By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
As a way for youth to connect with the outdoors, as well as the sport that comes with it, the Elkhorn Lake Hunt Club held its annual Family Field Day on Saturday.
Hosted by Peg and Sam Ballou on the last Saturday in September, the Family Field Day cost $5 which included access to each of the stations. Peg spoke of some of the more unique aspects of this year’s event.
“When we had the two planes fly in, that is a little bit different. To dovetail aviation with the outdoors, they are bush planes, they can go into areas that you normally can’t get into,” Peg said. “We also had a hand gun range with rubber ammunition, so you can get the experience without having to worry about live rounds. It really helped make it a well-rounded experience this year.”
In its 18th year the Elkhorn Lake Hunt Club’s Family Field Day provided numerous stations for area youths to investigate the great outdoors in areas of boating safety, marksmanship in bow, as well as gun, and information on trapping among numerous activities.
The day started at 8 a.m. with a youth pheasant hunt. Bagging his first pheasant was Giovanni Tabasso. Tabasso, who attended the event with his family, explained how it felt getting his first pheasant.
“It feels really good, I was really excited when I got it,” Tabasso said. “I am just happy to have the opportunity to do it. I am thankful that these people are doing this.”
Tabasso explained what he enjoyed most about his first Family Field Day.
“I liked the archery a lot, and the handgun shooting,” Tabasso added.
Lou and Christina Gangale attended the event from Cleveland.
“It is a really unique experience to go to the different venues, I think they had 11 different seminars this year,” Lou explained. “She looks forward to it all year. I think it is a great opportunity to for the owners to get young people involved, people that wouldn’t normally shoot a .22 or a bow and arrow or go fishing,”
“I enjoyed the handgun station, and I really liked shooting the .22’s at the targets,” Christina added. “Though I think I enjoyed the handguns the most because there was no big recoil. It was just pop and it was over.”
“We bought two bow and arrows last year because of the archery,” Lou added. “The lunch is something that is also unique, where else can you go to get venison, or pheasant soup. I don’t know of anywhere else in Ohio where you can do this.”
Getting down and dirty in the wetlands area of the Elkhorn Lake was Christina Kuchle of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Kuchle who is the Northwest Ohio Scenic Rivers Manager for the Maumee and Sandusky rivers explained what she was doing at her pond ecology work station.
“We are talking about all kinds of critters that live in the water, either ponds, or rivers,” Kuchle said. “When we have life in the water and our environment, that is a good thing, if the water is alive and the organisms are doing well that is great.”
Flying in from Virginia, Rachel and Caleb Wait had their bush plane on display along with the Ballou’s bush plane. Rachel, who is the daughter of the Ballous explained the purpose of the airplane station.
“My parents own the place, and so this is something that they have been doing for a long time,” Rachel said. “They wanted to bring it out to show all the families what they can do with airplanes and take them to remote places where they can do hunting or fishing, like going to Alaska, where those kind of airplanes are the only way to get around.”
Bill and Norma McCaulley, from Marion Pheasants Forever, were on hand presenting the different ways to clean a pheasant before cooking breaded pheasant for those wishing to try it.
“We did eight birds total,” Bill said. “The kids really enjoy it, we show them the different ways to clean the pheasant, and when we are done we cut the meat up, bread it, and cook it.”
“It is surprising to see the kids try it and say, ‘hmmm that’s not bad’,” Norma added.
There was a break in the action at noon for lunch which featured beef chili, venison stew, and pheasant white chili. After lunch, hunters who took their first pheasant were presented medallions recognizing their accomplishment. After names were drawn for prizes in which a muzzle loader, bow, and other gear were given away, the stations opened back up for attendees to participate at the stations they may have missed in the morning.
For more information on the Elkhorn Lake Hunt Club, or their annual Family Field Day visit their website at http://elkhornlakehuntclub.com/. For even more photos from the Family Field Day visit Elkhorn Hunt Club’s Facebook page.
PHOTO GALLERY: Elkhorn Hunt Club Family Field Day