Safari Club International - Portland Oregon Chapter

The 2009 Youth Hunt at Clover Creek was a great success. Not only did all of the youth harvest animals from the ranch, but also they recieved an amazing welcome to the ranch with Rodney Smith's amazing bacon cheeseburger dinner. Rodney is on the SCI Board and has donated the Friday night meal for the youth hunt for the past several years not to mention guiding youth on the ranch for the weekend and capturing some great pictures. We have also been blessed for the past several years to have members like Dan Barnard and his son Austin to guide and present hunters safety information so that no one forgets the importance of safety for the weekend. Dan and Austin had lead a great "shoot or don't shoot" game with the group that everyone enjoyed. Dan also provided hunter safety vests and a hat for each participant.

Friday night we also had the pleasure of having Clark Couch, Clover Creek Ranch Owner at the campfire. He has made the Animal Youth Hunt for many youth possible. He also surprised the group with the offer of some trophy animals and we drew names from a hat to see who get the oppurtunity to harvest one of the three trophy animals.

Saturday the hunting began and as youth rolled back into camp with their animals Clark was there to dress out the animal and provided some of his tips and this always turns into an anatomy lesson. For those youth that harvested an animal it was time to work on our first time conservation project with the youth. John Alderman, SCI Board member and Youth committe member, had pre-cut wood for Blue Bird nesting boxes that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife expressed having a need for in some of the wildlife areas. Each participant of the Youth Hunt was required to make a Bird Box after his or her hunting was over. John assisted the youth with reading the plans and with the help of some of the participants siblings we left with 12 bird boxes that we will deliver to the game departemtn to place in the needed areas. They also provided us with education material about wildlife and other oppurtunities for enhancing wildlife that we passed on the participants in indvidiual packets. This was also a time that we discussed the importance of staying involved and SCI's mission and hunter's contribution to the protection of wildlife to ensure future hunting oppurtunities.

This trip was full of firsts; first coservation project with our youth hunt, first vegetarian hunter guided by Rodney Smith and the first youth archer guided by John Alderman at the ranch.

Thank you to the following guides (SCI Members) that donated their time and knowledge to make this another great experience for not only the yout but for their families: Dan and Austin Barnard, Dale Matthews, Rodney Smith and John Alderman.

Important Dates to Remember:
April 17, 2010 19th Annual Banquet and Fundraiser

2010 Pacific Northwest Sportsmen's show.
Portland Expo Center
February 10-14, 2010
Put on by O'Loughlin Trade Shows

This is the largest Sportsmen's show in the United States, it features everything to do with Hunting. Fishing, Marine Outfitters, Camping, Taxidermists, Art, New Equipment and much more. This is a can't miss event for outdoorsmen, families and kids.

SCI will have a booth in the lobby space #50 for our sensory safari (sight impaired kids) and on teh main floor space #1229. So if you want to see what SCI is all about drop by. We protect the rights of hunters worldwide.

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Children between the ages of 10-16 years are welcome to apply
(Children under 10 years are negotiable depending on previous experience.

• Activities start Friday Evening August 21st and go through to Sunday August 23rd.
• The hunt will be at Clover Creek Ranch, near Madras OR

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A great oppurtunity to leisurely visit the extensive trophy musem of Mr. and Mrs. Stromberg. This is our annual members' meeting so there will be SHORT reports by the President and Treasurer and the counting of ballots.

The Stromberg Museum is noted for its extensive collection of more than two dozen to 10 SCI record trophies; the extensive Tower of Elk; the 100,000+ year old cave bear skeleton; blade collection; extensive and unique objects de arte including the one-of-a-kind 19th century African Tribal kings' beaded chair plus over 565 mounted trophies from all over the globe. Come and see the new arrivals, see old friends and make new friends. Raffles of course!

As I start my first term as your president I want to take this time and thank Dale Matthews for all his support and guidance; He has helped lay a good foundation for the chapter.

The Portland chapter will once again be using our resources for conservation, educational and humanitarian projects. In addition to that we are going to do more things for the youth in our chapter.

We would also like to get more involvement from the women in our chapter. Our Sables representative is Chris Matthews who can be reached at @tds.net, she needs your ideas and support.

Our 2009 fund-raiser will be March 14th, 2009 at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas, OR. It opens at 3:00 PM and dinners is served at 6:00 PM. We plan on having a much expanded ladies and youth offering at the fund-raiser. More information to follow in upcoming newsletters.

Good Hunting,
Doug Stromberg

Come and visit the SCI Portland Chapter booth at the annual Pacific Northwest Sportsman Show, February 4 - 8, 2009 at the Portland Expo Center. We will be in booth 1229 and in the outside lobby in booth 50 with our Sensory Safari. Anyone wishing to volunteer time to man either booth should contact Doug Stromberg at 503-684-1613, Katrina Alderman at 360-225-4463 or Dale Matthews at 360-231-4381. For more information on this Sportsman Show and other O'loughlin Trade Shows visit their website at: http://www.oloughlintradeshows.com/