Wyoming County 4-H Shooting Sports Team Competes in Camp Perry Open

On January 18th through the 20th the Wyoming County 4-H Shooting Sports team which is also affiliated with the Warsaw American Legion and the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association traveled to Camp Perry in Ohio to compete in the Camp Perry Open.

Competitors were from Connecticut to Montana and as far south as West Virginia. Day one of the competition was in three-position Air Rifle. Hannah Spicer, age 15, of Pavilion broke her personal best and placed 18th, Hannah Siewert, age 15, from Perry also broke her personal best and placed 23rd, and Abbey Paddock, age 12, of Perry also beat her personal best and placed 66th. Rachael Paddock, age 14, from Perry placed 5th which qualified her for the finals match where she was able to move up to second place capturing the Silver Medal.

Rachael Paddock (L) from Wyoming County, NY, wins the Silver Medal in the finals match at the Camp Perry Open

The Wyoming County 4-H Shooting Sports team at the Camp Perry Open in Ohio

For more information on 4-H Shooting Sports or other programs offered by Wyoming County 4-H, please contact the office at 585-786-2251.

Holly M. Harwood
Extension Educator
4-H Youth Development

2019 SHOT Show – Day 2

The second day of SHOT Show offered something new – Pop-Up Preview. The Pop-Up Preview is a one-day only set of booths that brought nearly 200 new companies to the SHOT Show for the first time. The products ranged from first aid supplies, flexible solar panels, clothing, boots, and food freeze dryer. There was also Bison wool products ranging from boot inserts to hats. Here are some of the companies we spoke with:

• Nex-xos has developed a line of self-heating, home style meals in eleven flavors, with 6 more flavors being developed. Ivis Rubero, of Nex-Xos encouraged us to try a sample of the product of the Omeals which uses 3-5 ounces of any fluid to cook the meals in 3-5 minutes. The sample was Lentils with Beef and it was excellent quality. The full line comes in waterproof, light, and packable packaging for backpacking.

Omeals menu options from Nex-Xos.

• AMP-3 LLC sells a series of first aid kits, bags, and amateur radio products. Their first aid kits run from basic to Outfitter Clinic-in-a-roll. The Outfitter includes a compartment for the following: Trauma, Musculoskeletal, Dressings, Bandages, Medical Tools, Admin, Irrigation, Misc. Wound, Dental Kit, Blister Kit, SAM Splint, Eye Wash, Medication Module 1 & 2, Tape & Wrap, and Personal Protection. Owners Dave and Beth hand pack each order, rather that purchasing pre-packed kits to assure that each kit is assembled correctly.

• Over at BioLite, we spoke with Johnathon Kosakow, North American Sales Manager. BioLite produces a variety of sustainable energy products from camp stoves, solar LED lights, a solar lighting system, and as of last year, a smokeless fire pit. The fire pit burns either wood or charcoal and uses patented airflow technology to heat and burn the materials in the smoke before it is able to leave the pit. BioLite also has a division that works to bring clean burning stoves to Sub-Saharan Africa, where the inhalation of regular wood smoke within the kitchen area has left many children and adults with permanent breathing illnesses. We are going to connect the NYS 4-H Renewable Energy Specialist, Charles Malone with Johnathon.

Flexible and roll-up solar panels on display from SunSoaker

• At Harvestright they were showing off their home freeze dryer model. The home model is the smallest of one of three models, about the size of an apartment washing machine, that the company offers at this time. Long-term storage is one of the benefits of freeze drying – as much as 25 years. According to the company’s flyer, traditional dehydration and canning require high temperatures that the company claims degrades flavor, texture and nutritional content. We sampled some of their freeze dried red raspberries and they were delicious!

• At Tren LLC, we were introduced to NAQWA SWR-Spring, a portable drinking water resource by Vernon Hatch, President of Tren. The NAQWA is a filter that is not based on ceramics or charcoal but instead uses molecular cleaning, accomplished through track membrane technology. The track member consists of a polymer film with 10 microns deep. Each square centimeter of membrane contains hundreds of millions of pores of 0.2-0.4 microns in diameter. This membrane combines two forms of water recovery: (1) purification of bacteria and other contaminants, and (2) physical and informational water restructuring. The whole unit weighs 3 ounces.

• Frostime claims their product, the Blizbox, is a revolution in portable cooling. The Blizbox uses carbon dioxide in canisters mounted as part of a patented cooling device to control, monitor, and maintain refrigeration temperatures for up to 24 hours. If more time is needed, the CO2 canisters can be replaced. The group works with research & development at North Dakota State University.

