Youth pheasant season includes Special Youth Hunts

The Oct. 19-20 statewide youth pheasant, quail and partridge season for hunters ages 15 and younger provides an excellent opportunity to mentor new hunters.

“The annual youth season provides a great opportunity for our young hunters to get out and hunt in a more controlled environment,” said Bryan O’Connor, upland game program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Resident youth (age 15 or younger) do not need a permit to hunt small game, but nonresident youth must have a small game hunting permit and habitat stamp. Only youth are allowed to hunt during the youth season, except at designated Special Youth Hunt locations, where accompanying adults also are allowed to hunt.

Game and Parks will release rooster pheasants at the following Special Youth Hunt locations/wildlife management areas (with county):

Arnold Trupp (Morrill), Arrowhead (Gage), Bordeaux (Dawes), Branched Oak (Lancaster), Cornhusker (Hall), George Syas (Nance), Hickory Ridge (Johnson), James N. Douglas (Johnson), Kirkpatrick Basin North (York), N-CORPE east tract (Lincoln), Oak Valley (Madison), Peru Bottoms (Nemaha), Powder Creek (Dixon), Pressey (Custer), Rakes Creek (Cass), Randall W. Schilling (Cass), Sherman Reservoir (Sherman), Wilkinson (Platte), and Yankee Hill (Lancaster).

At Special Youth Hunt locations, the daily bag limit is two rooster pheasants for youth and one rooster pheasant for the accompanying adult. The accompanying adult must be a licensed hunter aged 19 or older and only one adult per youth will be allowed to hunt.

Non-toxic shot is required at Kirkpatrick Basin North, Peru Bottoms, Randall W. Schilling and Wilkinson, but otherwise all other hunting regulations apply.

For more information about the youth season and a map of the pheasant release locations for youth, visit OutdoorNebraska.gov; search for “upland.”  Hunters also may contact Game and Parks at 402-471-0641.