Most of you know the waterfowl season at the Club opens on Saturday, October 12th. As we have communicated to you previously on several occasions, THE DRAW FOR OPENING DAY WILL BE HELD FRIDAY NIGHT, OCTOBER 11TH. WE WILL START PROMPTLY AT 7:00PM. Don’t be late!!!!!!
Enclosed you will find a variety of attachments with information to help you enjoy the Club during the upcoming year. Please read ALL of the attachments as they include special rules for the 2024-2025 waterfowl season, some general and safety reminders, liability waiver requirements and other useful information.
Two attachments you will want to print out for your cabin are the Draw/Shooting Time chart and the current 2024 Club Rulebook.
The annual Blind Report will be provided to you electronically a few days prior to Opening Day so that it will be as up to date as possible. Please print that document as well, so you have a copy at the Club.
For those guests accompanying a member/SRH into the marsh, the member/SRH must sign guest(s) in at City Hall before entering the marsh, including member/SRH name, guest(s) name(s), and acknowledge guest(s) has/have completed the electronic waiver process.
Remember that every licensed migratory bird hunter in the state of Nevada must register with the Harvest Information Program before hunting waterfowl and other migratory game birds. To do this, call 1-866-703-4605 and answer several questions. You will then receive a validation number. You must write your HIP number on your license prior to hunting.
Don’t forget to purchase and sign your Federal Duck Stamp. If your guests are 18 years old or older, they will need one as well.
Over the years on Opening Weekend we have had a number of members checked by game wardens on and off the property. The majority of citations are written for fairly common mistakes. Make sure your license and stamps are in your possession and properly signed, make sure your HIP number is written on your license, don’t forget to empty any lead shells out of your coat, vest or bag that you may have used for doves, pheasants or chukar, check your shotgun to insure it has a factory plug in the magazine and remind each hunter to keep his or her birds on a separate duck strap. All of these offenses are easy to avoid with a little prior planning.
There is a Split Season in January to allow the general waterfowl season to run through Sunday, January 26th. All waterfowl hunting will be closed in the Northwest Region on January 7th and 8th, reopening on January 9th and continuing through January 26th. Unfortunately, an error in the dates was not discovered until after the regulations were printed. In previous years, the split has closed the season on a Monday and a Tuesday. THE UPCOMING SPLIT SEASON CLOSURE INCLUDES WEDNESDAY JANUARY 8th, SO THE CLUB WILL LOSE THAT HUNT DAY IN JANUARY.
The Late Youth Hunt will be held on February 8, 2025 on the Club and there is information specific to that event attached to this email.
Our popular Duck Phone will be back on the air waves again this year. The number to call is 775-841-1151 for the latest in duck conditions as well as other information relevant to the Club.
The combination for our gate locks is 8244 again this year. John Carrington’s phone number is 775-741-8244 in case you need to contact him. John will be available to help members on Opening morning if you have a problem.
A friendly reminder that all Club roads (other than the main Compound access from Hunter Road), canals, dikes, etc., are closed to ALL vehicle, boat and pedestrian traffic from sundown on Sunday, September 29th until you head out to go hunting on Saturday morning, October 12th and on every non-hunting day thereafter through January 26th.
Many thanks to our Ranch Foreman John Carrington for his efforts this spring and summer. The lack of summer help put many projects on the back burner and required long hours from John. One of the hottest July’s on record created other challenges as well. Regardless of those issues, our water, marsh conditions and the supply of duck food is in good shape for this coming season.
Many thanks to all the members who helped John throughout the summer and to those who worked on special projects, like our blinds, during and outside of the normal member work days. Your help is always needed and appreciated.
We look forward to enjoying another waterfowl season with each of you. If you have questions or problems, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will do our best to help you resolve any issues.
