Canvasback Gun Club- Stillwater Farms May-June Newsletter 2021

Canvasback Gun Club- Stillwater Farms May-June Newsletter 2021

We note with regret the passing of Ron Logar, long time prominent attorney in Reno and a past member of the Canvasback Gun Club. No doubt Ron will be missed by his immediate family as well as his extended family!!

******************* Priority Safety Message********************

The Shotgun pattering board MUST NOT be used for pistol/rifle shooting. Pistols and Rifles ARE EXPRESSLEY PROHIBITED!!!!!!!!
Despite the fact there is a berm behind it you would be shooting directly at Hunter Road!!!!!!!
Pistol and Rifle shooting can only be done where the 100–500-yard target boards are located!!!!!!!!!

*******************************************************************

Annual Meeting Notes: At the end of this newsletter is a synopsis of the annual meeting. Please note these are a draft by nature and should not be considered part of the permanent record until ratified by the membership at the next stockholders meeting!!!

Migratory Issues

Ammunition Shortage?

No doubt you have been to your favorite sporting goods store and taken note of the low or empty ammunition shelves. Lots of rhetoric about what is causing the so-called shortage, or put another way, demand is outpacing production.

I spoke with member Dave Piccinini (Mark-Fore and Strike) and ask him if he could say when the shelves would be full again and his reply was not sure. In fact, one of his factory reps had just left and told him he was not sure when they would catch up.

My research indicates that there are many factors contributing to this issue.

Remember the toilet paper shortage during the pandemic. Same situation with ammo, panic buying and hoarding.
Seller’s Market: People are sitting outside the stores and when an ammo order comes in, they go in buy it all and then sell it on the internet. Maybe 2 box limit will help??
According to FBI statistics there has been a 40% increase in background checks. That equates to 12,452,319 background checks in the first quarter of 2021.
It is reported that over 8.4 million guns were purchased post Biden election, so those folks are buying ammo as well.
Unprecedented demand: According to one article I read, there are some component shortages. Manufacturers are putting out as much as possible.

When will it end??? According to several websites I checked, opinions vary but they seem to say it will be a while, eventually they will catch up and demand will moderate who knows when that will be!

I have been checking four providers on the internet and when I see the shotshells I use I buy them now because if you wait, they are gone.

Lastly: The club buys some popper rounds for the dog field trials, but I could not find any on the net. When I was talking to Dave Piccinini, I asked him if they had any and he said yes so, I bought what he had in stock.

The Board has decided to re-open the club house at this time so members can access the first-aid equipment if needed.

Membership Transfer

Ben Dotson to William J. Forman

Elmore Family Trust to Jennifer Elmore

Seam Emo to Emo Family Trust

Will Frazer to The Will Frazer Trust

Sad to report that two windows were apparently shot out (maybe a BB gun) at the Ortiz cabin sometime after hunting season closed, if you have any information regarding this, please inform a board member. We simply cannot tolerate acts like those upon our properties at the club!

The work weekends went well despite the fact the owls decided to nest in many of the wood blinds curtailing any work we do on those. The feedback from Chef Martin’s drive by dinners was once again outstanding. Thank You Doug!!!

There is still some pickup work that needs to be done so contact Jim Powell for assignment at onebleve@aol.com

Results of The Work Weekends April 10 and May 1, 2021

You may recall that we released members from being fined (pandemic reasons) for not coming to the work weekends this year. The personnel that attended were motivated and it showed in their work results.

Crews encountered lots of owls nesting in wood blinds so that curtailed clean outs and repairs.

