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VOLUME 24 NO. 06 June 2005
DATES TO REMEMBER!!! Smart Service Course
Tradtional 3D Archery Shoot
Fred Hunt Memorial Traditional Shoot
Sunday June 5 th: 5:00 to 7:00 pm Beef Bar B Que at the Club House Tickets available at the June meeting. Only 160 tickets will be sold. Wednesday August 17 th, 5:00 pm Corn Boil followed by Derby meeting. Thursday December 1 st. Nibble Night and General meeting. BIG FISH CONTEST!! Remember to enter your fish in the Big Fish Contest. See insert for rules and entry form. SSA Surplus Material for Tender The Board of Directors of the Sydenham Sportsmen's Association have declared the concrete well tile in diameter with concrete lid and hatch. The well tile is for sale "as is, where is" and must be removed by the successful bidder by June 30, 2005. The SSA upgraded the well at the Gord Maher Memorial Centre to the new MOE standards so therefore no longer needs this concrete well tile. The SSA Board of Directors reserves the right to accept or reject the highest or any tender and reserves the right to withdraw this tender request without notice. The concrete well tile and lid may be viewed at the SSA property - Gord Maher Memorial Centre side lawn by contacting Ken Cowtan, SSA Property Manager at 372-2957. Tenders must be submitted to the attention of the SSA Board of Directors, PO Box 264 STN MAIN, Owen Sound ON N4K 5P3 to be received on or before June 13, 2005 and clearly marked on the outside of the sealed envelope as "Well Tile Tender". Volunteers Needed! Each year for the past 18 years the Sydenham Sportsmen's Association has presented the Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular with great success for this community and our natural resources. It would not be possible without your help as a club volunteer. The net proceeds from this event are to the majority turned back to conservation for the benefit of our fish and wildlife resources. A small portion of the proceeds, those from the food booth operations after all expenses have been covered for the fishing derby's operations are returned to the club's operating account to assist with the day to day operations of the club and its property. Without this contribution on a yearly basis your membership dues would be considerably higher. So the next time you attend the club property or clubhouse and see it being maintained for your use the fishing derby helped. Again this year we need additional bodies to assist with this our largest fundraiser of the year. So when you are asked to help out consider the benefits you receive as a member of our great outdoors organization whether you fish, hunt, trap shoot, skeet shoot or just enjoy a nature walk. We can all make a difference by sharing some of our precious personal time. Thanks ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls for your volunteer help again this year!!! Murray Smart, Treasurer SSA 2005 Imagewear by Mark's Work Wearhouse discount card The SSA is pleased to have Mark's Work Wearhouse as a corporate sponsor again for 2005. Enclosed with your June newsletter is a discount card valid at any Mark's Work Wearhouse until May 3, 2007. For those SSA members who receive their club newsletter by email you may pick up your discount card from John Ford, Membership Chair at the next club meeting on June 2nd. Please support our corporate sponsors with your personal shopping. This is a membership benefit from the Sydenham Sportsmen's Association for 2005/06. THE PRESIDENT ’ S CORNER Our next meeting on June 2 nd will be the last until September as we will be taking our usual summer break. This meeting promises to be well attended and good one, since Carol Barfoot has once again organized the “ Beer and Hot Dog Night ” which is the main item on the agenda. Also note that our Club ’ s Beef Barbeque is scheduled for Sunday June 5 th, and we look forward to seeing you there. Most of us greatly appreciate the summer months because of all the varied and interesting activities which are happening. Many of our members and committees will be very active during June, July, and August. Bill Beamish and the shot gunners have a very busy and exciting schedule of events, Steve Lustig and helpers will be run off their feet keeping our junior members active, interested and coming back for more. Dave Arnold can hardly keep up with all the requests, Ken and Nancy Cowtan are very much appreciated at this time of year for all the extra effort taken to keep the buildings and grounds in good shape. The Derby committee will be burning the midnight oil getting everything ready and implementing one of our largest programs the “ Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular. ” These