Orange hats off to everybody that made this past weekend’s Governor Pheasant Hunt Opener the success it was.

The numbers alone reflect how popular the ninth annual event was: 170 hunters, 44 roosters harvested and 457 attending Friday night’s banquet.

But really, the success of the GPHO was broader than that. Austin demonstrated through the hard work of a village that it could host large events such as the GPHO. It instilled confidence outside of Austin that this community not only has the facilities to host large events, but the people necessary to make that a reality.

By itself, the GPHO is a marvelous event bringing awareness to things like tourism and habitat conservation, but combine that with the work the people of Austin did to make this event a success and you have a strong partnership that could continue to pay off in the future in a big way.

The work that GPHO Committee Chair Sandy Forstner and his team of around 30 committee members did to organize this event is nothing less than a shining example of what can be accomplished when people come together.

The unparalleled work that Nancy Schnabel and her team at Discover Austin did to promote and help organize the event is another awe inspiring star next to this year’s GPHO. The hours poured into this year’s hunt demonstrates the conviction and dedication to showing off Austin to the rest of the state.

The landowners, hunter hosts and businesses all played a part in making this work and they should be proud of every accomplishment.

By no means was this an easy prospect. For over a year, from submitting the application to being announced as the host city, all the way through the event itself, was hours after hours of making sure Austin showed off the best side of itself.

In the end this will be remembered by the state and the hunters as one of the best hunts on record and could continue to be a draw into the future for return trips.

Austin shined this weekend and we commend every single person that made the Governor’s Pheasant Hunt Opener such a success.