Safety and training for youth

ROAD TO THE ISLES -

With the success of the 2009 Young Hunter Heritage Day, the Notre Dame Road and Gun Club is gearing up to offer a day to introduce young people to firearms in a safe environment with skilled people on-hand to train them.

"There was very strong interest from young people in this event last year and one of the aims of the Club is to promote the outdoors and conservation to the youth," said Club president Paul Wood.

The 2010 Young Hunter Heritage Day is set to take place at the Rod and Gun Club located on the Road to the Isles (south side access road) on May 29. The event is made possible through the support of the Club, Ducks Unlimited (who will be providing a special kit to the participants) and the Department of Environment and Conservation (Hunter Education Sector of the Wildlife Division).

The participants will not be physically hunting, but they will get hunter safety training, training on ethics of hunting and conservation and they will experience shooting a rifle and shotgun (made for youth). The Department of Environment and Conservation will be bringing along a trailer full of equipment for the participants so they don't have to worry about bringing along their own. Ammunition and clay pigeons will also be provided.

Mr. Wood said participants (youth or parent/guardian) are not required to have prior firearms experience. While they will be provided with an opportunity to shoot at targets and clay pigeons, it is not mandatory. If someone is not comfortable with shooting a rifle or shotgun they don't have to. But last year the participants enjoyed the chance to try out the equipment.

"The majority of them were first time users," said Mr. Wood. "They were extremely excited to use the rifle and shotgun.

"It was a different experience for them - they didn't want to stop shooting the clay pigeons."

The Young Hunter Heritage Day will take place over two sessions, one from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and another from 1-4 p.m. Up to 15 participants can be accommodated for each session with a total of 30 for the day. All the participants will get a chance to meet as lunch will be provided for both groups at noon.

The event is open to youth from age 10-16, but each must be accompanied by a parent of guardian.

While they hope to attract new participants, Mr. Wood said they would welcome back participants from last year.

"We've already had calls from parents from last year wondering if we are going to be offering this again," he said.

Registration for Young Hunter Heritage Day is open to both male and female participants. Mr. Wood welcomes girls to consider taking part. Last year there were six or seven girls who took part and enjoyed the day.

To register contact Mr. Wood at 535-2480 or Rev. Perry Cooper at 424-2530 as soon as possible because there are only 30 spots available.

Hunting age

"One of aims of the Rod and Gun Club is we are trying to get the hunting age in the province lowered to be comparable to the rest of Canada," said Mr. Wood. "The hunting age here doesn't start until 16 and in other parts of Canada it starts at 12.

"That's not to say a 12-year-old can take a gun and go off in the woods. It means a 12-year-old can hunt with a parent or guardian under guidance and supervision. Here in Newfoundland we can't do that - you have to be 16. This is a real problem for youth who might be interested in picking up the sport because by the time you are 16 most people have their interests developed."

The Club has been strongly advocating for the Provincial Government to change the hunting age in this province.

"This Heritage Day is partly in response to trying to get that change to happen," said Mr. Wood. "It took 20-30 years to get .22 regulation changes. Our Club fought that for years for the ability to use a .22. We got that changed a couple of years ago.

"We are working on changing this (minimum hunting age) because what we are finding is the number of young people growing up involved in hunting is dropping. It's been proven that hunters are the best conservationists in managing wildlife and that type of thing. We are concerned that we need to introduce young people to the outdoors so they have a vested interest in seeing things looked after."