Saturday, February 1, 2020
The annual Arrows & Antlers banquet was another great success. In our sixth year at Savanna Oaks in Fall River, WI, it was nice to have some decent weather for a change!
Once again, the spread of wild game was absolutely incredible! This year’s menu featured a variety of venison, gemsbok, axis deer, elk, bear, turkey, pheasant, assorted fish, and some alligator – and we washed it all down with 5 – ½ barrels of beer. A special “Thank You” is in order for Gary Merkes, Dennis McDonald, Steve Johnson, Soybean, and Travis Johnson for all of their assistance in the kitchen to make sure we all enjoyed the meal!
We had another great year of generous sponsor donations and door prizes, along with our specialty raffles. The Mission Crossbow set was won by Fran Kilian, The Mathews Triax bow was won by Raul Gomez, and our annual beer/booze/cooler raffle was won by John Kochom.
We also raffled off $7,000 in cash prizes, given away as 14-$500 prizes – those winners were: Kris Hellenbrand, Chase Mikula, David Benrud, John Clark, Danny Hellenbrand, Jeff Walter, Ethan Nolden, John Kochom, Nate Rogers, Derek Schulz, Adam Hampton, Ron Jacobson Sr, Jon Landsverk, and Matt Kirschbaum.
We had a great year of buck entries, with 15 initially entered into the contest (13 present at the banquet) – including the biggest buck in Arrows & Antlers history, harvested by Jeff Olson! The results were: 1st place – Jeff Olson (188 2/8), 2nd place – Danny Hellenbrand (162), 3rd place – John Gross (144), 4th place – Aaron Gross (135 7/8), 5th place – Justin Harbort (133 5/8), 6th place – Dan Hanson (133), 7th place – Clif Otis (132 3/8), 8th place – Mark Cuff (131 6/8), 9th place – Randy Holguin (121 6/8), 10th place – Neil Merkes (121 5/8), 11th place – Kevin Moreland (110 4/8), 12th place – Fran Kilian (97 7/8), 13th place – Jason Powley (79 1/8), 14th place – Scott Johnson (unknown score – disqualified for absence), and 15th place – Mike Stader (unknown score – disqualified for absence).
*A special “Thank You” is in order for Kevin Moreland and Nick Schroedl for scoring each and every buck each year!
The membership fee for the upcoming season is $40, and the majority of our members paid their dues for the 2020 season – for those who didn’t, your $40 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. Remember that guest spots for the 2021 banquet are reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis, for $30 each, paid at the door. If you are interested in reserving a guest spot, please send an email to contactus@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!
2019 Buck Entries
Pictured above (from left to right) are the buck entries from the 2019 season. Front row: Randy Holguin (9th), Jeff Olson (1st), Danny Hellenbrand (2nd). Second row: Neil Merkes (10th), Jason Powley (13th), Mark Cuff (8th). Third row: Clif Otis (7th), Fran Kilian (12th), John Gross (3rd), Justin Harbort (5th). Back row: Dan Hanson (6th), Kevin Moreland (11th), Aaron Gross (4th). Not pictured – Scott Johnson and Mike Stader.
Click HERE for Past Banquets