North Platte Man to Work Buffalo Bill Rodeo
North Platte, Neb.
A local man will work as bullfighter at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte on June 15-18, 2011.
Quirt Hunt, who lives outside North Platte, Neb., grew up in Custer County, where he graduated from Anselmo-Merna High School in 1996. He worked on local farms and ranches and rode horses, but his family never competed in rodeo. But after he had gone to a few rodeos, he became intrigued with it.
In high school, he competed in wrestling and in rodeo as a bareback rider and bull rider. He made the state high school finals rodeo as a bareback rider, but “I wasn’t much good at either (of the events),” he says. His calling was protecting bull riders.
After high school, Quirt worked high school and amateur rodeos before breaking into the pro rodeo world. He got his Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association card in 2002, and since then, has fought bulls at big rodeos and Pro Bull Riders events, including Prescott, Ariz., Denver, Colo., Rodeo Austin (Texas), Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha, and the PBR World Cup Finals.
Bullfighting conjures up thoughts of adrenaline junkies, but Quirt isn’t one of them. “I like the satisfaction of doing a good job, and the close calls,” he says. “Saving the cowboy when you have ahold of the bull and bring his head up, it makes you feel good.” He hasn’t had any career-threatening injuries, which is unusual for a man who is 33. He has had cartilage tears in his knees, torn ligaments, broken ribs, and the usual bad bruises.
When he’s not fighting bulls, he trains horses and raises bucking bulls and commercial cattle. He also helps his dad, who owns a welding and fabrication shop in Merna.
This will be Quirt’s first year to work the Buffalo Bill Rodeo, and he is honored. “North Platte is a hometown rodeo for me, and I’m excited to work it.”
He and his wife Amber have two daughters, ages three and one. The three year old loves it that her daddy is a bullfighter. She thinks all daddies go to work at rodeos. “She doesn’t know any different,” says Quirt. “She thinks it’s cool.”
A local man will work as bullfighter at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte on June 15-18, 2011.
Quirt Hunt, who lives outside North Platte, Neb., grew up in Custer County, where he graduated from Anselmo-Merna High School in 1996. He worked on local farms and ranches and rode horses, but his family never competed in rodeo. But after he had gone to a few rodeos, he became intrigued with it.
In high school, he competed in wrestling and in rodeo as a bareback rider and bull rider. He made the state high school finals rodeo as a bareback rider, but “I wasn’t much good at either (of the events),” he says. His calling was protecting bull riders.
After high school, Quirt worked high school and amateur rodeos before breaking into the pro rodeo world. He got his Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association card in 2002, and since then, has fought bulls at big rodeos and Pro Bull Riders events, including Prescott, Ariz., Denver, Colo., Rodeo Austin (Texas), Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha, and the PBR World Cup Finals.
Bullfighting conjures up thoughts of adrenaline junkies, but Quirt isn’t one of them. “I like the satisfaction of doing a good job, and the close calls,” he says. “Saving the cowboy when you have ahold of the bull and bring his head up, it makes you feel good.” He hasn’t had any career-threatening injuries, which is unusual for a man who is 33. He has had cartilage tears in his knees, torn ligaments, broken ribs, and the usual bad bruises.
When he’s not fighting bulls, he trains horses and raises bucking bulls and commercial cattle. He also helps his dad, who owns a welding and fabrication shop in Merna.
This will be Quirt’s first year to work the Buffalo Bill Rodeo, and he is honored. “North Platte is a hometown rodeo for me, and I’m excited to work it.”
He and his wife Amber have two daughters, ages three and one. The three year old loves it that her daddy is a bullfighter. She thinks all daddies go to work at rodeos. “She doesn’t know any different,” says Quirt. “She thinks it’s cool.”
