It’s going to be warming up pretty fast. These birds are going to get really active, really fast.
Welcome to KSL Outdoors and welcome to Wasatch Wing and Clay. Where for the fifth year Safari Club International of Utah is holding their annual youth pheasant hunt.
Our chapter has had several meetings and decided really what we want to focus on and the two things we wanted to focus on were youth, getting them into the sport. Getting them in and keeping them in and hunting advocacy which we do before the legislature and agencies, but this is our real primary thing.
I’m going to try my best to get a pheasant. Probably miss a lot of them though.
Okay, so Melanie?
We’ve got 18 kids. We’ll head out with the guides here at Wasatch Wing and Clay and the dogs.
We’ll go up there and get started and have a good time.
They’ll be overseen by both their parents and by the guides. And they’ll have an opportunity to take a couple of roosters and get as many shots as they can.
So Bridger and Oakley. Yea. So here’s what we are going to do. We are going to walk. See this? Let’s come over here so you guys can see what I’m talking about. Ok, so this is a little ridge we are going to all spread out all across here. We are going to walk out through this. This is going to be a good little walk.
Have you guys ever hunted around the dog? Yea. Um no. Well, No. Not shooting. Not shooting, but you’ve hunted around it? So you know what it means when a dog goes on point right? Yeah. Ok, perfect. That they are going to jump. That they’re going to, so yeah, they are going to point, there’s a bird there. We are going to try to get that bird to fly.
Then I’m going to have you lift the guns up, we’ll kick that bird out, when that bird comes up, you shoot. Ok? We want to make sure that the bird is at least shoulder level or higher. Okay? Because what happens is when you guys shoot that shotgun, it spreads out into a ball right? Mmm hmm. And we want to make sure that we don’t hurt the dog. If the dog were ever to jump up to try and get the bird or if the bird comes out really low, we won’t shoot, because most likely it’s just going to go land again and we’ll go kick it up again ok?
You guys ready? Yea. Ok. Safety on at all times ok? Ok.
Ok, Gus is getting, Gus is on point right there. Ok guys, so go ahead and come up here Oakley. Bridger come up here I want you guys to get close to the dog.
The bird is up here further I think. Oh here it goes. Go ahead and shoot. Shoot again. Shoot again. I missed it. Gus!
That was a good one. Alright guys what did you think? That was fun. That was awesome. Ok Bridger come here, put your safety back on.
The youth is important. If we don’t have the youth out here doing this, hunting, shooting. We don’t have it in the future. That’s what we want in the future, is to, you know, show our kids, this is what we do. This is a genuine thing, come on out and have some good time.
Ok let’s wait a minute and let Gus work through here. Ah see that. Ok let’s go up there. Keep the gun high. There she goes! Shoot again. Shoot again. Shoot, good try. That’s alright, good try guys. Good job.
You got two shots off right? Yea. Good job. That’s what we want at least two shots off.
It’s fun being out here with them. They’ve been out with us lots, never packing a gun before. It’s been nice to have them out there. It’s kind of nice to have dad and grandpa in the background. Juts kind of, you know, no gun in your hand, they don’t have to compete with dad. Yea! Lot easier, a lot funner for us to watch that happen instead of shooting too.
Oakley said she saw one.
Oakley, be ready, be ready.
There it is! Shoot it. Good shot Oakley. Woo. Fetch it up Rya.
That a girl. Good girl Rya. Here. Good girl.
Look at that! Got a rooster. Here’s your rooster. So pretty. That’s a good rooster right there. Good job. Should we put him in your bag? Yea let’s do it. Okay, let’s put it in your bag.
How did the kids do? They did pretty good. They each got a couple, they missed a few. I think the missing was just real fun.
Ok, he’s pointing right there guys, let’s get up there before that bird flies.
Here she comes, hold on. Right there. Shoot. Shoot again. Oh good try. Good try, that’s ok.
It’s good to be out here and there’s birds.
There she goes. There she goes. Way to go bud!
And it’s fun to watch the dogs, that’s the fun part. Yea I agree. And the kids.
Nice shot Bridger. Nice shot. Good job buddy. Woo. There you go. Good job.
Well the kids have seen a lot of birds, taken a lot of shots and gotten a few.
So we’ll have the hunters, one kind of low and one just above and then all of us can just kind of stay back and let them be ahead. Let them shoot and do their thing.
Welcome back to Wasatch Wing and Clay.
For our second hunt we’re headed out with first time pheasant hunters Melanie and Trent.
You excited? Yeah way excited.
Have you practiced? Not yet, not much.
Wasatch people has, is, like really great birds. I mean, we get our birds out of, out of Kansas, they bring them in, they are hard flying. And they’re just, they are just tough birds, they fly a lot like wild birds.
Let’s find a bird
Keep moving up.
