Cheyenne Bottoms Youth Duck Hunt
October 5th-6th, 2019

Pass It On - Outdoor Mentors organized youth duck hunts for 12 young waterfowlers at Cheyenne Bottoms for the youth season opener. We had young hunters from Concordia, Dodge City, Seneca and Wichita hunt on Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday crew only bagged 3 ducks, but the Sunday crew from Concordia came home with a nice dozen!

Many of the young hunters were also members of their local high school trap team. These hunts were part of Pass It On - Outdoor Mentor’s new Shooting Sports Outreach program, where we are endeavoring to give these trap shooting athletes opportunities to hunt.

Prior to the hunt, we ask the hunters to take a survey so that we can gather data that will be used to assess the results of this program. In response to the question asking why they wanted to hunt ducks, one young hunter, who had indicated that they hunted more than 10 times/year, replied “I have never hunted ducks before!”

After the hunt, Mike Nyhoff and Curtis Wolfe with KDWPT and Mike Bulk/DU talked about Cheyenne Bottoms and the conservation work being done to improve the wetlands for future hunters as well as the importance of the bottoms to migrating birds and the local ecosystem.

We want to give special thanks to Jason Wagner/KDWPT for arranging for access for these young hunters. The Kansas Wetland Education Center loaned waders for all of the hunters who needed them. We also want to thank Mike Bulk, Kansas DU State Chairman and Josh Nicolay with Backcountry Hunters & Anglers for guiding the hunters. DU gave all of the young hunters a DU bag and provided lunch after the hunt.

Thank you!