Updated Planning Guide Available for Junior Pheasant Hunt; Big Game Scoring Program...

Updated Planning Guide Available for Junior Pheasant Hunt; Big Game Scoring
Program Book Available in Hardcopy

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- While Pennsylvania's junior
pheasant hunt seems like a long way off, Pennsylvania Game Commission
Executive Director Carl G. Roe noted that now is the time for hunting clubs to
make plans to host an organized junior pheasant hunt.

"The future of hunting is directly related to the continuing participation of
young Pennsylvanians," Roe noted. "The goal is to successfully compete with
all the other activities and recreational opportunities that vie for a young
person's time. It's truly a challenge for the Game Commission, as well as
Pennsylvania's one million hunters.

"To maximize this opportunity for younger hunters, and to ensure we pass along
the importance of ethics and sound ideals that have shaped our hunting
heritage, the Game Commission and Pheasants Forever urge local clubs to
consider hosting a junior pheasant hunt in their community."

Those clubs interested in hosting a junior pheasant hunt are encouraged to use
the 26-page planning guide prepared by the Game Commission and the
Pennsylvania State Chapter of Pheasants Forever. The booklet offers a
step-by-step guide on how to develop an organized junior pheasant hunt. The
guide-book includes: a sample timeline; suggested committees and assignments;
general event planning considerations; and several sample forms and news
releases. It also includes event evaluation guides so clubs and organizations
may consider changes for future junior pheasant hunts.

The guide can be viewed on the Game Commission's website, by clicking on
"Hunting" in the left-hand column of the homepage, then selecting the pheasant
photo and then choosing "Junior Pheasant Hunt Planning Guide." Later this
year, the agency will update this section to include a listing of locations
that the Game Commission plans to release birds for the 2009 junior pheasant
hunts, as well as a listing of all the junior pheasant hunts being hosted by
local clubs.

To participate in the junior pheasant hunt, youngsters must be 12 to 16 years
of age, and must have successfully completed a basic Hunter-Trapper Education
course. As required by law, an adult must accompany the young hunters.
Participating hunters do not need to purchase a junior hunting license to take
part in the youth pheasant hunt, but all participants must wear the mandatory
250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on their head, chest and back
combined, visible from 360 degrees.

To bolster participation in the junior pheasant hunt, the Game Commission
again plans to stock pheasants just prior to this special season. For the
2009 hunt, the agency will release 15,000 birds on lands open to public
hunting. These areas will be identified in the 2009-2010 Pennsylvania Digest
of Hunting and Trapping Regulations, as well as in future Game Commission news
releases and on the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us).

Additionally, for those clubs who sign up before July 31, the Game Commission
will provide, free of charge, a limited number of pheasants from its
propagation program to those clubs that host a junior pheasant hunt. The only
two stipulations to be eligible for clubs to receive Game Commission birds are
that these hunts must have registration open to the public and must be held on
lands open to public hunting.

Based on previous surveys, about half of the junior participants successfully
bagged game; a male relative had accompanied most of them; the majority of
participants were between the ages of 12 and 14; and many of them intend to
hunt again. The agency also received many positive comments about the junior
hunting opportunity.

The Game Commission has posted a link on its website to a video clip on
YouTube promoting pheasant propagation and junior pheasant hunts. To view the
clip, go to the agency's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on "Media
Resources Center" in the "Quick Clicks" box in the right-hand column of the
homepage, select "Wildlife Cinema," then choose "Wildlife Managers in Action,"
and scroll down to "Pheasant Propagation and Junior Hunting Opportunities."

Pheasants Forever is a national non-profit habitat conservation organization
with a system of hard-working local chapter volunteers dedicated to the
protection and enhancement of pheasants and other wildlife populations.
Pheasants Forever emphasizes habitat improvement, public awareness and
education, and land management policies that benefit private landowners and
wildlife alike. For more information, visit the organization's website
(www.pheasantsforever.org).

BIG GAME SCORING PROGRAM BOOK AVAILABLE IN HARDCOPY
You asked for it, and now it's available; the Pennsylvania Game Commission's
big game records in a bound, printed version.

Copies of the Pennsylvania Big Game Records are available from the Game
Commission online at The Outdoor Shop, www.pgc.state.pa.us, or call
1-888-888-3459, or mail your remittance to: PA Game Commission, Dept. MS, 2001
Elmerton Ave., Harrisburg, PA 17110-9797. The book costs $5, which includes
sales tax, plus $1.25 shipping and handling. For additional information,
contact Pennsylvania Big Game Records Program Coordinator Bob D'Angelo at the
Game Commission Harrisburg headquarters (rdangelo@state.pa.us).

The Big Game Records Scoring Program "record book" has been on the Game
Commission's website for several years now, and will continue to be so. But,
responding to public requests, it now has been put into a bound booklet form.

Pennsylvania's Big Game Scoring Program is based on the Boone & Crockett
Club's scoring program that was copyrighted by that organization in 1950.
Established in 1887, by Theodore Roosevelt, the B&C Club was initially
organized for the conservation of wildlife and natural resources on a national
basis.

The Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writer's Association started
Pennsylvania's Big Game Measuring Program in 1965 (although score sheets and
listings in the record book go back as far as the early 1900s), to showcase
the outstanding big game hunting opportunities available in this state. Since
1965, 14 measuring sessions have been held, with the last one taking place
this past June.

Scoring and keeping track of big game animals is important because harvesting
a record book animal brings to attention the excellence of habitat and
wildlife management practices that produce quality wildlife populations. The
Big Game Scoring Program also stresses hunter and conservation ethics, and is
another tool that promotes recreational hunting and supports Pennsylvania's
strong hunting heritage.

Pennsylvania Big Game Records contains a wealth of information, including the
minimum scores required for each big game category, some Boone & Crockett Club
and Pope & Young Club information, a few photos, but most importantly, the
trophy listings. In each big game category the trophy is ranked, the hunter is
listed, and the county, year taken and the trophy score are listed. The record
book is not only interesting, but it can be used as a tool to identify where
the "big ones" are being taken.

Note to Editors: If you would like to receive Game Commission news releases
via e-mail, please send a note with your name, address, telephone number and
the name of the organization you represent to: PGCNews@state.pa.us.

For Information Contact:
Jerry Feaser
717-705-6541
PGCNews@state.pa.us

SOURCE Pennsylvania Game Commission

Jerry Feaser of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, +1-717-705-6541,
PGCNews@state.pa.us