Youth Hunt Application Fill it out and email it to jimshanks_7@msn.com
CTAS YOUTH HUNT 2011
2011 Youth Hunts by Jim Shanks
This year we had enough interest in our Youth Hunt we were able to hold two
hunts. These hunts were co-sponsored by the Colorado Mule Deer Association.
The timing of this year’s season structure made it so that there were two weekends
between archery season and the first rifle season. Our first hunt was
held on the Lapsley Ranch near Molina and the second hunt was held on the
Lawson Ranch on Glade Park south of Grand Junction. We had a total of 8
youth hunters on these hunts, 3 of whom were girls. Owen Clyncke was the
only youth who killed a mule deer doe. All of the kids hunted hard, had a good
time and learned a lot. We had nice weather on the first hunt but had about
4” of snow on the second hunt with below freezing temperatures. This made
the hunt a little difficult as the snow froze and made stalking a pretty noisy
affair, and sitting in a ground blind pretty uncomfortable. Still, all of the youth
hunters had close encounters with mule deer. The Lawson Ranch was a little
higher in elevation and we were able to hunt in the aspen rather than in the
oak brush. At the High Country shoot the Board voted to purchase a trailer for
the youth hunt. We were able to find a near-new 16 foot cargo trailer that you
can see in the background of one of the photos. If it were not for the generous
support of our members during our Youth Hunt fund raising, we would not
be able to have these hunts. I would like to thank all of the members who
helped during this hunt including Marv Clyncke, Phil Belchar, Eric Sawyer, Scot
Hamilton, Dean and Karen Derby, Denny Behrens, Ron Redmond, Mike Gamba,
Mike Jackson, Mark Kadnuck, Don Williams and Frank Adams. If you know of
any youths who are interested in the hunt for 2012 let me know as soon as you
can. —————-Check out the December 2011 Sticks and Strings for more!!!
2010 Youth Hunt
This was our second year to have the CTAS Youth Hunt on a private ranch on the North side of the Grand Mesa. We also teamed with the Colorado Mule Deer Association again to put on this hunt. A great big thank you goes out to ranch owner Robert Lapsley for offering his ranch and to the Colorado Division of Wildlife, particularly Michael Blanck, for getting us doe mule deer tags for the first weekend in October.
The hunt was great with the only negative being the 90 degree weather that weekend. Robert had a mountain lion prowling his property so the deer were a little more skittish than they were last year. We had four youth hunters this year, three young men and a young lady. The youth hunters included Colten Smith from Spanish Fork, Utah, Isaac Evans from Crested Butte, Hadden Wilkins from Yuma and Callay Pratt from Grand Junction. Parents, Mentors, Hunt Coordinators and cooks included: Denny Behrens, Jim Shanks, Dean Derby, Karen Derby, Troy Behrens, Cody Reece, Teddy Evans, Ryan Steadman and Randy Wilkins. All of the youth hunters had close encounters with mule deer and Callay Pratt killed a doe on the second day of the hunt with a perfect shot from a 35# recurve.
Callay Pratt with mule deer doe
Special thanks go out to all of the CTAS members who donated to the hunt. This year we were able to purchase four ground blinds and six ground blind chairs. Remember, the money used to sponsor this hunt is what we raise during the Banquet and at the High Country shoot. If you know of any youth between the ages of 12 and 17 who would be interested in going on the hunt in 2011 please have them get in contact with Jim Shanks (jimshanks_7@msn.com) or fill out a Youth Hunt application and send it to CTAS, PO Box 1462, Grand Junction, CO 81502. Also if you would like to volunteer to help with the Youth Hunt please contact Jim Shanks.
Youth Hunters and mentors