NEWS
Goshen County 2 Shot Competition
A Wyoming December Tradition
2009: HPW Guides Take 3rd and 4th Place
plus Wyoming Goose Calling Championship.
11 pits of the 40 competing fired all 4 shots. 5 of those were High Plains Wingshooters' pits entered in the contest. HPW owner Bret Van Rensselaer’s team got 3rd Place and Corey Davison’s got 4th in the hunt.
HPW guide Robb Nicolay won the Wyoming State Goose Calling Championship held at the 2 Shot this year.
Everyone else had their opportunities with birds, but did not connect with all of their birds. No team killed 4 birds this year and 5 teams tied with 3 birds and the places were determined by total weight.
Chad Erdman of HPW guided Wyoming Governor Dave Fruedenthal, and the Governor harvested two birds in two shots!
Third Place
(top picture, left to right):
Hunter John Hill, HPW owner/guide Bret Van Rensselaer, hunter Brad Hill of Utah.
(This is the same team that got 1st Place in 2008 with HPW’s guide Mike Lessard.)
Fourth Place
(middle picture, left to right):
Hunter Dave Sturm, HPW Guide Corey Davison, hunter Grant Harpstreith
Wyoming Goose Calling Champion: Robb Nicolay
(bottom picture, left to right):
Hunter Bruce Brown, hunter Brian King, HPW Guide Robb Nicolay
Governor Fruedentahl goes 2-for-2 with HPW.
(left to right)
Hunter Delanie Roberts, Wyoming Governor Dave Fruedenthal,
HPW Guide Chad Erdman, guide assistant Cody Carpenter
2008: HPW Guides and 2 Shot Teams Sweep the Goshen County 2 Shot Competition!
In 2008 High Plains Wingshooters guides swept the competition, taking all three top awards!
The Winners:
First Place
(top picture, left to right):
Bret Van Rensselaer of HPW, Dave Hill, HPW Guide Mike Lessard, and John Hill, of Layton, Utah.
Second Place
(middle picture, left to right):
Guide Bret Van Rensselaer, James Johnson of Paradise, Utah, and Travis Johnson, of Torrington, Wyoming. The young guy is Talon, James' son.
Third Place
(not pictured):
Guide Jason Ostrander of HPW, Rich Yost of Sterling, Colorado, and Casey Yost of Iliff, Colorado
The Goshen County 2 Shot Goose Hunt is a Wyoming goose hunting tradition that extends back 21 years. The event is held annually on the second Saturday of December. Focusing on fun and philanthropy, the money raised from the event goes to a number of great causes, throughout southeast Wyoming.
High Plains Wingshooters has been involved with the 2 Shot since 2004, when we volunteered one pit. Chad Erdman was the guide and Bret was the helper…we ambitiously deployed over 500 decoys (3 trailer loads), only to be faced with 50+ mph winds. The result? Chad and Bret did wind sprints, just to keep our decoys, from ending up in Nebraska. We never fired a shot!
In 2005, we put two pits in the hunt and both pits fired all four shots and killing 3 birds, but we didn’t place.
In 2006, we put two pits in the hunt and volunteered a couple additional guides. Jason Ostrander placed second and also won largest goose. Trent Tatum placed 3rd both of these on Tom Harpstreith’s properties, and Bret Van Rensselaer placed 4th. Pretty good showing going 2,3,4 – in the 2 Shot!
In 2007, HPW put 4 pits in the hunt and had two more guides in other pits, while all of our guides got all 4 shots the hunters didn’t kill their birds so we had no places.
The 2008 winning team! Guide Mike Lessard, and (from left, in the pit) Dave and John Hill.
2008 HPW volunteered 5 pits with 1 additional guide. This year was special Mike Lessard placed 1st on the HPW home farm right above the lodge. Bret Van Rensselaer placed second on the Lingle lease, and Jason Ostrander placed 3rd on Tom Harpsteith’s property. We also won Largest Goose!
2008 was a tough year for the 2 Shot with only one team killing four birds, and two killing three. A number of teams missed all four shots. Many teams didn’t fire a shot. The birds just didn’t get here in time. In fact, they showed up two days later!
The 2 Shot is a great event that I encourage all of my clients to get involved in. While the hunt is short (you get two shots) it is great fun with the strategy and camaraderie. Two banquets, one great hunt and the chance to meet and be with a lot of great people! Go to www.2shotgoose.com to get more info and an entry form. See you next year!
– Bret Van Rensselaer
Casper Star-Tribune Article about the 2 Shot
