HBSF takes scholarship recipients on quail, pheasant hunts
Story by Lili Keys, Lone Star Outdoor News
Photos by Abe Robledo
The Higgins Branchini Shooting Foundation (HBSF) hosted its 3rd Annual Quail Fundraiser at Greystone Castle Nov. 12-14.
The annual quail hunt is one of the flagship events of the foundation’s fundraising season and also introduces partners and donors to some of the recipients of the grants in the field.
“We think it’s important for our donors to meet the college shooters who benefit from their generous donations,” HBSF Board President Mike Higgins said.
Most of the college shooters who have had the opportunity to attend previous quail hunts had not hunted before.
“Just because they’ve shot clay targets does not mean they hunt,” Higgins said. “We make a point to bring in kids who have not hunted and turn them on to it.”
First year grant recipient, Chris- tine Trimmer, who shoots for Texas A&M University, hunted a European driven pheasant shoot where they put down 133 pheasants between 10 hunters.
“She hadn’t done anything like that before and she had the biggest ‘this is awesome’ smile,” Higgins said.
Will Van Dusen, of Athens, started shooting trap, skeet and eventually sporting clays at an early age in 4H. His father was the coach and his older brother had taken up the sport and it became a family affair.
“We traded off going to horse shows for shotgun shooting,” he said.
By the time he was a freshman in high school, Van Dusen had made his first All American Team and continued to do so each year.
Van Dusen was on the shoot- ing team while earning his undergraduate degree at Texas A&M, but now has traded school colors and is shooting for the University of Texas while pursuing his master’s in Architecture.
Growing up, Van Dusen had dabbled in hunting but never in the upland pursuit.
“I can count on my hands how many times I’ve gone dove hunting. I did a lot of deer hunting when I was young but at Greystone, we were able to do an upland hunt,” he said. “I had never taken any quail, chukar or pheasant before, nor had I hunted over pointers flushing or with a guide. It was all new to me and it was just a blast. To see the dogs work and to walk through the hunting areas was an awesome experience.”
Van Dusen downsized his shotgun for the hunt.
“I was shooting with a 20 gauge, which I don’t ever shoot,” he said. “It was a learning curve for sure. A few got away, but not many.”
Shooter and past grant recipient, Shea Self, was also in attendance. Self won two national championships for Texas A&M University and was the first woman ever to win an overall World Championship in Helice. She now serves on the board of HBSF.
The weekend was filled with sporting clays, walk up hunts, European driven Pheasant shoots as well as a silent auction, and generated more than $70,000 for the foundation.
HBSF provides support and grants to college students competing in collegiate, national, and international clay target shooting sports.
