| 9/11/2006 GAME COMMISSION TO STOCK 16,700 PHEASANTS FOR YOUTH-ONLY SEASON HARRISBURG - Young Pennsylvania hunters will have 22 different mentored youth pheasant hunts to choose from thanks to the efforts of sportsmen's clubs that stepped forward to sponsor the programs as part of the Pennsylvania Game Commission's annual youth pheasant season, which will be held on Oct. 7-13. This hunting opportunity is open to youth ages 12 to 16 who have successfully completed a Hunter-Trapper Education course. However, there is no requirement that they purchase a hunting license. "The future of hunting is directly related to the continuing participation of young Pennsylvanians in our hunting seasons," said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. "One of the keys to promoting youth hunting is the tremendous effort of our hunting clubs. These groups are the grassroots organizations that sponsor Youth Field Day events and Hunter-Trapper Education courses throughout the year." Working with the Pennsylvania State Chapter of Pheasants Forever, the Game Commission's Youth Pheasant Hunt Committee prepared a "Mentored Youth Pheasant Hunt Planning Guide" to enable groups to develop and sponsor a mentored youth pheasant hunt program. Also, the youth pheasant hunt overlaps with the state's youth squirrel hunt, which also runs Oct. 7-13. "Holding concurrent youth seasons for squirrels and ring-necked pheasants will offer variety to youths who participate in these small game-hunting opportunities," Roe said. "The state's long-standing daily bag limit of two pheasants will apply to junior hunters participating in this season. Also, hens remain protected in the male-pheasant-only zones." The Game Commission will release 15,000 pheasants on land open to public hunting prior to the start of the seven-day season, and an additional 1,700 pheasants - an increase from the planned 1,500 birds - will be divided and shipped to the 22 sportsmen's clubs that have signed up to host a mentored youth pheasant hunt. Hunters, however, are not limited to hunting in only those areas where pheasants have been stocked. The pheasant stocking locations and pheasant hunting area maps are outlined on pages 26-28 of the 2006-07 Pennsylvania Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations, as well as on the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us). "Thanks to excellent production and limited mortalities from weather events, such as excessive rain and wind, our pheasant propagation farms were able to exceed the number of pheasants we planned to provide to clubs," Roe said. "On behalf of the Game Commission, I would like to extend my sincere thanks and praise to the members of these clubs for sponsoring a mentored youth pheasant hunt, and for all that they do to preserve and pass along our state's rich and proud hunting heritage to a new generation." Following is a county listing of the clubs that are hosting mentored youth pheasant hunts on Saturday, Oct. 7, as well as information about the hunts: Allegheny County Armstrong County Bedford County Berks County Centre County Clearfield County Elk County Fayette County Fayette County Franklin County Indiana County Lawrence County Luzerne County Mifflin County Montour County Pike County Schuylkill County Warren County Westmoreland County Westmoreland County Westmoreland County Westmoreland County More information about pheasant stocking for the general small game season will be released in the near future. For additional details about the Game Commission's pheasant program, visit the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on "Hunting" and then click on the pheasant photograph. Other recent Game Commission youth hunting opportunities include: a youth spring gobbler season established in 2004; a youth squirrel hunt created in 1996 and expanded in 2004; a waterfowl hunt initiated in 1996; special antlerless deer harvesting opportunities opened in 1998, and expanded in 2000; and youth field days implemented in the early 1990s. New this year is the Mentored Youth Hunting Program, which permits a properly licensed individual 21 years of age or older to serve as a guide to a youth under the age of 12. Those species that may be hunted during established seasons, including youth seasons, are squirrels, woodchucks (groundhogs) and spring gobblers. Under this new program, mentors may not have more than one youth with them hunting at a time, and each pair may possess only one sporting arm while hunting. While moving, the sporting arm must be carried by the mentor. When the pair reaches a stationary hunting location, the mentor may turn over possession of the sporting arm to the youth, and then must keep the youth within arm's length at all times while he or she is in possession of the sporting arm. The program also requires that both the mentor and the youth abide by fluorescent orange regulations for the species being hunted. Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat. The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen's clubs. The Game Commission does not receive any general state taxpayer dollars for its annual operating budget. The agency is funded by license sales revenues; the state's share of the federal Pittman-Robertson program, which is an excise tax collected through the sale of sporting arms and ammunition; and monies from the sale of oil, gas, coal, timber and minerals derived from State Game Lands.
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