MISSISSIPPI VALLEY HUNTING RETRIEVER CLUB

 

FEBRUARY 2008

 

NEWS LETTER

 

Hi Folks!

 

Well, the MVHRC Upland Hunt Test was a huge success.  A big thanks to the Hunt Committee, Judges, Handlers, Gunners and everyone who helped make it a great event. Kris Raskie and Burt Fletcher made chili for lunch on Saturday and Sunday (respectively) that really hit the spot!  Congratulations go out to those Handlers and their dogs who earned passes and especially to the following Handlers who titled their dogs at this Upland:

 

Ken and Sandy Martin ~ Jessie                                 

 

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how well we were treated by Jerry and Ben Houteckier from “Hunt for the Birds” in Illinois City, IL. They are outstanding Hosts and run a quality organization that is definitely focused on customer satisfaction.

 

Even though February has been a bit nippy, it won’t be long before we’re running training sessions at the Princeton property. In the meantime, we need everyone’s help to get some control of the willows and other invasive species on the property.  All it takes is for you to write a letter to Jeff Glaw, the new Iowa DNR Wildlife Management Biologist for the Maquoketa Wildlife Unit, about your usage of the property.  If we (as a club) can demonstrate high usage, Jeff will mow high usage areas and possibly look to take action to control the problem plants on the property.  This is a case of the squeaky wheel getting the attention of the Iowa DNR.  Here’s the address:

 

Jeff Glaw,

Iowa DNR Wildlife Biologist

Maquoketa Wildlife Unit

18670 63rd Street

Maquoketa, IA 52060

 

A hand written note is the best.  Tell him how often each week or month you use the property and ask for his help in controlling willows and other invasive plants on the property.  Be sure to sign the note and reference you are a Mississippi Valley HRC member.  Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Burt Fletcher for more information.

 

At the last meeting on February 7th, the Board decided to sell the mower that is currently being stored at Mike’s place.  Please contact Darrell Day for information if you are interested in buying it or if you know of someone who may be looking to purchase one.

 

The Board also reviewed the Running Rule Change Proposal from Colorado River HRC Region 11 Proposal #1 dated 4/17/2007 as provided with last month’s Newsletter.  The proposed change to Seasoned Test Rules Pg. 41, Rule X (10) is to delete the following statement “A dry shot popper shall be fired by the handler in the direction of the blind while the dog is at heel prior to the dog’s running the blind retrieve.” After much discussion, a vote was taken with the following results.  For – 0, Against – 7, Abstain – 2.  Darrell Day will return the Official Ballot with the results to the Running Rules Representative.

 

We’ve got our Hunt Test coming up on May 3rd and 4th in Victoria, IL.  Darrell Day asked about Hunt Test Marshalls.  Mike File agreed to Marshal Finished. We still need another Marshal for Finished. Ken Martin and Corey Botts agreed to Marshal the second flight of Finished.  Terry Hartley agreed to Marshal Seasoned. We need one more Marshal for Seasoned.  We also need 3 Marshals for Started.  Rod King will be the game Steward and Melissa McMahon will be the Hunt Secretary.  Darrell Day is looking for 3 Started Gunners.  The Board directed the Secretary to put a note in the February Newsletter asking for volunteers for Finished, Seasoned, and 3 Started Marshals as well as 3 Started Gunners for our Hunt Test.

 

Plans for the Fall Grand are progressing well.  Mike Botts presented an in-depth status and update.  From the looks of things, this is going to be one heck of a Grand!  But there’s still a lot of work yet to be done.  If you have not volunteered and are looking to help, please contact Mike. Many thanks, Mike, for all your work on this huge project!

 

Our attendance at the annual Outdoor Show was a great success. Many thanks to Mike and Cory Botts, Darrell Day, Terry Hartley, Ken Martin, Burt Fletcher, Josh DeCastecker, Dan Kirk, Jeff Nicholson, Mike Peal, Jeff Daniels, Rod King, Clark Malmer, Dave Moeding, and all the other volunteers who manned the MVHRC booth for the duration of the show. I understand we had a lot of interest from folks visiting our booth at the show.  Hopefully, we’ll see many new faces at our training sessions and other club events.  The club is a great source of information on retriever training and we have a lot of fun doing it, too!

 

In case you have not heard, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service wants to increase the cost of the federal duck stamp.  There is a proposal in the 2009 budget to increase the cost of the federal duck stamp from $15 to $25.  This increase will add an additional $14 million to the $24.2 million currently collected by the USFWS from the sale of federal duck stamps. Lets hope these funds will go towards the preservation of waterfowl breeding grounds in the U.S..

 

Last, but not least, I want to thank Melissa McMahon for all her work on our web page. She did an outstanding job!  It takes a lot of time and effort to make all these changes to the web page.  We are lucky to have someone who knows how to do this kind of stuff. Thanks again, Melissa!  And take good notes Keith.  By the way, Melissa is currently looking for photos from the January meeting or the Upland Hunt Test to post on the web page.  If you’ve got any, please contact her and she’ll advise you on how to send the pictures to her.   

 

I hope your training is going well despite these frigid temps.  See you at the next training session!

 

Bill

 

“She is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.  You are her life, her love, her leader. She will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of her heart. You owe it to her to be worthy of such devotion.”