Congratulations to our participants of the first ever Meskwaki Youth Deer Hunt.
On Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 20th and 21st, seven (7) Meskwaki Youth Hunters took to the field. This hunt was unique because these hunters had the opportunity to not only provide food for their own households, but also for the Meskwaki Community. For this hunt, the MNPD and MNR teamed up to start a new program called H.O.O.F. HOOF stands for Hunter Outreach Offering Food. The goal of the program is to give the youth hunters an opportunity to donate the deer they harvest, if they choose, to be processed and then distributed throughout the community. The hunters were given a big task. The group needed eight (8) deer to meet the needs of the HOOF program. Together, the seven Youth hunters harvested ten (10) deer. Eight of those deer were graciously donated.
A special thanks to the Meskwaki Youth Program for providing the gear for the youth hunters. We’d also like to thank Luke Kapayou for speaking to the youth before the hunt about the responsibilities that come with being ethical hunters. Last but most definitely not least, we’d like to thank the Meskwaki Community for their tremendous support. Without this support from multiple departments and the overwhelming support from the community, these types of outreach programs would not be possible.
Now that the program is established and proven to be successful, we will be recruiting community members to mentor the children on future hunts. We will continue to train on firearms, facilitate, and assist in every way that we can.
For those interested in mentoring, please keep an eye out for future posts.
MNPD would like the program partners and volunteers who made their first Youth Deer event possible. Special thanks to Luke Kapayou for his education on Meskwaki culture that helped guide the youth.
MNPD and MNR were overwhelmed with positive feedback about the conservation events they held this year and would like to thank Officer Caleb Boyles, Sergeant Kole Northland and team for their expertise.
Photo credit (and thanks) to Kimberly Schwartz from Meskwaki Nation Child Support for the photos.
