After a long day on the road Tuesday trying to avoid the snowstorm, it's great to be tucked away, snug in my office, having cleaned up the remnants of our Groundhog's day storm up here in the Valley. Besides picking up a pair of huge loads from Cabela's on Tuesday (yep - we've got LOTS of awesome packages again this year, plus a bunch of sweet ice shacks!), Kelcy and I spent most of that morning with the tech staff from Orion, as they taught us how to administer the "back end" of our new website - the updated wisducks.org - which we'll be releasing, later this winter!

A huge "thank you" has to go out to our Fox River chapter team, who hosted a great dinner event,  following the completion of the WWA Annual Meeting, last Saturday, at the City Inn in Berlin. Attendance was up, the prizes were even better, and thanks to a doors open time of 4:30, we made the last call at ten minutes after 9pm, which made for an early night, to boot!

Some of the youth in attendance at the Fox River banquet show off their new gear

What a great way to start off our fundraising events for this year! Thanks to the team, to our board members who joined in, and to all the attendees who chose to come, participate, and make it a super-fun night!

Next up this month will come our booth at the Wausau hunting expo, in about ten days, and then at month's end will be the return of theNorthern Wetlands chapter, and their annual dinner banquet. We're also pleased to announce that the long-anticipated WWA Shoot Series has come to fruition this year. Although the promotional posters are still being developed, there's a quick preview in this newsletter, you'll see it below.

During the recent Annual Meeting, we got the new Board of Directors together, including the return of former member, John Regan, just re-elected at the end of last year. We again have thirteen members, ready to serve, and they've elected the following officers, to serve for the next two years: Bruce Urben, President; John Regan, Vice President; Russ Olson, Treasurer, and Randy Helbach, Secretary. For more information on the meeting, check out the recap, below. Its great news for all of us, when good folks are willing to serve the association in this way.

See you on the water...Don

For a limited time, the publishers of Badger Sportsman magazine will contribute 1/2 the value of any new 1-year subscriptions, made by WWA members, back to WWA in the form of a cash donation.  Thus, for every $14.95 payment received from a WWA member, for their new 1-year, 6 issue subscription, WWA will receive $7.50 back! As you can imagine, if even a small portion of our membership elects to take advantage of this opportunity, it could pay HUGE dividends for WWA, and turn Badger Sportsman magazine, into one of our most impactful State Sponsors!

But, "what's the catch", you might ask?  There is none.  Badger Sportsman wants to expand their subscriber base, and their leadership and I kept finding ourselves at the same places.  We began talking about magazines, and how some of our membership still misses our old "Wisconsin Waterfowl"  WWA membership magazine, discontinued in 2011. In this way, you can enjoy the full color pictures and stories of living the outdoor lifestyle in Wisconsin, that come with every issue of Badger Sportsman, they get to enjoy your new patronage, and WWA gets to enjoy a significant new source of funding to help support our wetland restorations and other works all around the state. Additionally, WWA will be featured in articles in Badger Sportsman later this year. WIN-WIN-WIN!  What's not to like?

If you want to take advantage of this offer, its really easy.  At our upcoming outreach events, you'll find a mail-in card at the registration table when you check in. Or, if you want to get the program rolling right now, then

A huge thank you to Chris Carns, and all the team at Badger Sportsman magazine, for helping us to craft this offer for you, for their support of WWA in Wisconsin, and their commitment to conservation in our great state!

(Please note, use this link to susbscribe and no code is needed.  However, if you subscribe via Badger Sportsman's main website, please use promo code MALLARD in checkout to indicate you are a WWA member asking for the donation back to WWA.)

Tom Seibert, Regional Director, 414.750.8260

I'd like to thank all of you who attended our Fox River Chapter Banquet this past Saturday evening. You were part of a record setting event for this volunteer group; congratulations to you and the entire committee for starting off the new year for WWA with an explosion of games guns, prizes and numerous smiling faces. Again, thank you all.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Russell Moccasin Co. for supporting the Fox River Chapter, located in their hometown of Berlin, WI. Didn't get out to our banquet to see this amazing donation from Russell Moccasin?  Well, you're in luck, as Russell Moccasin is donating custom made Russell Boots, crafted right here in Berlin, WI, to several of our events this year! Russell Moccasin has been making boots and moccasins for Presidents and royalty the world over for more than a century right. They use leather from a multitude of sources, all to enhance comfort, performance and durability. They make the world's finest moccasin style footwear the old fashioned way, by hand.  So plan to attend a WWA banquet where you may have a chance to take home a custom pair of their most popular hunting boot, the Signature South 40 Birdshooter II (MSRP of over $500!). Thanks again to the Russell Moccasin Co. for their contribution to helping us make Wisconsin a greener place to live.

We're excited to announce the much anticipated 2016 Sporting Clays Shoot Series, introduced by popular demand. Those of you who have joined us at any of our shoots in the past have shared that we have the best (and most!) prizes to win, so if you enjoy fun-filled days of shooting with fellow outdoors-minded folk, mark your calendars & plan to join us at all six of our 2016 shoots in the series, the more shoots you attend, the more money you save.

2016 Shoot Series Grand Prize (guns,etc not included)

Each shoot has individual characteristics, including entry price, award/games/raffle structure, duration of the event, "side events" available, etc, so be sure to check out our website as we anticipate having online registration up by late winter. Every event gives you your 1 year WWA membership, AND an entry to win the GRAND PRIZE for 2016 - an incredible CANNON wide-body firearms vault (pictured at right)!

Check out all the details, here, and mark your calendars for the following dates:

• Saturday, April 23, 1st Annual Madison Area Shoot, Waunakee Gun Club
• Saturday, May 14, 6th Annual Abrams Shoot, presented by New Wall Street, Little Creek Lodge
• Saturday May 21 - Sunday May 22, 2nd Annual Ozaukee Shoot, Ozaukee County Fish & Game Association
• Saturday June 25 - Sunday June 26, 1st Annual Waukesha County Shoot, Waukesha Gun Club
• Friday July 22 - Sunday July 24, 3rd Annual Summer Shoot, Wild Wings Sportsman's Club
• Saturday August 20, 17th Annual WWA State Shoot, Wern Valley

 
I now own three Gheenoes, a 13-footer, and two 15-footers and I love them. The image below is one of my boats, with my custom paint job, of course. They have met my every expectation of what I would consider a perfect marsh and small-water waterfowl craft. It can be paddled, rowed, motored or push-poled easily through the water, and is extremely sturdy to hunt out of. You can stand in it without any fear of tipping and it slides into the cattails easily. We use them on rivers, marshes and lakes as large as 850 acres and have never been concerned about safety.