November 11, sleepy little towns in western Kansas will transform into centers with crowded motel parking lots, busy streets and packed cafes. If you’re up before dawn Saturday, November 12, you’ll see men and women dressed in khaki and orange looking happy – despite the hour – while feeding and watering hunting dogs or grabbing breakfast at the local “Hunters’ Pancake Feed.” Everyone is upbeat because opening day is finally here.
Pheasant Heaven Charities’ will kick off the hunting season with their annual Calf fry, Beef feed and Pig Roast. It will be at a new location this year! Make the trek out to Southwest Fresh Potato in Industrial park West Friday, November 11 starting at 5:00 p.m. Food will be served starting at 5:00 p.m. until the conclusion of the auction. Auction begins at 7:00 p.m. Be sure to check out the $100 raffle package!
For more information, visit their Web site, call PHCI Secretary/Treasurer Brad Musgrove at 620-544-4388 or find them on Facebook!
Start your hunting off with a Hunter’s Breakfast courtesy of the Hugoton Lions Club. Breakfast starts at 5:00 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday at the 4-H Building at the Fairgrounds. The menu will include buffet style all-you-can-eat scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, pancakes, coffee and juice. Thermos bottles can be filled. There will also be a shotgun drawing Sunday. You do not have to be present to win.
If you are ready for a break at lunchtime, visit the First Christian Church. The Church will have homemade chili and cinnamon rolls Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Gym at 600 S. Van Buren. The lunch is a fundraiser for Christ In Youth.
This year’s positive bird forecast has hunters raring to go. But there are others who anticipate this day almost as much: the business owners in these small rural communities. Hunters are good for the Kansas economy.
The second Saturday in November, 40,000 to 50,000 hunters will be in the field pursuing pheasants and quail in Kansas. Many hunters will have traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to get here and those hunters will spend a minimum of $150 per day on lodging, food and fuel. Most will stay three or four days, and when bird populations are good, the second weekend can be just as busy. When all the revenue generated by hunters in Kansas during the year is added up, it will top $400,000,000.
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, hunting is responsible for nearly 8,000 jobs in Kansas, generating $2.9 million in salaries and wages and $60 million in state and local taxes. Through the purchase of annual hunting licenses and permits, hunters generate more than $20 million and qualify Kansas to receive nearly $10 million in federal aid derived from excise taxes on hunting and shooting equipment. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism’s wildlife programs receive no general tax funding, so hunters pay for all wildlife conservation and law enforcement efforts.
For bird hunters, a good opening weekend means heavy game bags and the camaraderie of friends and family. For Kansas business owners, a good opening weekend means extra sales and a better bottom line.
Submitted by the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism.
