West Virginia Ducks Unlimited

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George Leonard
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West Virginia Ducks Unlimited Editor: Don Lane First Quarter 2015 As the newest State Chairman for West Virginia I would like to take a minute and introduce myself.

The next year I became the committee co-chairman and a bronze sponsor. Since then I have held the roles of Chairman of the Ohio Valley Chapter and WVDU State Recruitment Chairman.

1 West Virginia Ducks Unlimited Editor: Don Lane First Quarter 2015 As the newest State Chairman for West Virginia I would like to take a minute and introduce myself. My name is Gregg Hicks and I have been involved with Ducks Unlimited for eight years now. I started off as a committee member with The Ohio Valley chapter out of Huntington. The next year I became the committee co-chairman and a bronze sponsor. Since then I have held the roles of Chairman of the Ohio Valley Chapter and WVDU State Recruitment Chairman. I have a supportive wife and two girls. One loves to waterfowl with me and one who can t wait to go (maybe next season). As of January 1, 2015 I took over as State Chairman. I am really looking forward to the challenge. WVDU has many great volunteers. With them, I am shooting for great things in the future. In This Issue State Chairman Message Up-coming Events Help Wanted Cabela s Camp Cabela s Grant Gallery Final Thoughts State Leadership Please show your support for WVDU in the coming months by attending banquets and participating in raffles. WVDU is conducting a state-wide raffle for a $1,000 Cabela s gift card. This raffle is limited to 500 tickets at $10 each. Each chapter will be selling tickets for this and other various other raffles. Some chapters will also be conducting gun raffles. See the WVDU website at for more information. Our spring banquet season is pretty well set. Upcoming Events Eastern Panhandle March 28, 2015 Upper Ohio Valley- Wheeling April 11, 2015 Big Bend- Gallipolis April 11, 2015 Mon River- Fairmont April 18, 2015 Guyan- Logan April 24, 2015 Kanawha River- Nitro April 25, 2015 Help Wanted Bluefield / Princeton Clarksburg Moorefield Ripley Romney If you or anyone you know would like to help, feel free to contact myself or the state recruitment chairmen Scott Sadler or Johnny Fry. Their contact info is at the end of this newsletter. Thanks. I look forward to a couple great years for Team WVDU.

Cabela s Wheeling Store Waterfowl Camp Bud Forte Cabela s Wheeling Store Marketing Manager Bill Thurman, past West Virginia State Chairman, presents topics on Hunting Safety at Cabela s Waterfowl

WVDU Receives Grant from Cabela s About thirty people with an interest in waterfowl hunting, both experienced and new recruits to the sport, attended the 4th annual waterfowl camp and seminar at

2 Cabela s Wheeling Store Waterfowl Camp Bud Forte Cabela s Wheeling Store Marketing Manager Bill Thurman, past West Virginia State Chairman, presents topics on Hunting Safety at Cabela s Waterfowl Camp Seminar. WVDU Receives Grant from Cabela s About thirty people with an interest in waterfowl hunting, both experienced and new recruits to the sport, attended the 4th annual waterfowl camp and seminar at Wheeling Cabela s on Saturday, September 20th of The seminar was an overview of waterfowl hunting especially tailored to the Upper Ohio Valley area. Topics included: gear for the hunt, legal requirements, waterfowl identification, calling, where to hunt, safety, plus decoys and spreads. The day began with a delicious free breakfast from Cabela s Powder Horn Grill. An overview and registration was held for the annual Cabela s free waterfowl hunt that was held in October at Tygart Lake and the Pleasant Creek Wildlife Management area in Taylor and Barbour Counties in West Virginia. These Events are presented by Cabela s in conjunction with West Virginia Ducks Unlimited. Bud Forte, Cabela s Wheeling Store Marketing Manager; Vern Anderson, WVDU Immediate Past State Chairman; Gregg Hicks, WVDU State Chairman; and Neal Roth, DU Senior Regional Director. At this year s winter meeting Bud Forte of Cabela s presented WVDU with a check in the form of a grant for $4,100 from the Cabela s Outdoor Fund. The purpose of the grant is to: Support the creation of a Sustainable Youth and Handicapped Hunters and Wildlife Observers Program in West Virginia; Provide youth hunters with practical in-the-field waterfowl hunting and observation knowledge via an annual seminar and guided hunting opportunity; and Construct a minimum of two handicapped accessible blinds on public land to be used in conjunction with the youth seminar and by handicapped individuals wanting to waterfowl hunt or observe wildlife. If you have ever been to a Cabela s store, when you check out, the Outfitter at the counter asks you if you would like to round-up for conservation. For instance, if your total purchase is $52.50, you can round-up your bill to $ The round-up fifty cents goes to the Cabela s Outdoor Fund. Monies in this fund are then distributed among Cabela s national conservation partners (one of which is DU) and used to fund local conservation projects. The next time your shopping at Cabela s and the Outfitter asks if you would like to round up for conservation remember where that money goes.

