Youth mentor reunion includes hunting, soup supper on Sunday

    The Southwestern Nebraska Pheasants Forever Chapter will host its third Youth Mentor Reunion Hunt Sunday.
    Graduates and volunteers from the chapter’s previous 19 years of Youth Mentor Hunts are invited to reconnect and celebrate the success of the program, as well as share a day afield, said Heather Francis, local PF president.  
    The first annual Youth Mentor Hunt sponsored by the local PF chapter was held in 2001 with 18 participants. Since then, 280 youths have graduated from the program in Imperial alone, Francis said.  
     This year, reunion attendees will meet Sunday, Jan. 24, at 7:30 a.m. at the Imperial Jaycee Hall on East 5th Street, just south of the fairgrounds
    Teams and locations to hunt will be decided on that morning of the hunt within Open Fields and Waters public access sites and private land sites in Chase County.  
    There will be contest judging and a soup supper beginning at 5 p.m. that afternoon.  
    Francis noted that if people cannot hunt in the morning, they can consider joining the hunt in the afternoon.  
    “Join us for hunting for part of the day if you can’t participate the whole day,” she said.    
     There will be several Day Only Contests for this event, including longest tail feather, heaviest bird, number of species and the longest pheasant spur.  
    Francis said the day could be one in which hunters could complete Nebraska’s Game and Parks Upland Slam contest.  
    The Upland Slam challenges hunters to harvest one each of a ring-necked Pheasant, Northern Bobwhite (quail), sharp-tailed grouse and Greater Prairie Chicken.  
    Each hunter must register online and post a photo of each species harvested to be eligible for the Upland Slam. All hunters who complete the slam during the 2020-2021 season will be registered to win one of several prizes donated by Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever.
     The Youth Mentor Hunt program is a partnership with Pheasants Forever, Quail Forever and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and would not be possible without the work and dedication from chapter volunteers, Francis said.
    Since 1996, the Youth Mentor Hunt Program in Nebraska has had over 15,000 graduates and over 1,000 events. For more information on events in Nebraska, visit: www.nebraskapf.com.   
    Francis said, this year, social distancing and wearing of a mask is encouraged, and asks that people consider not to attend Sunday if they have been ill or are not feeling well.