Ice fishing tournament leads upcoming events in the Valley

Here’s a reminder of some events and the dates I mentioned in previous columns and a few new dates and events you might want to make a note of. We’ll start with the ice-fishing events first.

The Still Cold Open Tournament began on Big Lake this past Jan. 13 and continues Feb. 10, Feb. 24, and March 11, concluding on Championship Sunday, March 12. This is a team tournament, requiring two people per team with registration fees. For a complete list of rules, fees, and requirements, stop off at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Wasilla or check with Burkeshore Marina on Big Lake.

The second ice-fishing activity is scheduled for tomorrow, Feb. 3, on Finger Lake near Palmer. Derby headquarters will be the Elks Lodge No. 1842, located on the shore of Finger Lake. This fourth Annual MDA Ice Fishing for a Cure Derby is a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Awards will be presented to the top three rankings in two categories: adult and youth (ages 5 to 12). Information and fee costs for this derby are also available at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Wasilla. Registration begins at 8:00 am the day of the derby at the Elks Lodge on Finger Lake. The fishing event runs from 9:00 am to 2 p.m.

I hope the winds die down before this Saturday!

Now to the gun show dates. The Matanuska Valley Sportsman’s Gun Show is scheduled for next weekend, Feb. 10-11, at Raven Hall on the Palmer Fair Grounds. If you need further information about fees or vendor space availability, contact Kelly Mears at 907-232-3447.

The Palmer Lions Club Gun Show is scheduled for March 3-4, again at Raven Hall on the Palmer Fair Grounds. For more information, you can call Bert Verral at 907-360-8428 or email him at lionbert.44@gmail.com.

Yet another gun show is scheduled for March 17-18 at the Chugiak - Eagle River Senior Center in Chugiak. The show is sponsored by the Chugiak - Eagle River Senior Center. For more information on this show, contact Monika Dahlberg at 907-688-2683 or you can email cscadm@mtaonline.net.

As an aside, I attended the Wasilla hockey booster’s gun show and scored another good deal. I’ve been eyeing a stand-alone 10-gauge shotshell resizing tool on the internet but was hesitant to order it. If I had ordered it from a major outdoor equipment supplier, the cost would have been $134 plus shipping and it was a special-order item. If I went to the tool manufacturer’s website and ordered, it would have cost $152 plus shipping. I found one at the gun show in virtually new condition for $50. Guess what I brought home!

I’m a little excited about this next event which is scheduled to happen in Anchorage about the third week in June. As I mentioned before, I was selected to a seat on the ADF&G’s Hunter Information and Training (HIT) Section, Hunter Education Advisory Council. As a member, I was asked to help with the week-long International Hunter Education Association’s (IHEA) annual conference, to be held this year in Alaska. I think this might be the first time this international conference has ever been hosted by Alaska.=

I attended a somewhat similar conference in Portland, back when I was working for the Sport Fish Division’s Boating Access program. The chance to meet other professionals working in the same field from all over the country and learn how they were addressing problems and concerns like what we were facing here in Alaska was informative and invigorating, to say the least.

This IHEA conference will have state hunter education administrators from all over the United States, as well as some hunter education volunteer instructors accompanying them as well. I would expect to see some Canadian hunter education folks and possibly some Mexican administrators too.

I understand Dallas Seavey will give the keynote address and the national hunter education instructor of the year award will presented. Alaska usually has a nominee for this award and it would be great if that instructor were to win on his home turf!

There is a registration fee and, I expect, some other Alaskan hunter education instructors will attend as well as the five HIT advisory committee members. The conference will be held at the Hilton hotel. We (the AC members) have already checked and ties are not required. The attire will be business-casual. That, for me, means one of my HIT program hunter education shirts and a clean pair of Carhartt’s. That works for me!