Wyoming Wildlife May 2024 - 11

NEWS
Collaboration provides
opportunity for first-time hunters
CODY - The Wyoming Game and Fish
Department, Wyoming Outdoorsmen and
First Hunt Foundation are working together
to offer first-time hunters in the Big Horn
Basin a mentored hunting experience.
For the seventh year, these organizations
and local landowners are collaborating to host
the Wood River Deer Hunt, a program that
strives to build relationships between firsttime
hunters and experienced sportspersons
who want to share their knowledge, experience
and love of hunting.
The program seeks out families, kids and
adult women who have an interest in hunting,
but have little-to-no experience. Participants
are paired with a mentor who coaches them
through the hunt. In September, the program
culminates in a deer hunt on a private ranch
west of Meeteetse. Since the program began in
2018, 70 first-time hunters have participated.
The program emphasizes preparation for the
hunt and begins well before the fall hunting
season to hone hunting-related skills. Applicants
are selected in May, and then are guided
through the process of applying for a limited
quota deer license. In early summer, participants
learn safe firearms handling practices
and sharpen marksmanship skills on the range.
Later in summer, hunters participate in a simulated
hunt, which provides an opportunity to
practice marksmanship in natural terrain and
in various shooting positions and distances.
" Our program helps eliminate some of those
obstacles to beginning hunters and gives them
a positive start, " said Bruce Salzmann, board
member of Wyoming Outdoorsmen and
Wood River Deer Hunt mentor. " Hunting
helps people relate to the outdoors, understand
our role in conservation and provides
an opportunity to build lifelong relationships
with family and friends. Watching a beginning
A big part of the Wood River Deer Hunt is preparing first-time hunters with education and knowledge prior to the hunt in the
fall. (WGFD photo)
hunter gain confidence and have a positive
experience is very satisfying. The huge smiles
we see on their faces during a successful hunt
are very rewarding. "
The Wood River Deer Hunt program is led
by community organizations with support
from Game and Fish through the WY Hunt
Fish Initiative. The program relies on community
volunteers to provide mentoring support
for first-time hunters. Since 2018, 13 community
volunteer mentors have donated their
time to the program, and the majority have
participated since the program was initiated.
Fred Williams, Wood River area resident and
program mentor, said he volunteers his time as
a mentor because it's his way of giving back.
" I have been fortunate to have experienced
so much in my hunting career. Being a mentor
is my way of paying it forward and hopefully
ensuring that hunting remains part of our
heritage, " Williams said.
Applications for the program are accepted
in April and May of each year and target families
with kids ages 12-17 and adult women
in the Big Horn Basin who are interested in
learning to hunt.
- Tara Hodges, WGFD
SCAN THE QR CODE TO
LEARN MORE ABOUT
THE WOOD RIVER DEER
HUNT AND OTHER WY
HUNT FISH EVENTS.
Wyoming Wildlife | 11

https://wyomingoutdoorsmen.org/up-coming-programs/

Wyoming Wildlife May 2024

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