are just some of the many programs and activities which keep so many of our members going throughout the summer. I would like to wish all my fellow sportsmen and sportswomen a happy and healthy summer. We will see you in September after the Salmon Spectacular and the Geese and Ducks start heading south. Bill Douglas, President. Cowboy Action Shooting Are you interested in COWBOY ACTION SHOOTING (CAS)? Ever wonder what it is all about? Interested in more information? CAS is the fastest growing shooting sport in the world today; it uses the types of firearms that were in common use in the Old West in the period from roughly 1860 to 1899. Single action revolvers, double barreled shotguns with extractors (no ejectors), pump or lever action shotguns with hammers are allowed. Rifles must be in a pistol calibre and have external hammers. They can be old original guns or reproductions. A big part of the action is the wearing of period type clothing instead of running shoes, T shirts and baseball caps and picking an "Alias", a cowboy name. It can be historically correct like General Custer or imaginary like Ida Shotbedder or Will Shootem. Safety is the primary concern, CAS is not about fast draw or shooting from the hip. A range officer stands beside each shooter to offer assistance, no one moves with a loaded gun and only 1 person shoots at a time. All bullets are made of lead and are loaded to a maximum velocity of 1000 ft per sec for handguns and 1400 for rifles. Shotguns use light 71/2 shot and normally in 12 or 20 ga. The action involves shooting at very generous sized targets in the shortest amount of time. A local group [posse] called the Twin County Bounty Hunters are up and shooting and are looking for shooters who may be interested in trying it or finding out more about the sport. You don't need all the guns to start playing the game, posse members are always ready lend a helping hand or an extra gun because that's "The Cowboy Way!" For information contact: Major Regret (Peter) at 935-2086 e-mule: walmarpr@bmts.com or Willy Tin Cup (Garry) at 376-5347 e-mule: rgwillis@bmts.com NATIVE AFFAIRS Recent events have heated up anglers' concerns over MNR/Indian commercial fishing negotiations. We have been told that the deal is signed -then, that it is, not signed just wait a little longer -don't get angry and say hurtful things about MNR or Indians until we see what is in the new agreement. It has not been easy to remain silent, but by and large, we did. We relayed our concerns to the OFAH, who have access to MNR Minister Ramsey's office. We know that the OFAH has expended enormous amounts of time and effort on this issue. They have done a terrific job of expressing angler concerns right to the top of the MNR hierarchy. We felt that, in doing this, our concerns would be addressed by government in a fair and honourable manner. We were wrong. The MNR tried to pull one over on us and it is backfiring, big time. Here's what happened. Recently MNR Minister Ramsey signed a letter that went to the OFAH. This letter stated in essence that a 2004 interim agreement with the natives changed the lines that barred the entrance to Owen Sound and Colpoys bays to commercial gillnetting. Further, it was stated that any new agreement would roughly follow the lines as 'set out in the 2004 interim agreement. What the Minister's letter did not say was that the angling fraternity was never told of any such interim agreement, and still does not know what was in this agreement. We were blindsided by this outright deceit. The Minister's letter further alleged that the new lines had not caused problems with anglers- the Minister must not have been aware that the Bruce Peninsula Sportsmen have been outraged during this past year about where nets have been set in Colpoys Bay. They have been yelling to the MNR about native fishing inside what they believed were the official lines -not concerned? Hardly!! As well, the Minister stated to the effect that conservation of fish stocks was not affected. Well, I can only say this to the Minister -who knows what the effects have been if the interim enforcement protocol prevents efficient and effective enforcement by our conservation officers. The CO's can't check Indian boats, they can't check Indian catch other than through Indian reports. They can't look into Indian vehicles quite unlike the enforcement procedures that have been found to be absolutely necessary to manage the non-Indian commercial fishery So, who knows what the effects of any line shifts have been if no one can look to find out? On one count, the Minister may have been right -he said safety was not compromised at least, no anglers fouled