By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com
PALO PINTO COUNTY – A group of boys and a girl from around the county recently experienced a dove hunt for the first time with members of law enforcement.
An annual event for the local law enforcement agencies, Palo Pinto County Sheriff Ira Mercer said they, “got a donation to buy all the stuff” which included 10 youth Mossberg pump action shotguns.
“It’s a fun hunt,” Mercer said. “We spent half a day at Allen and Carolyn Smith’s on the skeet range. Everyone got to shoot skeet.”
PPSO Sgt. Chad Jordan commented, “It was a success. All the kids did well.”
The group of youngsters included two each from Mineral Wells, Santo and Graford while four kids came from the Gordon-Strawn area. The goal of the event is to expose area children to a sport enjoyed by many while at the same time giving them an opportunity to be around law enforcement officers in a personable environment.
Representatives from the Palo Pinto County Sheriff’s Office, Brazos River Authority, Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department helped the youths with the event.
Each child had a law enforcement personnel with them while hunting on the C.B. Long Ranch in Gordon, Mercer said.
“Everybody killed birds,” the sheriff said, adding that two participants shot nine birds each.
“The kids got to take their game home [and] helped clean the birds,” Jordan added. He said this was the first year to host a dove hunt.
According to Mercer, they hope to host their annual deer hunt as well. The annual youth deer hunt began in 1985 and has occurred annually except for two years. During last year’s hunt, 15 participants – including four girls – from around the county harvested 11 deer under the supervision of law enforcement personnel.
Ten area youngsters experienced their first dove hunt recently under the tutelage of Palo Pinto County law enforcement officers. Clockwise from, top left, are Cody Harless, of Mineral Wells, Jonathan Thomas, of Strawn, Michael Farrell, of Strawn, Shane Scott, of Stephenville, Bryce Partlow, of Lipan, Kevin Harless, of Mineral Wells, Michael Grisso, of Gordon, Isaac Arriaga, of Graford, Hailey Shultz, of Graford, and Zachary Pena, of Strawn.
Courtesy
