A successful hunter at the Ashland Learn to Pheasant Hunt!
The Department and the Ashland/Bayfield County Sportsmen Club held their 10th annual LTH Pheasants event weekend in the Ashland area. Interest was down a little this year and only 11 youth signed up originally, however they added seven first time hunter Northland College students to the mix and ended up with 15 total hunters on Saturday. Warden Amie Egstad spearheaded the event with Matt MacKenzie and Todd Naas assisting. Wardens John Windt and John Krull, Dave Lindsley, Forestry Tech Mark Guenther, Hatchery Supervisor Darren Miller, Washburn Police Chief Ken Johnson, and Border Patrol Agent JD Slater were walk along mentors for the hunters. Dave and Mark also each had a son participate successfully. Five local dog handlers with seven dogs provided a great time for the participants, and about 20 birds were harvested. Only two young ladies were unsuccessful in harvesting a bird, but it was the first time they had ever fired a gun and they did have some good shooting opportunities.
Again this year the Department provided non-toxic steel shot for the event, including for trap shooting practice prior to the hunt, and once again it proved successful for both activities. Though Todd did not conduct a copper rifle ammunition demo as he originally planned, he did give a presentation on our demo from days before along with the nontoxic shot presentation. This seemed well received by the students and by some of the parents who hung around for the first night’s presentations!
