1ST VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Sectretary’sMessage

As I write, we (your MBA Legislative Action Team) are busily organizing with other like-minded organizations to kill another crossbow bill for those with disabilities that will have been heard during the 2021 Legislative Session.

I believe this is the 3rd time I have been involved in fighting a crossbow bill and I am hoping that with our dedicated membership along with some great organizing with other like-minded groups we will be successful.

But this really brings up a very important point. For MBA and other like-minded organizations, to be successful they need members who are dedicated to helping with the fight. All members. In other words, with Membership comes responsibility.

Yes, mass emails and phone calls from members to Legislators have their effect.

But in my opinion, the number one reason we are effective is because of grassroots communication. By that I mean members reaching out to individual legislators who they either know or who represent their Legislative District. Doing that basic communication in person, with a personal phone call, or a personal email goes a long way. Most importantly Legislators hearing from their constituents carries a lot of weight. This is especially effective when the Legislator is the bill’s sponsor.

When personal communication is followed up with mass emails and calls from all members it reinforces our stance.

I hope that because of the great organizing from TBM, MWF, BHA, and MBA we presented strong oral testimony at committee hearings. But oral testimony only goes so far and if this makes it to the chamber’s floor then it once again will become a communication game for the MBA membership.

During this session, we will have seen additional attacks on Habitat Montana, which provides funding of habitat improvement projects, conservation easements, and fee title purchases associated with the places many of us hunt. Let us hope the outdoor community has been successful in protecting this valued program fund by fishing and hunting license dollars.

Also, a bill will have been brought for a muzzleloader season that will most likely be designated to occur during the Archery-Only season. As I write this the bill draft has not been written but I hope again our grassroots efforts will have paid dividends.

I hope we will have been successful in protecting our treasured ArcheryOnly Season while still providing opportunities for those of all walks of life that want to bowhunt.

And as if this challenging legislative session were not enough, we will most likely have had to postpone our 2021 MBA convention for a time later in the year when it will be possible to hold an event when “social interaction” is not to be a concern. Social interaction is the reason we have our Convention.

These are most challenging times but remember the words of the famous philosopher Red Green, “I’m pull’n for ya, we’re all in this together” Jerry Davis

Jerry Davis Claudia Davis

Treasurer’sMessage

Ithought I would share with you my daily prayer: Dear God, please don’t ever let there be another crossbow bill come before the Montana Legislature. Amen.

I am a board member by default. My contract to provide bookkeeping services to MBA requires me to serve as the board treasurer. I would not choose this. I am not a bowhunter. How did I get here, you ask? As you all may know I’m living with an MBA board member by the name of Jerry Davis. He strongly urged me to take the bookkeeping job when I retired. I thought, “Well, serving on the board is something we can do together.” As a dutiful wife, I’m always looking for things we can do together. Of course, it is always something he’s doing that I join in, but that’s a story for another column.

Oh hell, I’ll just tell you one little story since I have the space to fill up. When we were newly married (45 years ago) Jerry decided to take a fly-tying course. I said, “I’ll join you.” Crazy thinking that it would be something we could do together. He agreed as he was thinking that while he is fishing (I’m not a fly fisher) I would be on the creek bank tying flies to match the hatch. To all the women reading this you are thinking, “How selfish”. The men are thinking, “How smart”. My plan didn’t work because after the class was done Jerry spent all his free time tying flies and I was left out. (Watch for more stories in upcoming issues) So here I am serving on a board for bowhunters.

You may know Jerry as a calm, mild-mannered, level-headed senior citizen. And most of the time you would be right. But every other year I get to see a different person. (He heads the Legislative Committee and lobbies during the Legislative session) This last month he has stomped and cussed around worrying about issues affecting bowhunters. As that dutiful wife, I have learned to listen and try to calm when I can. And as a board member, I understand his frustration. Henceforth, my daily prayer. I’m wondering how many other spouses, children, neighbors are praying the same. Maybe if enough prayers are said, they will be answered in the way we wish.

Taking care of the finances and membership of the MBA has allowed me to meet some very nice bowhunting people. I have fun imagining these very nice people stomping around their houses, scaring the children, pets, and neighbors. So, to all you very nice people, keep up the hard work. Fight the good fight. Keep recruiting more very nice people into our club so our numbers can speak loudly. Then maybe someday I can change my prayer to something like: Dear God, please help Jerry learn to love shopping at quilt stores. Amen.

Just a quick comment about MBA membership. We use a program called Wild Apricot to maintain our membership rosters. This is also our email blast program. Your email server might treat these email blasts as spam since they are coming from a marketing type program. Or your Gmail might filter them to a “promotions” or “update” tab. So please be sure to check everywhere so you aren’t missing important issues, calls to action, or gentle reminders to renew your membership.

Stay in the credit column, Claudia Davis