Off to the Rendezvous! Looks like possible shower around 10:00 am then chances dropping after that. Anyone on their way should know that we have vendors and all of our demos under roofs. A little rain won't stop the Black Sheep!

Good luck on the rondy...hope the weather holds off for you guys.

I tail gated for a hour or so. It was raining when I set up and raining when I left. It poured all the way back to Oregon. I did make gas money so all was not lost. Might have been around ten trappers that showed.

Ninety trappers in total, Beav! We had a great day, even though it rained hard through most of it. I'm glad you were able to make some money when you had the chance!

We had a good group at every demo (14 to 28 people). We had a lot of fun and our vendors made good money - and so did our district.

The Black Sheep came out and had a great day!!!

Photos coming...

I got some photos from setting up on Friday. We filled up their indoor bow range.




Here is Al from Trappers Trading Post, pretty well set up.


Here is Jerry Meyer's area. (I think he was out with his pup Bandit at the moment!)


This is part of the kitchen area at the Reedsburg Outdoor Club. They have a nice facility and wonderful people who come and serve great food at our rendezvous.


Here is part of the eating area. Note the glass case above the fireplace.


Each district in the WTA has a Henry .22 rifle with a serial number assigned to match our district number and the WTA logo laser engraved in the stock. We opted to donate ours to the Reedsburg Outdoor Club for of their support to our district. They built a glass case to display it. So nice to see it will always be there on display!



A few years back, we gave them this hooped beaver with a laser carved plaque from our district.


This is a fine place. Fine taxidermy too!

On Saturday, our first rendezvous demo was by Mike Bryant on water trapping. Really nice job by Mike.


You may notice one notorious character seated down on the bench in the front row.


Dan Carroll did this demo, part on muskrat skinning and part on turtle trapping. Pouring rain didn't stop anyone. Dan did another demo in the afternoon on coyote trapping. Great stuff as always!


Wayne Smith came out and did a demo on trapping safety. He covered everything from staying alive falling through ice to trap setting and getting out of snapped traps. Really informative and inspiring!


Mike, a member of the 330 club, was still willing to volunteer to help Wayne demonstrate a few of his tricks for getting out of bad situations. I believe Mike has his eyes closed.


Jacob Benesh from Village Gunsmith in Kendall, did a demo on pistol skills for the trapline. It was good hands-on info and he brought some cool gear for practice. I was busy trying out things there and did not get a photo, but I caught Jacob and Caroline afterwards at their tables. Great people.


Despite the rain, the trappers kept coming.



One of our local wardens, Nick Engelhardt, joined us for part of the day. The folks in our district had a great visit with Nick while he was here.


In the end, we had 90 people in attendance, almost all in the pouring rain! What a wonderful bunch of people who contributed to this event.

Nice work guys and gals!

Great job to all who helped and attended. One of these years I'll hopefully make it to one. Patrice are Crawford and Grant counties in D9? I think they are. Although I haven't trapped in over 20 years and I need to change that, I still am on this site daily.

Thanks, MChewk! And thanks for your good luck wishes ahead of the event.

Yes they are, Badger23. Sauk, Richland, Vernon, Crawford, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties. Come and join us sometime!

That's what I was thinking, thanks Patrice.

I just joined the WTA too. I spend more money than $20.00 on dumb things. I didn't get the TrappersPost as I don't seem to read the magazines I do get.

Next time I do this, I will post much earlier that we have vendors, food and demos all in comfortable areas out of the rain. There are a number of people who can be deterred by rain, especially if they think they have to stand out in it. Everyone knows we're the Black Sheep, but they might not know we have luxury accommodations!

It was nice , I didn't take in any of the demos

did get the supplies I needed from Al and a little from Jerry
talked with the Gunsmith kids I know they are adults but I have kids their age.

I didn't see the Beav , I think he had made bank and headed home I was a little late getting there , wife wanted to stop at a farmers market on the way.

good seeing you Patrice and good visit with KSnow

It was good to meet you in person.

I watched the first and last demo, good information in both of them that I hope to put to good use this season.

You did good to learn from the least demo, that is the way it is with books, no matter how good or how bad they are one can always learn something from them.

It was nice to see you there Pete, although I wish I had more time to visit with folks like you. I always call Jacob and Caroline "the kids from Village Gunsmith," so no need to explain. Even though they are so young and unassuming, they have an impressive collection of knowledge and skills. Jacob also shoots in numerous competitions around the country, which would be a topic you know more about than most of us. Anyway, they (and their older family members) have been a great addition to our rendezvous for the past five years.

K Snow, I saw you but I am sorry we never got a chance to visit. I keep thinking I will not be so busy next year...

I should say that I hope any of you from TMan would stop and introduce yourself so I don't miss the opportunity to say hello in person!

you know how you would get more talking and visiting time in ?

not be running the show.

maybe see you when Dist 10 has It's show In Albany on August 24th

maybe the Beav has more info on that

Saturday August 24th at the Albany American Legion. Right on the Sugar river.
Pete you need to join then you would be more Informed.

your not wrong I should join

maybe in August