Youth Outdoor Skills Event at Council Grove Sept. 22

Special event designed to encourage youth participation in outdoor shooting sports

Morris County area youth are invited to attend a free shotgun, pellet rifle, and archery shooting and safety clinic on Saturday, Sept. 22, at Council Grove Reservoir. Sponsored by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism (KDWPT), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE), the Flint Hills Chapter of Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation (QUWF), and Morris County Hunter Education instructors, this special event will provide participants an opportunity to enhance firearm and archery shooting and safety skills. Controlled live-fire instruction by certified instructors will teach safe, responsible shooting techniques.

All gear and supplies — including shotguns, pellet rifles, shells, bows, arrows, targets, and eye and ear protection — will be provided by KDWPT’s “Pass It On” and Hunter Education Programs. Teaching methods almost guarantee that students will break shotgun targets by the end of the session.

Anyone age 11 through 16 may participate. Participants are required to pre-register for the event by Sept.14. Students are not required to have completed a hunter education course, but prior completion is preferred. The event will begin at 12 p.m. at the COE-managed area between Marina Cove and Neosho Park, approximately 0.25 miles west of the COE office at the west end of the dam. Check-in and a free lunch provided by QUWF will be from 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. Instruction will begin at 12:30 p.m. and end at approximately 4 p.m.

To register or learn more about this special event, phone Brent Konen, Council Grove Wildlife Area manager, at 620-767-5900.