Lehi student wins first place in U.S. for hunting project

CEDAR VALLEY — A Lehi High School student won first place in a national contest for re-creating a pheasant hunt.

Maverick Bingham, 18, who graduated last year, has been raising pheasants and chukars for the past three years, beginning under the guidance of his dad. He plants the birds in a Cedar Valley field for hunters. With guidance from his high school teachers, he entered the business in the Future Farmers of America's National Agriculture Proficiency Awards Pageant. He won the top prize in the Wildlife Production and Management entrepreneurship category.

Bingham took the top Utah prize, then competed against 51 state winners. National FFA officials picked his as one of the top four projects in the country. From there he won the national first-place plaque. He took home $500 for being a finalist and another $500 for winning the contest.

He started with 250 ring-necked pheasant chicks and 250 chukar partridge chicks, which multiplied into the 4,000 birds he now produces annually. Through small ads in a weekly shopper and word of mouth, he has established a clientele of hunters who travel to his grandfather's farm in Cedar Valley to relive the hunts they went on years ago.

"There's not many wild pheasants anymore," Bingham said.

Development and predators have drastically cut the numbers, while construction of pressurized irrigation destroyed their habits.

"There are no open canals anymore," Bingham said. "Pressurized irrigation is great for water usage, but not for wildlife."

Waterways are important to pheasant and chukar survival, Utah State Division of Wildlife manager Anis Oudy said.

So under the banner of Cedar Valley Rooster Ranch, Bingham provides the birds along with Brittany springer and pointer hunting dogs, 12-gauge and 20-gauge shotguns and guide services. His clientele includes "a grandpa who wanted to experience his last hunt" and handicapped folks who are allowed to shoot from the back of an ATV.

"That's kind of cool," he said of the latter.

The birds are planted beforehand after Bingham disorients them. He holds them by the legs and spins them over his head.

"It doesn't hurt them, but it dizzies them up a bit," he said.

The dogs are then let loose to scare the birds into the air in a time-honored tradition.