By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Hunting season is just around the corner, and the sport is a tradition for many around the state. A relatively new organization in Kansas is looking to carry on the tradition. Pass it On Outdoor Mentors, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, started in Wichita in 2002. Now expanding, Pass it On is hosting several outdoors activities around the state, including a dove hunt near Great Bend on Sept. 1
"It goes beyond just hunting and fishing," said Pass it On's Western Kansas Coordinator Bobby Cole. "You're going to learn life skills while you're out there hunting. There's patience involved, there's persistence involved, there's hard work. As for the hunting side of things, if we don't have hunters, we don't have conservation as we know it in the U.S. We have to teach these kids to do this so they can carry on the wildlife we have in the U.S."
The Great Bend hunt is limited to four hunters between the ages of 11-18. All youth attending must have a parent or trusted adult present, and all must have passed a hunter safety course and possess valid hunting licensing. The group will meet at Kansas Trophy Experience Lodge just south of the Great Bend city limits on U.S. 281 Highway, then travel to a private hunting ground. The youth will hunt until they reach the dove limit or get tired.
"Dove hunting, usually you'll go out and post in a field you know the dove are probably feeding in," Cole said. "You'll put up some decoys and the dove will come right in. As they come in, you can harvest them."
For a full list of activities Pass it On Outdoor Mentors has planned in Kansas, CLICK HERE. For more questions about the Sept. 1 dove hunt, contact Cole by calling (620) 789-5060 or emailing bcole@outdoormentors.org.