Get ready! Get ready! He’s on something. Shoot it! Good job.
That’s a pretty good shot going across.
Here! Sit, sit. Give it up, good boy.
Do you want to carry it? Or do you want me to. I don’t have anywhere to put it. Ok, I’ve got it.
It’s always fun for us to promote a program where we can get young kids out to enjoy for the first time with their dads, with their uncles with their grandpa’s, with their brothers and just really have a great family environment.
Get ready. Get ready he’s on one, or he was. Let’s keep moving up.
Let it get up. Nice shot. Are you sure he hasn’t hunted before.
Here right here.
For the past few years, the DWR along with Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife have released ten thousand birds on fifty six public hunting areas throughout Utah during the general season hunt. That hunt ends tomorrow, but interest in hunting pheasants is once again on the rise. Clubs like Wasatch Wing and Clay offer the hunter a chance to chase birds, all winter long.
Get ready, shoot it! Dusted it.
With the help of the DNR releasing those birds into all of those cooperative units, that helps a lot. People can actually get out and see birds, compared to years past where they were hunting and they wouldn’t see anything. It encourages the youth. Places like us, being a bird farm. The hunting is a little bit more productive than a public land hunt. So you can get the youth, they’ll see birds, they’ll shoot at birds, keeps them motivated, keeps them in it.
He’ll find it. Yea! Way to be, Mel! Good job Melanie! Melanie high five. Nice girl.
I thought they did great. First time shooters out today. They did well. So, everybody got a bird, that is what makes me happy. That’s your first bird. Let’s take a picture.
That smile is worth a million dollars.
Hey dude. Didn’t I tell you? Girls are good shots huh? Yea. They are not bad, but you got a nice rooster too. What did you think of this? Awesome. It was fun. Yea really fun. You just picked up a shotgun the other day? You are pretty good. Thanks. Hey don’t forget to get your kids out hunting and if you want come out to Wasatch Wing and Clay, they are open clear until March. It’s a great family outing.
Welcome back to KSL Outdoors, I’m Jared Hargrave. And welcome to Frog Town. Mountain bikers from around the country, even around the world, converge on Hurricane, Utah, to ride bikes all day and all night at 25 Hours in Frog Hollow.
3, 2, 1,
25 Hours in Frog Hollow is a solo and relay mountain bike race that lasts for 25 hours straight.
We start at 10 am and end the next day at 10 am but we go over daylight savings. So we fall back. So we gain an hour so we end up doing 25 hours
958, yeah!
Of biking.
We were looking for something unique, and crossing my fingers Utah doesn’t vote down the time change, but this is the longest one day.
We are the longest one day race in the world.
This course was designed for 24-hour racing. Rolling climb with double track so there’s plenty of room for racers to pass.
Then you start riding through a wash, hit some singletrack.
And then it kind of climbs all the way up, then has a massive downhill, probably half the course was a downhill.
Ripping single-track that just puts a smile on your face going down the JEM Trail.
Really great when you get out in the sage brush and just kind of do these nice sage brush slaloms with nice banked turns, opening it up.
There’s a little rock garden chunk to keep you honest, and make you, make you know that you are a mountain biker.
That crushed everybody I think because you’re ready to finish and then got to this really rocky, slabby…
Technical, big tectonic plate rocks embedded along the rim that you got to power through.
That wanted to throw you off of the bike.
And then you get out of that and then you kind of ride right into the finish line.
They deserve it. I mean that’s, it’s tough, you know, to ride like that, you know, for 24 hours.
It gives them a little more motivation.
Finish your lap and get ready for the next lap.
You doing okay? Yea.
282!
Ride, rest repeat, Ride, rest repeat.
We call this Frog Town.
We’ve got a great tent village set up here for us.
The race venue is just outside of Hurricane.
With just an incredible view of Zion that is just such a great backdrop for this race.
The camping here is pretty awesome, I mean you get to come back to your campsite, sit around the campfire and wait for your next teammate to come in.
The night laps were kind of what I was looking forward to most.
Getting out there at night, you know, under the moonlight and the starlight and just kind of enjoying yourself.
Kind of the nicest part of the race. You just kind of relax a little bit. It’s cool.
Even though those are my slower times, I think that was probably some of the better, more enjoyable laps I had.
I think we made a really strong showing. We all reached our goals. I think both personal and as a team.
Even though there are some really good cyclists that made me feel like I was standing still, I still had a great time.
Even like now I’m thinking, “Yea, I’d do it again.”
It was hard.
I should have trained for it. I kind of got pulled in and I should have trained.
It was probably one of the hardest races I’ve ever done.
Oh my God. I’m exhausted. And I need some water.
We celebrate the crazy.
Now if you’re one of those crazy people and this looks like your type of fun, maybe race next year? Log on to 25hoursinfroghollow.com for all the details.
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