EDGEFIELD, S.C. — At the end of April, the top ten local NWTF scholarship winners from across Ohio gathered at the Deerasic Park Education Center for the Ohio NWTF State Chapter’s annual Gene Goodwin Memorial Partnership Hunt, recently renamed in honor of Ohio NWTF State Chapter board member and previous NWTF National Board of Directors member who started the partnership hunt event 16 years ago.
The hunt is a partnership between the NWTF and the Ohio Division of Natural Resources, and it is funded through the Conservation Club Grant. The weekend-long event would not have been possible without sponsors like Mossy Oak and the Ohio Division of Forestry, which donated land for the scholarship winners to hunt on.
“For anyone who didn’t know Gene, he was passionate,” said Bill Suliks, NWTF Ohio State Chapter board member. “This was his life blood, and unfortunately, COVID took him away from us, so we decided to rename it. He wanted to give the top 10 scholarship applicants in the state of Ohio an opportunity to go on a mentor-guided turkey hunt. That’s how it started about 16 years ago.”
Suliks believes this event is a unique opportunity to get more young adults to apply for the NWTF’s National Dr. James Earl Kennamer Scholarship. There are currently three levels of scholarships awarded by the NWTF. High school seniors must submit scholarship applications for their local chapter scholarship. Winners of local chapter scholarships are then considered for the state chapter scholarship award, and scholarship winners from each state chapter are then considered for the national scholarship.
Attendees started their weekend with a turkey hunting introduction and safety course. Mentors explained where to shoot a bird, what to wear, how to be safe and how to have an ethical harvest. On Saturday morning, the young adults rose before the sun with their mentors to chase gobblers.
Maddox Abke, Ohio NWTF State Chapter scholarship winner, set up in a blind with his mentor, Josh Grossenbacher, 2017 Grand National Calling Championships Head-to-Head Division champion, on Saturday morning with no luck. On Sunday, Abke and Grossenbacher decided to run and gun, later celebrating with a successful harvest, which was a huge milestone for Abke. His tom was the biggest bird harvested during the entire weekend, winning him the grand prize, a lifetime hunting license.
“Hunting with Josh was awesome; it’s unbelievable,” Abke said after the hunt. “If I had to place my money on what a real turkey was, and the call was coming from him, I’d say that he was a real turkey. My favorite part of today was getting to know Josh and joking around with him. I’m the last one in my family that doesn’t have a fan on the wall, so filling that up, that’s what it means to be here. It’s just tradition.”
Hannah Slack, one of the hunters and local scholarship winners, was excited to go out on her first wild turkey hunt. She did not harvest a turkey but carries the excitement of hearing her very first gobbler. Slack also walked away from the event with more confidence when it comes to shooting.
“Being at this event was an honor,” she said. “I remember being here with my sister and hoping to have this opportunity when I’m her age. [This event] makes you see how much potential you have in yourself because of the belief that your guides have in you to be able to shoot and hunt. I don’t like shooting in front of people because it makes me nervous, but all of them, they’re just reassuring, they’re helpful and generous. And I hope that I’m able to give back to kids this way when I’m older. I think it gives you that drive to be able to do better and continue to be better. The NWTF has been there for a lot of families and kids, teaching them what hunting and conservation is and what hunting heritage is.”
By the end of the weekend, five of the ten attendees harvested a turkey. But the true success of the hunt was seen in the confidence, friendships and lifelong passion for hunting each participant carried home.
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