3 Adam Grubler and Anthony Willard get ready to go hunting. Mark Hutchinson, Neal Roth, and Scott Sadler have the boat all checked out and ready to go. Vern Anderson on the way to the afternoon hunt.

4 Bud Forte on the way to the afternoon hunt. Mark Hutchinson and Vern Anderson hitching a ride. Gregg Hicks gets down to business on Saturday.

5 Ricky Rawlins dog Belle decides to take it easy for a while. Bill Thurmond, Don Lane, Johnny Fry, Bud Forte and Don Sallada telling some hunting (lies) stories. Steven Ratz and Johnny Fry scanning the skies.

6 Gregg Hicks and Johnny Fry setting out decoys. And the day is done.

Kneeling (L to R): Anthony Willard (Mon River Chapter Chairman) / Adam Grubler (Mon River Chapter Treasurer) / Jason Bays (Vandalia Chapter Co-Chairman) / Jamie Wolfe (WVDU Sate Secretary / Ohio

7 Kneeling (L to R): Anthony Willard (Mon River Chapter Chairman) / Adam Grubler (Mon River Chapter Treasurer) / Jason Bays (Vandalia Chapter Co-Chairman) / Jamie Wolfe (WVDU Sate Secretary / Ohio Valley Chapter - Huntington) Second Row (L to R): Neal Roth (DU Senior Regional Director) / Bill Thurmond (WVDU Past Chairman) / Don Lane (WVDU Conservation Chairman/Newsletter Editor) / Richard Rawlins (Beckley Chapter Chairman) / Don Bays (WVDU State Treasurer / Ohio Valley Chapter - Huntington) / Vern Anderson (WVDU Immediate Past Chairman Ohio Valley Chapter - Wheeling) Back Row (L to R): Executive Chef Don Sallada (Kanawha River Chapter) / Scott Sadler (Eastern Panhandle Chairman / WVDU Volunteer Recruitment Co-Chair) / Mark Hutchinson (Ohio Valley Chapter - Wheeling) / Bud Forte (Wheeling Cabela s Marketing Manager) / Matt Cloud (Eastern Panhandle Chapter Treasurer) / Johnny Fry (Ohio Valley Chapter Co-Chairman / WVDU Volunteer Recruitment Co-Chairman) Gregg Hicks(WVDU State Chairman / Ohio Valley Chapter - Huntington) / Steven Ratz (Guyan Chapter Treasurer) / Zach Collins (Lewisburg Chapter Chairman)

