Outdoors with Larry DiDonato - Youth Pheasant Hunt Connects Kids to the Outdoors

On Saturday at the Lampman Farm in Greenville, Greene County, eighteen area youths and their parent/mentors took a day off from screens to connect with the outdoors. Nearly 60 people, including NYS Environmental Conservation Officers, (ECOs) and sportsmen-volunteers and bird dog handlers, got together to put on the 2024 Greene County Youth Pheasant Hunt. The annual event is the product of members of the Greene County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs working in partnership with the New York Conservation Officer’s Association (NYCOA). It once again received tremendous support from area sportsmen and women, our ECOs, the Greenville High School Trap Team, and local businesses like Big Top Tent Rentals of Cairo.  

 Word of the success of past youth hunts in Greene County made its way to the NYS DEC Public Affairs/Press Office and they sent a team to produce a video. It documented kids in action outdoors; hunting with experienced instructors and dog-handlers who volunteer their time and expertise to give back to the next generation of hunter-conservationists. Go to https://youtu.be/DnGUcXLfg00 to view the video which has already been posted.

 Some say kids connecting to nature is essential to their healthy mental and emotional development. Lack of contact with the natural world has even been characterized as potentially harmful. Author Richard Louve, in his 2008 book entitled, “Last Child in the Woods; Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” posits, if kids don’t spend enough time outdoors, in touch with their natural surroundings, it could have serious implications upon their healthy mental and emotional development. We’ve seen during COVID, that being locked inside for long periods of time can have a real negative impact upon kids as well as adults. Coupling lack of contact outside in nature with trends of ever-increasing time spent indoors on screens, and you don’t have to be a psychologist to see the potential harm. 

 Well, there was no concern of that happening at the youth hunt in Greenville, or in future hunting excursions it may hopefully have inspired the families to seek out. During the past five years of volunteering with this 5 to 6-hour event, I never saw a single kid on their phone. Whether they were hunting, practicing shooting trap, or just idly waiting his or her turn, the phone did not come out of their pocket. This same phenomenon was evident at this year’s hunt. Kids are busy commiserating with friends, old and new, talking technique, speaking with mentor-members of the HS trap team, or just quietly enjoying the fresh air, sunshine. They certainly appeared to be  “in the moment.” 

 The Greene County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs and local member clubs, frequently in conjunction with area ECOs, connect kids to nature and the outdoors through youth pheasant and turkey hunts, youth fishing derbies, and by paying for and sending kids to DEC environmental conservation summer camps.   

 The key to their success lies within its member-volunteers. If you are a member of a fish and game club, shooting sports club, or a fishing or conservation organization, support those clubs, the federation, and its mission by volunteering your time. If you are not a member, consider joining your local fish and game club. That may be all that’s needed to make sure the “Last Child in the Woods” won’t be one of ours.

Happy Hunting, Fishing, and Trapping until next time!

Remember to report poaching violations by calling 1-844-DEC-ECOS.