their downriggers in gillnets and drowned. The main issue now concerns the outright trickery perpetrated by the MNR in their failing to notify anglers of changes to exclusionary' lines. We know that not all MNR staff are out to pull one over on sportsmen, and they truly attempt to look after our interests. For this we give thanks. On the other hand, it is perfectly obvious that there are politicians and bureaucrats in government who, for whatever reasons, are quite willing to deceive and sell out the sportsmen of this province. It would be nice to know who they are, so that we could deal with them directly. At any rate, we have called a meeting of the Grey/Bruce Conservation Coalition to be held at our clubhouse on May 3lst to discuss the native commercial fishing issue. OFAH staff will be in attendance to let us know what they are doing and local politicians will be invited to participate. Blake Smith . FORESTS & WILDLIFE ADVISORY COMMITTEE The Sydenham Sportsmen's Association tree/shrub planting on the Demonstration Wildlife Management Area went quite well. this spring. Bob Payne, Jim Hastie, Stew Wallace and your 2005 president, Bill Douglas, planted autumn olive, red and white oak as well as red (pin) cherry. This writer and his better half, Linda, concentrated on spreading juniper and red cherry. at the Maher Centre, as well as infilling failed sections of the old hay field (DWMA) with white spruce. A hot, dry summer has been predicted, and certain preventive measures will have to be taken to ensure survival of planted stock. Doug Murdoch has offered to help out with moisture conservation by the spreading of brush blankets as well as the placing of root collars and mulch. Doug will require considerable assistance with this project. If the hot/dry weather prediction holds true, we will have to fit out the water trailer that the club -purchased a couple of years ago. Gary Ricketts most generously offered to keep the grass mowed on the Gord Maher Centre grounds. Gary, we very much appreciate the help. A very recent inspection of the Walker property on the 1lth concession of Derby township showed us what a tremendous effort club member Doug Murdoch has put into his wildlife rehabilitation project. Doug has planted a great assortment of wildlife friendly trees and shrubs, and is developing food plots with connecting travel corridors. As with most of the SSA tree planting, the’ stock isn't very big or showy yet. However, the potential for wildlife use is there for all who care to look. The work that Doug is doing on this property will benefit wildlife and people 25 to 100 years from now. Such projects are not for those who expect only instant gratification. Instead. Such works are done with the intention of making the world a better place for future wildlife populations as well as for the coming enjoyment of humanity not yet born. ~Thank you, Doug. Lorne Smith and Gerry Powers are once more out in the field doing their great works for bluebirds, wood ducks, tree swallows, toads, and not least, bumblebees. Keep up the good work, guys. The Wildlife Committee extends heartfelt get Well Wish to Grant Ferris and Verle Barfoot. Verle and Grant have been tireless workers for the S'SA-. We very much look forward to seeing them all fixed up and back in the harness, doing all the good things that they do. Speaking of being in the harness, it's good to see Coy Currie out doing what he does and looking as fit as a fiddle. We will be calling a meeting of the wildlife Committee fairly soon in order to clarify our stand on current issues, as well as discussing SSA wildlife projects. Blake Smith, Chairman Wildlife Advisory Committee . For Sale! 16 foot Ward Fibreglass Canoe including paddles. Call Bill Thompson 376 4555 Warn Winch , 200 lb. Excellent condition, complete with solenoid, F/R switch, wiring and diagram. $200.00 ( no tax) Gary at (519) 376 5347 Archery Committee The Archery program held their first tournament of the year “ The S.S.A. Annual 3-D Competition ” on Sunday May 1 st/05. The turnout was good and it appeared that everyone had a great time. The results of this Tournament are as follows: Category Winners: Men ’ s Bowhunter Unlimited
Men ’ s Bowhunter Limited
Men ’ s Traditional
Ladies Traditional
Ladies Bowhunter Unlimited
Juniors - Boys Freestyle
Juniors - Boys Barebow
Juniors - Girls Barebow
Bantam - Boys
Congratulations to the winners, and I would like to thank all the participants for coming out and making it a great tournament. The weather co-operated for a change ensuring it was a great fun day. Bill Douglas, Chairperson Archery Committee
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© 2001, Sydenham Sportsmen's Association |