Volume XV Issue II

OFFICERS

President: Norm Pinard

Vice President: Tim Layman

Secretary: Harry Whitney

Treasurer: Frank Knowles

Sergeant at Arms: Bob

Hartford

February 2020

ADVISORY BOARD

Richard Gorman Thru 2020

Ernie Howard Thru 2020

Ed Knowles Thru 2020

Wally Paige Thru 2021

Mike Plourde Thru 2020

COMMITTEES

Archery: Scott Rogers

Boy Scouts: Rob Lopez

By-Laws: Ed Knowles

Building: Frank Knowles

Grounds: Richard Gorman

Hunter Ed: Brian Quist

Kitchen: Norm Pinard

Newsletter: Tim Layman

Range: Eric Rivard

Space town Beagle Club:

Richie Houde

Town Fair: Tim Layman

Ways & Means: Elected Officers

Web Site: Brian Handley

The fee for RSC membership renewal is due between April 1st and April 30th. This newsletter is

your official notice and there is no grace period beyond these dates. If your dues are not received by

April 30th, your membership will end. To rejoin, you will be considered in the order your app. is re-

ceived. Regular /Associate dues are $96 and Senior Regular/Associate dues are $48. All members are

subject to a $100 surcharge if you did not log 12 work hours during the membership year and that is

due along with your annual fees. Harry Whitney, the RSC Secretary, keeps the list of work hours.

If you mail your dues to PO Box 725 Raymond, NH 03077 you must meet the following criteria, or

your check will be returned to you. Your payment must include your current mailing address, phone

number and email address (if you have one). Enclose the original copy of the new “Range Rules” dis-

claimer that will be sent to all email recipients in March. You also need to enclose a copy of your NRA

member card and a 55-cent postage stamp with your dues so your card and key can be sent to you.

I was contacted recently by the New

Hampshire Wildlife Federation in an effort to

alert our membership to the danger of the

proposed changes that NH House Bill 1571

will make to the nomination process for the

Fish & Game Commission of our fine state.

Currently, nominees for open spots

on the F&G Commission come from a board

assembled in each county exclusively from

members of “sporting clubs,” like Raymond

Sportsman’s Club. Sporting Clubs are defined

as “an organization which has specific interests in

hunting, fishing, trapping, wildlife, and habitat

conservation [and] which has been registered with

the department of state for at least 2 consecutive

years.” A Fish and Game Commissioner is

charged with the great responsibility of regu-

lating all hunting, fishing and trapping activi-

ty in New Hampshire and it is essential to

have an individual who has expertise, experi-

ence and a demonstrated passion in the field

that they are going to regulate. It makes

sense to me and it is also the very same way

the NH Wildlife Federation sees it.

The key objection to the proposed HB

1571 is the addition of “ conservation organiza-

tions, and non-consumptive recreational clubs with

membership” to the organizations that can form

a board in each county and nominate individ-

uals to the post of Fish & Game Commission-

er. There are two rubs with this proposal,

First, is that non consumptive areas of recrea-

tion like kayaking, off roading and hiking all

have their own boards or state agencies to voice

their concerns. The second, and more important

rub, is that these additions were proposed and

are supported by anti hunting groups, large-

ly because it will make it easier for them to

seed anti hunting proponents on to the county

boards that nominate individuals for the posi-

tion of F&G Commissioner.

What can we do? The NH Wildlife Fed-

eration Executive director, Tara Gitau, strongly

suggests we voice our opposition to HB-1571 by

calling Rep. Cathryn Harvey at 603 363-4424

or e mail the committee at House-

FishandGameCommitee@leg.state.nh.us Rep-

resentative Harvey is a registered Democrat, is

in favor of stricter gun laws and votes 98% of

the time with the Democratic party. It appears

her involvement with this bill is to support her

stand on tougher gun legislation, because her

record shows little to no involvement in the

environmental issues facing NH now and in the

recent past. Below is the

url address to access HB 1571. Please let your

voice be heard, even if it is a couple of sentences

in an

email.http://gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/bill

Text.aspx?id=1377&txtFormat=html&sy=2020

Tim Layman

Wednesday, November 6th was my day off at work and I

just had to get out and go hunting. I really wanted to

hunt my favorite stand, which has always produced for

me later in the day, usually in the afternoon. But on this

Wednesday, the wind and the weather was perfect for an

early morning hunt. I

knew I was going

against my better

judgement, but with

the cool morning,

southerly winds and

the rut coming into

full swing, I decided

to head to my best

stand for a daybreak

hunt.

Once I reached my stand and got everything situated, I

began my vigil, exploring shadows and trying to sculp

real live deer out of pre-dawn outlines. By 9:30am I had

seen no action at all and began to regret having chosen

Hello, fellow Raymond Sportsman’s Club and

Spacetown Beagle Club members! I have been experi-

encing a little bit of the “Winter Blahs,” so I thought I

would reflect on this past hunting season to give my

spirit a boost.

The season started out with our annual hare adven-

ture, up in Pitts-

burgh NH. The

first photo to the

left, pictures my

two grandsons.

On the left is Jer-

emy, who is from

Maine and on the

right is Sam, who

lives in New

Hampshire. In the second photo is my good friend

“Mr. Bigfoot,” who is standing guard over my two

grandsons and a couple other close friends Ken Head,

Jim Bilodeau and his son Jim Jr.

The hounds ran

well on this trip,

but the weather

was unusually

hot, and I only

managed to bag

one hare along

with a few shots

at others.

When we got to Jefferson New

Hampshire, we found that a

healthy population of beavers

had taken over our hunting are-

as. Jimmy Bilodeau kept the

boys busy beating the brush in

search of those wascal wabbits.