The BlizBox CO2 cooling unit from Frostime. The tanks are refillable.

The main meeting for the day was with Charles Daly salesman, George Woford. Charles Daly is distributed through Chiappa, whose US location in Dayton, OH. Charles Daly is once again offering the Model 600 Semi-Auto in 12 and 20 gauge, they even have a left-handed compact model in 20. We also looked at the Model 601 Semi-Auto which has an extremely affordable retail price. The Model 301 Pump-Action currently is available only in right-handed 12 gauges.

North American Arms owner, Sandy Chisholm, continues to be a strong supporter of the NYS 4-H Shooting Sports program and works with Dave Baron owner of Baron Technology, Inc. (Baron Engraving) to make sure that one of their small-revolvers is included in our recent Annual Banquet & Auction events. Often times, the firearm is custom engraved by the artisans at Baron.

The day also held some interesting seminars on hunter and shooting sports recruitment. Data from the US Fish & Wildlife Service shows that hunter numbers continue to decline faster than new hunters are recruited. This has spawned the R3 initiative to Recruit, Retain, and Retrain hunters, fisherpersons, and shooting sports participants. Recruitment of youth who are interested continues to the primary effort, but has now expanded to non-traditional populations. Adults who are interested in learning to hunt or shoot but have no one to take them have become a focus audience.

One of the speakers from Quality Deer Management Association (www.qdma.com), Hank Forester, spoke about the Field to Fork program. This program was introduced to New York this year and recruits interested adults through farmers markets where many adults are looking for a more natural alternative to supermarket meat counters. The program has several years of success in Georgia plus seven participants who harvested deer in New York in 2018 and has now been expanded to offering these hunting opportunities to non-hunting employees at companies like Ruger and Sig Sauer.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has introduced 2019 as +One: Grow the Sport. A challenge to all hunters and shooting enthusiasts to take someone new afield.

+One Challenge Coins introduced by the National Shooting Sports Foundation

John Bowe
Assistant Director
New York State 4-H Shooting Sports

Thank You For Your Support!

New York State 4-H Shooting Sports wishes to extend their sincere appreciation to everyone who attended and donated to the 19th Annual Banquet & Auction Event in Lake George, NY this past weekend!

Here are a few photo highlights (many more photos will be posted on our website in the future):

Let the Games Begin – it was a full house with over 300 friends of 4-H Shooting Sports in attendance!

(L to R) 4-H Educator Leland Bunting, NYS4-HSS Instructor Jim Pettis and Bev Stanislowsky (seated) from Talk of the Town Auction House

NYS 4-H Shooting Sports Director Bill Schwerd with 2016 Artist of the Year, former 4-H’er, Molly Pokrzywka

Auctioneer Dusty Clevelend (L) working the Live Auction with Talk of the Town Auction House’s John Stanislowsky (R)

Happiness Is 4-H – adding some extra smiles to a great event!

From Left to Right: Bill Schwerd – Director NYS4-HSS, Chris Steadman – Hornady, Kenyon Simpson – NY4-HSS Education Specialist and Dave Baron – Baron Technology, Inc.

Taking home the catch of the night! Griffin Clancy (L) and Tom Clancy (R) winning bidders of the 2012 Artist of the Year Brian Ruth Chainsaw Carving, Handpainted by Lisa Casorio with Handmade Hook by Blacksmith, Ron Bakerian and a Handmade Fly by Master Fly Tier, Paul Sinicki

Special thanks to the our event hosts the Fort William Henry Hotel & Conference Center and Belmonte & Sons Tents & Events and to our event sponsors Baron Technology, Inc., Tetra Gun Care and the Utica Cutlery Company for their most generous support.

Thank you to each and everyone who was a part of our most important fundraising event of the year – we cannot do it without you!

Sincerely,
New York State 4-H Shooting Sports

New York State 4-H Shooting Sports at the 2018 SHOT Show

2018 representatives from New York State 4-H Shooting Sports at the SHOT Show include Director Bill Schwerd, Assistant Director John Bowe, Cornell University Campus Liaison Keith Tidball, Education Specialist Kenyon Simpson, Seneca County CCE Educator Moira Tidball and 4-H Teen Ambassadors Victoria Tidball and Charlotte Tidball from Seneca County.

