Game Club Trophy Banquet and more

© By Othmar Vohringer

1st place prize for best wildlife photo

My wife and I attended the annual Game & Trophy Banquet yesterday. This is an annual event put on by the Nicola Valley Fish & Game Club. It’s an event that we look forward to every year. The purpose of the event is to have a good time with fellow hunters and anglers, eating lots of different wild game dishes lovingly prepared by the members and it’s also an opportunity to recognize members that have made special time and labour contributions to the many conservation and hunter recruitment programs of the club. Of course such an event would not be complete without hunters and anglers having their trophies evaluated, measured and rewarded too.

The winning pict

This year I entered for the first time the clubs photo contest. I didn’t have much hope to win a prize, as there is always some outstanding photography to be judged. When my name was called I didn’t hear it until it was called out again, “First prize for best wildlife photography Othmar Vohringer.” Photography always has been to me more of a support for my articles. Only recently I got more into it, encouraged by my wife. With that I view this prize to be a large part thanks to Heidi for her patience to teach this old mule how to use a camera properly and all the other aspects that come with good photography skills. Of course my prize is no match to the wall full Heidi received over the years, but I am not jealous, she is the professional one not me.

This morning I got up early to met Chad Taylor for an interview and a photo shoot. Chad is a local hunter who shot the BC record mule deer buck last November, right on the outskirts of Merritt. The interview went well and we finished the photo session just as it started to snow…again. I am not going to tell you more about it, other than that you will have to come back here and read the full story after it has been published in my bi-weekly newspaper column in the Merritt News. All I can say is that it is a very interesting and unusual story how Chad got that monster buck.

This weekend is the last, for a while at least, were I can sit back and relax. Starting next Friday it’s seminar tour time. On Friday, March 4, I appear at the BC Boat & Sportsmen’s Show until March 6, doing three seminars every day. If you’re in the Abbotsford area come by and say hello. You can find me on the “Pro Hunter Stage”. This is British Columbia’s largest hunting and fishing trade shows, attracting each year well over 30,000 people and is still growing.

Then on March 19, I am in Kelowna with Grouse River Outfitters. This is an event that I particularly look forward to because it is right in line with the mission statement of Smart Hunting Strategies, a full day hands-on turkey hunting course. We start early in morning with a preliminary seminar on general turkey hunting information, hunter safety and wild turkey biology. For this part of the day we have the good folks from the National Wild Turkey Federation Canada present with their information material. After breakfast we head in the field for the first of two five hour field courses where hunters receive hands-on turkey hunting tips, tactics and calling lessons by showing them how it is done in simulated hunting scenarios. This first course is for novice hunters and in the afternoon it’s time for the advanced turkey hunters to learn in the same structured course trophy turkey hunting tactics. I’ve done several of these field courses for turkey and whitetail deer hunters and they are hard work but for me it is very gratifying to see the hunters actively learning by observing and doing. We always have fun and that is a good part of what hunting is all about too.

On April 18, 20, 25 and 27 I host a bowhunting whitetail deer course at the Merritt Civic Centre. This is not your average bowhunting course, but one were hunters learn every aspect of becoming more successful at filling the larder with more venison. There are many courses that talk about the ethics of hunting and hunter safety, which is important and I cover that too, but there are very few seminars or courses available that teach hunters on how to become more successful, and that is what my seminars and courses are all about. For more information about this course and how to sign up contact me.

As time permits I will keep you updated with text and photos of the events and hopefully I can squeeze a few days in to go turkey hunting too.

If you’re interested to lean more about, or book, my seminars and courses contact me or visit my website.

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This blog post has been brought to you by Othmar Vohringer Outdoors

Tags: Deer Hunting Seminars, Turkey Hunting Seminar, Hunting Trade Show, BC Boat & Sportsmen’s Show, Grouse River Outfitters, BC Trophy Mule Deer, National Wild Turkey Federation