Posts by: Vernon Fish & Game Club

Annual Awards & Game Banquet

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The Vernon Fish & Game Club and thrilled to announce that we are planning to reinstate our annual awards and game banquet on March 15th, 2025!  More details will be announced in the new year, but mark this date in your calendars!

CWD Drop-off freezer now available in Vernon

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We are pleased to announce that the Vernon Fish & Game Club, thanks to the generous support of our members and dedicated Board, have set up a local CWD drop-off freezer.

The freezer is located at: Meier’s Building Products, 8711 Kalamalka Road, Coldstream

The freezer is available 24/7 for hunters to drop off harvested cervid heads.

For more details on submitting samples, go to: Instructions for submitting harvest locations

Visit the surveillance and testing page to learn more about:  

Okanagan Region CWD Incentive Program 2024

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The Okanagan Region of the BC Wildlife Federation (OKBCWF) is pleased to announce that we’re once again offering an incentive program with cool prizes for hunters that submit cervid heads for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) testing.

With the threat of CWD on our doorstep, and the latest positive case of CWD being north of Spokane Washington, we need at least 300 samples per year from Region 8 to have confidence that our region is CWD-free.

Thanks to the generous support of our OKBCWF member clubs and Westside Stores, we’re offering a free entry into a random draw for every 2024 Region 8 hunter-harvested cervid head (white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose) that is submitted to an Okanagan drop-off location for CWD testing.

The Okanagan’s Regional CWD Coordinator will supply us with all the ear tag serial numbers from CWD samples submitted, from which three lucky winners will be randomly drawn. This will ensure your anonymity, as only contact information will be supplied to OKBCWF for the winners of our draw. The draw will be held in early 2025.

Eligible head samples will be collected from Okanagan drop-off locations, which can be found at:
Drop-off locations for testing

For more information, check our our poster. Members are encouraged to share this information with your network!

Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance and testing

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Preventing the spread of CWD in B.C.

Chronic Wasting Disease has been confirmed in the Kootenay Region. New regulations are in place for the 2024 hunting season to support CWD surveillance and help to prevent the disease from spreading to new areas. Detailed information is available on the website in the link above; there are too many details to list here. Hunters are strongly encouraged to go to these links and review the information before hunting this season. Some of the new regulations include transportation restrictions and mandatory testing.

Be aware that there are mandatory submissions for CWD in highest-risk areas and voluntary submission everywhere else.

Submission of samples for CWD testing is mandatory for white-tailed & mule deer harvested in MUs 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6, 4-7, 4-8, 4-23, 4-24 and 4-25 within one week of harvest, but hunters are encouraged to provide samples after harvesting a deer anywhere in B.C.

Find a drop-off location near you

For more information go to: BCWF Chronic Wasting Disease Initiative

POSTER: CWD Response

The Vernon Fish and Game Club will be setting up a drop-off location for submission of samples. Anyone who has a freezer they could donate to the club is requested to contact Randy.

WEBINAR: Chronic Wasting Disease in B.C.

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Tuesday, August 20th, 7:00PM

The first two positive cases of Chronic Wasting Disease have been detected in British Columbia. What now?

Join Cait Nelson, Wildlife Health Biologist at the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, for this important webinar that will provide an update on CWD response and management in British Columbia.

Cait will be presenting on the following topics:

  • Understanding the outbreak
  • Importance of surveillance
  • What you need to know for this hunting season
  • Your role in CWD management

Registration is free: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VKncUMfSTqSJSaFj8hS04Q

BCWF Town Hall Meeting August 15th @ 7pm

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Club members and public alike are all welcome to join us for the Town Hall meeting on August 15th at the Coldstream Community Hall. The meeting will start at 7pm.

This event is co-hosted by the Lumby Club and Vernon Club, to have representatives from the BCWF talk to us about the upcoming Provincial Election. Read below for details from the BCWF website, or go to: https://bcwf.bc.ca/bc2024/

Please save a copy of this poster and share with your network! This meeting is open to everyone.

Put Wildlife First

What to Expect

With a provincial election certain to be called this year, the B.C. Wildlife Federation is bringing your concerns to the top of the campaign agenda. BCWF will press each and every candidate to commit to a management and funding model that will conserve and protect wildlife, with science as its foundation.