New York State 4-H Shooting Sports representatives to the 2018 SHOT Show: Kenyon Simpson, Bill Schwerd, Dr. Keith Tidball (L to R back row) and John Bowe, Charlotte Tidball, Victoria Tidball and Moira Tidball (L to R front row)

New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Teen Ambassadors Victoria Tidball (L) and Charlotte Tidball (R) from Seneca County with U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Kim Rhode (C) at the 2018 SHOT Show

(L to R) Seneca County CCE Educator Moira Tidball, 4-H Teen Ambassador Charlotte Tidball, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, 4-H Teen Ambassador Victoria Tidball and Cornell Campus Liaison Dr. Keith Tidball at the Community Service Clean-Up of Bureau of Land Management property in Nevada

The following is an excerpt on Day One at the 2018 SHOT Show written by NYS4-HSS Teen Ambassador Charlotte Tidball:

The first day was very exciting, I will admit waking up in a different time zone can be difficult but we soon gained our energy with a big breakfast. Initially arriving at SHOT Show everything looked kind of intimating. With the noise and people, huge banners and walls of all kinds of firearms imaginable surrounding you, you can be easily overwhelmed. We stayed in groups though and made our way to different organizations to look at firearms and promote 4-H Shooting Sports. Many of the people we met with today we already had connections with but we also met a lot of new people.

Today we focused on shotguns and finding the best ones for our program. My sister and I helped from a youth perspective shouldering various guns and seeing how we liked them. I like the Mossberg youth semi-auto and the Charles Daly compact semi-auto even more. Both have simple actions with no locks underneath for the bolt, and were light weight and comfortable.

Overall it was very interesting seeing the inner workings of the industry meeting new people and making connections, my feet are very sore though!

Our New York contingent put on many miles a day at the 2018 SHOT Show that ran from January 23-26 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

4-H Teen Ambassador Victoria Tidball (R) trying on a new youth model treestand harness and NYS4-HSS Cornell Campus Liaison Dr. Keith Tidball (L) at the Summit Stands booth at the 2018 SHOT Show

The following is an excerpt on Day Two at the 2018 SHOT Show written by NYS4-HSS Teen Ambassador Charlotte Tidball:

Day 2 of SHOT Show was a success. Though my feet are still sore we found a cool booth that has American made cushion socks- Farm to Feet, so maybe tomorrow they won’t! All of theirs products are made from wool from local American farms, they believe in safe factory conditions and environmental impacts. It’s great seeing a company 100% made in the US, even the ink is local. This connects to other aspects of 4-H like livestock programs, knitting/weaving, and entrepreneurship.

In other news, Tori, Mo, and I met Jim Shockey at the Crosman booth today. We talked to him about 4-H Shooting Sports and hunting as a family. He autographed our picture books and enjoyed looking through them. We took pictures with him as well. Afterwards he asked us if it was alright if he posted them and added a link to our website on his official social media pages! That was very exciting and will help promote 4-H.

Tori and I looked at a lot of pistols today. At Crosman we saw many light weight air pistols some of which we use for our programs already. Personally, I really liked the tiny North American Arms pistols and the pretty guns – Great Gatsby style with all the cowboy stuff. Hopefully someday I can get one of my own and maybe even engrave it; we looked at some with Baron engravings that were beautiful.

Later on, we visited Winchester and talked with someone about their lead free bullets and the importance of lead free bullets in health and nutrition. Being a hunter who eats my harvest myself, I don’t want to worry about having lead in my food and the impact it could have on my health. Overall today we made some good connections and the day went by much faster now that we knew how the navigate the huge show and knew roughly where we were headed.

Education Specialist Kenyon Simpson (L) with Wally Gardiner (R) of Bear & Son Cutlery, Inc.

Director Bill Schwerd (L) with George Woford (R) at the Charles Daly of Chiappa Firearms booth

Our 4-H Teen Ambassadors also had the opportunity to meet with representatives from several New York State 4-H Shooting Sports sponsors and donors including Tetra Gun (Event Sponsor of the 2017 NYS4-HSS Banquet & Auction), Utica Cutlery, Vista Outdoor (Savage, Federal Premium Ammunition), Hornady, North American Arms, Baron Technology, Crosman and Camp Chef as well as many other friends of 4-H Shooting Sports:

(L to R) 4-H Teen Ambassadors Victoria Tidball and Charlotte Tidball with Greg Cohen of Tetra Gun and Seneca County CCE Educator Moira Tidball

Jon Zinnel (L) and Ryan Bronson (R) of Vista Outdoor with Seneca County CCE Educator Moira Tidball and 4-H Teen Ambassador Charlotte Tidball

