Photo courtesy of Nancy Jones.
John Cassimus, avid outdoorsmen, land conservation advocate, hunter and CEO of Crazy Cazboy’s, accomplished his goal of setting a world record in turkey hunting to raise money and awareness for the National Wild Turkey Federation.
The previous record was 46 hours, and Cassimus and his team completed their quest at 45 hours, 52 minutes and 41 seconds on April 15 in South Dakota. The hunt took place in four states, Alabama, Florida, Kansas and South Dakota, and the first shot went off at 9:03am in Alabama on April 13. Four states and 45 hours later, the epic hunt was complete.
Cassimus entered the quest to raise money and awareness for the NWTF to increase funding for land preservation and conservation for hunting. All of the donations made will be donated directly to the NWTF. As of April 15, the Grand Slam Quest raised over $20,000 dollars, and donations will remain open until Wednesday, April 21.
“It was important as I considered the Grand Slam World Record to connect it to conservation of land and the promotion of the sport of hunting," Cassimus said."We are so excited this has resonated with so many people. This was an incredible adventure, hunting in four states over two days and personally flying the plane to each area. It's been exciting, it's been hard, and it's been extremely rewarding. We are very proud of the world record and we want to continue to encourage individuals to donate to the NWTF via our website www.under36.com. So far donations total $20,000, and we will continue to take donations until Wednesday, April 21st. All donations through Wednesday are entered to win one of our incredible raffle prize packages generously donated by our sponsors. All of the funds go directly to support conservation efforts of the NWTF.
"Since 2012, the NWTF has opened more than 625,000 acres of additional public hunting land, recruited or reactivated more than 1.5 million hunters and conserved or enhanced more than 4 million acres. This was extremely impressive to me personally, and I want to continue to promote land conservation throughout my lifetime. It felt right to take on the competitive nature of the Grand Slam and tie it to such a great cause.”
Cassimus has partnered with sponsors including Hoyt, Spypoint, Badlands, HHA, Country Singers, Luke Bryan and Chris Janson and many more (full sponsor list attached) for the quest. Sponsors have donated incredible prize packages that will be raffled off for those who donate to the NWTF via the Under 36 Quest. Prize packages total $25,000, and every donation of $35 or more will receive a $25 gift certificate to Bass Pro Shops and be entered to win the various packages available.
The grand prize winner for guessing the time closest to John's actual completion time goes to Mike Anderson of Orlando with a guess of 44 hours, 15 minutes and 12 seconds. Cassimus actual finish time was 45 hours, 52 minutes and 41 seconds.
Continue to donate at under36.com.
— Submitted by Nancy Jones
