January 2017 OFFICERS PRESIDENT Donald L. Howell VICE PRESIDENT: Leonard Wolter RECORDING SECRETARY: Milo M. Burke CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Brett W. Grimm TREASURER: Eric Reinhard CLUB HISTORIAN: William C. Abbott DIRECTORS Robert L. Adelsberger CHAIRMAN Bruce T. Berger David Brand Dean Brown Milo M. Burke M. Wesley Burke James R. Ernst Jr. Jerry Fitzgerald Mike Gapsch John R. Gibbs Brett W. Grimm Donald L. Howell James E. Mraz Eric Reinhard Charlie Ruggeri Gerald K. Sauder, Jr. Adam Wedel Leonard Wolter BIG GAME HUNTERS NEWSLETTER Camp Notes Donald L. Howell We had a very famous visitor at the home site on December 10, 2016! One of the most beloved and familiar characters in the world. Santa Claus made a call on the many children and grandchildren attending the Big Game Hunters Annual Christmas Party. We had just finished a wonderful full course meal when there was a knock on the door and there he was! As you'll be able to see by some of the pictures in the newsletter how much fun everyone had. A Special Thanks to Santa Claus for such a special evening. Also a special thanks to Charlie Mateker and Jim Mraz and the Entertainment Committee for another great event. If you forget to send Eric Reinhard your information sheet and dues, they are past due as of December 31st! Please contact him immediately! The next General Meeting is January 11th at Spazios and starts at 6:30pm. It is our Annual Election of Board Members for the Club, The Officers of the Club will then be elected by and from the Board members at the next Board of Directors Meeting. Don't forget the Wild Game Dinner is coming up on February 3rd, as I am writing this, there are only a handful of tickets still available. What we DO need is your help with the upcoming Wild Game Dinner. Please remember that the Big Game Hunters needs your Meat donations for the Wild Game Dinner. This is the single largest Fundraiser for the Club and it helps keep membership costs affordable. Charlie Mateker is now excepting donations of Wild Game meat. To make a donation, or for more information, contact, Charles Mateker at (314) 210-0088 For those of you that travel for the Western Hunts, The Drawing and Points deadlines are approaching! For those of you who have never applied. I encourage you to look into a Western Hunt, it is something you will not regret, but in some cases it will take several years to acquire the necessary points! You can t hunt if you don t apply!! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! More Hunting in Twenty Seventeen!!! You can always view the Newsletter online at www.biggamehuntersstl.com
Big Game Hunters Pictures! Brett Grimm Ted Shanks CA Jerry Fitzgerald Illinois Buck A year indoors is journey along a paper calendar; a year in outer nature is an accomplishment of tremendous ritual. Henry Beston John Juelfs and The Wonder Dog with a Missouri Buck Dan May s Son, Nick with a Missouri Giant! Bob Kaiser Montanta Mule Deer Brett Grimm Grand Pass CA Page 2 January 2017
Bob Adelsberger Montana Mule Deer Lou Rupp has a Trifecta of Deer for 2016 Last November my Son-in-law, Matt Dodd, asked if I would be interested in a Mule deer hunt in Northeast Montana with his good friend Harvey and Harvey's dad Gary. Upon replying that I was in, Matt and Harvey started doing research on finding a good outfitter. After numerous phone conversations with both outfitters and references, they decided on Billingsley Ranch Outfitters outside of Glasgow, Montana. Since it was a draw area, the outfitter Jack Billingsley helped us with the draw process. All four of us were successful and drew tags! We stayed on the Billingsley Ranch and Jack's wife Andie prepared all of our meals, great food! Each morning after breakfast and about an hour before daylight we headed out. Matt and I hunted with Jamie a local guide and Harvey and Gary with Scott Billingsley (Jacks son). Both knew the area well and were a pleasure to hunt with. We hunted both private and BLM ground. Never having hunted Mule deer before I was intrigued by the glass and stalk method they used. I had never looked through binoculars so much, good optics is a must investment. We saw numerous deer on both BLM and the private ground. Both Matt and I took our deer on BLM and Harvey and Gary on private. I was fortunate the first afternoon, when Matt spotted a nice buck settling in under a bush for a snooze about 3:00 in the afternoon. He was about 900 yards and 3 ridges over from us. Knowing where he bedded, we did about a hour stalk around the side of the ridge he was bedded on, not seeing him till we were only 60 yards from him. He never saw us and he never woke up. I had my first Muley! Gary tagged out the second day and both Harvey and Matt tagged out on day three. We were able to quarter and bone out our deer in a barn on the ranch. Day four Scott took the four of us Pheasant hunting for the morning,which was part of their package. All of us had a terrific time and would highly recommend Fifteen days after his successful Arizona Mule deer hunt that was featured in last months BGH Newsletter, member Lou Rupp took a nice 8 point Whitetail in Camdenton County, Missouri on opening day of Missouri rifle season. On the following Monday morning, Loui joined up with member Bob Kaiser for what has become an annual Montana Mule deer hunt. After several days of scouting, within 45 minutes of each other, both were successful in taking mature Mule deer in time to be back home for the Thanksgiving Holiday. Both deer had been glassed up earlier in the hunt. Lou completed the two (2) Mule deer and one (1) whitetail Trifecta in 26 days and a few thousand miles. January 2017 Page 3
