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Wdfw Hosting National Hunting & Fishing Day September 23rd, 2017

Olympia – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is hosting a National Hunting and Fishing Day celebration on Sept. 23 in Snohomish, Washington.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Camp Pigott, 24225 Woods Creek Road.

"This family oriented event is a great way to introduce youth and newcomers to target shooting, hunting and fishing," said David Whipple, WDFW hunter education division manager. "It's also an opportunity to recognize that hunters and anglers are and will continue to be among the most active supporters of wildlife management and conservation."

Youth 17 years of age and under who attend the event with an accompanying adult can shoot WDFW firearms, archery equipment and air rifles. Agency staff, WDFW hunter education instructors and Master Hunters, as well as Boy Scout merit badge counselors will be on hand to teach shooting safety and provide instruction and guidance.

For those interested in learning to fish, participants can catch and keep trout as well as learn to cast a line with spinning reels. "There are few things better than fishing to instill appreciation and respect for nature – and maybe also a bit of patience," said Bruce Bolding, WDFW warmwater fish program manager.

The event also features:

  • Lunch provided for the first 500 youth attendees and accompanying adults.
  • Participation bags with shooting safety gear for the first 500 youth attendees.
  • Door prize drawings.
  • Opportunities to learn how to hunt turkey, tie basic knots, and gain other outdoor skills.
  • Opportunities to make plaster casts of animal tracks and Japanese-style (Gyotaku) fish prints.
  • Displays and information from numerous conservation organizations.

The free event is hosted by WDFW's Hunter Education Division and Volunteer Program. It is sponsored by WDFW, hunter education instructors, Master Hunters, the Washington Hunter Education Instructor's Association (WHEIA), Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, Stonerose, Volterra Restaurants and Chef/Owner Don Curtis, Safari Club International (NW Chapter), the Mule Deer Foundation, the National Wild Turkey Federation, Trout Unlimited (Monroe Chapter), WA. Friends of the NRA (Grant), WA. Grand Lodge Medical Team, WA. Ornamental Game Bird Breeders, Puget Sound Knappers, the Chief Seattle Council, Boy Scouts of America Shooting Sports Committee, and Camp Pigott.

National Hunting and Fishing Day, formalized by Congress in 1971, was created by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to celebrate the conservation successes of hunters and anglers.

Whipple noted that the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration acts–which instituted federal excise taxes on hunting and fishing gear–have been and continue to be a major source of funding for conservation and management of game and non-game species and their habitats.

Governor Inslee recently recognized these benefits and others in his "Hunting and Fishing Day" proclamation.

Visit http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/huntered/hunt_fish_day.html for more information on National Hunting and Fishing Day, Governor Inslee's proclamation, and the role hunters and anglers play in conservation across the nation.

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