Harrisburg, U.S.A. - Pennsylvania student participants and the Pennsylvania Game Commission came away from the recent National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) tournament with some awards and high honors. The event, which took place May 11 and 12, in Louisville, Kentucky, was recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest archery tournament with 7,804 competitors from 38 states.

“More than 70 students from Pennsylvania made the trek to compete in the tournament, including teams from New Castle Christian Academy, Williams Valley High School and Halifax High School,” said Samantha Pedder, Game Commission outreach coordinator, who oversees NASP in Pennsylvania.”Two students placed in the top 10 in their respective divisions, and almost all shooters posted higher scores at the nationals than at the state tournament!”

Among those who finished in the top ten were Garrett Richardson, from New Castle Christian Academy, who placed third in the fourth grade male division with a score of 279 out of a possible 300. Richardson placed first in this division at the Pennsylvania state tournament with a score of 255.

Katelyn Donely, a tenth grader from Williams Valley High School, placed sixth in the High School Female Division with a score of 289 out of a possible 300. Donely tied for fifth, but finished second in a shoot-off round.  She was first in the same division in the Pennsylvania state tournament, with a score of 279.

The Game Commission received recognition at the NASP Coordinator’s Conference, which occurred before the tournament, for reaching the milestone of having 100 schools enrolled in NASP. The Game Commission also was recognized for achieving the greatest percentage increase in school enrollments over the past year from among 47 states and five Canadian provinces that offer NASP.

The World NASP Tournament will occur on Oct. 4-6, at Disney’s Wide World of Sports, and any NASP participating school in Pennsylvania is invited to send a team.

In 2010, the Game Commission began coordinating Pennsylvania’s NASP, which helps school districts inPennsylvania meet physical education curriculum requirements of the state Department of Education, while at the same time introducing them to the world of competitive archery. In 2011, about 350 students from nearly a dozen school districts participated in the state competition, which was volunteer-run at the time.

Earlier this year, on March 9, nearly 500 students from 23 schools competed at the NASP State Tournament held by the Pennsylvania Game Commission at the Penn State Multi-Sport Facility inUniversity Park, Centre County.
Studies conducted by the national NASP organization demonstrate that NASP is a great introduction to the sport of archery, and that many students choose to pursue the sport outside of school.

“NASP fosters an interest in archery for these students, and we hope that the excitement that competitions build will cause students to want to continue to shoot and expand their archery experience,” Pedder said. “We want to encourage them to keep shooting and to consider taking the next steps toward 3-D archery tournaments and, eventually, bow hunting, which are natural avenues for archers to hone and maintain their skills.”

Started in Kentucky, in 2002, NASP has spread throughout the United States, and now is reaching around the world. At the end of the 2011-12 school year, nine million students had gone through NASP lessons in 9,000 schools throughout 47 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, Australia, New Zealand  and South Africa. Tournaments are held at the state, national and international levels.

NASP is a joint venture that partners with state education and wildlife management agencies and archery equipment manufacturers and organizations to promote student education, physical education and participation in the lifelong sport of archery. The program’s focus is to provide international-style archery training in physical education classes in grades four through 12.

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With the two-week statewide general deer season closed, Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe is encouraging hunters to take the time to report harvested deer through the online reporting system, through the new toll-free Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone reporting system or by using the postage-paid report cards included in the 2011-12 Digest provided free to each license buyer.

“With all the activities this time of year, it is important that hunters not forget to report a harvested deer,” Roe said. “With the three methods of reporting a harvest, the Game Commission is doing its best to make completing this required task even easier. ”Unfortunately, based on more than 20,000 deer checked by Game Commission deer aging teams last year, less than 40 percent of hunters who harvested deer took the time to report that harvest.”

Roe noted that one of the recommendations to improve the agency’s deer management program from the 2010 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee’s audit of the deer management program was to increase harvest reporting rates. ”Proper and timely reporting of deer harvests is one way in which hunters can contribute to deer management efforts,” Roe said.

When reporting antlerless deer harvests, Roe urged hunters with multiple antlerless deer licenses to be sure that they file the correct report for the antlerless license used to tag the deer in the field.

To report a deer harvest online, go to the Game Commission’s website, click on “Report Your Harvest” above the “Quick Clicks” box in the right-hand column, click on “You can link to PALS by clicking here,” check “Harvest Reporting,” scroll down and click on the “Start Here” button at the bottom of the page, choose the method of validating license information, and click on the checkbox for the harvest tag being reported.

A series of options will appear for a hunter to report a harvest. After filling in the harvest information, click on the “Continue” button to review the report and then hit the “Submit” button to complete the report. Failing to hit the “Submit” button will result in a harvest report not being completed.

The toll-free Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone harvest reporting system can be accessed by dialing 1-855-PAHUNT1 (1-855-724-8681). Hunters should have their Customer Identification Number (hunting license number) and field harvest tag information with them when they call, and should speak clearly and distinctly when reporting harvests, especially when providing the Wildlife Management Unit number and letter.

“Hunters may report one or more harvests in a single session,” Roe said. “Responses to all harvest questions are required. ”Hunters who use the toll-free number to submit a harvest report will receive a confirmation number, which they should write down and keep as proof of reporting.  Those who report online should print or save a copy of their harvest report submission as proof of reporting.”

Roe noted that hunters still have the option to file harvest report postcards, which are included as tear-out sheets in the current digest. ”We certainly are encouraging hunters to use the online reporting system, which will ensure that their harvest is recorded,” Roe said.  “The more important point is that all hunters do their part in deer management and report their harvested deer to the agency.”

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