Removed and cleaned out and reinstalled Cattle Guard SE corner (cows were walking over it and heading back to Maureen’s)
Built a small section of fence near the Ward Canal boat ramp (cattle management)
Stripped wire and decaying OSB out of Kirkley 2 (once the water is out we will recon and either replace or rebuild that blind.
Fertilized almost all the islands including 9-12 on Freeman.
Put up anti pelican red fencing on the following islands: Mort-Ward 1 A- Baker 2-Stewart 3 and 4.
Installed Shotgun Patterning Board and a small section of fence there to prevent people driving passed the designated parking area.
Installed 10 location signs and did east side No Trespass signs as needed.
Removed all but 2 wood blinds in Mallard (owls nesting in the remaining 2)
Installed 2 x 4 markers with numbers where blinds use to be in Mallard and put up some “Idle Speed” and “Home” signs at the entrance to the home canal from Mallard.
Hauled those Mallard blinds to the burn pit.
Pulled all the clubhouse screens and sent out for re-screening.
Cleaned out wood blinds where there was no nesting.
Pulled all tank markers and labeled them with their respective names. (Elmore- Eikelberger-Vitori)
Pumped out 3 blinds. Those are under a watch to see if they refill.
Made up some reflective markers mounted on flashing.
Scraped and sanded the parking bumper at city hall and re-painted.
Working on duck silhouette project for the shotgun range.
Prepared and Served 60 “to go” dinners and cleaned the kitchen.

A special Thanks to Doug and Dave Wehking, both non-members who assisted during the work weekends. Dave helped one weekend and Doug was there for both! I wanted to reach out to both and say Thank You for your help. It is always appreciated!!

Also wanted to single out three members who visited all our tank blinds this spring and retired marker and inspected for damage. Thanks to Darin Elmore, Josh Vitiori and Chris Eikelberger!!! Also, Chris came up with a good idea to write the names of the blinds on the white markers so you can be sure you are at the right place when you arrive in the morning darkness.

Two bands one bird? Shooting a banded bird is like finding gold in the waterfowl world, but what if the bird has two bands? According to sources from California’s Dept of Fish and Game, birds with a band on each leg have what researchers refer to as a band and a color marker. The band tells the obvious story, the color marker allows researchers to identify the bird at a distance.

Be advised that the Swallows are back and building nests at the usual suspect places (they seemed particularly attracted to stucco siding) and they definitely found the Ortiz cabin along with clubhouse and others.

I am told that Robert McDaniel caught a wiper in Mallard. Also, Robert said the water is clear in the Little Freeman/Kirkley unit for those that would like to shoot carp with a bow. Not sure how long that will last before John moves that water.

Just Ducky

Will Frazer did his usual Great Job in organizing and putting on the club field trial on March 27^th. Due to Covid concerns the board decide to not allow the annual dinner and poker tourney at City Hall following the field trail.

There was a fair turnout on a very nice spring day with little wind and NO BUGS! Ken Dorr and Jim Powell judged the event, tough decision for the judges on which of two dogs won first place but they decided to Award First Place to Ruby owned by Sam Sabini.

First Place…Ruby…..Sam Sabini

Second Place…Pistol…Les Naisbitt

Third Place…Norma Jean…Will Frazer

Fourth Place…Rainey…Ted Wehking

Reserve Jam…Widgeon…Dave Stanley

Jam…Teal…Dave Stanley

Jam…Annie…Bill Johnson

It was another tough decision on who to award the Bill Bowden “Most Entertaining Award” to. The runner up was Ray Frazer and his wandering puppy. The plaque went to Scott Anderson for his dazzling display of shooting skills during the event! Congratulations to Scott and Ray!!!

Environmental, Health and Safety

The Board has imposed fines on two members for violating Rule VI. This rule was added when we updated the Rule Book last year and we are asking that you become familiar with that rule to avoid those fines.

President Dave has outlined the water issues we are facing this year in his message. On a larger scope the water crisis on the CA-Oregon border went from dire to catastrophic as federal regulators shut off irrigation water to farmers from a critical reservoir and said they would not send extra water to dying salmon downstream.

In what is shaping up to be the worst water crisis in generations, the BOR said it will not release water this season into the main canal that feeds the massive Klamath Reclamation Project, marking a first for the 114-year-old irrigation system.

The drought also means farmers this summer will not flush irrigation water into a network of six national wildlife refuges that are collectively called the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge complex. The Refuges nicknamed the Everglades of the west, support 80% of the birds that migrate on the Pacific Flyway. The refuges also support the largest concentrations of wintering bald eagles in the lower 48 states.

