Call to order at 7:33 pm by President Greg Gerou
Attendance: Greg Gerou, Rich Truesdell, Curt Mund, Justin Kratz, Kelly Turgeon, Charles Loy, LeRoy Smith, Kevin Manock, Jerry Oren, Cindie VanTassel, Melissa Schumacher, Kelly Carlson, Becci Truesdell
Guests and New Members
Welcome new member, Charles Loll.
MSC (Kelly C., Kevin M.) to approve the October 19, 2023 meeting minutes.
President Report
- Chahinkapa Zoo Wild Game Night is Friday, November 17. Usually would present a check to at the event from the money raised on the game during the smoker but the total from the fundraiser game hasn’t been calculated. The club is also donating a shotgun to the event.
- North Dakota Wildlife Federation Annual Conference is January 5-7, 2024 in Fargo. Greg G. will be attending. Anyone interested in attending the social can register online.
- There will not be a December club meeting, we will have our annual holiday party on December 15.
- The Board of Directors will need to meet to discuss the budget before the January 2024 club meeting.
- Consideration of appointing a Building Committee to look into a permanent building for the club
- The two 2-wheel carts for the speakers need new inner tubes. Rich T. recommended foam tires instead, he will follow up with replacing them.
- The System for Award Management (SAM) Administrator renewal (currently done by Wayne Beyer). This is needed for the club to continue to apply for federal grants. Greg G. will take over as the club contact.
- November 11 was Veteran’s Day – With respect, honor, and gratitude, thank you to all Veteran club members and their families for their service and sacrifice
Secretary Report
- Need to start mailing out meeting reminders and minutes to a handful of members. NDWF has a membership software that may be available to the club to use.
Treasurer Report
- $96,913.05
- Bills – $550 for last year’s dumpsters, $25 late fee on insurance payment
- Incoming – $822 (2022 Deer Hides)
- MSC (Rich, Curt) to approve the Treasurer’s report.
- The Quickbooks is on a computer in Brad’s office and it would be good to transfer it to a computer owned by the club.
- ND Youth Archery Request – match 2022 donation (MSC – Kelly, Rich)
Board of Directors
- Cindie sent around registration for the holiday party in December. Information to RSVP will be emailed out to the club membership.
- ND Game & Fish is now requiring all applications for Fishing Tournaments to be done online, $75 fee. This only applies to tournaments that have a registration fee.
- MN Roundtable is the third weekend in January – Cindie will be attending
- April 18 is the possible date for our Spring Banquet
General Committee Reports
Jr. Wildlife Club
- Moved Archery meeting to Nov. 19 due to location availability. Jan. 16 meeting is Air Rifle.
Public Relations
- Zoo Boo – Melissa and Denise help out Cindie and represented Jr Wildlife and handed out giveaways and candy
- Working on sharing hunting/fishing/activity photos on our social. Please send to the club any photos you have from your hunts, etc., or of your kids. Make sure to include some details we can include on the post.
Seasonal Committee Reports
Neil Heitkamp Ice Fishing Derby
- Will be on February 17 at Heitkamp Pond again this year.
Fall Youth Pheasant Hunt (Sept 29 & 30)
- Was held at Chuck’s place. Had a great turnout of 15 youth and they all got birds.
Hunters Smoker (Oct 21)
- The event started out smoothly but had a couple of small stumbles. Decent turnout of approx. 350 people. Next year’s goal is to be done around 10 pm. Anticipated profit to be about $35,000.
- Greg B recommended an additional tip to the bartenders. Agreed on a $50 gift card (MSC Rich, Kelly)
- Items to check into for next year: ND Attorney General may be changing some of the gaming laws. Hog Hunt needs to be checked into more closely. The current company may not be a positive as we originally thought. Kelly will do some research on other options.
- This is Dave Pauly’s last year helping with our gun registrations. He received a $100 gift card as a thank you. Proposed to present him with a plaque or something during our Spring Banquet. A custom knife from Burkett Knives was suggested – Rich will check into it.
Ladies Rooster Roundup (Oct 21-22)
- Successful event. The ladies enjoyed attending the smoker Saturday after completing their hunting. Had 12 hunters plus 5 mentors.
- Will continue to have it the same weekend as the smoker. The Her Wildnerness organization that is partnering with us would like to see all the hunt participants volunteer during our fundraiser.
Internal Club Contests
Submissions were made for Youth Deer – Carter Gerou (spike buck) & McKenna Manock (4×4 buck), Adult – Justin Kratz 4×4 Whitetail Buck & 21-¾” Pheasant Tail
New/Old/Unfinished Business
Deer Hide Dumpsters
- Over the hunting weekend did a reminder social post about want & waste due to carcasses being dumped with just the backstraps removed
- We should check into cameras for next year
- Recommended for next year to put pallets in the bottom to prevent the hides from freezing to the dumpsters
- Curt recommended to give a thank you gift card for $50 to a restaurant to each of the managers (Tractor Supply and Blazer Express) for allowing the club to have the dumpsters on their property – MSC Kelly, Kevin
The meeting adjourned at 8:38 pm.