Washington County Youth Quail Hunt

The Washington County Young Sportsman Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was formed to serve the youth in Washington County. The Foundation hosts local hunter-safety courses and makes donations to local 4-H archery and shotgun programs. They also sponsor recreation department teams and host hunting and fishing events each year for local youth. They hold an annual banquet to raise money for their organization.

Local quail hunter Jack Smith came to the Foundation in 2016 and donated a quail hunt to three kids last winter. That event was such a success that he recently hosted another youth quail hunt, this one on Dec. 16, 2017.

The decision on which lucky youth would get to come was determined by a drawing at the organization’s annual banquet.

This year’s lucky youth were Josh Jackson, Lane Jones and Lee Lane. The group met Jack and his son Zachery on their hunting land. It was a beautiful day that the Lord blessed us with for the quail hunt.

Jack talked to the young hunters about how he wanted things to work. After he lined them up, he showed them what to do when the dogs made a point. He explained to the hunters that the biggest thing for the day was safety for themselves, as well as the dogs. They were advised not to shoot at low birds.

Jack and Zachery unloaded the dogs, and the hunt was on. The dogs made the first point, and Jack lined everyone up and got them ready. The birds were flushed, and not a shot was fired. It took a few flushes for the young hunters to get the hang of what to do. Once they figured it out, they started shooting and made some great shots. They all harvested some quail but also made a lot of clean misses.

It was great to see these young hunters enjoy a fun and safe hunt. The dogs honored each other’s points by backing each other up and not flushing the quail until it was time. Everyone had a great time watching Jack’s dogs work the field, and the young hunters learned a lot about the sport of quail hunting.

The Washington County Young Sportsman Foundation would like to thank Jack and Zachery Smith for the quail hunt and for teaching the young hunters the right and safe way to hunt quail. We would also like to thank everyone involved for making events like this happen.