7/30/2007

Youths May Apply Now for Mentored Youth Archery Deer Hunting Program - Tom Keith

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is taking applications for the 2007 mentored youth archery deer hunting program. All applicants must be 12-18 years, still in school, and must have successfully completed bowhunter education.

The mentor program pairs youth with Nebraska bowhunter education instructors and places them on private lands where there are large deer herds. The youth and mentors spend the entire archery season hunting and learning about wildlife, skills and hunting ethics. The program is offered in the Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Kearney and Scottsbluff areas.

Parents interested in having their child participate in the program can download a registration form at www.OutdoorNebraska.org by clicking on NGPC Programs, then on Hunter Education, then on Outreach Program for Youth. In the Lincoln and Omaha metro areas they may call Jeff Rawlinson at (402) 471-6133 or Aaron Hershberger at (402) 471-6144. Interested persons in central and western Nebraska should contact Rich Walters in the Commission’s Kearney office, (308) 865-5310.

“The mentor program is dedicated to teaching youth about wildlife, hunting, shooting, and the ethical pursuit of big game,” said Rawlinson, assistant administrator of the Commission’s information and education division. “We thank our many sponsors who make this program possible, including the private landowners who host our program.”