We will insist that candidates and parties put wildlife first in their platform. We will engage with candidates, hold town halls, and encourage our members to vote with wildlife in mind. We will ensure that you know which candidates and parties are committed to independent, science-based resource management, with transparent, legislated objectives for improvement.

Too many of British Columbia’s iconic species are in decline, with populations of steelhead and caribou at risk of extinction. Vital habitat, watersheds, and wetlands are in peril and potentially catastrophic infestations of invasive species are barely at bay, threatening fragile ecosystems.

The proportion of B.C.’s budget allocated for natural resource management has been in decline for 50 years, leaving wildlife monitoring, management, and habitat restoration chronically underfunded. The BCWF is demanding change from elected officials before our iconic wildlife species disappear forever.

VFGC Annual General Meeting May 21 2024

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The AGM was held on May 21, 2024 at the range. 24 members were present for the meeting, to hear the reports from last year and enjoy a BBQ (thanks to Clint!). Reports were presented from each of the disciplines, OKBCWF, BCWF AGM as well as the President’s Report.

Please click here to read the President’s Report from Randy Meier.

The elections were held, and the VFGC welcomes the new Board of Directors for 2024-2025! Our thanks to the outgoing Board members for their time and service to the Club.

The 2024-2025 elected Board of Directors are:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
President: Randy Meier
Vice President: Paul Van Hooydonk
Secretary: Phyllis Bowman
Treasurer: (appointed position – to be appointed at the next Board meeting)
Member at Large: Brian Stacey

DIRECTORS AT LARGE
Bernhard Huber
Bob Wiggins
Chris Leir
Clint Ingham
Don Henrickson
Kevin Haggerty
Leon Meier
Murray Nesbitt
Sat Virk
Wayne Lippert

National Range Day June 01

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The VFGC National Range Day Event will be held on Saturday June 1, 2024. Please note that all ranges will be closed from 6:00am to 4:00pm.


This free event is open to everyone ages 5+, no previous firearm experience is necessary. There will be demonstrations of shooting sports and the opportunity for the public to participate in archery and shooting rifles and pistols. One-on-one instruction is provided, as well as eye and ear protection and a free BBQ lunch.

Visit https://vernonrangeday.ca/ for more information and directions.

We need volunteers for National Range Day!
National Range Day was a massive success in 2023 with over 300 registered participants and 500+ through the gates. We need your help in 2024 for the following positions:

  • 22 pistol supervision 
  • 22 rifle supervision 
  • Running the BBQ 
  • Greeters who direct people to available shooting stations

Volunteers receive a bright green t-shirt, lunch on range day, entry into a volunteer-only prize draw, a volunteer appreciation dinner event and the joy of sharing your passion of archery/shooting with those who’ve never tried it before.

For more information or questions please contact Clint by email [email protected].

Annual General Meeting – May 21

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The Annual General Meeting of the Vernon Fish and Game Club will be held at the rifle range at 6:30pm on May 21, 2024.  The AGM will include annual reports and election of directors.  All members are encouraged to attend!

*There are a limited number of chairs at the range; please bring a chair with you.

Presentation on Invasive Mussels at Okanagan Region BCWF Meeting

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March 20, 2024

The Okanagan Region BC Wildlife Federation is having a General Meeting this Saturday, March 23rd.  The meeting will be held at the Kinsmen CPR Building in Penticton.

During this meeting there will be a presentation on invasive mussels, given by an Inspector with the BC Conservation Officer Service. The Vernon Club has appointed delegates that attend these meetings on behalf of the club, but the meetings are open to all club members. 

Members are encouraged to attend the meeting and listen to the presentation!  This is a very important topic that will impact the entire Okanagan if/when these invasive mussels reach our waterways. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the topic, and ask questions.

The meeting details are below; if you have any questions, please reach out to Alison at [email protected].  

Date: Saturday March 23, 2024
Time: 09:00am
Location: 216 Hastings Ave, Penticton, BC

If you decide to stay for the entire meeting, please note that $10 cash will be required for lunch.  We hope to see our club members on Saturday!