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Recap of the 2023 United Bowhunters of Missouri Festival

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 6:07 am
by dhaverstick
Woowee! Did we have fun or what?!? The UBM Festival was last weekend and if you missed it, you missed out. We had a good crowd on Saturday with lots of bidding on the silent auction items and vendors selling lots of trinkets.

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The seminars that day were also well attended. We learned how to prepare your animal for taxidermy, how to prevent shoulder injuries, and how to get in shape for that next big hunt. MDC rounded out the lineup with a presentation on Missouri's turkey population.

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This young man, Cole Davis, was so impressed that he signed up for a life membership!

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The banquet that evening was awesome with a great keynote speaker, Bryce Olson. He's currently trying to kill the North American 29 with a traditional bow and he told us about his hair-raising polar bear hunt he did a few years ago. He had the crowd on the edges of their seats! To show our appreciation we had member, Joe Todd, paint a portrait of Bryce with his desert bighorn.

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Awards were also handed out. Larry Hudson received the Bowhunter of the Year award. He had a phenomenal season with two huge whitetails and a monster elk. All were taken with a Black Widow recurve he bought at last year's auction that was signed by Ken Beck.
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We started handing out a new award a couple years ago, the Member of the Year award. This is given to a person who is always there to help out but also seems to be in the background. This year's recipient went to Mike Calahan.
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Our favorite award to give out, though, is the Conservation Agent of the Year award. We get candidates from each of the regions across the state and it is always hard to pick just one. This year's winner was Jeff Breuer from St. Louis County.
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I was humbled and honored to take home the Fred Bear award. This one actually goes to the animal, not the hunter, and it is based on the animal being a prime representation of the species. The board of directors thought my Ocellated turkey fit the bill.
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Oh, and I ordered a new custom longbow from Wild Horse Creek Bows. Yes, I know, I am weak.

Darren

Re: Recap of the 2023 United Bowhunters of Missouri Festival

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 6:24 pm
by Greg Felty
Sounds like a great time

Re: Recap of the 2023 United Bowhunters of Missouri Festival

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:42 pm
by Captainkirk
I think your turkey was well-deserving of that trophy, and you as well! That was the hunt you wrote about in TBH Magazine, IIRC. Looks like I missed out on a great weekend, but alas...there were pressing issues here at home (and have been since my mother's recent passing)
Congrats on a well-earned trophy, Darren.

Re: Recap of the 2023 United Bowhunters of Missouri Festival

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2023 6:24 pm
by Carpdaddy
Looks like an awesome event Darren! Thanks for sharing.