There is nothing like the endorsement of a celebrity to help a cause, and one such event took place recently in South Dakota. Matt Hughes, who is a retired Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Fame fighter, took to the fields in South Dakota.

His trip was part of his filming schedule for an episode of “Uncaged with Matt Hughes”. In the show, which Hughes hosts, he travels the world taking part in hunts of various creatures. The hunt took place in Spink County at Jim River Ranch.

The ranch has a longer hunting season than the rest of the state because it is a preserve that releases as many pheasants as are harvested by the patrons to the ranch. The season ends on the ranch at the end of March.

Hughes is an old hand at hunting pheasants and other birds. "My favorite thing to hunt is definitely a bird, walking around with a shotgun, watching the dogs work," Hughes said.

Despite his experience in hunting pheasants, this was the first time that Hughes had hunted in South Dakota. Though his experiences even before this trip were so positive that he is sure that he will be back for more.

"I just went in town, bought my hunting license,” Hughes stated about his first experiences in South Dakota. “Everybody was very friendly, so yeah I'll be back here."

This is likely to be a big boost to the state as cameras were following Hughes’ every move and so the friendliness of the South Dakotians will be seen on TV. There will also be other information shared with viewers that include the remote makeup of the state.

Hughes is optimistic that his presence will persuade others to head to the state in the future to enjoy the hunting. "I'm a big pheasant hunter and if you can bring that to other people and let them see the fun in it, it's a good thing for everybody," Hughes said.

There is no indication of when the show will air.

Who would you like to see hunting in South Dakota? Do you think celebrity endorsement can help pheasant hunting?