Nimrod Fellowship students traveled to South Dakota to practice shooting and learn about the importance of hunting and conservation. 

The Hillsdale Hunting Retreat, which took place Sept. 14 to 19 at Paul Nelson Farm in Gettysburg, South Dakota, included ringed-neck pheasant hunting and guest lectures. The event hosted 40 attendees, including Hillsdale College students, friends of the college, and staff.

“The purpose of the retreat was to teach the virtues of hunting: its societal, economic, and conservation benefits,” said Alan Stewart, director of the Nimrod Education Center, in an email.

Stewart said the fellowship’s first retreat went well. 

“We hope to do more retreats like this in the future,” he said.

Sophomore fellow Ian Matson said he enjoyed the experience. 

“There were great meals, great conversations with the guests, and lots of riveting lectures and speakers,” he said. “But the hunting was the meat of the whole retreat.”

Matson had previously hunted deer and wild hogs, but said this was his first time hunting pheasants. 

“This was a new experience for me,” he said. “The way that Paul Nelson runs the hunt is fantastic.”

According to its website, Paul Nelson Farm features over 5,000 acres of pheasant habitat devoted to hunting. “Guests hunted in corn, sorghum and tall, native prairie grasses,” Stewart said.

Students and guests attended two hunts each day, one in the morning and one after lunch. 

“Harvested pheasants were retrieved by the dogs and taken back to the lodge to be processed, so guests and students could enjoy the meat cooked in various meals,” Stewart said. “Special care was taken to ensure the safety of the hunters.”

The hunts involved six or seven hunters who were only allowed to shoot birds flying high above the ground, according to Stewart.

Each day concluded with a lecture from either Ronald Pestritto, dean of the Van Andel Graduate School of Statesmanship, or A. W. R. Hawkins, a conservative columnist at Breitbart News. Topics included the administrative state and the Second Amendment.

Bánk Bodor, a junior starting his second year as a Nimrod Fellow, said he appreciated the combination of hunting and lectures. 

“It was a really nice mixture of education and hunting,” he said.

Bodor’s interest in hunting began when he was young but increased when he trained his family’s hunting dog. Watching the hunting dogs work during the retreat was one of his favorite parts of the experience.

Bodor described one of his shots where he hit a pheasant but didn’t kill it. The bird began running when it hit the ground, and a hunting dog chased it.

“The dog caught the rooster,” he said. “It was like watching National Geographic.”

He said the moment emphasized the importance of using dogs for responsible hunting.

“If that dog hadn’t caught the rooster, it would have died for lack of flight,” he said. “It would have been a wasted bird.”

While Bodor and Matson had previous hunting experience before the Nimrod Fellowship, they encouraged anyone to apply for the program. 

“It’s a way for you to learn and then use your knowledge to help others learn,” Matson said. 

He said interested students should attend lectures hosted by the fellowship and get to know current members.

Stewart said he hopes the retreat and the program will teach students about the importance of hunting. 

“Hunting teaches us how to appreciate creation, as well as how to steward it,” he said. “We hope students learned how hunting is an important part of our American heritage and a great way to develop skills, prudence, patience, and friendship.”