Kids get to hunt pheasants for free
Photo courtesy of IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME A young Idaho hunter pulls on a bird in Idaho’s pheasant country. Youths on Saturday will get a chance to hunt pheasants for free at Peck’s Little Canyon Game Preserve, a private hunting property east of Lewiston.
By RALPH BARTHOLDT
Staff Writer
A free hunting and shooting day is set this weekend for youths at the Little Canyon Shooting Club in Peck.
Youngsters and teens with a hunter safety education card can shoot at the facility’s .22 rifle range, practice shooting clay pigeons and try the archery range, east of Lewiston, and its life-size targets. The highlight, owner Sonny Hairston said, is having youngsters go to the open fields where each young hunter will get a chance at shooting three live pheasants.
Hairston has been having free kids days like this one at his hunting properties for more than 20 years.
“The kids really love it,” Hairston said.
He started leasing properties for people to hunt upland birds in Canada before moving his enterprises south more than 25 years ago.
Starting at 9 a.m., Saturday, the annual free hunting day for youths from Idaho and nearby Washington usually draws a crowd to the upland ranch at 44854 Little Canyon Road in Peck, and everyone who attends is almost guaranteed to harvest at least one pheasant.
“If they don’t shoot one on the first go around, we have them go back through,” Hairston said.
Young hunters are provided all the needed equipment, are given a safety class, and are accompanied on their hunts by a safety instructor and a bird dog handler.
If they haven’t hunted pheasants before, the young hunters get to learn to hit clay targets at the shooting range before they trod the fields.
“We get them to where they are hitting birds,” Hairston said. “After that, we have a big safety talk. It’s very controlled, so it’s very safe.”
The hunting facility raises its own birds, and youngsters will get a chance to tour the facility.
A complimentary lunch and ammunition will be provided. Shotguns are available for the younger hunters.
Participants are asked to call ahead, Hairston said, but it’s not necessary.
“If they don’t have time to call, they can show up,” he said. “We have plenty of birds, plenty of people and plenty of food.”
Call 208-486-6235, or write to lcs@cpcinternet.com.