HURON — A pheasant hunting opportunity for combat veterans - the first of its kind in the Huron area - is taking place Saturday. The Warriors Never Give Up organization arranges hunting and fishing events for combat veterans. The South Dakota chapter is based in Sioux Falls and Saturday’s event will include combat veterans in a unique pheasant shooting event. “It’s called a tower shoot,” said Mike Hofer, who, along with Roger Decker and Wayne Hofer, have HD Ringnecks, a business that hatches and raises pheasants for sale. “The tower hunt is modeled after a European hunt where birds are released from a tower and the hunters are able to shoot the escaping pheasants.” Hofer said that the area is handicap accessible and that the combat veterans are rotated to take advantage of every direction, after each 10 birds are released. The event on Saturday, with an additional Sunday shoot open to the public, will take place a half-mile west of the intersection of 398th Avenue and 200th Street. That’s West Park Avenue on the west side of Huron, eight miles north to 200th Street, then a half mile west. “This sort of hunt for veterans is done frequently in the south,” Mike Hofer said. “We did one with some kids two or three weeks ago with 23 local kids at the start of the youth pheasant season and they had a blast.” Hofer said that people may come and observe Saturday’s shoot and encourages people to sign up for Sunday’s shoot, which is open to the public. “We’ve arranged to have a booth in the hallway at the Huron Event Center for this weekend’s Ringneck Festival, if people wish to come in get more information or want to participate in Sunday’s shoot,” Hofer said.
