My column from The News Journal on January 19, 2012.
Although the number of Delaware hunting licenses issued to Delaware residents in 2010 was nearly 35 percent less than in the mid-1970s, the state has seen an uptick in the number of annual hunting licenses issued over the past several years.
Delaware’s strong deer and migratory waterfowl populations entice hunters to hunt the First State, but youth hunting programs are ensuring Delaware’s hunting traditions stay alive.
Through Delaware’s 4-H Shooting Sports Program, a youth development and education program emphasizing positive youth-adult interaction, peer leadership, and development of essential life skills, young people learn the disciplines of safe shooting and wildlife management. The program is open to kids 8 to 18 and is sponsored by the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Delaware and Delaware State University.
The program encourages participation in natural resource and science programs by exposing participants to related content through shooting, hunting and other activities. It also complements state-sponsored hunter education programs by teaching safe and responsible use of firearms and archery equipment, sound decision making, self-discipline and concentration.
As part of the 4-H Shooting Sports Program, participants attend classroom and field activities, including waterfowl, small game and deer hunting events.
A 4-H Shooting Sports Program deer hunting event was held Jan. 7 on a Middletown-area farm. Following an on-site luncheon, kids 12-18 were teamed with adult mentors for an antlerless deer control hunt.
Delaware 4-H Shooting Sports Coordinator Jim Kemble viewed the event as valuable for developing life skills and strengthening families.
“We are serving an audience that really needs to be served,” Kemble said. “The hunt is really a family outreach event geared toward fun and camaraderie, with the added benefit of possibly bagging a deer.”
Derek DeBloois, 15, of Magnolia, participated in the hunt and harvested two female deer. As a junior instructor in the shooting sports program, he attributed his success to the shooting instruction he received from 4-H and the program’s volunteer hunting mentors.
“I learned different shooting positions and firearms safety from 4-H,” said DeBloois, “and the mentors were very important in [contributing] to our success in harvesting animals.”
Although classroom instruction is an important part of hunting education, there is nothing like live hunting action.
Justin Mabrey, 12, of Hartly, participated in the hunt and encountered multiple deer.
“With the [4-H] deer hunting I’ve actually been able to shoot deer, and any other time I haven’t been able to,” said Mabrey.
He explained how his hunting mentor helped him judge the distance the deer were from his stand before he shot and taught him how to determine button bucks from does.
Girls and boys participated in the hunt, but boys outnumbered girls five to one. Katelynn Norvell, 15, of Smyrna, recognized the small number of female participants.
“We need more females willing to participate. [They] need to realize that [hunting] is not just killing. It’s management of wildlife,” said Norvell. “Even though I didn’t have a chance to harvest a deer this time, it doesn’t mean I won’t try again.”
Hunt coordinator, farm manager and 4-H volunteer instructor Tom Thornton said he enjoys helping out with the youth deer hunts.
“The best part of the whole program is when all the kids come in after the hunt and share the stories they have,” Thornton said. “They’ll talk about this for weeks, and when we run into kids a year or two down the road, they’re still talking about the experience they had here.”