Page 2 - Outdoor Oklahoma July/Aug 2021

Panoramas

urrent trends paint a lean picture for the future month will be the goal. Areas where these initial groups are form-

of hunting in America. The number of hunters is ing include Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and Tahlequah. The search
steadily decreasing, and participation is declining. for instructors is now focusing on the Elk City, Enid and Ponca
CAnd that’s bad for wildlife conservation in general. City areas. Hopefully, by January, there will be 10 L2H groups
To combat the problem, state agencies and up and running.
nongovernmental conservation groups have A yearlong course schedule of suggested
embarked on efforts to recruit, retain and reac- monthly activities has been created to give L2H
tivate hunters. novices a well-rounded experience with many

An exciting Wildlife Department program aspects of hunting. Suggested activities include
called Learn to Hunt (L2H) is set to kick off next firearms safety and skeet shooting in August;
month after a yearlong delay because of COVID- dove hunt in September; deer archery hunt in
19. It’s a true recruitment program that will pair October; deer gun hunt in November; turkey
a volunteer instructor with a novice and his or hunting basics in March; squirrel hunt in May;
her family member for 12 months of activities and upland game bird basics and trap shooting in
Kasie Harriet
supporting the great tradition of hunting. July. Instructors may customize their courses and
L2H was supposed to begin last summer, but it became a meeting days as they desire.
casualty of the pandemic. Several volunteer instructors who were Unless something is done now, most of today’s hunters will

lined up have since dropped out. So, we are now hoping to grow have dropped out of the sport within 15 years. They are “aging
our pool of volunteers to instruct the next generation. out” while younger hunters are not replacing them. That’s why
Most instructors have joined the effort from conservation it’s so very important to retain, reactivate and recruit whenever
groups such as National Wild Turkey Federation, Pheasants/ we can. Without hunting, conservation suffers.
Quail Forever, and Ducks Unlimited. ODWC, NWTF and all our partners are very optimistic about
Current instructors are going through regional training ses- the Learn to Hunt program. We believe that multiple exposures
sions with topics including how to be an effective outdoors to outdoor activities, combined with the local social support of

instructor, L2H course details, activity expectations, gear kit an instructor and family member, will help ignite a passion and
overview, and hunting regulations. Instructors receive curriculum establish a tradition for the outdoors that can last a lifetime!
course guides and supplemental materials. Please consider getting involved. Contact me for more infor-
Novice participants will be required to become a member mation at kharriett@nwtf.org or (918) 629-4991.
of a nongovernmental conservation organization, for liability
purposes. And each L2H group will have the option to charge a
nominal fee to cover the cost of expendables such as clay targets,
ammo, etc. Kasie Harriet, Learn to Hunt Coordinator,
For this first year of L2H, five groups meeting one day each ODWC R3 Hunting Specialist

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