Elks On a Squirrel Hunt

By Doug Carder

Mike Peace’s Osawatomie Elks Lodge brothers thought he was squirreling around when he proposed a new hunting tournament.

But they soon realized their exalted ruler was pulling out all the stops to ensure the first Osawatomie Elks Squirrel Hunting Tournament was a success.

“I think more people laughed about it than took him seriously,” the lodge’s head cook Marc Cochrane said Saturday morning. “But we had about 25 people here around 5 o’clock this morning to eat pancakes before they went out (hunting). I was surprised.”

The tournament attracted 20 two-man teams, including some hunters from as far away as Wichita and a father-daughter team.

Peace learned the Cass County Elks Lodge in Harrisonville, Mo., had tried a squirrel tournament, but only a handful of hunters showed up.

“I didn’t know how many teams we would get. I just wanted to try something different, and I was very pleased with the turnout,” Peace said.

Despite inclement conditions of heavy fog, mist and icy patches on country roads, the hunters bagged 77 squirrels weighing a total of 101 pounds.

Osawatomie High School sophomores Garret Hunsperger and Shay Neal were the first to return from the hunt. The boys shot 10 squirrels that combined weighed more than 13 pounds.

A few minutes later, Garret’s dad, Cody Hunsperger, showed up with his haul. When he was asked how many he shot, Hunsperger smiled sheepishly and held up a lone gray squirrel by the tail.

“We didn’t have much luck,” Hunsperger said as he looked at Garret’s mix of gray and red (fox) squirrels. He pointed at his son. “At least I taught him something.”

The young Hunsperger and Neal said they could hear the squirrels scampering down the trees just after daylight.

“I hit everyone I aimed at,” Hunsperger said proudly. Neal said he wasn’t quite that fortunate. “I missed a few.”

Hunter Mike Goodnow said he and his hunting partner Jeff Pinneo about slid off one road trying to get to their hunting spot. Once in place, the pair saw five squirrels and bagged three.

“We didn’t see very many. I think they were all staying inside their cozy living rooms today,” Goodnow said as the mist thickened. “I can’t blame them.”

Before putting on the tournament, Peace said he contacted a man in Virginia who had started holding an annual squirrel hunt several years ago.

“He started with just seven teams, and last year he had 226 people and 335 pounds of squirrel meat.”

On Saturday morning, Cochrane was busy getting his kitchen ready for the harvest. He planned to put on a banquet feast at midday for the hunters.

“We’re going to have squirrel wings, squirrel pot pie and squirrel biscuits and gravy,” the former U.S. Marine said. “I found the recipes on the Internet.”

Peace said he plans to make the squirrel hunt an annual event.

“I’m going to ask Mayor (Phil) Dudley to proclaim next year’s event Squirrel Day in Osawatomie,” Peace said. “We may even come up with a mascot. I’m thinking about getting a T-shirt printed that has a picture of two squirrels holding up a sign that says, ‘Eat more chicken.’”

While the day started with a few skeptics at the Elks Lodge, the results put smiles on all the hunters’ faces at Lodge No. 921.

“When Jeff (Pinneo) first told me we were going to hunt squirrels, I thought he was kidding. I said, ‘are you serious?’” said Goodnow, Pinneo’s longtime hunting partner. Goodnow shrugged. “Why not.”

The tournament winners are as follows:

Adult Rifle

First place team: James Nighswonger and David Brown, 47 points, $154.

Second place team: Jeff Oliver and Brian Connett, 46 points, $62.

Third place team: Kurt Guindon and son Nick Guindon, 35 points, $32.

Adult Shotgun

First place team: Jeff Pinneo and Mike Goodnow, 10 points, $33.

Mentored Class

First place team: Shay Neal and Garret Hunsperger, 37 points, $17.

Second place team: Jeff and Nick Whitaker, 7 points.

Third place team: Cyrus Kitchen and Sam Huffman, 3 points.

Most Weight

First place team: Shay Neal and Garret Hunsperger, over 13 pounds. Each boy won rod and reels with electronic scales donated by Budweiser distributor Crawford Sales.

The winners of the drawings were Tim Jones, a new .22 rifle, and Jason Kinder, a portable hunting seat.

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Posted by admin on Mar 2 2011. Filed under News and Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry