CDA Southern California Chapter
Sponsors Deer Hunting Clinic
On April 5, 2014, CDA’s
Southern California Chapter and
Alpen Optics sponsored a deer
hunting clinic which was hosted
by the Apple Valley Gun Club
(AVGC).
DFW Lt. Dan Lehman, who
is in charge of all the Advanced
Hunting Clinics in California, coordinated this clinic. CDA members Lyle Drenth, Don Shackleford, Christian Guntert and Tom
Barton, plus Hunter Education
instructors David and Tom Birch,
Thomas Davis and John Scruggs,
assisted Lt. Lehman.
AVGC member and National
Muzzle Loading Rifle California
Regional Representative James
Madry assisted at both being the
BBQ Chef and muzzleloading rifle
instructor. Ben Smith, a representative and biologist from the Institute for Wildlife Studies, gave a
presentation on deer biology and
later a live demo of lead-based vs.
non-lead ammunition using water
jugs and ballistic gelatin.
The day started for the 28
attendees with Lt. Lehman giving a presentation on game laws
and common violations. Smith
also presented information on
deer biology and while he did his
presentation, a big “meat” goat
was dispatched and made ready
for the class to have hands-on
instruction on traditional fielddressing, skinning, meat preservation in the field, as well as meat
processing.
Following lunch there was a
raffle drawing for an Alpen Optics Spotting Scope. Other items
were also included so that everyone won something with their
lunch ticket, including the goat
meat!
Thanks to Guntert, a special raffle was also held for two
knives — a handmade (in America!) Battle Horse drop-point knife
and an SOG knife! Runners-up
in this raffle received a Z-Blade
16
California Deer
Field Dressing Kit donated by
Drenth and Lt. Lehman.
The afternoon activities featured a lead-based (Nosler Partition) vs. non-lead (Barnes Copper
TSX) bullet demonstration by
Smith that was very interesting
as it showed how small leadparticles can be distributed in the
meat of the game that we harvest.
The class then broke into
groups for a “round robin”
instruction at different stations
that consisted of an Optics Use
by Guntert, Blood Trailing and
Tracking by Drenth, Archery by
Tom Birch and George Ellison,
and lastly, Muzzleloading Introduction by Madry and David
Birch. The muzzleloading station was very popular and the
students got quite a “kick” out of
loading and shooting the muzzleloaders.
Afterwards the class concluded with a final Q&A and quite a
few participants stayed around
to talk about deer hunting and
to shoot the muzzleloaders one
more time!
Thanks to DFW Lt. Dan
Lehman for coming to Southern
California and giving us the opportunity for this clinic. We hope
to see him again next year.
Field of Dreams!
In 2013, this young lady was able
to experience the outdoors through
the Field of Dreams project that
provides an outdoor experience for
special needs children. You can see
the excitement on her face the evening before the event as she holds
her new fishing pole and tackle box.
CDA and DFW SHARE funds
help to sponsor this project.
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CDA booth at the 2014 International Sportsman’s Exposition in Sacramento.