Whitetails Unlimited Sponsors Wisconsin DNRs 2009 Learn to Hunt Program
Sandhill Wildlife Area offers special hunt for novices; WTU continues support.
Wisconsin – -(AmmoLand.com)- For the past decade, Whitetails Unlimited has provided support for the Wisconsin DNRs Learn to Deer Hunt Program, and is the official sponsor of Sandhill’s Youth Essay Contest. This year WTU is again offering prizes for the contest, and educational materials for classroom instruction. The contest is open to youth under 16 years old who have never hunted deer.
To date, Whitetails Unlimited has provided more than $11,000 in financial support including branded merchandise and educational material for the program. Prizes have included rifles in an assortment of calibers, binoculars, knives & sheaths, and caps. The program is held at the Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center.
This is an ideal way to provide a great experience for a first-time deer hunter, said WTU Executive Director Pete Gerl. At a time when everyone in the outdoor industry is concerned about new hunter recruitment, a program like this is the perfect vehicle to ensure that new hunters are mentored in the right way.
WTU is the official sponsor of the essay contest, and is providing prizes for first through fifth place.
The Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center is a 9,158-acre wildlife area operated by the Wisconsin DNR in central Wisconsin. The facility offers an on-site education center, shooting ranges, trails, and a wide variety of workshops and seminars, including hunting and trapping experiences. The state acquired Sandhill in 1962, and it is one of the largest areas in North America containing an enclosed white-tailed deer herd regulated by public hunting.
The Learn to Hunt Deer Program provides an opportunity for about 200 youth and beginner adults to receive training on deer hunting, and then participate in a special hunt several weeks before the statewide gun deer season. In past years, 50 to 60 deer were harvested annually by these novice hunters on the Sandhill property.
For more information, visit http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/reclands/sandhill/lth.htm and www.dnr.state.wi.us/Org/land/wildlife/reclands/sandhill/
About:
Founded in 1982, Whitetails Unlimited is a national nonprofit conservation organization. Our mission is to raise funds in support of education, habitat enhancement and acquisition, and the preservation of the hunting tradition for the benefit of the white-tailed deer and other wildlife. When it comes to the whitetail and its environment, WTUs degree of professionalism and dedication has earned us the reputation of being the nation¹s premier whitetail organization.