2017 Black Lake Fish and Game Association- Summer Report. Wednesday Night Trap Shoots

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1 2017 Black Lake Fish and Game Association- Summer Report 2017 has been really exciting for the BLFGA! Since January, we ve had a fishing derby, wood duck nest box building, a reloading seminar, a mud run, funded 7 kids to attend conservation camps this summer, Youth Archery is in Progress, we got the Morristown Central School Trap Team up and running, we ve held multiple sportsman education classes, shot Sporting Clays, and we re seeing more kids than ever shooting trap on the regular Wednesday shooting nights. Rick West, Master Falconer was at the club to do a presentation with his Birds of Prey as part of our Summer Education Series, and Liz Truskowski has more events planned! An awesome float was constructed and fielded for the Morristown 4 th of July Parade, with great involvement by the trap team. We re growing folks, and welcome anyone wishing to get involved to come on out and join us! Over the past 5 years, our membership has more than doubled, and participation is huge! With your support we hope to continue to grow in membership and improve and expand the programs and opportunities we offer, especially continuing to focus on youth programs in We sincerely thank you for your continued support and wish you the best in the coming year ahead. Without your support this would not be possible. Wednesday Night Trap Shoots Wednesday night trap shoots are really picking up speed! It s a sign of success to us to see the number of young people and families now attending, and we can only hope this trend continues! Anyone 12 years and older is welcome to come shoot. Women are welcome too! Don t be intimidated, just show up. We want to introduce newcomers into this sport- That is our biggest goal. Trap is open every Wednesday night at 7pm during the summer. Paul Montpetit has been a huge asset with running the trap program, with ever-present Jim Robinson being key to the maintenance and operation of the trap machine.

2 Sporting Clays with Jay Treat Jay Treat and Gage Fox are here for another year of running our sporting clays program. Jay's protégé, Gage, is well versed and knows the ropes of operating the course, and has done a bang-up job. They've worked hard to keep the grounds clean and neat, and Gage has added days with additional squads to the shooting calendar! We are always willing to schedule special shoots for two or more people, corporate shoots, bachelor parties and any other events you may wish to hold on most any day or evening. So grab your hunting buddies and come on down for a challenge. For more information, please contact Jay Treat at (Summer), or Gage Fox at (All Year- Weather and Schedule Permitting). We are also looking for additional help operating the course. Please, if you have an interest in volunteering do not hesitate to contact us- this is how new ideas come to fruition so the course stays fresh! Jay would also love the company! Our Benefactors The FNRA and the NRA Foundation has been supporting the club with grants for the past 4 years, and have taken a tremendous amount of pressure off. The first year, a grant for $1,000 was obtained and used for the foundation of Robinson Hall. The second year, $1,700 was obtained and used to help erect the structure now called Robinson Hall. Last year, another $1,000 was received, and used to aid in construction of the new storage building. This year topped them all, with a total of $4,208 in merchandise from the NRA Foundation catalog purchased to help to develop our youth shooting sports programs. That s $7,908 to date folks! With the money this year, 2 Weatherby and 2 Remington Shotguns, 4 Bear Cruzer Package bows, 5 sets of electronic ear muffs, 2 cases of shooting glasses, a velociraptor 3D Archery Target, and 2 stegosaurus 3D Archery Targets were purchased for use by the Trap Team and during Youth Archery. These are all big-ticket items we wouldn t necessarily have without their help. We d like to especially thank the Tug Hill Chapter of the FNRA for all they do to make these grants possible. Stewart s Shops has a Holiday Match Program, as many are likely aware. What many aren t aware of is that the money you donate is matched by the company, and given to folks like us, that apply for use with programs for kids. Last year we received $500 from them, and this year $600, for use to help fund our Summer Education Series program. It s a great program by a good company that supports the local community, and we re proud to be a part of it. We apologize if we forget to mention a donation- many have been received this year. We ve had donations from $1 to $500, and more. The Warren family donated a little over $700, and planted a Silver Maple in the Memorial Forest on the club in memory of long-time member W. Howard Warren. The Gouverneur QDMA donated 10 cases of shotgun shells, Gander Mountain donated a pallet of clay pigeons, the St. Lawrence Waterfowlers donated $500, PTL Roofing donated $500, individuals not wishing to be named have donated $100, individuals have stopped by the club and donated cases of shotgun shells, and so many others! It s great to see folks get behind our programs and lend a helping hand! We thank you all!