(L to R) Seneca County CCE Educator Moira Tidball with Sandy Chisholm of North American Arms and 4-H Teen Ambassador Charlotte Tidball

Dave Miles (L) with Seneca County CCE Educator Moira Tidball, 4-H Teen Ambassadors Victoria and Charlotte Tidball, Dave Baron (second from R) and Cornell Campus Liaison Dr. Keith Tidball at the Baron Technology booth, SHOT Show 2018

The following is an excerpt on Day Three at the 2018 SHOT Show written by NYS4-HSS Teen Ambassador Charlotte Tidball:

To kick off Day 3, we had a meeting with Hornady where we thanked them for their support and encouraged more of it. Jason Hornady was an outgoing host and his daughter is thinking of attending college in our area.

(L to R) 4-H Teen Ambassadors Victoria Tidball and Charlotte Tidball with Jason Hornady of Hornady Corporation and Seneca County CCE Educator Moira Tidball

Afterwards, we walked around a bit and that’s when we saw the Fausti booth. Tori and I already had really wanted to meet them and look at their guns so we went in and started talking to a guy who showed us some of them. We shouldered a beautiful women’s 4 10 and a 28 gauge – they fit smoothly and were light and easy to shoulder. Not to mention how gorgeous they were. Then the Fausti sisters got out of their meetings and we finally got to meet them! They were so sweet and excited to meet us-two sisters, like them who enjoy shooting. They gave us all sorts of goodies and signed our photo books. At the end they asked us for our information so they could follow us on Instagram and the next day they posted one of the many photos we took with them.

4-H Ambassadors, sisters Charlotte and Victoria Tidball (C), with Fausti sisters Giovanni (L) and Barbara (R) at the Fausti booth

We headed for the Crosman booth next, we talked with Mark DeBoard and made some connections as we waited in line to meet Eva Shockey. She was very nice and liked to see us young girls hunting and shooting starting from a young age. She told us she wished she had started young as well but she didn’t think hunting was for girls so she didn’t start until her 20s. She also signed our book and we took pictures with her, she even took pictures on her own phone.

Later we also visited Utica Cutlery and Faulk’s Game Calls to meet and thank them for their support. Additionally Mo (my mom) and my sister, Tori, made a great connection with Camp Chef and Girls with Guns and we will hopefully be receiving baskets for the banquet and from Girls With Guns we might even get some gear to wear during the auction itself.

(L to R) 4-H Teen Ambassador Charlotte Tidball, Mike Matthews of Utica Cutlery, 4-H Teen Ambassador Victoria Tidball and Seneca County CCE Educator Moira Tidball

We ended the day at Excalibur Crossbows. We looked at two bows that were very well suited for youth usage and one in particular had a built in crank system with a strap that prevents dangerous free spooling. This bow is great for kids, especially, or smaller people who struggle with the draw weight. The crank also makes it possible to de-cock the bow without firing using by reversing the crank. The model also has an adjustable stock so the crossbow fit me, my sister, and my dad alike. The versatility of this bow would be great to have on the range.

All in all it was a great day meeting cool people, looking at all sorts of firearms and making great connections.

The following is an excerpt on Day Four at the 2018 SHOT Show written by NYS4-HSS Teen Ambassador Charlotte Tidball:

SHOT Show Day 4 – Friday morning was the last day in Vegas for SHOT Show; but my family and a colleague, John Bowe, and I didn’t go to SHOT show that day. Everyone said that on the last day we got to do something even better. Thanks to a public service opportunity through the Bureau of Land Management, we were able to meet the United States Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke.

After getting to sleep in for an extra hour, we met up with a caravan a little ways outside of Las Vegas and then drove to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public shooting range that needed to be cleaned up. When we got there, I couldn’t even tell it was a range except for the empty shells covering the ground. There was trash everywhere and it was a mess. Later we found out that the people organizing the clean-up had already been to this range and cleaned it up twice and they said this was nothing compared to what it was like.

There were about 50 people from different organizations there and of course, Secretary Zinke was there too. We all got bags and gloves and were set to work. Being used to clean private ranges back east, it was crazy seeing all of the trash that was there. It felt good cleaning up public lands with all of these people and helping to create a safe range to encourage more shooting sports in the area. It was sad to see the range in that condition and hard to think of the kind of people who would leave it like that. In 4-H we like to leave things better than we found them.

During our work, I was interviewed by a SHOT Show camera crew and that was a little scary but cool. After we were done, we were able to meet with Secretary Zinke and get a picture with him which was very exciting.

