DNREC’s Ommelanden Center to host weekend event
celebrating National Hunting and Fishing Day 

NEW CASTLE (Sept. 22, 2011) – This weekend, the Ommelanden Hunter Education Training Center and Public Shooting Range will celebrate National Hunting and Fishing Day with two days of special events, including free and half-price admission to its shooting facilities.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, which is National Hunting and Fishing Day, Ommelanden will have special displays by the Delaware Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife Enforcement’s Operation Game Theft trailer, and a muzzleloader maker showing his craft from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 25, Ommelanden’s range areas will open at 9 a.m. for free shooting on the archery, rifle and pistol ranges and half-price shooting on the clay target, skeet, trap and 5-stand fields. The last signup for shooting will be at 3 p.m.

“We want to welcome the general public, the hunting public and anyone who’d like to learn more to come out and see how much fun it is to go hunting, as well as introducing them to our facility and the educational programs we offer,” said Michael Friel, Hunter Education Administrator.

State-owned and operated by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Ommelanden Hunter Education Training Center and Public Shooting Range is dedicated to providing Delaware hunters with required hunter education courses and training opportunities. The range is open year round for public use for a small fee from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays. The range includes 25 and 50-meter rifle and pistol ranges, skeet and trap fields and a practice archery field.

The Ommelanden Hunter Education Training Center is located at 1205 River Road, New Castle. For more information, call the Ommelanden Center on weekdays at 302-323-5334 or 302-323-5333 on weekends, or visit http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/HunterEd/Pages/HunterEd.aspx.

National Hunting and Fishing Day was established as an annual event on the fourth Saturday of September by joint resolution of Congress and signed by then-President Nixon in 1972 to recognize American hunters and anglers for their longtime role in promoting conservation of fish and wildlife. Going back a century, sportsmen conservationists led by President Theodore Roosevelt had called for the first laws restricting wildlife harvest. They urged scientific wildlife management and sustainable use of fish and game, created hunting and fishing licenses and lobbied for taxes on sporting equipment to provide funds for state conservation agencies, forming the foundation for today’s state and federal fish and wildlife agencies. Today, National Hunting and Fishing Day is celebrated nationwide to promote participation in outdoor sports and conservation. For more information, visit www.nhfday.org.

At a Delaware State Fair event in July, Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed a proclamation declaring Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011 as National Hunting and Fishing Day in Delaware. The proclamation recognizes the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s mission to conserve Delaware’s native fish and wildlife and their habitats, highlights the vital role Delaware’s hunters and anglers have played and continue to play in wildlife conservation, and notes 2011 as the 100^th anniversary of fish and wildlife conservation in Delaware. In the proclamation, the Governor also “urges all citizens to join with hunters and anglers and other conservationists in their efforts to ensure the wise use and proper management of our natural resources to benefit future generations.”
Read the whole proclamation at: http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/News/Documents/NationalHuntingandFishingDay.pdf

Vol. 41, No. 363