PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

PRESIDENT - STEPHEN LEPAGE 1ST VICE PRESIDENT - BRIAN KOELZER 2ND VICE PRESIDENT - MARK SCHWOMEYER TREASURER - CLAUDIA DAVIS SECRETARY - JERRY DAVIS President’s Message

This has been the legislative session from hell regarding the crossbow bill SB 111. As of this writing we have seen the bill successfully tabled in the House Human Services committee, then there was a motion to bring the bill back in the same committee and that failed. On 4/27 there was a motion on the House Floor to bring it back again, which failed. I believe this is the definition of a “Zombie” bill as it will not die. Hopefully, this was the double tap to the brain for this bill, because your legislative committee is tired and does not appreciate this Walking Dead bill.

As an organization acting as a vanguard for bowhunting issues, we do a poor job of letting non-MBA-member bowhunters know of our accomplishments. In fact, I would guess that most bowhunters did not even know that this problematic legislation was even introduced. Please help us get the word out: let your bowhunting buddies know that we are out there promoting and protecting bowhunting in the great state of Montana.

On another note, our banquet has moved from delayed to completely cancelled. I am disappointed by this, but we are hoping to have our largest banquet ever in the spring of 2022. We will have three years of accumulated prizes and auction items, so it should be something to behold. After two years of no banquet (our largest fundraiser), the MBA’s coffers are running a bit low, but we are still financially sound. We will continue to fight for you bowhunting opportunities and continue our great programs, such as helping disabled bowhunters to enjoy bowhunting.

The MBA Carp Safari will be held at Canyon Ferry at Hellgate campground on June 12th. If you have not attended one of these before, I highly recommend it. Let’s all hope the weather and carp cooperate.

By the time this is published you will have voted for your new board of directors and I would like to welcome any new board members to the team.

I will finish this out with something that I find quite hilarious–the MBA has been labeled a “green decoy” by some slanderous, half-baked blogger/website. If you have not heard of the term green decoy, it refers to the idea that we are a bunch of anti-hunting, ultra-left leaning, greenies that get all our funding from out-of-state, environmentalist groups to secretly try to abolish all forms of hunting and fishing. Such a conspiracy theory is laughable. One look at the MBA’s accomplishments or even the photos contained in this newsletter would dispel any thoughts of this. If uniting Montana’s bowhunters to protect and promote bowhunting is a green decoy, I will gladly wear that hat.

Good luck this spring with turkey and bear!

Sincerely, Stephen LePage

First Vice President’sReport

Spring has finally sprung and with it’s arrival a sense of newness and growth spreads over the land. Next to fall this is certainly my second favorite time to spend in the outdoors. Although I’m not much of a turkey hunter, I enjoy looking for bears, shed horns, and scouting for signs from the previous fall. Any excuse to take the bow for a walk is acceptable but there is something about cool spring mornings giving way to warm afternoons that is very agreeable to me. Fawns and calves hitting the ground, trees and flowers budding, grass greening up, all these things that represent birth and rejuvenation never cease to amaze me.

Speaking of birth, my wife Kara and I welcomed our second son into the world early in the afternoon of April 9th. Although a few weeks early, Schafer Clayton Koelzer popped out at 7 lbs 13 oz, and both mom and babe are doing great! Our oldest son, Bowen, is pretty excited to be a big brother as well although there have been a few moments I can tell he hasn’t been too sure about having to share mom and dad with another little human.

One of Bo’s favorite books is about a family going on a “bear hunt,” so on the morning of Saturday April 17 I asked Bo if he wanted to go for a hike in the hills and look for a bear. This was met with a very enthusiastic “yes!” so after a big breakfast we got our stuff gathered and headed out to go “bear hunting.” Upon parking the truck at a good friends barn we loaded up our pack with fruit snacks, apple sauce, and lots of water. Since we’re in the middle stages of potty training, wet wipes and a spare diaper went in too. Upon hoisting the 35 pound pack full of child, snacks, and necessities I knew if nothing else I was going to get a workout!

The first little ridge we climbed had some thick aspen pockets that we flushed a few whitetail from much to Bo’s delight. I carried my favorite Silvertip recurve and we shot judo arrows at sagebrush to add to the authenticity of the hunt. We had a decent wind blowing in our face and after the last steep pull to get to the top of the ridge we bumped a moose out of a small patch of timber, and as it ambled down the ridge, Bo started yelling “moosh! moosh! moosh!” and pointing at the departing beast. After a short discussion about the virtues of being quiet while hunting we continued on. We angled up the spine of the ridge and after a few hundred yards peeked into a nice basin that always holds game. Several mule deer grazed 75 yards below us and Bo suggested I shoot at them by whispering “bew, bew” and pointing their way. I told him we were going to let these ones live and keep looking for a bear. By this time, we’d been “hunting” for a while and I figured it was a good time for a snack. Bo didn’t argue about getting out of the pack and after fruit snacks and water we climbed on an old blowdown and threw pine cones down the hill. I knew nap time was quickly approaching so we loaded up and started our descent back to the truck. I barely got him buckled in his car seat and he was fast asleep. We took a slow ride home and the tired little hunter didn’t even wake up when being transferred from the truck to his bed. It was the best hunt I’ve been on in a while.

It’s been a hectic legislative session and I’ll let you read about that elsewhere in this issue but I want to thank everyone for the tireless effort put forth trying to promote and preserve Montana’s archery opportunities.

Lastly, if anyone would like to nominate someone for one of our awards please send me an email by May 15 as we are planning to announce the recipients at Carp Safari.

Have a great spring and I hope to see as many of you as possible at Canyon Ferry!!

Brian Koelzer