When we completed the clean-up, we had some time before meeting up with the others, so we made a little excursion to another BLM managed public land. This one was a park or “scenic loop”, called Red Rock Canyon. The rock formations were so pretty and we hiked around and took picture of the rocks and beautiful views. There was also a trail to see petroglyphs in the rock wall and that was so cool to see. It was a great end to a fun week full of doing new things and meeting cool people.

New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Teen Ambassadors Charlotte Tidball (in photo) and Victoria Tidball participated in the Community Service Clean Up of Bureau of Land Management property in Nevada

4-H Fall Archery Training – October 2017

Here are some photo highlights from a New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Archery Instructor Training held in October at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County Education & 4-H Training Center on Middleline Rd in Ballston Spa, NY.

From left to right: NYS4-HSS Assistant Director John Bowe with Phaedra Zoe Stasyshyn, Drake Stasyshyn and Guy Sowle of Saratoga County, Shari Mantini of Rennselaer County, Teresa Adell of Schoharie County, Rhyann Subcliff of Warren County, Tom Woelfersheim of Saratoga County and Tom Story of Washington County.

(Photos Courtesy of Deb Story)

A few photos from our 18th Annual NYS4-HSS Banquet & Auction Event!

Thank you to everyone who attended and supported our 18th Annual New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Banquet & Auction event on Saturday night – we greatly appreciate all you do!

Here are a few crowd photos from the Live Auction portion of our event…

Special thanks to Talk of the Town Auction House, John and Beverly Stanislowsky and our Auctioneer, Dusty Cleveland.

Auctioning off the 2017 Gun of the Year by North American Arms with Special Engraving by Baron Technology:

It was a full house for the 2017 Banquet & Auction…

More photos will be up on our website in the future, please stay tuned!

2017 Banquet & Auction!

We are almost one week away from our 18th Annual gathering for the New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Banquet & Auction Event at Towers Hall on the ground of the Fort William Henry Hotel & Conference Center in Lake George, NY. And, we’re expecting another full house!

There are over 300 items in this year’s event… way too many items to mention or photograph for our website. Plus, we always have a few things to surprise our guests along with some yearly mystery offerings too.

Some of the items highlighting this year’s event, including many from crowd favorites, will be:

2017 Artist of the Year, Wayne Trimm

Bramble, The Great Horned Owl, original pastel by Wayne Trimm

Special Tribute to Annelore Lehr

One of two sets of Annelore Lehr Prints (shown) ~Our 2017 Event is Dedicated to the Memory of Annelore Lehr – Cherished Volunteer, Artist and Friend of 4-H Shooting Sports~Proceeds from these Special Tribute items will be used towards the Annelore Lehr Memorial Wildflower Garden established by 4-H Shooting Sports at the
Cornell Cooperative Extension & 4-H Training Center in Ballston Spa NY.

2016 Artist of the Year, Molly Pokrzywka

Hand Painted Oars by Molly Pokrzywka

2015 Industry Artists of the Year, Baron Technology & Henry Repeating Arms

Golden Boy, EMS Tribute Edition Rifle

2013 Artist of the Year, Gene Matras

Wolves by Gene Matras

2012 Artist of the Year, Brian Ruth with all Carvings Hand Painted by Artist, Lisa Casorio

Lisa Casorio (L) & Brian Ruth (R)

Black Bear with Trout Carved by Brian Ruth and hand painted by Lisa Casorio with Large Handmade Fly by Master Fly Tyer, Paul Sinicki

2009 Artist of the Year, Richard Johnson

Pheasant in Handmade Frame by Photographer, Richard Johnson, Spruce Mountain Photography

2008 Artist of the Year, Bill Staulters

Custom Flint Knife of the Year by Master Flint Knapper, Bill Staulters

2014 NYS4-HSS Youth Artist of the Year, Brooke Thivierge

Whitetail Deer on Handsaw by Brooke Thivierge

PLUS…

Original Artwork by David Mayak

Original Watercolor in Handmade Frame by the Artist, David Mayak

Handmade Duck & Goose Calls by Rich Parks

Custom Calls by Rich Parks

Hand Tied Flies by Lee Weil

Four Bass Bug Flies Hand Tied by Lee Weil

Handmade Quilted Wall Hanging by Laurel Gailor

Handmade Quilted Wall Hanging with Sporting Motif by Laurel Gailor

Handmade Traditional Pack Basket by Doug Perkins

Handmade Traditional Style Pack Basket by Doug Perkins, Bear Paw Baskets

PLUS SO MUCH MORE including … a large sampling of firearms, knives, safes, outdoor sports and equipment, 2 Kayak packages, fishing and fishing equipment, photo safari, getaways, golf packages, tools, quilts, decorative items…you name it and we just may have it!
For additional photos of items in this year’s event please see the 2017 Event Preview Pages on our website.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Join Us for the… 18th Annual New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Banquet & Auction!

