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Nebraska Grand Island Shooter Got Early Start

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

DONIPHAN, Neb. --(Ammoland.com)- Cory Sorahan of Grand Island had a painful introduction to shooting sports. On the other hand, she was just a fourth-grader and the shotgun she shot packed a wallop.

From that experience at Walnut Junior High’s outdoor field day, Sorahan took to shooting sports, despite her first impression. “I was done; it hurt so badly,” she said of her first experience. “But I knew it wouldn’t be like that all the time.”

“She told me she wanted to shoot those orange things,” said her aunt, Michelle Sorahan, with whom Cory lives. “I said ‘You mean blue rocks?’ She said, ‘No, they are orange.’ “

Now the 15-year-old sophomore is a veteran in her fifth season competing at the 42nd Cornhusker Trapshoot. On Friday she shot an 87X100 at 16-yard targets during competition in the senior high division.

Her squad on Friday included four boys. She is used to competing with boys.

“She irritates the boys,” said Jack Wiese, a Ducks Unlimited member from Grand Island and the person who taught Sorahan how to shoot.

Wiese taught Sorahan how to shoot with the discipline he learned as a decorated member of the U.S. Marine Corps. “She has natural talent,” he said. “She doesn’t have any bad habits. She just doesn’t miss.”

Sorahan didn’t miss much last year when she finished second in the 20-21 yard individual handicap division at the Cornhusker Trapshoot.

On that night back in the fourth grade, Sorahan won in a drawing a membership into the Ducks Unlimited Green Wings program for youth shooters. That’s when Wiese took her under his wing.

Sorahan didn’t care that there were few girls her age shooting. “It’s something a lot of girls didn’t do at the time, so it was something, like the boys, I could do,” she said.

“It’s not about winning; it’s about shooting against people and making them think they have to be better than you.”

Sorahan has a lifetime of trapshooting to look forward to now.

“That’s another reason that I like to shoot trap,” she said. “You can’t play basketball your whole life, but you can shoot your whole life.”

And at least two more Cornhusker Trapshoots.

“Boys and girls of all ages are taking up shooting sports as a hobby,” Shoot Director Terry Brentzel said. “It is getting easier to do that, too, because there are so many opportunities available to get started. There are hunter education courses, live-fire programs, school programs, and mentored hunts available, as well as a number of excellent shooting ranges.”

Contact the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for more information on learning how to shoot.

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Nebraska Shotgun Turkey Season Opens

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

LINCOLN, Neb. --(Ammoland.com)- Turkey hunters gave it their best shot when the shotgun season opened April 16. Results were mixed, though, as the season opened on the heels of a spring storm that brought snow, rain and muddy and impassable roads across much of the state.

While access to hunting grounds was difficult to reach in much of the state, the weather improved once the season started.

Hunting pressure and success varied overall, according to reports by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission conservation officers. In many cases, turkeys were not coming to the call, and they still were in groups. Few problems and no accidents were reported.

With plenty of turkeys available, hunters will have many opportunities to bag their limit this season. Hunters, including archers and youth, may hunt turkeys through May 31.

The following is a district summary of reports by officers:

• Southwest – Officers in the eastern portion of the district reported observing fewer hunters than in past openers. Many of the hunters who braved the sloppy roads were rewarded with a turkey. One officer checked 19 hunters with 11 turkeys. Most of the hunters were on or near Pressey Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Custer County. Those hunters represented seven states. Medicine Creek WMA in Frontier County had several hunters on the second day but limited success. Hunting pressure was fair and harvest slow throughout the rest of the district.
• Northeast – Much of the district had 4 to 6 inches of snow on the ground on opening morning. Good numbers of turkeys were observed, but they were inactive until temperatures rose in the afternoon. Hunting pressure was light in the areas of Niobrara, Santee and Verdigre. Nonresident hunters from Indiana, Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Mississippi were checked. Hunters had better success on the second day.
• Northwest – Officers reported normal hunting pressure and fair success. Hunters saw plenty of birds. One officer checked 15 hunters – all nonresidents – on Clear Creek WMA on the opening day. Many nonresident hunters also were reported in the Pine Ridge.
• Southeast – There were few reports from this district but one noted few hunters in the field along the Platte River in Saunders, Douglas and Sarpy counties on April 17.

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