Since it was a beautiful weather

weekend, the “leaf peepers” were

out peeping everywhere we

went. Despite the unexpected

company, we had a lot of fun and

plenty of laughs.

Before I knew it, deer season

was here. In the deer scale photo is a 103-pound doe I

harvested with my muzzleloader. In the last photo is my

friend Al Valdes, and the doe he took with his crossbow

that weighed in a little bigger than mine at 110 pounds.

Al Valdes, Ken Head, Jim Bilodeau and of course I, are

all members of Raymond Sportsman’s Club or Spacetown

Beagle Club. Well…. that’s it for now.

Yours in the Sport,

Richie Houde

my afternoon honey spot for my only morning out.

Then, all of a sudden, over my left shoulder I noticed a

deer moving very quickly through the woods. It was

moving in my direction with its nose pinned in the air

and that is when I saw its oversized neck and a nice set

of antlers. To my surprise and delight, the buck sudden-

ly stopped about twenty yards away standing broadside

offering me a textbook shot. I slowly picked up my bow

and within a few moments I was certain I had harvest-

ed another beautiful New Hampshire buck. It turns out

the buck was an 8-

point that weighed

in at 181.3 and is

sure to be a proud

addition to my tro-

phy room.

Guy Cilluffo

PAGE 3 VOLUME XV ISSUE I I

FUTURE EVENT DATES

Elected Officer Nominations

President: Norm Pinard Vice President: Tim Layman Secretary: Harry Whitney Treasurer: Frank Knowles Sergeant at Arms: Bob Hartford

Advisory Board, 3yr: Mike Cramer Ed Knowles Richard Gorman Mike Plourde Advisory Board, 1yr: Mike Cramer Ernie Howard Richard Gorman Ed Knowles John Gulstrom Mike Plourde

50 / 50 Drawings

Game Dinner & Raffle February 15th,

2020

-Wild Game Potluck Dinner

-Raymond Sportsman’s Club & Space town Beagle Club

co-sponsored raffle

-Please refer o the flyer in this newsletter.

Regular Club Meeting February 19th, 2020

RSC Annual Meeting March 4th, 2020 -

-Voting for all elected officials on this night

Regular Club Meeting March 18th, 2020

Turkey Hunter Ed Course March 28th, 2020

- Turkey hunter Mentoring program shotgun patterning

- Rifle Range closed from Noon-3pm

Regular Club Meeting April 1st, 2020

Boy Scout Leadership Training April 3-5, 2020

-Clubhouse & Pavilion area in use

Regular Club Meeting April 15th, 2020

RSC Hunter Ed Field Day April 25th, 2020

-All ranges closed until 4pm

50/50 Drawing: February 5th, 2020 Won by: Don Crete

50/50 Drawing: February 19th, 2020 Won by: David O’Neal

Pistol Shoot

Officers: President: Norm covered the dates for future events. He asked Ed Knowles to fine tune a disclaimer that Mike

Cramer suggested new and renewing members sign surrounding range rules. Norm told everyone that

the Game Dinner was a fun time and thanked Wayne Welch & Sig for contributions to the raffle.

Vice President: Tim recognized previous years contributors to the Game Dinner Raffle and appealed to attending

members to contribute gifts to the raffle. He also addressed New Hampshire House Bill 1571 that

proposes to change the credentials of Fish & Game Committee member nominees from being drawn

from “Sporting Clubs” exclusively to adding “Non-consumptive recreational clubs” which can include

hiking groups, ATV groups and even bird watching groups. The NH Wildlife Federation strongly

opposes this move since the F&G commission is entirely responsible for managing hunting and

fishing laws in NH and these new groups would be easy to seed with anti-hunting members that

know little about the sports.

Secretary: Harry has entered upcoming dates on the website and has updated members work hours log.

Treasurer: Frank has club addressed magazines available.

Sergeant at Arms: Bob said he found the front door to the clubhouse open and the kitchen lights on & no one around.

Advisory Board: Ed Knowles asked why water puddled in the center of the parking lot. Tim explained the center drain.

Committees:

Archery: GSB has decided to add a new open class allowing the use of rangefinders.

Boy Scouts: Tim addressed the recent news of Boy Scouts of America filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy in order for

the national organization to set up funding for former abuse victims.

Building: Waiting for warmer weather

By Laws: Nothing to Report

Grounds: Nothing to Report

Hunter’s Ed: Brian got word to Norm that he is considering April 25th and August 22nds for Hunter Ed dates.

Kitchen: Norm says he is all set.

Newsletter: Tim stated he has been buried with work, but will get a February newsletter out in a week or so. He

also noted that there are members who for no apparent reason have stopped receiving email communication

and he has begun to research it with a couple active members who are victims.

Range: Eric Rivard created the new 2020 firearms shoot schedule. Also, John Davenport proposed a new .22

rimfire shooting night, the 2nd Tuesday of each month, beginning May 14th. The membership endorsed.

Scott Rogers and Tim Layman plan to enlist a limited number of Boy Scouts in the monthly event.

Space Town: Nothing much going on right now, according to Richie Houde.

Town Fair: Tim requested the use of the bingo tent for the “Bird Lady” on Sunday early morning of the fair and the attending members approved.

Website: Absent,

Other:

Unfinished Business: Tim asked Mike Cramer for a list of prices of RSC apparel to publish in the newsletter.

New Business: Frank Knowles requested $500 to purchase a new laptop for the club to transfer all the financial records

from his home computer to a portable unit. The membership agreed.

Committee Reports February 2020