Please join us at the 18th Annual New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Banquet & Auction to be held on April 22, 2017 in historic Towers Hall overlooking beautiful Lake George, NY on the grounds of the Fort William Henry Hotel & Conference Center. Doors open at 4:00 PM for bountiful complimentary hors d’oeuvres with cash bar available. A grand buffet dinner featuring beef, chicken and pasta selections will be served at 7:00 PM prior to the Live Auction.

This year’s event will feature noted Wildlife Artist Wayne Trimm as our 2017 Artist of the Year with four of Wayne’s exceptional pieces of artwork up for grabs to the highest bidder including this original pastel of Bramble, the Great Horned Owl.

Bramble, The Great Horned Owl, original pastel by Wayne Trimm

As always, there will be hundreds of incredible items available throughout the event with something for everyone including many items from past Artists of the Year too. Auction services will once again be provided courtesy of Talk of the Town Auction Hall, John & Beverly Stanislowsky with Dusty Cleveland serving as Auctioneer.

The cost of this event is $75.00 per couple or $40.00 for a single dinner ticket. Specially priced overnight packages are also still available only through NYS4-HSS. Seating for this event is limited and has sold out many times in the past – please be sure to get your reservations in as early as possible. Reservations are due by April 13, 2017. To download a copy of the Invitation/Registration please click here.

Stay tuned to this blog and our website for upcoming details and more information on this year’s event!

Hunter Education – Maintaining the Tradition

Maintaining the Tradition…

2016 marks 40 years of teaching Hunter Education classes for New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Director, Bill Schwerd and 20 years for his son, Mike Schwerd of Schuylerville, NY. Both avid sportsmen with extensive knowledge, Bill and Mike have notably dedicated themselves to teaching and mentoring thousands of youth and adults to be safe and responsible hunters in New York State over the course of their tenure as Volunteer Instructors.

NYS4-HSS Director, Bill Schwerd (L) with son, Mike Schwerd (R)

This fall, New York State 4-H Shooting Sports programs will offer Hunter Education Courses, under the auspices of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, that will educate many hundreds of students across the state. These courses are part of NYS4-HSS’s mission to expand firearms safety and responsibility initiatives and impart important conservation principles and valuable outdoor life skills knowledge to all individuals who participate in the Shooting Sports.

Hunter Education Certification in New York State is administered by DEC. Persons seeking to take a Hunter Education Course must first pre-register online through New York State DEC for the course they wish to attend – click here to access the Course Registration page.

By law, all hunters aged 12 and over must complete Hunter Education Certification requirements in order to purchase a Hunting License in New York State (unless one is able to show proof of a previous license and/or IHEA reciprocity applies). Youth must be at least 11 years old to take the course.

Answers to many frequently asked questions regarding Hunter Education Certification and Hunting Licenses can be found here with more specific information on Hunting Licenses here.

In addition to DEC Hunter Education Courses, the New York State 4-H Shooting Sports Program will be offering their own specialized Introduction to Shooting Sports courses across the state this fall that cover key safety and shooting skill components for 4-H youth in the disciplines of Air Gun, Archery, Muzzleloader, Rifle and Shotgun with an emphasis on family education and involvement. For more information on these important courses in your area, please contact your local Cornell Cooperative Extension Office.

4-H Shooting Sports at State Fair

The Great New York State Fair is on now through Monday, September 5 – be sure to stop and say hello to our 4-H’ers, Instructors/Volunteers and Staff who are busy working the New York State 4-H Shooting Sports exhibit located inside the 4-H Youth Building!

NYS4-HSS Teen Assistants Blaise Cox, Yates County (L), Julianne LaBreche, Saratoga County (C) and Devin Russell, Saratoga County at the 4-H Shooting Sports exhibit booth inside the 4-H Youth Building at the 2016 New York State Fair

A young fairgoer checks out what’s in the “What’s It Box”

NYS4-HSS Instructor Denise Slocum (L), Yates County, with fairgoers at the Laser Shot Booth