LINCOLN, Neb. – A Greeley area youth-mentored pheasant hunt will be the focus of this weeks episode of Pheasants Forever Television on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN).

Youth-mentored hunts are held across Nebraska each fall as part of a partnership between the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasants Forever (PF). The hunts provide interested youths with the opportunity to experience a one-on-one hunt with a mentor.

Nearly 250 such hunts have been held since the programs inception in 1996, with 4,347 Nebraska youths participating and learning hunting skills while gaining an appreciation for the sport. The program has grown each year, with 837 Nebraska youths participating in 50 events last fall.

“There are a lot of youths out there interested in taking up hunting, but many of them lack an adult to teach them the ropes of our outdoor heritage,” reports Pete Berthelsen, PFs director of conservation for Nebraska. “With the generous support of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, we are providing that opportunity to experience the outdoors for these youths. This program is unique in that youths learn one-on-one with an adult. Our program allows the youths to learn at their own speed and feel good about their accomplishments.”

Participants must be between 12 and 15 years of age and must have completed a hunter education program to participate in the youth mentor hunt. At the events, kids learn about gun safety, hunting ethics, how to become a better shot for a clean kill, and how to ask permission to hunt on private land before they ever take to the field in search of roosters. Of course, the hunt itself is always the most anticipated component of the two-day event.

Pheasants Forever Television was in Greeley County last fall to film the Cedar River Ringnecks Chapters 2nd annual youth mentor hunt with youth participants from Greeley, Howard, and Wheeler Counties and Pheasants Forever representatives.

Pheasants Forever Television airs on Sundays at 11:30 a.m CDT (10:30 p.m. MDT) on OLN. The show will be rebroadcast on Tuesday at 12 p.m. CDT (10 a.m. MDT). To preview Pheasants Forever Television on the web, visit: http://www.pheasantsforever.org/pftv/index.php.

Pheasants Forever is a non-profit conservation organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of pheasant and other wildlife populations in North America through habitat improvement, land management, public awareness, and education. Such efforts benefit landowners and wildlife alike. Pheasants Forever has more than 110,000 members in more than 600 local chapters across the continent.

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