8 Final Thoughts... On the Winter WVDU Meeting/Hunt: I always look forward to attending the winter meeting/hunt. Not because I have high expectations of a large duck harvest, but rather because it s a blast to hang out with fellow WVDU volunteers. Unlike the summer meeting, which only lasts a day and is more of a formal event, the winter volunteer gathering lasts two nights. Since we stay at the cottages at Stonewall Resort, a lot of informal discussion takes place after we re all in from the afternoon hunt. We sit around and relax and discuss ideas to improve WVDU, tell hunting stories (read: lies) and wait for the evening s culinary treat from WVDU volunteer and executive chef Don Sallada. Trust me; it s not your everyday hunting camp cuisine. It s a great time to renew old acquaintances and make new friends. This year we had a record attendance at the winter meeting/hunt of over twenty people. We also welcomed a new WVDU State Chairman: Gregg Hicks. Gregg is taking the reins from Vern Anderson who has served for two years as our State Chairman. It was Vern s idea to have winter meetings. This brings me to my next point. On Vern Anderson: It is my opinion that Vern Anderson has been a most outstanding State Chairman in a long line of outstanding WVDU State Chairmen. Among the accomplishments/initiatives during Vern s tenure include: In 2014 West Virginia placed ninth in The Top Ten States. This award category essentially levels the playing field so that states with small populations and even smaller amounts of waterfowl hunters can compete with the big boys such as Arkansas and Texas. It recognizes not only the quantity of funds raised but also the quality of the work done by the various committees within that state. Vern dusted off our five year plan and brought it up to date. We review the plan at the winter meeting and evaluate what we ve accomplished and what is left to be done. We ve accomplished a lot under Vern s leadership, but there is still plenty left to do. WVDNR contacted Vern about a need they had for funding for the Pleasant Creek Wetland Restoration Project. Vern, in turn contacted DU Regional Biologist Jake McPherson and a few months later, DU donated native trees, shrubs, and plant seeds that are known to benefit waterfowl that were planted during the 2014 growing season. Vern played a pivotal role in securing the grant from Cabela s (see previous story). The entire time he was leading WVDU, Vern spent his spare time as the Chairman of the Upper Ohio Valley Chapter, which was one of the leading chapters in the state. Fortunately, WVDU is not losing Vern to retirement, he is still the Upper Ohio Valley Chairman and we look forward to his continued participation in all future WVDU state meetings. On behalf of WVDU: Vern Anderson, job well done. On the Cabela s Grant: WVDU would like to express its sincere appreciation to DU Regional Biologist Jake McPherson for writing the Cabela s grant proposal. DU volunteers get most of the limelight, but it s the staff of DU that is often, behind the scenes, making us look good. That is certainly the case with Jake and WVDU getting this grant. We had a little more than a week to put the proposal together and Jake made it happen. He got the material quotes, put together the necessary documentation, and got the grant proposal submitted before the deadline. There is no way, no how this could have happened without Jake. And finally: Check out this article from the WVU Environmental Resource Center on the Pleasant Creek Restoration Project: current_newsletter/pleasant-creekwetland-work-update

9 West Virginia Ducks Unlimited State Leadership State Chairman Gregg Hicks State Treasurer Don Bays Volunteer Recruitment Co-Chairmen Scott Sadler Johnny Fry State Conservation Chairman Don Lane State Secretary Jamie Wolfe Ohio Valley / Parkersburg Chairman Bob Sands bsandsbuilding@yahoo.com Ohio Valley / Huntington Co Chairmen Gregg Hicks duckswv@yahoo.com Johnny Fry Jefry664@aol.com Vandalia / Charleston Chairman Jason Bays jasonbays@ymail.com Wildwater / Beckley Chairman Richard Rawlins noelle_ricky@yahoo.com Central Mountains / Summersville Chairman Melanie Lawhorn melanie777m2000@yahoo.com Elkins Chairman Jim Rawson jwrawson@suddenlink.net Eastern Panhandle / Charles Town Chairman Scott Sadler wvwaterfowlhunter@comcast.net Upper Ohio Valley / Wheeling Chairman Vernon Anderson vernanderson@comcast.net Greenbrier Valley / Lewisburg Chairman Zach Collins zcollins16@hotmail.com Guyan / Logan Chairman Jerrad Luthy jerrad.luthy@yahoo.com Kanawha River / Teays Valley Chairman Andrew Linville masseyboy135@yahoo.com Mon River / Fairmont Chairman Anthony Willard anthonywillard.aw@gmail.com WVU / Morgantown Chairman Cory Cook ccook8@mix.wvu.edu Past State Chairman and National Delegate Bill Thurman wthurman12@cebridge.net DU Senior Regional Director Neal Roth north@ducks.org DU Regional Biologist; MD, DE, WV Jake McPherson jmcpherson@ducks.org WVDU Website

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