1st place open team, Ryan McCormmick, Brian Gasvoda, and David Hassa
The 6th Annual Big Sandy American Legion Coyote Derby was off to a rocky start a couple of weeks ago when freezing rain shut down the roads from Great Falls to Big Sandy. However, this didn't stop many. The road opened up around 3 pm that day, and while teams were slow to trickle in on Friday night, we ended up with 27 teams for a total of 99 participants this year. The weekend ended up being the perfect weather for calling in coyotes. The Derby was hugely successful, with hunters bringing in a whopping 343 dogs. The most killed in a single weekend since Derby's start in 2017.
The American Legion raised just over $11,000.00. The generosity of everyone has given us more incredible opportunities to give back to our community. Sunday night, we gave $1,000 to the Big Sandy FFA Chapter and $900 to the Senior Citizen Center. Other proceeds will go towards resurrecting the granite memorial stone at the cemetery that was wrecked during one of the wind storms last summer. The money raised also enables us to continue the scholarships we created after the First Coyote derby for Big Sandy High School students.
First Place in the Open Class went to Ryan McCormmick, Brian Gasvoda, and David Hassa. They brought in a record-setting 54 coyotes and then turned around and donated them back to the American Legion.
Second Place went to Levi & Kassie Beirwagen, Tars Richards, and Nick Diacon, with a total of 38 coyotes.
Third Place went to Cooper Jenkins, Jade Van Wechel, Cortlan Bickford, and Glenny Phillips with 33 coyotes.
First Place in the Calling Class went to Eli Hinebach, Garrett Powell, Tanner Pronto, and Trent Jones, with 24 dogs.
Second Place went to James Curtis, Peter and Paul Sura, and Corey Brothers with 19 coyotes.
Third Place went to Scott Skoyen, Taylor Klein, Jason Haider, and Chris Carpenter, with 13 coyotes.
This event would not be possible without the incredible sponsors, our community, and the amazing participants that come year after year. A huge thank you goes out to everyone involved in making this event a huge success.
