The Kanas Governor’s One Shot Turkey Hunt has always considered our partnership with Butler County among out highest achievements. Our success is your success.

We spotlight Butler County every year in the quest for the wild turkey gobbler. 30 of the last 33 years, the sitting Governor has participated in our hunt and all but one Governor has harvested a bird. Many Governors of others states have participated in our event and our model is used when other states have developed their own event. No matter where our hunters hunt, they enter and exit through Butler County.

The numbers in 2019 tell this story: 101 of 173 landowners and 34 of 74 current guides list a Butler County address. The volunteer workforce is a 4 to 1 ratio of folks that live in Butler County. We rented 75 hotel rooms. Many of the small town restaurants, antique and specialty shops in the county, are destinations that our hunters and guides visit each year.

History of the event:

Kansas Governor’s One Shot Turkey Hunt was established in 1986, the brainchild of El Dorado Chamber of Commerce President Marv McCown local businessman Ramon Criss and his wife Betty, and then Kansas Governor . Guest celebrities were invited to participate in the first invitation only hunt in 1987. Governors Hayden, , , , , , and have all participated in this event. It began as an economic development tool, bringing business and industry executives to the area as well as people involved in outdoor resources/media.

In the past 33 years, the Kansas Governor’s One Shot Turkey Hunt has evolved. While the invited guest list still includes prospective business contacts for future investment in Butler County, the hunt has developed programs which also provide education and opportunity. The hunt is now an 501(c)3 non-profit earning status in 2011.

Jeanette Rudy, past shooter, blessed the school district with $500.000. 00. The Felix Alton Cantrell Foundation continues with money awarded to special needs projects every year.

Our Wayne Willis Scholarship program, now endowed with the Central Kansas Community Foundation ~ El Dorado, awards $8000.00 -$12,000.00 a year to students with outdoor resource majors. 3 $1000.000 awards have been distributed each of the past 7 years at Butler Community College, a gift from past shooter Harvey Watt Jr. In recent tracking, 25 of 32 Wayne Willis Scholarship recipients located are in Outdoor Resource, Ag or Law enforcement careers. 57 total students have received scholarships in our program, many for multiple years.

We work closely with local KDWPT to ensure safety and attention to state game laws and guidelines.

Butler County has been visited by Secretaries of Transportation, Commerce and Wildlife, Parks and Tourism as a result of their involvement with our event. The Director of National State Parks, Kansas State Parks and also Flint Hills Tourism Coalition have toured Butler County with folks involved in our hunt.

Recent attendees include: US Senator Jerry Moran, former Kansas Governors Graves and Hayden. NY Times bestselling author CJ Box, Outdoor TV celebrity Bone Collector Michael Waddell, Outdoor TV celebrity David Blanton, Outdoor TV celebrity Will Primos and Outdoor TV personality Preston Pittman, RnT Owners Jim Ronquest and Shawn Stahl, Pittsburg Steelers BJ Finney, Stephon Tuitt and DeAngelo Williams.

The Future of the event: We are expecting Governor Laura Kelly to be in attendance and also former Governor Hayden.

We also work closely with other organizations such as 4H clubs in the county, BASE, The Haverhill School and Butler Community College Foundation.

With the assistance of the Locke Ranch, we are hosting 4 Hunting Heroes in 2020

6 youth from 6 different Kansas counties will take part in our event in 2020.

In our event this year, we are hosing hunters from Kansas, Maine, Colorado, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Missouri, Alaska, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Minnesota.

This event is a huge undertaking and has enjoyed 33 years of local, regional, state and national support. We are proud to call Butler County our home.

Thank you for the consideration you have given us. We know our guests are always welcome in Butler County!