As more hunters take to the public lands, safety concerns are on the rise. One company, Hunter Up, is pushing for legislative laws to be passed making signage required for all hunters. In short, hunters post a symbol that tells other hunters that hunting is already taking place in a given area. The hope is these marking will cut down on hunting accidents. For more info visit www.hunterupsafety.com

Can you see it now? How many symbols would be a Skull and Crossbones?

Please be FIRE Safe this summer!!!

NO PISTOL/Rifle Shooting at the shotgun patterning board!!!!

Upcoming Events

August 1, All Shooting Rights and Membership Transfers must be in by August 1.

September 1…. Dove Hunt (opening day draw in effect)

October 2^nd…. First Youth Hunt (has not been determined if hunting on the club will take place)

October 2^nd…. Blind Stuffing

October 16^th…. Opening Day

January 3-4…. Season Closed

January 5…. Season Re-Opens

January 30…. Season Closes

February 12^th…. Second Youth Hunt

DRAFT : 2021 Stillwater Farms/Canvasback Annual Stockholders

DRAFT Meeting Minutes!!!!

Meeting: May 19, 2021, 5:00 pm at CME, Inc courtyard, Reno, Nevada

President Dave Stanley gaveled the meeting to order at 5:05 PM on May 19, 2021. Let the record show 27 shareholders/members representing 42 shares present including board members McVeigh, Nelson, Martin, Stanley, Powell and Crew. Director Bradley was called out of town and was absent. In addition, there were 23 signed proxies.

A motion by Mike Lee to approve the minutes of the previous annual meeting was made, seconded by many and passed unanimously.

Item 1, Treasurer Report: Mark McVeigh provided a review of the new budget and financial information including a summary that the club and farm are in good fiscal shape. Mark went over and summarized the budgets and past years expenses that were provided in the annual meeting packet.

In addition to the summary of the packet, He highlighted that salary expenses were up in 2020 due to the two-summer staff last year. Also, in 2020 there were significant expenses for the shooting range, the plastic water pipes, the tank blinds and gravel most of which was used for the North dike road improvement.

Lastly, Mark said that dues will be increased to meet operations costs. The 2021 dues are $2000 per membership.

Item 2 and 3, 2020 Project Summary, 2021 Proposed Projects: Farm Manager John Carrington gave a summary of all the completed 2020 projects and a summary of the proposed 2021 projects. The summary was distributed to the membership in the email to all members in the annual meeting packets. John indicated that water conditions will affect in ways not yet known the actual projects that will be completed, for example the field planting will likely be modified based on the reduced water allocation announced by TCID. As to water, the main concern is not the 70% water allocation but the timing of the cutoff. As it stands, cutoff is a function of reaching a minimum pool in Lahontan which is anticipated to occur sometime between Aug 15 and Sept 15. The later we can take water the better for the club and the ducks. Too early and it floods the food too soon and there is a lot of evaporative loss.

John also gave a report regarding the transfer of the Dutch Bill Hunt Club from the Kent family to the USFWS. This happened as the hunting easement expired earlier this year and now this property is part of the Stillwater Wildlife Refuge System. Preliminary discussions with the Refuge Manager indicate that the Refuge is not considering opening this unit to general hunting. The Refuge is considering fencing and posting it as a non-general hunt area. The Refuge is exploring opening it to special hunts such as youth hunts and/or veteran hunts.

Item 4, Water Report, Director Doug Martin reported that the water right application on the Stillwater Slough drain system has be successfully submitted to the State Water Engineers Office. A check with them indicates there are no red flags on the application and a certificate of water right is in the que for processing. It is expected the certificate will be completed within 2 months from now.

Item 5, Compound Report, Director Marty Crew indicated that there are no major compound issues and asked members to keep him informed of construction requests and projects planned.

Item 5, 2019 Geothermal Report, Director Marty Crew reported that there are no issues to report. Marty indicated that production and revenue was down last year in part to warmer weather and in part due to equipment aging and losing efficiencies.

