WVDNR, Mountaineer Challenge Academy partner for youth deer hunt

All experienced hunters have one thing in common — we all had good teachers and mentors who showed us how to start down the hunting trail.

Dads, granddads, uncles and other family members usually took us to the woods and showed us the dozens of things we needed to learn as hunters. Everything from how to sight in a rifle to field dressing a deer, they happily passed on to us without a second thought.

Times change, and today the problem is many young people don’t come from a hunting family or background. There are a lot of potential young hunters who would love to have someone show them the ropes of the outdoor world, but they just don’t have that someone to show them the way. This picture sometimes seems pretty bleak because there is always a shortage of hunters willing to step up as mentors.

Last Saturday, I saw a big ray of sunshine on this.

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Section, the Natural Resources Police Officers, have held many special event hunts for young hunters who would have had no opportunity for the hunting experience had it not been for these hunts and the DNR officers’ guidance. This particular antlerless deer hunt was done in partnership with the Mountaineer Challenge Academy located in Montgomery.

The Mountaineer Challenge Academy is designed to give academically-challenged teens a second chance at obtaining their basic education. High school diplomas are available for those who qualify. The mission of the Mountaineer Challenge Academy is to train and mentor selected at-risk youth to become contributing members of society using the 8 Core Components in a quasi-military environment during a 22-week residential and one-year post-residential follow-up program.

Quasi-military is a term used to describe the program because it resembles military training. The structured environment includes many aspects related to military training, such as paying attention to detail, respect, self-discipline and a chain of command.

“The Mountaineer Challenge Academy-South was invited to participate in the WV antlerless deer season with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and local volunteers in Monroe County with 4 cadets,” said Jayme Persinger, commandant, Mountaineer Challenge Academy-South. “These cadets were selected from the academy based on these criteria; they have never been deer hunting, wanted to participate, and some have never fired a firearm. The WVDNR made these cadets feel like family by inviting them to a lunch meal, providing them with numerous items they could keep that would assist them in future hunting trips, and provided a positive influence on these West Virginia teens.

“The end goal during this event was to provide an opportunity for these cadets to harvest their first deer; however, I believe the partnership, camaraderie, education, experience, and positive influence the WVDNR and volunteers had on these cadets far outweigh the harvesting of the deer. This will be an experience these cadets will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Four cadets from the Academy joined DNR officers from District Four in Monroe County for an antlerless deer hunt. Everyone met in Union at the Calico restaurant for lunch and orientation. Cadets were presented with warm blaze orange vests, binoculars, wool hats and other items that the deer hunter needs. Upon arriving at the hunting area the cadets — two young men and two young women — were given a thorough introduction to marksmanship and rifle shooting by Officer Josh Toner. Each cadet had the opportunity to fire a rifle from different yardages, and I think they all had confidence in their shooting skills when time came to head to the woods.

Each cadet was paired with a DNR officer and a volunteer, and each team made their way to deer stands that had been selected by the officers. I had the pleasure of joining Cadet Dakota Kelly and Officer Toner, and soon we were settled into our blind and began our quiet wait.

Patience is something all hunters must learn and Dakota surely got a lesson in it as we sat into the late afternoon. I was beginning to wonder if anything would happen for us when we spotted two deer slowly approaching from downhill. These deer certainly tested Dakota’s patience, but when the time came he made one well-placed shot and he had his first deer and some really good venison for the freezer.

We had heard other shots in the distance and we were hopeful that the other cadets had scored, and when we returned to our meeting place we found the four cadets had taken three deer. All of these young people seemed truly happy to be there and were very grateful for the opportunity.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for the Natural Resources Police to partner with the Challenge Academy staff in providing an opportunity for these young cadets to learn and experience deer hunting, safely and ethically,” said Colonel Bobby Cales, WVDNR Law Enforcement chief. “Both entities have a military structure, which in turn allows our mentorship with the cadets to be more effective. We enjoy watching these young hunters take what they’ve learned in our hunter education program and utilize that knowledge in a field setting.”

The ray of sunshine I spoke of came over Peter’s Mountain that evening. Cadets Dakota Kelly, Joy Fitch, Logan Sprouse and Mileena McCallister didn’t have family members to show them the trail to being a hunter, but they had some very dedicated DNR officers for this job. I think they are going to be just fine.