hunting, bird hunters in the state have declined,” Jordan said. “We’re not losing as many hunters as some states, and we want to keep it that way.”

One way the department is working to turn the trend around is to have youth hunting seasons and hunting clinics that go beyond the hunter safety education all new hunters must go through.

“We try to do this once or twice a year,” Jordan said. “We also have youth duck clinics and youth dove clinics. Missouri does have a specific youth deer and turkey season and an upland bird season. This is the first year for a youth quail and pheasant season.”

Another way the department is working to increase hunting in the state is to expand its efforts to those who may not have a tradition of hunting in the family.

“Our hope is to get kids that don’t get a chance to do this,” Jordan said. “If they live in a hunting family, they’ll probably do it anyway, but if they don’t they might not get a chance so this helps introduce kids into the sport who might not participate otherwise.”

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