Sign-ups for Mentor-Youth Dove Fields Aug. 11-22

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FRANKFORT, KY. – Sign-ups for the popular mentor-youth dove hunts will begin next week.

Each fall, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources contracts with landowners to provide leased dove hunting fields for the public to enjoy. Six of these fields will be closed to the general public on Sept. 1, the opening day of dove season, for mentor-youth hunting. These hunts give hunters ages 15 and under a chance to experience the exhilaration of an early season dove hunt with an adult mentor.

Hunters must pre-register for these hunts by calling 1-800-858-1549 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Eastern time) from Aug. 11-22. Registrations will not be accepted prior to these dates. Mentor-youth dove fields on wildlife management areas reopen to the public Sept. 2, while private fields leased by the department reopen for general public hunting Sept. 6.

Mentor-youth hunting fields include Higginson-Henry Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Union County; Lloyd WMA in Grant County; a 20-acre field near Bloomfield around the Nelson/Spencer County line; a 20-acre field near Fredricktown in Washington County; a 20-acre field in Green County; and a 20-acre field near Cedar Creek Lake in Lincoln County. The Bluegrass Army Depot in Madison County will also host a mentor-youth hunt on Sept. 6. A background check and advance registration is required through the Bluegrass Army Depot to participate in the hunt.

An adult mentor may take two youths on these hunts and both the adult and the mentor may hunt. Participants are assigned a shooting location.

Hunter education and licensing requirements apply to the mentor-youth dove hunts. Hunter education is required for all hunters born on or after January 1, 1975, except kids under 12 and hunters who are license exempt. However, a one-time temporary hunter education exemption permit is available for $5 online, which allows hunting for one year from the date of purchase without a hunter education card while accompanied by a legal adult hunter. Bluegrass Army Depot does not accept this exemption permit. Log on to fw.ky.gov to find a hunter education course near you, or to purchase an exemption permit.

Directions to each public dove field will be included in the 2008 Kentucky Hunting Guide for Dove, Wood Duck, Teal, Woodcock, Snipe and Crow, available soon on the internet at fw.ky.gov and wherever hunting licenses are sold.

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