Oregon Youth Enjoy Pheasant Hunt at E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area
On September 24-25, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife hosted the 71st Annual E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area Youth Pheasant Hunt.
This event was a huge success with 106 youth hunters harvesting 162 birds on Saturday and 59 youth hunters harvesting 61 pheasants on Sunday.
The mornings started at 5:30 a.m. with volunteers and ODFW staff distributing 300 rooster pheasants throughout the wildlife area.
At 8:00 a.m. youth hunters arrived, and after a safety talk, they spread out to find birds.
There were volunteer dog handlers on hand to help inexperienced kids who did not have dogs [of their own] on hand.
After a full morning of hunting, participants were invited to return to the E.E. Wilson office for a free lunch of pizza and hotdogs cooked by volunteers while additional volunteers released pheasants for the afternoon hunt.
When the youth participants were done hunting, they received help cleaning the birds they harvested and were given ice to keep the meat cold for travel.
Something new this year was hosting a Youth Hunter Education Field Day on Sunday at the same location of the Youth Pheasant Hunt. This allowed youth who successfully passed the hunter education test to immediately go out and hunt pheasants in the afternoon.
This hunter education class consisted of 33 youth from across the state.
Partners who donated funds for additional pheasants included the National Wild Turkey Federation, Oregon Hunters association - Mid-Willamette Valley Chapter, North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association, Les Schwab Tires Corvallis, Mary’s Peak Hound Club and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.