Longbeards Chapter Sponsors 2006 Youth Turkey Hunt Event
The New Salem Longbeards chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation is hosting their Fourth Annual “Operation Match-Up” Event as part of the special April 1-2, 2006 Illinois Heritage Youth Turkey Hunt.
At their “Hunt Central” event in Oakford, the chapter will again bring together youth hunters from both Menard and Cass counties for fellowship and an educational experience. The chapter will also facilitate matching up youth hunters with either volunteer guides or landowners whenever possible. The New Salem Longbeards are currently looking for new youth hunt participants, as well as additional local area landowners who are willing to host them.
The statewide youth turkey hunt is a special two-day season open only to Illinois residents who have not reached their 16th birthday by April 1st. The youth hunters may attend only the “Hunt Central” events in Oakford if they already have a guide and hunting land access, or they can also request to be matched up with a local landowner and/or guiding assistance from local NWTF chapter volunteers. The availability of youth turkey permits at JEPC (Site M) is expected to attract additional youth hunters to the “Hunt Central” event, which begins Friday evening March 31st, and will run throughout the weekend. Chapter coordinators are also tentatively planning a related educational event one week before the hunt.
According to Chapter President Doug King, “As a major part of our event, we especially want to again match landowners with interested local youth hunters who would otherwise not have an opportunity to hunt. For example, an number of our previous participants came from non-hunting families.” Youth hunters from last year’s event are encouraged to reapply. The New Salem Longbeards has received national recognition for the innovative approaches used in holding their three previous “Operation Match-Up” youth hunt events. The volunteer guides and landowners work in friendly competition, and the hunting results have consistently exceeded state averages. From 2003-2005, chapter records show that 26 of the 67 participating youth hunters have bagged turkeys in either Menard or eastern Cass counties during the special single-weekend hunts.
Information on our 2005 youth hunt can be found on the Internet in the feature section of http://illinoishunter.com. Prospective landowners and youth participants should contact chapter youth hunt coordinator Rhett Rossi at 217-632-4134, before the IDNR state permit application deadline of February 14th.