Item 6, Legal Report, Director Stanley reported there are no pending or forecasted legal issues.

Item 7, 2020 Hunting Issues, Director Jim Powell reported that Bill Bradley is taking the lead to develop a hunting regulatory program that will address giving the needed flexibility to the Board and the Farm Manager to regulate and make advisories as needed during the hunting season. This is an effort to have the Rulebook reflect how we actually operate. (For example, last year the Board made an advisory request to used 20 gauge or smaller in the Sullivan area due to the effects of hunting this unit on surrounding units.) The program Bill is working on will address how we hunt based on the season as it progresses and will consider things like crowding, pressure, ice, the drought, etc.

Jim conducted a straw poll of the members present so the board could take the pulse of the membership on the following issues:

Should we allow motorized decoys (example shakers) other than spinning wings all season – response was 90% in favor.
Should we conduct the opening day draw on the Friday evening instead of Saturday morning 2 hours before sunrise – response was 90% in favor.
Should we conduct draws in person each hunt day or by a pre-season computerized random draw – response was 70% in person.
Should we continue using the website and keep it updated with information such as draws and water movement – response was 100% to keep up the website.
Are there any areas that are too crowded – no responses.
Do we want to eliminate all hunting on Mallard all season or keep it open for the first 5 hunts – response, 80% like having it open early, discussion indicated that the Board should make the decision on when to close Mallard based on conditions.
Should we close the club to Sunday PM shooting – response 95% no.
Should we have a mandatory 5 bird limit – response 95% no. Should we have a voluntary 5 bird limit – response comments were shoot as few as you want but don’t mandate a limit less than the State limit.

Item 8 and 9, 2021 Internship Program and Club Management Plan, Director Clel Nelson Reported that the intern program was successful in 2020 and we have secured Johnny to again do an internship again this year. As an added benefit Johnny will receive a few college credits for his work managing waterfowl.

Clel reported that he and Bill Bradley have assembled a team to work with John and Dave to formulate a manual and plan on how to operate and manage the club. Items such as water movement, duck food growth, cattle management will be extracted and recorded.

Item 10, 2019/20 Cattle and Goose Lease Report, President Dave Stanley reported that we had a successful cattle lease with our neighbor this past year. Maureen is pleased with the feed found on the club and she reported that cattle losses were low due in part to her vaccinating her cattle last June. Dave reported that as in the past, the goose lease on Maureen’s is included as part of the cattle lease and we continue to be able to hunt on her fields. In 2020 she was thrilled that we finally killed some geese on her place. It has been a while since this was the case.

Item 11, Pheasant Hunt, Dove Hunt and old Boat Rempoval: Member Ken Bunker reported that this past year we had excellent numbers of roosters and chukar. Ken reported it was good weather both weekends and the hunters were able to work together and have great hunts. He reported that next year he has gotten a commitment from Sean and Kelley Emo to help run the program with the ultimate goal of them taking over the program a couple of years from now.

Ken reported that the dove hunt had no issues, but bird numbers were low. As often happens, a majority of the doves left the last week of August!!!

Ken also reported that he will be working with John Carrington and the board on a plan to remove the legacy boats at the Mallard landing. He said it will take some time as we need to coordinate with NDOW regarding registrations. It appears some members have boats there that they are not even aware of!!.

Item 12, Club activities report, Director Powell Jim gave a summary of completed projects and upcoming events.

Item 13, New Business/Old Business, President Stanley asked if there were any old or new business items that members would like the Board to address. It was suggested that we put in the newsletter that it is highly recommended to get a Covid vaccination. This was seconded by Dr. Juell who explained how the vaccine is the best tool to control the virus, and at the same time allow us to open the Club back up to “normal” operations.

Item 14, Nomination and Election of Board Members, Director Nelson indicated that board directors Martin, Crew, McVeigh and Bradley terms expire this year and the board recommends their reappointment. The recommendation was so moved by member Ross Loudon. No other nominations were made from the floor and a positive vote to continue the existing board was made.

Item 15, President Stanley adjourned the meeting at 7:00 pm.