Springfield school students participate in MDC mentored pheasant hunt

ASH GROVE, Mo. – Yellow school buses can usually be spotted driving in and out of a shooting range in Ash Grove at least once a week. Over the past several Tuesdays in the first two months of the year, the weekly trips were a coordinated effort in giving Springfield students the opportunity to go on a mentored pheasant hunt.

While it’s not the overall goal, nearly every student bagged a bird.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) has hosted mentored hunts for different groups throughout the years. In southwest Missouri, public hunting clinics and hunts for children and women first launched in 2004 at Bois D’Arc Conservation Area. A few years ago, the mentored hunts expanded to include Springfield Public Schools’ Outdoor Adventure classes.

The safety of the participants, staff, and spectators during the mentored hunt are critical to the overall success of the upland bird hunting clinic program. These requirements match up with MDC’s Nature and Health, which focuses on the health benefits of being out in nature.

Teaching students the lesson of ‘field to table’

The students have either been taking an outdoor awareness course with Springfield Public Schools (SPS) or were enrolled in the Wonders of the Ozarks Learning Facility (WOLF), which offers learning opportunities for fifth-grade students who have a special interest in nature and the outdoors. Each student also completes their hunter education certification.

Once students arrived at the shooting range, MDC instructors went over safety reminders and offered clay pigeon practice before the controlled hunt commenced. MDC conservation agents carried the firearms from each zone while pairing with students as other MDC staff guided the group through several stations.

“There’s been ongoing instruction within the classroom as well as by MDC staff, including with field agents, who prepare the students to successfully complete the controlled hunt,” said Marty Marsh, MDC education district supervisor. “Seeing the collaboration between the school staff with MDC staff and volunteers truly represents what we would want to see within the education community.”

Offering a controlled hunt is just one component of a comprehensive education plan, Marsh explained.

“It is one way we are educating students with real world learning experiences that engages them with the outdoors, and, if nothing else, creates both a conservation and community-minded citizen,” Marsh said.

In addition to their own processed bird, students hopefully also take home “a field to plate understanding,” better comprehension of game and wildlife management, and more, Marsh added.

Brad Brummel, SPS curriculum coordinator of health and physical education, echoed Marsh’s sentiments.

“The students’ well-being is a priority,” Brummel said.

Helping students be successful means providing children with an awareness of the natural resources they take part in, as well as preparing them to be accomplished community members and stewards, Brummel added.

“We partner with MDC on a number of instructional units in the outdoor awareness course, but with a controlled hunt, it’s just icing on the cake in helping students see the conservation model all the way through,” Brummel explained, from students learning about firearm safety, conservation history, and more. “Students harvesting a bird, taking the meat home, and the bird making it all the way to the table with the students’ families is hard to replicate, and it’s a program we value greatly.”

As was exclaimed by the young people many times over the weeks, Brummel said this was the students’ first time hunting or they had only participated in deer and turkey hunting seasons.

“They have not had the opportunity to hunt for pheasants, so that’s a unique opportunity for them as well,” Brummel said.

A parent’s perspective

Ryan and Jen Savage watched their 11-year-old son, Graham, proudly hold up a bird he harvested while participating in the controlled pheasant hunt on Feb. 17.

“My son, being in WOLF, is the first time that I’ve experienced the collaboration between the Missouri Conservation Department and the schools with the WOLF program, and honestly, my feeling is I wish every kid in Missouri could participate in all that the Missouri Conservation Department has to offer,” said Ryan Savage, a former SPS principal.

As his son trotted off to get his harvest processed by MDC staff and volunteers, Ryan Savage said he was already thinking of the next opportunity he could take his son bird hunting.

 Discover the benefits of nature to one’s health with MDC’s resources at research.mdc.mo.gov/project/health-benefits-nature.

Find out more about events and programs at Andy Dalton Shooting Range and Education Center at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/andy-dalton-shooting-range-outdoor-education-center.