A Red River Area Sportsmen’s Club meeting was held on the 18th day of February, 2021 from 7:30-9 PM at the Wahpeton Community Center. Greg Gerou, Cindie VanTassel, Greg Braun, Kelly Carlson, TJ / Mandy Steinberger, Brad Glarum, Jerry Oren, Patrick Brejcha and Wayne Beyer attended the meeting.
Motion-Second-Carried (MSC) – Glarum, Carlson to approve 2-21-21 minutes.
Kasen Neppl, youth pheasant hunter, received a beautiful rooster mount by Jeff Schwartz that was harvested during the Youth Pheasant Hunt at Chuck Haus’ farm.
Mark Althoff highlighted the Youth Pheasant Hunt:
- 15 young hunters enjoyed a high quality hunt on private land owned by a conservation-friendly farmer.
- Safety was emphasized throughout and hunting ethics, including cleanup, were followed.
- Hunters learned about landowner relations, First Aid and ND Game & Fish laws.
- Greg Gerou and kitchen crew prepared a tasty breakfast of pancakes and sausage donated by Manock Meats.
- Jeff Schwartz, local taxidermist offered a generous discount to artistically mount a rooster in a flying pose.
- Other terrific sponsors included Renegade Toms / Wild Turkey Federation, Richland County Pheasants, Connor Severance (gunsmith), Pioneer Seed, ND Game & Fish Department and Red River Area Sportsmen’s Club.
Kasen Neppl thanked the club for the rooster mount and support of youth hunting. He said everybody had much fun and he plans to continue pheasant hunting. Kasen shoots trap for Richland 44 and expressed appreciation for RRASC support. He said organizations like ours make a big difference in growing youth hunter numbers.
REPORTS
President
It is a ND legislative year. Outdoor legislation can be followed at https://gf.nd.gov/legislation. The ND Wildlife Federation hosts weekly Zoom meetings and Executive Director John Bradley maintains a NDWF Bill Tracker list. Bills of interest include:
- HB 1113 – requires landowner permission for hunters to place bait or use game cameras on private land.
- HB 1120 – allows disabled veterans an opportunity for an early-season deer hunt.
- HB 1215 – transfers 10% of Outdoor Heritage Fund balance into a loan fund for qualified applicants.
- HB 1218 – allows non-residents to hunt on the first pheasant season week on their own PLOTS land.
- HB 1340 – restricts game wardens to enter onto private land without permission.
- SB 2036 & SB 2144 – continues the electronic posting option, increased to all counties.
- SB 2143 – allows florescent pink, camo-pink and camo-orange for big game clothing.
Local legislator contacts include Senator Larry Luick (lluick@nd.gov), Representative Alisa Mitskog (amitskog@nd.gov) and Representative Cindie Schreiber-Beck (schreiberbeck@nd.gov).
The Awards Banquet was scheduled for Thursday, April 22nd at Hughes Shelter. Greg will ask Brian Solum / Outdoor Adventures about being the guest speaker. Cindie Van Tassel offered to help like past years.
Nominations are open for the following awards: (1) Sportsman of the Year, (2) Lifetime Membership, (3) Lifetime Achievement, (4) Conservationist / Landowner Award and (5) Conservation Officer recognition at the Game Warden Museum. They need to be submitted by the March 18th meeting.
Treasurer
- $900 donations were received for the Neil Heitkamp Ice Fishing Derby. Bill payments were communicated.
- Checking account balance is $39,575.
- MSC (Mandy Steinberger, VanTassel) to approve treasurer’s report
Parks & Recreation
- NDGF Spring Advisory Meeting is scheduled on Monday, April 19th at the American Legion building on the south shores of Lake Elsie, Hankinson.
- ND Sportfishing Congress raffle tickets were made available. Two club members are needed as delegates. Their annual banquet is scheduled on Saturday, April 17th.
- Information is being gathered for NDWF trap shooting grant applications for Wahpeton and Richland 44.
- ANS wash station is planned near the fish cleaning station at the Kidder Rec Area.
- $100 Wal-Mart gift card was received for Jr. Wildlife Club meals
Members / Committees / Projects Reports
- Hunters Smoker is scheduled on Saturday, October 23rd. Setup, including food preparation at St. John’s Mehok Center, is Friday, October 22nd.
- TJ and Mandy Steinberger did a great job offering air rifle shooting to 16 Jr. Wildlife Club members. A gun needs repairs. Patrick Brejcha thanked the Steinbergers for the class greatly enjoyed by his son. Mandy was happy that a couple girls participated. Rich Truesdell / Boy Scouts will offer building wood duck nest boxes at Comstock Construction on Thursday, March 18th.
