On October 28 - 30th 2011 the 2nd Annual Eastern Mojave Youth Quail Hunt took place. The event was organized by Cliff McDonald, the head of Water for Wildlife and Neal Darby, Wildlife Biologist for the Mohave National Preserve. The purpose of the event is to provide young hunters with an opportunity to hunt wild quail in the Mojave Preserve. The Orange County Chapter of Safari Club is a principal sponsor, along with a number of conservation organizations including Quail Unlimited.
There were 46 kids in attendance for this year’s event which included a full day of guided quail hunting. Each kid who attended received numerous articles provided by the sponsoring conservation and outdoor organizations (back packs, hunting vests, hats, etc). Riverside Quail Unlimited and High Desert Quail Forever provided each youth participant with a nice commemorative t-shirt for the event which contained the emblems of both organizations on the back. Water for Wildlife, one of the principal organizers of the event, provided breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday and dinner on Saturday night. Saturday night’s activities also include a great general raffle, a special donated gun raffle and other prize opportunities for the kids.
This is a fine example of the coordinated volunteer efforts on behalf of numerous conservation organizations, along with the support of the Mojave National Preserve to provide hunting opportunities for young hunters. From all reports, it was a very successful event and they raised enough money to do it again next year.