3 New Storage Building Is In Use (It Works!) The new storage building we constructed last year and turned out to be very useful! With the increased clays and trap shooting, we find ourselves needing more room for the clay targets, and the new building makes it pretty darned convienient. The lawnmowers, golf carts, and all the maintenance items the club operation requires are able to be stored within, and we re still hoping to get power to the building this Summer so we can have lights and outlets. Robinson Hall Robinson Hall continues to be the outdoor focal point of a majority of our activities! Youth Archery, Scholastic Trap, Presentations, and the occasional cookout have been held beneath its roof. We know the trap team really enjoyed it, as nearly every week saw inclimate weather this past Spring when they shot. We hope to have an impromptu bonfire or cookout on occasion, so watch Facebook for posts! This Summer we still hope to complete the trim and finish and to see many more people enjoy the space! 5th Annual Outdoor Heritage Family Rendezvous The Rendezvous is again scheduled for the last Saturday in August, which falls on the 26 th this year! The Rendezvous will include a pig roast by Goodbye Earl s, a silent auction, gun and quilt raffles, sporting clays, kids games, youth archery, a shoot the string event put on by Marc and Bobby Bigelow, and Redneck Challenge, which was a big hit last year! Participants had to saw a log, cast into a target, shoot a balloon with the bb gun, set tip ups, shoot a 3D archery target and hang a deer in a tree. A period encampment with live re-enactors is also planned and should be very interesting! Local businesses will also be on hand with displays, and there s talk of ice cream too. The Mud Run continues to be a huge draw for the day. Thanks to Larry Kring and his daughter Melanie Kring Flack for all their hard work these past years in making these runs possible and so successful!

4 2017 Fishing Derby Saturday, January 28 th The Club s ice fishing derby was postponed from Jan 28 th to February 18 th due to poor ice conditions. The change allowed us to hold our derby, but with a noted drop in attendance. It was still an opportunity for family-friendly fun in the outdoors, with lots of kids enjoying the day! Top prize was $1,200 CASH won by having the fish closest to the weight drawn once all entries had been made. All kids present at the club received prizes. We raffled a 12 gauge 870 express magnum with the choice of a 20 gauge 870 standard grade for the beginners. A 50/50 raffle was also held. Spring Chippewa Creek Crawl This spring saw another rousing success with the Chippewa Creek Crawl! 106 Entrants ran through trails and obstacles prepared by Larry Kring, with muddy smiles all around! The Brier Hill Fire Department was again on hand to wet the slip and slide, hose off the runners, and to lend medical assistance as needed. Earl Bice of Goodbye Earl s BBQ provided food for attendees, and Pepsi Cola Bottlers of Ogdensburg provided free drinks and the finish line for the entrants!

5 Youth Programs- New and Improving Youth Archery Youth archery continues to be a success. The first week this summer saw 21 kids shooting arrows from Robinson Hall, with more expected in weeks to follow. A special thanks to Dave and Penny Young for volunteering a lot of time and effort in operating the program. We have a number of 3D targets for the kids to shoot at, with the now famous Velociraptor and Stegosaurus targets ready to go for the 2 nd week. These seem to be causing some excitement, as these kids want to learn where to shoot a dinosaur should the need arise while hunting. NYS Youth Trap League With the hard work of Allen and Carol Langtry, Dave and Penny Young, Jim Robinson, Lawrence and Larry Kring, Ralph Goodwin, and Paul Montpetit, as well as all the kids and parents, the Morristown Central School Trapshooting Team has come into existence! This program has been an incredible addition to the club, and we see it attracting a huge number of kids and their families to the shooting sports and to the outdoors! The coaches and kids put in long hours to make it all happen, and with huge local support, the club was able to provide all the clay pigeons and a majority of the ammunition the kids needed for the league. Our young team completed the league, with Adriania Fanelli taking 2 nd place in our division for female shooters in the state! The team went to the State Shoot at the Bridgeport Rod and Gun Club in Cicero, NY, where they saw what 28 trap fields in one line looks like, and all came back home smiling! We re very proud of these kids, who not only improved their shooting skills, but learned life lessons as well. These kids look and act as safe as any professional shooter you ll see, and we see great changes in their confidence and the way they carry themselves as well! This year is the first where a fall league is offered in the state, and the Morristown team will be a part of it. The spring team had 7 kids, with 15 currently signed up for the fall team. We sure love to watch the interest grow! Candy bars are available for purchase from Trap Team members as well as at a number of local businesses to help these kids defray the cost of enjoying this great sport!