- Mandy Steinberger volunteered to serve on the Public Relations Committee.
- Upcoming Mooreton Pond project includes installing floats on a fishing pier.
- Brad Glarum reported on the National Wild Turkey Federation / Richland Renegade Toms fund-raiser at the Mooreton Community Center on Friday, June 4th.
- The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (Bois-de-Sioux Chapter) fund-raiser is scheduled on Saturday, April 10th at the Wahpeton Events Center.
- The Mooreton Joe Pikarski Trap Range opens league play on Wednesday, June 2nd. Shotgun shells are hard to find.
- The Veterans Hunt is scheduled on Saturday, September 11th.
- Hunting contest deer entries were received from Joe Keller and Curt LeNoue. Joe also entered a 8 7/8” turkey beard and 21 13/16” pheasant tail feather.
A Recruitment Committee has recognized the following:
- The club needs to begin active recruiting of new and energetic members.
- We can expect to see some of the current active members, as they retire, move out of the area.
- We need to replenish these members and grow our membership.
- NDGF R3 Coordinator may be a good resource to follow up with.
Neil Heitkamp Ice Fishing Derby
- 1-3 PM at Heitkamp Pond on Saturday, February 20th.
- Volunteers are needed! Call Cindie VanTassel at 643-4374 to volunteer. Registration starts at noon.
- Donations can be given to Parks & Rec, Vern Shasky, Cindie Van Tassel, Gary Page and Jon Hegge.
- A registration gift/prize will be given to each youth registering.
- Trophies will be given out.
- ND Game & Fish donated 300 mini-tackle boxes.
- Hot dogs, hot cocoa and cookies will be served.
- Masks will be required by volunteers. Heitkamp Construction designing some for the volunteers.
- Tables, chairs, cones, trophies, First Aid kit and other supplies will be picked up at the Community Center at 9:30 AM. Chili will be served at Heitkamp Pond for the volunteers.
- An ice fishing house will be given away. The winner needs to be present.
Activities with Proposed or Customary Dates
- Vince Herding Youth Fishing Derby on Saturday, May 1st.
- Dick Bell Catfish Derby on Saturday, June 5th.
- Family Fishing Nights to be determined.
- Brunk’s Carp & Sucker Derby on Wednesday, August 4th.
- Fall Youth Giant Canada Goose Hunt to be determined.
- Marv Manock Youth Waterfowl Hunt on Saturday, September 18th.
- Fall Youth Pheasant Hunt on Saturday, October 2nd.
- Ladies Rooster Roundup to be determined.
Old / New / Unfinished Business
- Reloading supplies are in demand. Paul Roeder may be making a potential trip to Recob’s Target Shop in Wisconsin in May. Their web site address is https://recobstargetshop.com/.
- Bench recognition plaque name nominations are being received for the five benches added along the Red River by Shea Truesdell. Multiple names may be on each bench. Nominations have been received for Vince Herding, Mike Fenske, Jeff Trom, Randy Hovde and Larry Brunkhorst. Congratulations to Shea, who will receive his Eagle Scout award at Hughes Shelter on Sunday, February 21st.
- Club members discussed activities and ways to engage 16-18 year-olds, including club membership, activities for their age group, etc. Quarterly events or meetings could be considered. They are at a transitional age.
- MSC (VanTassel, Braun) to approve $250 contribution to the Jr. Duck Stamp Contest.
- MSC (Braun, Glarum) to approve $250 donation to the ND Archery Advisory Committee for scholarships.
- Mandy reported the Breckenridge Community Center and City of Breckenridge received nine pairs of snowshoes that can be loaned.
- TJ informed club members there is possible federal legislation that could greatly escalate gun prices and in turn, negatively impact hunting. It is important to get involved with state and federal legislation.
Correspondence
- President Gerou offered congratulations to Mike Anderson, NDGF Employee of the Year. He is the Video Project Supervisor who received the agency’s Director’s Award for Professional Excellence at the NDGF annual staff meeting in December. Mike has done a great job covering a few RRASC events.
- 2021 North Dakota Game Wardens Association scholarship applications are available.
- Chahinkapa Zoo received $16,995 on their first Giving Hearts Day for zoo operations and animal care. RRASC donated $1000.
The next meeting is scheduled at the Community Center at 7:30 PM on Thursday, March 18th.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.