Riverkeeper reflections |
 Participants, volunteers and members of the Line Mountain High School band listen to Crystal Martz during the opening festivities of the 2025 Wingshooting Warriors on Oct. 24, 2025. Riverkeeper's note: Each year, the association supports the network of partners and volunteers that make the Wingshooting Warriors event at Martz's Gap View Hunting Preserve near Dalmatia a success. Some of our people take a day to chip in where needed and give back to this worth cause and the growing number of veterans and first responders who participate. The following is a look back at the event from Oct. 24, 2025. “It doesn’t take much to shake a hand or pat a shoulder in passing to tell someone thanks, but to take time out of your busy day to give of yourself, to offer support and to invest a part of yourself into that person – that says so much more,” said Harold Daub, of Halifax. Which is why the former president of the Lykens Valley Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation continues to volunteer each year at Wingshooting Warriors at Martz’s Gap View Hunting Preserve near Dalmatia. The event celebrated its 10th anniversary on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, by expanding yet again, offering free half-day pheasant hunts to 120 veterans and first-responders that this year came from throughout Pennsylvania and as far away as Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. “This is very least we could do for people who put their lives on the line for us. Many of them came home very different than when they left and they don’t even realize they need events like this,” Daub said. “I used to bring a veteran named Woody who would use Wingshooting Warriors as his one place to talk about his time serving to others because they could truly understand what he was going through. It is so powerful each year to see that sort of thing happen here.” That is one of the main reasons that Walt Bingaman and Jack Giblin have organized the event each of the past 10 years. “It truly is amazing to see people of all walks of life, who have served in all different types of services and situations, share this strong common camaraderie,” said Giblin. “We have people who don’t know each other sit and talk and who have come to look forward to this specific event all year long. In fact, I have a friend who came out last year that loved it so much, he wound up buying his own bird dog and has been working with it and learning and training so he could be more involved.” The event began in 2015 with about two dozen hunters and has steadily grown each year since, according to Bingaman. “Last year was the first we flirted with 100 hunters, and this year we have 120, which is probably the maximum we can handle in a day,” he said. “However, it has grown so popular, those spots were filled three weeks out, so to be able to impact more people, we need to look into adding an additional half-day on Thursday afternoon, but that is going to require more resources and definitely more sponsor assistance.” The cost for such an event can be quite expensive, especially in terms of pheasants that are hunted, ammunition provided and bird cleaning services for any that are harvested, according to Bingaman. “Well over 50 percent of our funds go to those three areas alone, but we also have to cover food, signage, advertising, T-shirts and more,” he said. “It can all add up very quickly.” One cost that doesn’t add to the bottom line, according to Giblin, is the large amount of time he, Bingaman and others put into the preparation and running of the event. “We take no admin fees or pay – it all goes directly back into the veterans – birds, blue rock (targets for hunters who are waiting their turn to hunt), even in creating chairs that work off ATVs so that the handicapped can participate,” he said. “In fact, most of us wind up donating much more than time, but items for silent auctions and other areas of need. It is just a labor of love and wanting to give back.” Wingshooting Warriors has developed a devoted following of sponsors. Out of the 32 who supported the 2025 event, only seven were new. The others were all returnees from last year’s giving list. “Knowing our sponsors believe in us and in this event and mission is incredibly humbling and important. We encourage sponsors to come to the event and see where their funds are going,” said Bingaman. “Once they see what is going on here, they only want to get more involved. In fact, I have numerous sponsors that will call me beforehand saying: ‘It’s that time again!’ They look forward to it.” Among those sponsors is the Martz family. Because the hunt has become so big and so popular, they shut down the entire business side of their operation to host the hunt each year. “It has become my favorite day of the year,” said Crystal Martz. “When you think of what our veterans and first responders have done and continue to do for us, this is the least of what we can do for them. The importance of this day – of giving back – is rewarding on so many levels. “And what we’ve found is that in giving back, we have seen a lot of these guys come back to hunt with us again, to become guides with us, they become an extended family. Being a sponsor is just the first step to something so much more important, rich and rewarding.” The Martz family has seen the power of the event impact even the youngest of their employees who help out during the day. “We’ve definitely seen a lot of changes in the younger generation in recent years,” said Mike Martz. “There is an increasing respect and patriotism that many people don’t always associate with this age group.” That transcendence is a key concept that Daub has noticed, too, in the National Wild Turkey Federation chapter he served. “With any conservation group, you see this trend of gray-haired, old white guys in leadership who are trying to find ways to connect with younger individuals and get them excited to get involved and bridge the gap to the next generation,” he said. “The people of our chapter who have been involved with Wingshooting Warriors have taken a lot of local pride in this event. We had the same group of leaders for like 20 years and now suddenly within the last three, we have younger people stepping up because we have this crown jewel of an event where they can get involved, be inspired and be part of a collective adventure. “We do this for the veterans and the first responders. We do this to show them they matter by giving them our most precious commodity – time – and yet, we also get so much back, too, whether it is as a conservation group, a sponsor, a family or just and individual. This event has become something really special.” For more information, or to inquire about sponsorships for next year's event, contact Giblin and Bingaman at [email protected] Sponsors for the 2025 Wingshooting Warriors included:
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AuthorsRiverkeeper John Zaktansky is an award-winning journalist and avid promoter of the outdoors who loves camping, kayaking, fishing and hunting with the family. Archives
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