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Kansas City, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) recently honored DuckHorn Outdoors Adventures for their partnership in connecting people with nature and the outdoors. DuckHorn received the MDC Outreach and Education Partnership Award on Feb. 23.
The award is presented annually for outstanding support for MDC’s outdoor education programs. The non-profit service organization is based at DuckHorn Lodge near Urich, in rural Henry and Bates counties. MDC’s Outreach and Education Branch Chief Jeff Cockerham and Section Chief Shawn Gruber presented the award to Chairperson Matt Lawson, founder Bob Fry, and the board of DuckHorn Lodge. The organization began coordinating projects with MDC staff in 2015 with help from Mark Miller, MDC conservation educator.
“DuckHorn Outdoors Adventures deserves recognition for their outstanding conservation outreach efforts in support of outdoor skills,” said Ginger Miller, MDC conservation educator. “DuckHorn, in collaboration with MDC, has provided hunting and fishing opportunities for new and diverse audiences. They host hunting and fishing events for youth, women, adult novices, first responders, and veterans. Each of the hunting and shooting sports events that they host requires more than 350 volunteer hours.”
For example, DuckHorn hosted a novice hunter event on Feb. 22 in partnership with MDC. Experienced hunters were paired with a new hunter to teach skills and assist them in the field on a pheasant hunt. The new hunters started by shooting sporting clays with coaching from their mentors. Then the hunters went afield to hunt pen-raised pheasants in typical upland bird hunting fashion, walking fields and watching bird dogs use scent to search for pheasants. After hunting, the game was dressed, cooked, and a fine field-to-fork meal was enjoyed by all.
“Most had never hunted any wild game before,” Miller said. “It was an exciting day.”
For more information about Duckhorn Outdoors Adventures, visit https://duckhornoutdoorsadventures.com/.
To learn more about adventures in Missouri’s outdoors, and outdoor education opportunities, visit http://mdc.mo.gov.
