Youth Shooting Sports Event (May 2-3, 2000)
sponsored by the Texas of Parks & Wildlife Department
held at the Pecan Creek Ranch in Hamilton, Texas

Again this year we are guests of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department at a Youth Shooting Sports Event. This year it is held in Hamilton county, Texas on the Pecan Creek Ranch. This private ranch is owned by Mike and Lana Freeman and they generously offered their land for the event. It takes a pretty big area to hold everything. (The Duck and I will introduce the youngsters to Archery and we will cover the event Online as it happens.

This morning 38 high school students from Evant and Jonesboro, Texas schools arrived for this year's Shooting Sports Event. They gathered in the large activity room at the Pecan Creek Ranch and Misty Sumner opened the program with a brief rundown of the upcoming events. Then Mike Freeman welcomed everyone to his ranch. 

Wildlife Biologist Mike Krueger gave a slide show about Texas, its wildlife and the part the Texas Parks & Wildlife and individuals play in managing the state's wildlife.

Mike Kruegar presenting his slide show on Texas wildlife.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department holds several Youth Shooting Sports Events. They are designed to promote conservation education and introduce the shooting sports to high school students as well as to present hunting as a wildlife management tool.  The events are not competitions but an attempt to give young adults the opportunity to participate in a variety of shooting sports.

Here is a pic of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Sporting Clays Trailer taken when Charlie Wilson arrived (Apr 30).

Only a handful of these youth have ever shot a bow, a shotgun, or a rifle before. After the initial orientation the group was divided into 4 smaller groups. Each group is assigned to an initial station: Archery, Sporting Clays, .22 Rifle, or Muzzleloader where they receive an orientation, safety guidelines, instruction for the subject. And then each youngster shoots numerous times.