There was a full house at the Elks Hall Saturday night for the annual Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association awards banquet and auction fundraiser.
There were lots of interesting items in the silent auction including art work, a fancy fire pit enclosure, a beautiful log bench and much more.
Members donate the meat for the banquet which was catered this year by Alison Mann and company.
The menu included an exotic mix of sweet and sour cougar, moose lasagna, elk and bear meatballs with yams, buffalo stroganoff, curried deer, salmon, trout, salads and more.
The Sportsmen’s Association is a non-profit society dedicated to the conservation of natural resources and the preservation of hunting, fishing and shooting sports.
The club currently has 565 members, the largest membership ever, says member Judy Jenkins.
The annual banquet and auction help to pay for development and maintenance of the clubhouse and shooting ranges on Bond Lake Road.
The club has ranges for shotgun, rifle, small bore and handgun and holds CORE (hunter training) courses, Firearms Safety Courses and hand-loading courses, and offers opportunities for shooting practice and many competitions.
RCMP, Conservation Officers, Fisheries officers and Cadets all use the club facilities for training and certification. The Cariboo Archers also share ranges with the Sportsmen.
The awards banquet honours members who have taken game in fair chase for food and for trophy or size attributes as well as honouring volunteers who put in untold hours of work on behalf of conservation and club activities, Jenkins says.
Awards were presented by Moe Monita and announced by club president Barry Jenkins.
There were no trophies presented this year in the categories of caribou, wolf, cougar, non-typical mule deer, California Big Horn Sheep, junior black bear, or archery black bear.
Lorne Barron won the WLSA Sportsman of the Year Award for his contributions to the club.
Wayne Biffert won the Jack MacKill Memorial Trophy Conservation Award.
Junior Trout: first Kyle Gysel 7 lbs. 2 oz; second Nicholas Gysel, 4 lbs. 8 oz.
Rainbow Trout: first Roger Gysel, 7 lbs. 1 oz.
Trout Fly Fishing Only: Kyle Gysel, 6 lbs. 7 oz.
Junior Spring Salmon: first, Kyle Gysel, 28 lbs. 5 oz.; second Brayden Feeley, 23 lbs.
Lake Trout: first, Bob Coates, 19 lbs.
Spring Salmon: first Dave Cassidy, 32 lbs.
Junior Mule Deer: first, Kyle Gysel, 149 5/8; second, Taylor Pigeon, 125 2/8.
Mule Deer Typical: first, Chad Drisdelle, 160 6/8; second, Rick Wilde, 139 2/8.
Mule Deer Typical Archery: first, Al Campsall, 115 1/8; second, Markus Richter, 110 5/8.
Mule Deer Typical Ladies: first, Debra Barron, 83 3/8.
Aggregate Archery: first, Danny Cooper, 84, moose.
Typical Whitetail: first, Moe Monita, 88 7/8.
Moose Junior: first, Kyle Pigeon, 114 3/8.
Moose: first, Roy Slavens, 151 1/8; second, Lorne Barron, 147 4/8.
Black Bear: first, Markus Richter, 19 15/16; second, Markus Richter, 16 14/16.
Mountain Goat: first John Walker, 40/48.
Grizzly Bear: first, Jeff Knox, 23 5/16.
Elk: first, Moe Monita, 207 3/8.
Canada Goose: first, Lorne Barron, 62-inch wing span.
Open Big Game: first, Markus Richter, 105 per cent.
The Cariboo Archers honourable plaque was present to Danny Cooper for his moose scoring of 114 taken with a bow.
