KSL Outdoors: 4th annual ‘Who Stole the Grinch Hunt’ at Wasatch Wing and Clay

(Adam) coming up tonight on KSL Outdoors.

(Adam) the fourth annual “who stole the Grinch Hunt” at Wasatch Wing and Clay.”

(Tonya) and the youth get a chance to shoot some birds with Safari Club International. (adam) I’m Adam Eakle. (tonya) and I’m Tonya Kieffer. (adam) and this is KSL Outdoors.

(Intro) Thanks for tuning into KSL Outdoors, I’m Adam Eakle. (tonya) and I’m Tonya Kieffer. (adam) Tonya we are out at Wasatch Wing and Clay, here in Utah County, one of my favorite places to come pheasant hunting. (tonya) yeah, it’s the fourth annual Grinch hunt, they planted two reeves birds out in the wild and if somebody gets one they get a shotgun, so it’s a good Christmas gift, I think we should get out in the snow. (adam) I’m going to beat you, i’m going to get it. (tonya) you’re not going to get it. (adam) alright, it’s snowing hard, we’ve got to get out there.

(Jeff) very good. Thank you.

(Shawn Sanderson, Saratoga Springs) We are guaranteed three roosters and then they put out two exotic pheasants and if we are able to shoot one of those then we win a shotgun. So it’s going to awesome, we are really looking forward to it.

About one hundred people have signed up for the “who stole the Grinch hunt”. It’s a great outing just before Christmas and the snow, made it feel even more festive.

(Adam) alright, let’s go find some birds.

(Dustin Brown) this is duck hunting weather, we shouldn’t be hunting pheasants.

(Dustin) find them. (shots ring out afar nats)

(Dustin Brown) she’s birdie watch her.

(shots) (adam) get him! Oh…(d) maggie come. (adam) hey I thought we brought a ringer over there?

(adam) that was a reeves, what happened? (jeff) that was a coot. It was a shoveler. (laughs) I thought I had it too.

There is a bunch of different habitat to hunt here on this six thousand acre ranch. Anything from low land dry agriculture fields to small benches covered in sage brush. That’s where we ran into Rick and his guide, Shawn.

Get it get it! (shots) (tj) dog almost got it’s tail. (Shawn) way to go Rick, yah! (adam) nice shot, no pressure, on camera too. (Rick) no kidding. (laughs)

(dog with bird) right here, good girl, hold, hold. (shawn) yeah look at that, nice. (high five) that’s pretty. (shawn) good job bud.

(Shawn Heaton, Guide) His wife worried that he hasn’t been a good provider. (Rick) not anymore. (adam) how was it? (Rick) oh it’s great, this is fun. (adam) they are holding tight. (Rick) best weather for it. (laughs)

(Dustin) looks like a head of a bird. Yes! (shot) (adam) oh there he is.

(Shawn Heaton) cold weather kind of stops them but then they get pushed by the hunters and they start running, so now they could be anywhere.

(Dustin) Good dog (dog drops bird at feet) good dog, my bird, mine. That’s got a long tail feather.

(rooster gets up) (shot) nice. Nice shot

(Rich Hyde, South Jordan) (adam) how many birds have you got? (rich) I’ve shot two. (adam) and a band. (rick) and a band and there goes a couple more, and there goes another one down.

(Adam) what is it about WW & C that you like? (rich) I think the quality of the birds, they fly. I’ve been to other places where they are not going to fly as well as these do. There’s plenty of them and all the open country you can go out and hunt.

(shots) (adam) oh got his foot.

(Dustin) get them maggie, get them. (adam) another one, look at them all.

(Adam) coming at you! Coming back around, get it! (shots) boy that’s a dangerous bird.

(Dustin) hey, it’s got a band! (adam) no. (dustin) red band. (adam) no.

(dustin) 176, the only one today is banded.

(Adam) he did a whole circle didn’t he. (dustin) he came around, he knew he’d been hit by me so he came back. (laughs)

(Rick Clayton, WW & C) you guys excited for the prizes? We’ve got some great things this year. Hunting coats, vests, sweatshirts, we’ve got some prizes for the kids as well.

A successful hunt was followed by a nice hot lunch, some free giveaways and come to find out Scott Byrne of Herriman, was the only hunter to bag a grinch bird he won a new gun, Corey Withers won the other gun in a raffle.

(Scott Byrne, Herriman) Yeah I walked in, they said congratulations. I said, alright. (adam) what did you win? (scott) It’s a Baretta Outlander, nice little 12 gauge shotgun.

(Adam) Tonya the hunt for the grinch was a success, despite the snow, a lot of people. (tonya) lot of people and you know I think the snow might have helped a little bit, helped kick up the birds, a couple of shotguns given away, it was great, prizes, food. You couldn’t have asked for a more fun day in December. (adam) hey a lot more coming up here on KSL Outdoors, in a moment, the kids get a chance to gun some birds, but first tonights Burt Brothers Quiz Question.

(Tonya Kieffer, KSL Outdoors Correspondent) Welcome back to KSL Outdoors, I’m Tonya Kieffer. Winter is upon us! I’ve put on all of my winter gear again for the beginning of the season. We’re out here with 16 youth with the Safari Club International and we’re going to test their skills and see how good they are at bagging some pheasants.

(Jack Sheffey, Safari Club International-Board Member) Safari Club International is all about protecting the freedom to hunt and promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. Here at the chapter level, we give high priority to our youth events and humanitarian projects. So this is the 2nd year that we’ve done a youth pheasant hunt here at Wasatch Wing and Clay, and last year we received a really, really positive feedback about the event. So we did it again.

