Youth Hunting Mentor Honored For Contributions

Alto “Bud” Adams Jr. of Fort Pierce is the recipient of the the 2012 Landowner of the Year award for his work with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Youth Hunting Program of Florida.

The award was presented at the FWC’s meeting recently in Lakeland. The youth program is aimed at providing quality hunting experiences for 12- to 17-year-olds to increase the number of youths involved in the tradition of hunting.

Adams, along with some of his staff at Adams Ranch, have provided the opportunity for FWC youth deer hunts on the property for the last two hunting seasons, providing three hunts to 15 youth.

“The property is known for its superb deer hunting and, besides that, offers to the youth hunters over their hunt date weekend amenities such as lodging, fishing ponds and a tree house,” Youth Hunting Program coordinator Jeff Lawlor said.

Adams says he really enjoys giving hunting opportunities to youth on his family’s fourth-generation working cattle ranch and loves meeting and talking at length to the kids and their parents about Florida’s rich history of ranching, cows and cattle drives.

Adams has received numerous awards over the years in conservation, agriculture and cattle farming and has penned such novels as “A Cattlemen’s Backcountry Florida,” “A Child’s Guide to Florida Wildlife,” “A Florida Cattle Ranch” and “Beautiful & Rare Birds of Florida.”

To find out how to become a volunteer landowner or to learn more about Florida’s Youth Hunting Program of Florida, go to MyFWC.com/YHPF.

View More ArticlesView More Featured