Waconda Lake Youth & Women’s Pheasant Hunt a Big Success

Fall River, KS -(AmmoLand.com)- The 18th Annual Waconda Lake Youth, Women & Celebrity Pheasant Hunt was held on December 12, 2015 with 24 new and inexperienced hunters participating.

Participants came from all across Kansas ranging in ages from 10 to 60, and 14 of the novice hunters were girls and women. The event is organized by Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism staff from the Glen Elder Wildlife Area and the Wichita-based Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors, Inc. Both agencies are strongly committed to getting more young people and families into the outdoors and enjoying all of the associated benefits.

This year’s Celebrities included 5 former professional athletes from the NFL and drag racing circuits and 5 “Hero-Celebrities” who are members of the Kansas National Guard. Celebrities hunted and interacted with the participants throughout the day’s events serving as adult role models for the hunters.

Several of the youth and women hunters were also family members of the celebrities. Participants were divided into small groups based on their individual levels of hunting experience.  Less experienced individuals “worked their way up” to hunting by progressing through instructional stages that included field exercises and trap shooting during the first half of the morning.  More experienced hunters went right to hunting wild birds.  By the end of the morning, all the participants were pursuing pheasants in various refuge portions of Glen Elder Wildlife Area and State Park, where regular public hunting is not allowed.  Each participant was accompanied throughout the day by a non-hunting adult mentor for safety, and each hunting group had several bird dogs and handlers to assist them.

When all of the hunting groups had finished by mid-afternoon the final total of rooster pheasants harvested came up to an impressive 53 birds! Every participant got multiple shot chances, with most bagging at least 1 bird. There were many “first birds” on the day and one young boy even managed to get a limit of 4 roosters.

The full day of events began with a biscuits and gravy breakfast provided by Lakeside Convenience. Burgers, hot dogs and chili were served for lunch by the Waconda Lake Association, and the day concluded with a hunters’ banquet sponsored by local Pheasants Forever chapters on Saturday night.

The youth and women hunters were also provided with a prize package and all participants including mentors and volunteers received a commemorative T-shirt. Nearly 90 people participated in the event in some fashion or another.

This entire event was provided to all participants at no charge due to the generous support of 35 different businesses and individuals. The majority of these sponsors are from the local communities surrounding Waconda Lake.

A full sponsors list and more information on future and past events such as this can be found at ksoutdoors.com/KDWPT-Info/Locations/Wildlife-Areas/Northwest/Glen-Elder or outdoormentors.org or contact the KDWPT Glen Elder Area Office at 785-545-3345.

About Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors:

Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors is a Wichita, Kansas-based national organization dedicated to providing children with mentors who will share with them the experiences of traditional outdoor activities. The heart of the group’s mission is to give children opportunities to connect with nature that they more than likely won’t have without a mentor showing them the way. Partnering with organizations with like-minded conservation and youth participation efforts like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Pheasants Forever, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Delta Waterfowl, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the National Wild Turkey Federation, among others, volunteers with a passion for the outdoors can give a child the chance to go fish, hunt, or simply spend time in the fields with a caring adult.

For more information about Pass It On – Outdoor Mentors, please visit www.OutdoorMentors.org.