Hunting Means Having Fun with Friends and Family

There have been many great memories made from hunting in the past 40 years for local Sidney pheasant and deer hunter Steve Bright. In his younger days, it was about having fun with his buddies. However, now that he is a father and grandfather of 2 up and coming hunters, the hunting experience has become more about spending quality time with his family.

Bright remembers loving to hunt so much in his younger days that he and his buddies would shoot jackrabbits so they could afford ammunition. He said, “In those days (around the 70s) a person could make a few dollars off a good jackrabbit hide.” Unfortunately, today they aren’t worth a lot.

Bright has always enjoyed both pheasant and deer hunting. When pheasant hunting, He claims that he’s all about having a great time with his buddies. He says “down in the valley is good, out in the hills around with 2 or 3 of us. We get a good spot on the CRP, a pheasant will run down the field before you jump em.”

Bright also has 2 beautiful Labrador retrievers. He had to laughingly admit that he hasn’t had time to make them into the hunting dogs they should be. Steve added “if you’re hunting with a good dog, he’ll find a pheasant for you.” Bright had a good laugh about how he actually uses one of his buddy’s dogs which he claims is much smarter than his. “He’s so smart that he’ll even go get you a beer from the cooler at the end of the day.” he said.

When hunting deer Bright explained, “I mostly like to hunt whitetail does because they have the best meat.” If he feels the need to also bring home a deer with large horns, Bright chooses to hunt mule deer.

Deer hunting will start early for Bright this year as he and his youngest daughter, Michaela, will be going out for this weekend’s youth hunt. He is excited about taking her out and is also looking forward to taking his grandson in a few years. Bright said, “Most of the times I go out this year will be with her.”

The best part about Bright’s hunting for the family is getting together and eating wild game. Papa Steve (as his grandkids call him) and his wife Patty both thoroughly enjoy cooking for their whole family. Patty stated, “I like to cook my deer meat in the oven with cream soup and rice.” Bright on the other hand, prefers to fry most of his game and especially loves pheasant meat. But no matter how it’s prepared, the Bright family just loves to get together and carry on the tradition.