When the youth were paired up with their hunting guides and dogs, they were each given a short briefing on safety.

(Weston Berry, Wasatch Wing and Clay Hunting Guide) So remember, so you two when you pheasant hunt, you’ve got to walk in a straight line, with each other, so your muzzles are never going to cross each other. Just for safety reasons.

(Weston Berry) Number one thing is don’t shoot the dog. That’s the number one thing you don’t shoot. Next person you don’t shoot is me, then everyone else.

(Jeff Velasquez, Wasatch Wing and Clay-Hunting Guide)This guy right here, he’s like my kid.

(Jeff Velasquez) We’re just going to kind of let him work. We’re going to go at his pace.

Anticipation kept building every time Rascal and Poacher went on point.

(Jeff Velasquez, Wasatch Wing and Clay-Hunting Guide) When the bird comes up, you let it get head high first before you shoot, that way your barrel is above the dog, above people around you, and everything else. When he goes on point, I’ll also tell you how to come in on the bird, so its very safe, and everybody gets a shot.

(Weston Berry) Right there. Get it. Get it. Shoot. Shoot. Oh good shot! Fetch!

(Weston Berry) Good shooting. One shot wonder. Bring it here Poach

(Chazz Holt) Pheasant hunting is one of those things that is a little more active and a little bit more fun, in my opinion, then the big game, especially with youth. With youth their attention span is a little shorter, so you want to make sure that they are having a good time, and that they are always having fun.

(Chazz) Here, with the pheasant hunting and the chukar hunting, you can come out here. We set you in a field, you’re going to see your birds. The kids are going to see some action. The birds are going to fly. Kids are going to be able to shoot.

(Chazz) Its just shotgun handling. The gun handling safety, and all that kind of stuff. It’s just a way, a good way to introduce the young folks to what we are doing out here.

(Hayley Haslam, Youth Hunter) I kind of felt under pressure for a minute, but then I got really into and I loved it.

(Eli Boley, Kemmerer, Wyoming) I’ve never pheasant hunted before and I was excited to come hunt Utah; hunt a different place.

(Samantha Spradlin, Lehi Hunter) I felt kind of rushed but after hitting the bird, I felt more relaxed, and watching the dog was just a good experience.

(Kevin Spradlin, Lehi Utah) We’ll probably keep practicing with her. Maybe go duck hunting, and bring her little sister out with her, next time. Really proud of her. It was alot of fun.

(Jack Sheffey, Safari Club International-Board Member) Youth is the future of hunting and all of our sportsman organizations. We need to get the youth involved. Bring them up through the organization. Light that fire inside of them. Get the passion going. So this is a really, really good way to do that. Get them out here with their parents. I think almost all of our 16 hunters today brought at least one parent or grandparent, and siblings.

(Tonya Kieffer) Well, today’s hunt proved successful. Our recent hunter ed graduates, who joined up with Safari Club International, bagged us a few pheasants. We battled some winter snow. It’s a little bitter cold, but it’s never to bitter to go fishing. Let’s go ahead and send it back to the guys in Salt Lake, for tonight’s Fish Tech fishing report.

(Adam and Rick Clayton, Wasatch Wing and Clay) Welcome back to KSL Outdoors, I’m Adam Eakle, back here at Wasatch Wing and Clay along with Rick Clayton. Rick you guys opened this facility what five years ago? (rick) it’s been five years, it’s gone fast. (adam) the first time I came out here, the lodge wasn’t even here. (rick) yup I remember that, we were running out of a little tough shed type of a building. Things have really changed out here.

(Jeff Nichols Guide) this club is for anybody that loves shooting sports, we’ve got the bird hunting. We’ve got chukars and pheasants, we’ve also had some huns and quail this year for hunting. But we also have trap shooting skeet shooting, five stands, sporting clays.

(shooting nat)

(Chaz Holt) from coming at you from going away from you, to sides. It replicates, grouse hunting, duck hunting, upland bird hunting. Sometimes we even have the rabbit machines that will throw the rabbits down to give you that rabbit shot too.

(jeff) we’ve got a distance shooting range out there, you can shoot up to fifteen hundred yards.

(jeff) archery range out here, so just about anything you can shoot, we’ve got a pistol range. Anything you can shoot, you can come out here and shoot.

(Rick) I think the thing that really bring people to Wasatch Wing and clay is the location. It’s close to Utah County, Salt Lake County, real easy access, but it’s away from everything and it feels like you are out, away from the city. (adam) and I’ve noticed you guys have been hosting a lot of events, from handicapped hunters, the youth and even tonight you’ve got a wedding here. (rick) yeah, we’ve got a wedding here tonight even.

(Wedding Reception) (tonya) oh my gosh, I actually caught the bouquet who would have known. (laughs)

(Rick) and that’s one of the nice amenities we have is this nice lodge, clubhouse that we have here.

(Chaz with dog) hunt them up.

(Chaz Holt, Wasatch Wing & Clay Manager) we’ve got guides out here. Multiple kinds of guides that use different kinds of dogs. We have labs, short hairs, drahthaars, and so if you don’t have a dog and you want to come enjoy hunting we can set you up with a guide that will take you out there and show you the birds. basically all you’ve got to do it knock them down.

(Adam) How does your membership work? (rick) memberships you can start as low as $200.00 which includes a spouse, any kids under 18 years of age. New this year you can bring a free guest, it’s normally thirty dollars for a guest pass and we also have corporate packages. (adam) very cool, well come out and check out Wasatch Wing and Clay, I’m telling you won’t be disappointed. Time know to check out this weeks addition of our Utah Field Guide.

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