Saturday, February 1, 2014 Banquet
The annual Arrows & Antlers banquet was another great success. The banquet was once again held on the Saturday of super bowl weekend. All of the members and guests that were present enjoyed the hunting stories and hanging out with fellow hunters.
As usual, the food was fantastic, thanks to Gary Merkes and chef Steve Johnson. This year’s menu featured a variety of venison, elk, bear, turkey, pheasant, shrimp, catfish, bluegill, pike, and walleye. And we washed it all down with 4 – ½ barrels of beer.
We had another great year of generous sponsor donations and door prizes. Steve Will once again donated a free Arrows & Antlers membership. This year it was won by Steve Patterson Jr. The Mission Riot bow was won by Greg Schweppe. The beer/booze/cooler raffle was won by John Gross. Rob Hill of Nature’s Image Taxidermy donated a $500 head mount voucher this year, which was won by Elizabeth Cuff. Arrows & Antlers also purchased a second Mission Riot for a secret final raffle, and David Lebenthal was the lucky winner!
We also raffled off $3,500 in cash prizes, given away as 7-$500 prizes – those winners were: Fran Kilian, Keith Merkes, Chuck Wagner, Buck Hampton, Gary Powley, Steve Heller, and Jeff Johnson.
The winning buck entries were: 1st place – Mitch Merkes (153 4/8), 2nd place – Mike Maly (137 3/8), 3rd place – John Gross (132 3/8), 4th place – Dan Hanson (125 5/8), 5th place – Jeremy Gross (117 5/8), 6th place – Zach Hampton (110 6/8), 7th place – Greg Schweppe (99 2/8).
The membership fee for the upcoming season was increased from $30 to $35, and the majority of our members paid their dues for the 2014 season – for those who didn’t, your $35 is due by August 1st, otherwise your membership is forfeited to a new member. The waiting list is ever-growing, so please get your dues paid as soon as possible. Thank you to all of those members that paid for next year at the banquet. Also remember that guest spots for the 2015 banquet are reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis, for $25 each, paid at the door. If you are interested in reserving a guest spot, please contact Gary Merkes at (608) 837-7813 or gary@arrowsandantlers.com, or contact Tommy Kempfer at (920) 723-2140 or tom@arrowsandantlers.com.
Thank you very much to all the members and sponsors who help make our annual banquet as anticipated and exciting as it is each year. We look forward to another great year of hunting and fellowship!
2013 Buck Entries
From left to right: Front Row – Mike Maly’s Antlers (2nd), Mitch Merkes (1st), Back Row – John Gross (3rd), Jeremy Gross (5th), Greg Schweppe (7th), Dan Hanson (4th), Zach Hampton (6th).