Best Regards,
Dave
for the Board of Directors
Dave Stanley, President 775-224-5918
Doug Martin, Secretary 775-901-0453
Mark McVeigh, Treasurer 775-722-4375
Marty Crew, Director 775-720-4785
Clel Nelson, Director 775-722-2525
Bill Bradley, Director 775-750-4440
Sean Emo, Director 775-686-0016
President’s Message September 2024:
In six short weeks we will be shooting ducks again! Our availability of water is excellent and our duck food production looks pretty good in much of the marsh. Most, if not all, of the ponds will have water by year end. The irrigation season will run through November 15th, which is the best-case scenario for us.
2024 is the first year since before Covid that we have not had any summer help. The focus therefore has been on irrigating and solving the various problems that inevitably come up each summer on a 6000+ acre ranch. The lack of help and the brutally hot summer we experienced have made John’s job challenging to say the least. If any of you have some free time and would like to help the Club by volunteering, it will be greatly appreciated. Please call John in advance (775-741-8244) so he can determine what work might be available that you can help with.
As you will see elsewhere in this newsletter, there is a workday on September 14th for members and shooting rights holders, as well as the annual Blindstuffing Weekend on September 28th. If at all possible, please come out and help. These will be our final efforts to get the marsh and blinds in shape for Opening Day.
The NRCS pipeline project we are doing on the east side is slow getting started. We are told this is due to a lack of employees available at NRCS to engineer the projects they are funding. Because the delay was unavoidable, the paperwork we all filled out will still be good for 2025 and we will not have to do that all over again at this time!!!!
Many of you have mentioned that the weed spraying we had done this spring in the Compound was not as successful as in previous years. In some cases it was a total failure. Occasionally the conditions are such that the weeds grow anyway. Our contractor would like to spray earlier (in December or January) because when we don’t have a cold winter, the plants start germinating much earlier. We are not in favor of doing the spraying during the duck season because of all the people and dogs in the Compound that would be exposed to the spray. We will continue working with the contractor to improve the effectiveness of our weed abatement efforts. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
I look forward to seeing you all at the Club this Fall/Winter!
Dave
President’s Message July 2024:
At our recent Annual Stockholders Meeting on June 4, Jim Powell unexpectedly resigned from the Board after more than 23 years of service to the Club. Jim felt it was a good time to leave, making room for a fresh face on the Board during this time of transition at the Club. He has assured me that he will continue with his duties such as the Newsletter, organizing the fall Work Day and the Blindstuffing Weekend through this year to allow for a transition to the next person(s) to take on these tasks. He also has a special project or two that he will continue to work on.
I can’t thank Jim enough for all of the hours he has volunteered over the past two plus decades. He was never shy about raising his hand and he was committed to getting things done that improved everyone’s safety and hunting experience at the Club. His fellow Board members wish him a slower pace of life at the Club and lots more time for enjoying what he loves.
I would be remiss if I did not mention Jim’s wife, Holly, here. She has helped him at every turn during his tenure on the Board. In the early years she helped with printing, stuffing and mailing each newsletter, she has been a fixture cooking, serving and/or cleaning up after numerous dinners at City Hall and she took it upon herself years ago to start taking home the dirty towels and washcloths from our kitchen, wash them and return them before the next event. Holly, we thank you for all of your contributions!!!!!!!
Our bylaws require we elect a predetermined number of Board members (either 3 or 4) each year at our annual stockholders meeting. Clel Nelson and I were already on the ballot (with Jim) and the members at the meeting reelected Clel and I and nominated and elected Sean Emo to fill the seat vacated by Jim. Sean will be a great addition to the Board and we welcome him.
Sean has been a member or shooting rights holder for at least 10 years and has hunted with the Bowden family since long before that. He and his wife Kelly (Bowden) are avid hunters and have two beautiful daughters that enjoy the Duck Club as much as their parents do. Sean has been a great source of help to the Board on several projects in recent years and we look forward to his contributions and leadership in the future.
I hope you are all enjoying the summer weather. Opening Day is three short months away!!!!!
Be well,
Dave