Big Game Hunters Christmas Party Pictures! 2017 Tentative Hunt Application Deadlines for Western Big Game Now that most of the hunts are over for the year, it's time to look forward to hunt application season. Nowadays quality big game tags with high trophy potential are hard to come by. In order to experience a quality hunt each year, serious hunters apply for tags in multiple states. To get quality tags it's important to develop your personal application strategy and apply for great tags in as many states as makes sense for you. Here are the tentative application dates for each western state. Table Key: A=Antelope, B=Bison, D=Deer, E=Elk, G=Goat, M=Moose, S=Sheep State Nonresident Application Deadlines by Month Alaska; December 15, (S) Arizona; Mid February (E,A) & Mid June (S,D,B) & October (2nd Bison) January (E,A) & May (S,D,B) California; Early June or May Colorado; Early April (All) March Idaho; April 30 (S,M,G) & June 5 (D,E,A) March (S,M,G) & May (D,E,A) Iowa; Early June or May Kansas; April Montana; March 15 (D,E) & May 1 (S,M,G) & June 1 (A) February (D,E) & April (M,S,G,A) Nevada; Mid April New Mexico; Late March or February Oregon; Mid May or April Utah; Early March or February Washington; Late May Wyoming; Jan 31 (E) & Feb 28 (S,G,M,B) & May 31 (D,A) January (E,M,S,G,B) & May (D,A) Page 4 January 2017
Calendar of Events January 11, 2017 Annual Election Board Members. At Spazios and starts at 6:30pm Call 314-719-3832 for reservations February 3, 2017 Wild Game Dinner If you have not paid your dues, THEY ARE PAST DUE!! Please Contact Eric Reinhard TODAY!! For a Complete Calendar of Events, go to www.biggamehuntersstl.com Missouri Hunters harvested 185,062 deer during Frearms season! Your Personal and Financial Information Could Be at Risk! Safari Club International If you imported or exported wildlife into or from the United States in 2002-2010, 2013, and/or 2014, you need to decide whether to take action to help prevent potential disclosure of certain personal and financial information to Humane Society International (HSI). This alert applies to individuals and business in the United States and in foreign countries that provided information to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) concerning the import/export of wildlife into or out of the United States. The information would have been provided on FWS forms, including Form 3-177, by you, or someone acting on your behalf. The FWS is determining whether to disclose the names of the importers/exporters and the value of the wildlife imported or exported to HSI in response to several Freedom of Information Act requests. The FWS is providing importers and exporters with the opportunity to object to the disclosure. Information posted on SCI s website explains the issue, describes the action you should consider taking, and provides sample language for use by individuals and businesses. Please find that information here, https://www.safariclub.org/what-we-do/freedom-tohunt/litigation/guidance-for-responding-to-fws-notice-concerning-foia-disclosure Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn t do then by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Mark Twain Big Game Hunters Pictures! George Wedel, Rich Franke and Steve Pokorny Missouri Rabbit Hunt! January 2017 Loren Rutledge Florida Alligator Page 5
Wild Game Dinner Needs Your Help! The Big Game Hunters needs your help with the upcoming Wild Game Dinner. Please remember that the Big Game Hunters needs your Meat donations for the Wild Game Dinner. This is the single largest Fundraiser for the Club and it helps keep membership costs affordable. Charlie Mateker is now excepting donations of Wild Game meat. To make a donation, or for more information, contact, Charles Mateker at (314) 210-0088 General Meetings The General Meeting is Wednesday January 11th at Spazios and starts 6:30pm. It will the Annual Election of Board Members. To make your reservations call the reservation hotline by the end of business that Monday, at 314-719-2832. Cost $25.00 For more information go to; www.biggamehuntersstl.com BGH Big Buck Contest If you shoot a Buck in your home state, Archery, Crossbow, Muzzleloader or Rifle, contact Jim Mraz to have it scored and you may have a chance to win the prestigious BGH Big Buck Contest. Board of Directors Meetings The next meeting will be Wednesday, January 18th at Spazios and Starts at 6:45pm. For more information or if you would like to attend call Jerry Sauder at (314) 581-4140 Visit us on the web: www.biggamehuntersstl.com Big Game Hunters Home site 3129 Frisco Hill Rd. Imperial, Mo 63052 We would like to include your stories, pictures, tips and reviews. If you have a Hunting or Fishing report, pictures or stories from a recent adventure. Articles need to be 250 words or less and is due by the 15th of the month. Please send them to Brett Grimm at grimmbw@aol.com You can view the latest Newsletter anytime at www.biggamehuntersstl.com