Dear Fellow Members,
Well, another summer has come and gone and the hunting season is just around the
corner. Reports from around the state indicate that this should be another great
season for bird hunting. Good luck chasing roosters in the weeks ahead,
hopefully you will all get a chance to get out and enjoy the great outdoors.
Your club has been working hard all spring and summer on a number of projects
and we have several in the works for this fall and winter.
The club’s release program sent thousands of birds into the wild. Members raised
and released 15,000 young pheasant in northwest North Dakota. In addition, board
members released 1000 adult birds on public hunting areas. Interest in this
program grows each year, so at this years banquet, we will again offer you a
chance to raise and release birds. The cost is still the same, $10.00 for 50 day
old chicks with a free bag of chick starter feed.
We expanded our support of youth programs this year. We continued sponsoring
kids to the Youth Conservation Camp and to the Triangle Y fishing camp.
Additionally, we continued support to the Minot Gun Club Youth Trap Shooting
League; monies donated were used to defray costs of running the league and for
the youth state shoot. A new project that is in the works, is a youth education
building, soon to be constructed on the Audabon Wildlife Refuge. Your club has
also supported the local 4H with their very successful shooting sports program.
With the help of local landowners Doug Hauge, Doug Stevick, and Dan Jagear, we
now have 3 youth only hunting areas. The board signed all areas so that members
can easily find them. The Minot hunting area is located 2 ½ miles south of the
Pour Farm and 3 miles west. The Berthold hunting area is located west of Minot
by following County Road 14 to County Road 9, then turning about 1 mile north.
The newest area is located Hwy 53 South of Balfour for two miles and then 1 more
miles West. Any youngster lucky enough to shoot a rooster with a leg band will
receive a cap at our banquet in March, and their name will be placed in a
drawing to win a shotgun. Remember: there is a youth only pheasant season set
again on the October 7th and 8th. These youth only areas provide a safe and
enjoyable setting for an experience that will last a lifetime for a future
sportsman.
We continue to look for habitat projects, and would enjoy working with our
members. If you are considering a habitat project on your land, please contact
Scott Tellefson 726-5576 or Dan Reeve 837-1160.
This year we will continue working with Community Action on the Hunter for the
Hungry program. If you are not familiar with this program, you can harvest a
deer and donate it to the less fortunate and we’ll pay for the processing. Just
stop at Simonson’s gas station and pick up a certificate to give to the
processing plant – there are several to choose from and we hope to have more
soon. The processor will cut the meat and turn it over to Community Action for
distribution to local food banks. If you are interested in participating or need
more information contact Jason Foss at 852-9506
Winter is not too far off and we are beginning preparation for our winter feed
program. Each feed night, we will offer up to 15 bags of feed per member at our
cost, and have a limited number of 55 gallon feed barrels available to help
disperse feed. These feed barrels should be placed near suitable habitat and
cover to enable pheasants to survive the harsh winter weather. The feed mixture
consists of corn, millet, sunflowers, and barley and wheat screenings blended
and bagged for us by North Central Research Center. We will send out post cards
with dates, times, and locations as winter sets in.
We would like to thank the following corporate sponsors, whose contributions
enable your membership dollars go further: American Federation for Wildlife,
Lamplighter Lounge, and The Pour Farm, which is holding a Longest Pheasant Tail
contest and Hides for Wildlife drawing. The drop off point for rooster tails,
hides and horns will again be at the Pour Farm. Details of the rules and
drawings can be found there.
Finally, the Board is already engaged in planning your next banquet. Mark your
calendar for March 16, 2007 at the Holiday Inn, and plan to have a great time
with your hunting buddies. As in the past we will have lots of great stuff to
raffle off to include guns, prints, hunting and fishing gear, and we plan to
raffle another gun safe. This year’s main raffle gives you a chance to win one
of 40 different shotguns and rifles. Tickets will go on sale in December and
will be limited to 1,000 so get your tickets early as these will go fast. Your
ideas and comments continue to make each banquet better than the last, and we
look forward to seeing you in March. Thank you all for your attendance and
continued support.
We hope your season is full of flushing roosters! See you at the banquet!
Sincerely,
Board of Directors