6 Summer Education Series As part of our family friendly Summer Education Program, free to the public, and funded by a donation from Stewart s Shops from their Holiday Match Program, Mr. Rick West, Master Falconer visited Robinson Hall on July 16th. Mr. West and his wife brought a number of birds of prey to Robinson Hall, and explained the features and mechanics of each of the birds. The program was very interactive, with participants invited to touch and hold the birds, and many questions answered. A wayward wild frog found its way across the concrete with kids trailing, and was allowed safe passage, only to find himself within range of Rick s Harris Hawk! Before anyone noticed what was happening (except the hawk), nature was seen in action! Liz Truskowski, Club Secretary and resident biologist is heading up the series, and has other events planned, including World of the Pond, a pond study on July 30 th at 2:00, which will be a family and especially kid-friendly introduction to the swamp and marshland on the club. Wear your boots and old clothes! NYSDEC Summer Conservation Camps This summer we have 7 kids going to these incredible camps. Kids must be years old. If any kids out there would like to go next summer, please contact Ryan Demick at to get their name on the list ASAP. We ask that if you put your name on the list that you 100% plan on going. The cost of the camp is nonrefundable to the club. If for some reason they don t go at the last minute, then we lose our money and another kid that could have gone loses their chance to go to camp. See the NYSDEC Conservation Camp website for information: Wood Duck Nesting Boxes The St. Lawrence Valley Waterfowlers again donated materials for youth wood duck nesting box building at the club. We would like to thank them for their continued support! This past winter on a Saturday, we opened up the club and constructed 35 more boxes with the area youth. It was a great day and we are looking forward to it again this year. Publicity at the time generated a great amount of interest, and additional boxes were constructed and sold by the club at our normal cost of $15/nest box. Jim Robinson picks up the lumber for these every year, stores it in his barn to dry, cuts out the required elements, cuts the entrance, installs the mesh, and drills the hanging hole. His system is infallible, and we have no idea how many nest boxes have been cycled through his shop!

7 Raffle Tickets (Enclosed) Please make an effort to sell or purchase the enclosed raffle tickets. If you want more tickets, please contact: Ryan Demick, 3847 State Highway 37. Ogdensburg, NY 13669; , Kenny Cutway: or Mike Warren: The raffle tickets you buy each year help us a lot and we thank you for your support! Membership Renewal Please Renew! Please be sure to renew your membership. Memberships expired on Dec 31 st of 2016 and new memberships are required after January 1 st of We remain able to keep our membership fees at the current rates for another year thanks to your generosity. To renew your membership, simply enclose a check with a note for which membership you want to purchase in the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope. You can go onto the club s website BLFGA.org and make a Pay-Pal Payment. Either way we will get your new 2017 BLFGA membership cards mailed to you right away. Memberships are also available at Echoes on the Lake. Current membership fees are as follows: Annual - Regular Membership $35.00 Annual - Junior Membership (16 and under) Annual - Family Membership $70.00 (Includes husband and wife, or partners, with children at home) (Available by mail or at the clubhouse during club activities) Annual - Guest Pass $15.00 (Purchased by member to use when accompanied by a guest) (Available by mail or at the clubhouse during club activities) Life Membership (depends on age) Under 50 - $500 / $350 / $300 / $250 / 65 and Over - $200 Please return your Name, Address and appropriate fees to: The Black Lake Fish & Game Assn., PO Box 125, Hammond, NY Please make checks and money orders payable to: The Black Lake Fish & Game Assn., Inc. Please note the above address change for the Club s Mail. Thank you again for your continued support in making The Black Lake Fish and Game Club a success and keeping it operational year-round. President: Michael Warren Vice President: Kenny Cutway Secretary: Liz Truskowski Treasurer: Ryan Demick