Crooked Foot Hunt Club 9th Annual Veterans Hunt
by Ed H Edwards, Lansing Chapter Member, avid hunter, and fisherman
SCI Lansing Chapter Fundraiser $ Wisely Spent!
On November 3rd I stood with approximately 100 veterans for a group picture and thought of their sacrifices to serve our country and how important this event was to them.
I suspect many were involved in or witnessed horrible incidents during conflicts. Still, today everyone was all smiles and excited to be part of the group at Crooked Foot for the 9th Annual Veterans Pheasant Hunt!
Registration and plenty of hot coffee and donuts started the morning, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and a welcome address by Crooked Foot host and owner Tony Mazzali.
Discover more about Crooked Foot, Upland Bird and Gaming Club HERE.
Featured Speakers
A couple of veteran guest speakers were inspiring and a great addition to the event!
Tom Barrett
Tom Barrett is a 22-year Army Veteran helicopter pilot who served in the Iraq war and was also stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Kuwait, and the Korean DMZ. Tom logged more than 1000 hours in some of the most advanced helicopters in the world. Following his Army career Tom Served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019 and the 24th District Senate from 2019 to 2023. As a candidate for District 7 House of Representatives in our recent election Tom was successful and flipped the seat to the Republican Party.
Gregory J Vadnais
Gregory J Vadnais who enlisted in 1970 retired in 2019 as the Adjutant General and Director of the Military and Veterans Affairs for Michigan. During his service, Gregory commanded the Michigan Army Bases and the Air National Guard a total of 159 units with a force of over 19,500 military and civilian personnel. The number of military schools attended, promotions decorations and badges awarded to the General are numerous and would take several pages to list. A very interesting speaker and welcome guest to the event!
The Hunt Begins
After the speakers and group picture, we headed to our assigned shooting tower stations and waited for the horn blast that started the shoot. The wind was strong enough to influence the direction of flight from the release tower which resulted in the shooting stations being good or no shots at all.
During our morning rotation, my partner Marty Crimp and I went 5 stations without a shot then had some real action on several others.
Everyone got equal chances as we rotated clockwise around the 13 stations surrounding the release tower. Birds sometimes dropped from a single shot, others flew like they had an invisible shield and the number of shots sounded like a shoot-out in a John Wick movie, yet the bird escaped without losing a single feather!
After the shoot a delicious lunch consisting of pulled pork barbecue, corn, mashed potatoes, and cold slaw.
A package of dressed-out pheasants was available for every participant to cook up and later enjoy with family or friends.
In summary, a great day for the participating veterans and as usual an outstanding program by the Crooked Foot owner, employees, volunteers, and us sponsors!
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Safari Club International is the leading voice in the fight to protect the freedom to hunt, both in the United States and internationally. The SCI Departments of Legal Advocacy Resources and International Affairs and Government Relations are headquartered in Washington, D.C., advocating on behalf of SCI members and non-members alike. From staff dedicated to legislation and policy to a team of litigators, SCI hunter advocacy is at the forefront of protecting the hunting heritage. SCI and the SCI Foundation provide the voice of the hunter in treaties that affect hunting and wildlife conservation worldwide. This is where SCI and SCI Foundation go beyond what other hunter organizations do and why their work in this arena is critical to preserving the right to hunt. Plus, we have lots of fun and events like this one!
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