Young hunters: the marsh is all yours on Sept. 30

Waterfowl hunters 15 years of age and younger will have the marsh all to themselves when Utah hosts its annual Youth Hunting Day on Sept. 30.

Youth Hunting Day is a unique way to introduce young people to waterfowl hunting. "Holding this day is important to the future of waterfowl hunting and the future of Utah's wetlands," says Tom Aldrich, migratory game bird coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources.

"The number of young people who participate in all types of hunting has declined in recent years," Aldrich says. "If that trend continues, the funding hunters provide to conserve wetlands will also decline, and that will affect everyone who enjoys these areas.

"Letting young people hunt waterfowl, without the adult hunters out there and when waterfowl numbers are high, is a great way to get them interested in and excited about waterfowl hunting," he says. "And, since adults can't hunt that day, it gives the adults who accompany these young hunters more time to teach them good hunting skills, safety and ethics."

All of the state's waterfowl management areas, and certain areas on the three federal migratory bird refuges in Utah, will be open to youth hunters on Sept. 30. To hunt that day, hunters must be 15 years of age or younger; be a Hunter Education course graduate; possess a small game or combination license and a Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP) number; and be accompanied by their parent or an adult who's at least 21 years of age.

The adult may not hunt or possess a firearm and must supervise the young people they take. An adult may take as many young people as they like provided the hunters are the proper age and possess the proper licenses.

Shooting on Sept. 30 begins at 8 a.m. Youth hunters may take ducks, geese, coots and mergansers and must stay within general season limits. The 2006–2007 daily duck bag limit is seven ducks, including not more than two hen mallards, one pintail, one canvasback, two redheads and three scaups.

The daily Canada goose bag limit is three.

Snipe and swans may not be taken on Youth Hunting Day.

For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR's Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.