Challenge rewarded: Upland Slam grand prizes awarded

Tyler McGrady made two drives from his Ragland, Alabama, home to complete his first Nebraska Upland Slam.

“Bird numbers were great this year both trips,” said McGrady, 37, who has participated in the slam twice.

As one of 130 finishers of the slam, McGrady was randomly drawn as the grand prize winner of a Weatherby Orion 12-gauge shotgun.

McGrady had been more interested in the Upland Slam certificate and Top Dog Certificate and tag, which a hunter gets after completing the slam and uploading a photo of his hunting dog at work.

“The shotgun just worked out,” he said. “I did it for the certificate and the tag for my dog.”

McGrady completed the slam in four days, hunting public lands in Cherry, Thomas, Furnas and Johnson counties. He harvested a grouse and prairie chicken in September, then returned in early December and shot a pheasant and quail.

McGrady, who only hunts upland birds, has hunted in Nebraska several times.

“We almost always hunt in Nebraska on our way through to North Dakota (to hunt), and the last two years we’ve done a dedicated five- to six-day hunt in Nebraska because bird numbers have been good,” he said.

The Upland Slam challenges hunters to harvest a ring-necked pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, greater prairie-chicken and northern bobwhite quail in Nebraska during the season. The slam is a partnership between the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever of Nebraska.

“The Nebraska Upland Slam is unique,” said Kelsi Wehrman, state coordinator for Nebraska Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. “Hunters come from across the country to take advantage of Nebraska’s public lands and hunt a mixed bag of upland game. For some, it has become a tradition. For others, they have taken pride in enjoying their hunt with their best friends and their dogs. It is quality time in the field. We are proud of this program.”

The seventh year of the Upland Slam gave 175 hunters, including three youth, a reason to take advantage of the state’s excellent opportunities and growing availability of publicly accessible land. In the slam, hunters upload photos of their harvest to a website and share information about their hunting experience. The 130 finishers of the slam, which also came from 12 other states, became eligible for the prize drawings and received an official certificate and pin. Visit OutdoorNebraska.gov and search “Upland Slam” to find the names of all hunters who successfully completed the slam.

This year saw 74.3% of participants finish the slam, the highest success rate ever. There also were 80 first-time harvests.

In seven years of the Upland Slam:

• 831 hunters participated 1,528 times.
• There were 793 finishers.
• Three hunters finished all seven years.
• 370 hunters recorded 552 first-time harvests.
• 57% of harvests came on public sites.
• 29 states represented.
• 79% of totals participants come from Nebraska.

Other prize winners are Jim Sladky of Oxford, who won Leupold BX-2 Alpine HD 52mm binoculars, and Larry Gathye Sr. of Omaha, who won a $150 Scheels gift card.

Youth winners, and their prizes, are Brennan O’Connor of Kearney, Youth Lifetime Hunt Permit, and Adrielle Skinner of Lincoln, $150 Scheels gift card.