Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Veterans from three states took down 67 pheasants during a hunt hosted by the local Pheasant Forever chapter in Cheyenne County. Pictured front row, from left, are: Luke Kesselring, Austin Mundis, Aaron Mundis, Kurt Hoye and Jim Haddix. Pictured back row, from left, are: David Roberts, Mike Cain, Evan Riddle, Ben Fleishacker, Ron Holly and Ron Gussman.
The High Plains Pheasant Forever Chapter of Sidney hosted its third annual U.S. Warriors Outdoors (USWO) veterans hunt Nov. 6-8 in Cheyenne County.
The High Plains Pheasant Forever chapter partnered with the USWO to enlist eligible veterans for a fun weekend of outdoor therapy. This group of veterans were comprised of seven local Nebraska veterans and one from Colorado and another from Pennsylvania, all with various combat experience ranging from Vietnam, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The group kicked off the weekend by warming up with over 1,100 rounds of trap and skeet shooting that were generously donated by the Sidney Shooting Park Friday evening.
Saturday morning, the group met up at Prairie Springs LLC, northwest of Dalton, and had unlimited use of the grounds. The veterans enjoyed a morning filled with laughter, great dog work, and lots of shooting. They ended the morning full of fresh donuts and 37 rooster pheasants.
The veterans quickly transitioned to the next leg of the trip for a lunch held at the Outlaw Café in Gurley. Saturday afternoon, landowner Joe Hruska met the group for their first taste of wild Nebraska pheasants for the weekend. The group saw hundreds of birds, and like many times when you hunt in fields that are densely populated with wild pheasants, once one bird flies, the whole flock takes off. The guys were able to harvest eight birds, increasing the daily take to 47.
On Saturday evening, the team reconvened at the Sidney shooting park for a barbecue. To top off the fun, the guys were able to cheer on the Nebraska Cornhuskers to their win over Michigan State Spartans in a 39-38 nail-biter victory.
To round out the event on Sunday morning, the group met at land owner and Pheasant Forever supporter, Mike Rowan. This was Mike's second year of hosting the veterans to hunt his property. The team saw fantastic pheasant habitat, first-rate dog work, and were able to harvest 20 birds on Sunday morning, taking the total bird harvest to 67 roosters over a 36-hour period.
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