It is the first Saturday of November and people of all walks scurry about the Army Corps of Engineers W. Kerr Scott Reservoir Visitor Center. Located near the dam of this 1962 flood control reservoir, the visitor center houses both Corps employee offices as well as educational facilities.

On this day a group of 20 special youths between the age of 12 and 16 along with an accompanying adult have arrived for a special orientation. The orientation is in preparation for a special youth-only deer hunt a week later.

These lucky youths were drawn at random from those who had applied for the hunt through the states license agents. Known as the permit hunt program, the Wildlife Resources Commission offers a variety of special hunting opportunities across the state that are available through a lottery-type drawing.

Utilizing the states game lands as well as Army Corps property and educational forests of the N.C. Forest Service, the WRC offers several special youth-only deer hunts. For many families, these hunts are an excellent opportunity for children at least 12 years old but younger than 16, to experience a quality hunt under highly controlled conditions. Emphasizing safety first, these hunts give young hunters a crash course in Deer Hunting 101.

Taking the floor of the conference room, B.B. Gillen of the NCWRC, welcomes the youth and adults that make up this year’s special youth hunt at the W. Kerr Scott Reservoir’s Warrior Creek Recreation facility. Besides being the coordinator of WRC’s special youth hunts, B.B. serves as the coordinator of the “Becoming an Outdoors Woman” program.

A scan of the room reveals that boys are not the only ones that love to hunt deer, as several young ladies have shed their normal attire for the camouflage of autumn. For one young lady, Annie Cattron of Lincolnton, the event is more than a deer hunt; it is a family affair as her younger brother Timmy will be hunting as well. Annie has attended several of these special hunts. Last year she bagged a nice buck while attending this same hunt. This year, mom Gwen will be with her and dad Wayne will be with her brother.

There are several reasons why this type of hunt is attractive to both the young hunters and their parents. One is that it is a great way for youths to be introduced to deer hunting. Another is the control and safety aspect of the event. As not all parents have access or familiarity with locations for deer hunting, these hunts provide a ready-made location to quality habitat with good deer numbers. For most of the areas, this is the only deer hunting allowed.

The first thing that the hunters receive is a lesson in deer management by a WRC biologist. As part of a quick course in deer biology and a self-evaluation in just how much the youths know about deer, the hunters are given a written test. Questions cover topics like, “Which of the following are important components of deer habitat; food, cover, water, space or all of these? Which of the following affect antler growth; age, nutrition, genetics or all of these?

After the educational quiz, the group goes outside for a very important course and demonstration in tree stand safety. It is no accident that this topic is gone over in great detail as tree stand accidents are the No. 1 cause of both hunting accidents and hunting accident fatalities. One of the main points stressed is the importance and proper use of the safety rope or fall restraint harness.

Before the group heads to the woods to pick their hunting spot, they are shown a special full-sized artificial deer. This unique deer is used to show and demonstrate proper shot placement. Depending on shot angle, the young hunters are shown that what appears to be a good shot might not actually be a good shot. A straight rod is used to demonstrate shot placement on the visible side of the deer. The deer is then turned around to reveal what the reality of the shot results would have been in impacting vital organs of the deer.

Hunting zones are picked at random for the hunters. The hunting area will be closed to the public on the day of the hunt. Hunters are limited to the use of shotguns only to limit the range of shots. The young hunters are afforded plenty of elbowroom for safety and end the day by picking out the location of their hunting blind or stand.

After deciding on a hunting spot, they use two-way radios to contact the staff that then go to the location and mark its GPS coordinates on a master map. This helps let them know where they will be and keeps them from being to close to other hunters. Kill ratios normally run around the 25 to 30 percent mark for the one-day W. Kerr Scott hunt.

— Tony Robinson can be reached at decoydoc@charter.net