RAYMOND, Miss. -- Brandy Barnes’ excitement is building, but she keeps a cool head at the firing range.

In the summer of 2015, the 17-year-old Hinds County 4-H member scored among the top five .22-caliber rifle participants at the state shooting sports competition. The accomplishment earned her a spot at the National 4-H Shooting Sports Championship set for June 26 to July1, 2016, in Grand Island, Nebraska.

“It’s really starting to hit me now,” said Barnes. “I’m very excited.”

By Mary Grace Eppes
MSU Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Many Mississippi bow hunters eagerly await the first hunt of the season and each year, more of those hunters are women.

Katie Pepper of Canton, a former Mississippi State University student and an ardent hunter, is proof that bow hunting is no longer just a male sport.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- When Labor Day rolls around each year, friends and family throughout Mississippi head to the fields early in the morning to get the first flights of doves over the fields they planted in the spring.

John Long, 4-H youth development specialist and shooting sports state program leader with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said opening day of dove season is the big kick-off to hunting season and is considered a Southern tradition.

By Karen Templeton
MSU Office of Ag Communications

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Focusing on safety, developing life skills and teaching good sportsmanship have made Mississippi’s 4-H Shooting Sports program popular with youth.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Responsible gun ownership begins with education, and a donation from one Mississippi agency to another will help enable the state's youngest residents to learn safety and skill when handling firearms.

The Mississippi 4-H Shooting Sports Program just received a donation of 120 firearms from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. The firearms, mostly .22 caliber rimfire rifles, previously were used in hunter education classes.

MISSISSIPPI STATE --Developing responsibility, sportsmanship and self-discipline is the No. 1 priority of Mississippi's 4-H shooting sports program.

"Most people probably think our first goal is to teach kids to hunt and shoot," said Ben West, Mississippi State University Extension Service assistant wildlife specialist. "But that's not true. Our No. 1 goal is to teach discipline, concentration and other skills young people can use in the future."

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi 4-H program is doing what it can to ensure that a gun in the hands of a young person does not mean trouble.

Youth ages 8 to 18 enrolled in the Mississippi Field and Stream Program not only learn hunting, and wildlife and fisheries management, they also learn respect for guns and how and when to use them.