Deaf teens take a turn at wild toms

[Guest guest]

Deaf teens take a turn at wild toms

 

[What's wrong with this picture?

First it's turkeys they want to kill, then it will be deer?!

If they want the Deaf children to learn the 'sounds' of nature and

LIFE, why kill these poor creatures?

 

Please call the number at the end of this article to let them know

how absurd this is - Fidyl]

 

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Teens take a turn at wild toms

BY CHRIS NISKANEN

Outdoors Editor

The Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minnesota

Sunday, May 9, 2004

 

Sixteen-year-old Jessi Girard of Cambridge had never killed anything

before.

 

Now she's a successful wild-turkey hunter.

 

Shane Wozney, a hearing-impaired 17-year-old from Owatonna, Minn.,

had hunted deer, but never had a chance at a wild turkey.

 

Now he's a wild-turkey hunter with a new appreciation for the strange

sounds made by wild toms.

 

" It sounds like a long, slow phone ringing,'' said Wozney of the

gobble sound, after his hunting mentor, Steven Rutchi, held a gobbler

call close to Wozney's ear for a demonstration.

 

Both teens are beneficiaries of a new program designed to introduce

kids to wild-turkey hunting. The first-ever youth hunts are taking

place at the Minnesota Valley Wildlife Refuge, the Minnesota Valley

State Recreation Area and land owned by the Wildlife Science Center,

a research facility near Forest Lake.

 

Many of the 29 youth participants never had hunted. All spent weeks

of preparation, including taking firearms safety classes and a

turkey-hunting seminar.

 

Girard took both classes and hunted an entire day with mentor Dan

Porter without seeing a wild tom.

 

" Until the day of the hunt, I wasn't sure if I could pull the

trigger,'' said Girard, whose mother, Beth, also spent the weekend in

the hunting blind. " At first I was so nervous I could hardly hold the

gun straight. "

 

But on the second day, Girard coolly bagged a 15-pound, 8-ounce

" jake " or young tom. She cleaned the bird herself and plans to mount

the tail feathers, too.

 

" Both of them were very impressive,'' said Porter of Jessi and her

mother.

" They were so patient. Jessi was such a trouper. We spent 11½ hours

in the blind, and I don't know too many adult hunters who could

handle that. "

 

On his second day of hunting, Wozney had three toms strutting in

front of his blind, but he lost sight of them after Rutchi signaled

him by tapping his shoulder. The toms flew away, but " I surely

learned something big from the hunting experience, it was a rich

one... and a memory,'' Wozney said.

 

Wozney, who is mostly deaf, said he wished that hearing aids could

help his hearing for hunting trips. Otherwise, he's dependent upon

his hearing hunting partners for help.

 

" Yes, I am deaf, but that doesn't actually mean I couldn't do some

things,'' he said via an e-mail interview. " The motto, by the deaf

people, applies.

We can do anything, except hear. "

 

He said he was encouraged by that fact that only about one-third of

all turkey hunters are successful each season.

 

Girard said her interest in hunting began when she joined the Isanti

County 4H shooting club. She volunteers at the Wildlife Science

Center and was encouraged by the center's director, Peggy Callahan,

to try turkey hunting.

Even though she didn't see a turkey the first day, she was excited

about seeing hawks, owls, woodpeckers and deer.

 

She attributes her killing shot on the second day to luck and

admitted she was a bit worried about her mom.

 

" She's a bit of a pacifist, but a really cool mom,'' Girard said.

" Nobody in my family for three generations has hunted, but my mom

really encourages me to try new things. "

 

Said Porter: " Her mom was with her the whole time. It might sound

like a cliché, but it was a wonderful thing to experience and see

them. "

 

Callahan said the first three youth hunters bagged turkeys, including

a 25-pound tom with a 10-inch beard. She described the teen's

experiences as " amazing. "

 

" You see them making the connect, that's it's not just about the

killing,'' Callahan said. " It gives kids an additional activity

that's enriching. "

 

Nine teens are participating in the Wildlife Science Center hunt and

20 are participating at the hunt at the Minnesota Valleye refuge. The

hunts were jointly organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

the Department of Natural Resources, the National Wild Turkey

Federation and the Wildlife Science Center. Gander Mountain provided

camouflage clothing and calls, and Double Bull Blinds of Monticello

provided hunting blinds.

 

Special changes were made to state laws to allow the youth hunters to

be aided by their mentors. Turkey federation volunteers held the

turkey clinics that emphasized safety and effective hunting

techniques.

 

Callahan said she's looking forward to holding the youth hunts next

year.

A fall deer hunt also is planned.

For information, contact her at

651-464-3993.

 

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