We had a great day for a great seminar.  The weather was beautiful for an inside seminar.  We had over 200 people come out to learn about various forms of habitat improvements and detailed information from the Whitetail Institute about their products and the proper uses of them.  We had several door prizes and we also were able to draw the winner of the food plotting trailer.  We had over 250 tickets sold for the trailer and our THANKS! go out to all that particitpated in our branch fund raising raffle.  We are undecided about having another seminar, but we hope to incorporate some farm tours in the near future.

We had a great time down at the StL Sports and Boat show.  We handed out lots of QDM info and hopefully signed up a few more members.  Lots of interest was generated by our tooth aging display.  Kids love to see the jawbones and ask questions about them.

We sold another 50 tickets for the raffle trailer and it looks like this could be a sellout on the raffle.  We are trying to build funds for special projects that will involve youth and the disabled.  I have found an organization that specializes in this type of activity and I feel it will be a great partnership for the time being.

Thank you to all of our helpers, board members, and all that helped to make this past week a success.

Habitat Improvement and Food Plotting Seminar

Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 9:00am

At the Powder Valley Nature Area

The Gateway Branch of the QDMA will be having an informative seminar on habitat manipulation and food plot implementation at the Powder Valley Nature Area on February 23^rd at 9:00am to 12:00pm.

Our guest speakers will be Scot Mikols, Land Steward Services, Steve Spezia, MDC Private Land Specialists, and Greg Aston, Whitetail Institute.  These professionals will provide information on how to develop habitat and prepare food plots to improve wildlife viewing and hunting. 

  Special note: The Gateway Branch of the QDMA will be drawing the winner of the food plotting trailer package that contains an ATV Disk/Cultipacker, Spreader and Chain Harrow all on a trailer.  This will be the last chance to buy a raffle ticket!

Any questions please email us at gatewayqdma@sbcglobal.net or call 314-348-0398.

For directions on how to get to the Powder Valley CA:

From I-44 E take Lindberg 61-67.  Follow 61-67 South (right) to Watson.  Go West (right) on Watson to Geyer.  Travel North (right) on Geyer (200yds) to Cragwold.  Travel 1 mile West (Left) on Cragwold to the Powder Valley CA.

Hello Gateway QDMA members and friends! 

Our banquet on the 16^th of August was a phenomenal success and we are hoping that many of you want to be back there again next year.  We have heard plenty of good comments and personally I want to thank everyone for making it a success.  I have a few things that I want to tell you about and need your help to accomplish some goals.

If you attended the banquet you probably noticed the food plotting trailer that was parked by the front door.  We ended up buying that trailer to raffle off to generate branch funds.  We have spent Saturdays in September at Bass Pro, Gateway Outfitter’s, and at Jay Henge’s shooting range.  As of now over 70 tickets have been purchased and we are only going to sell 300.  We could sure use your help in selling this raffle out as soon as possible.  The tickets are $20.00 each or 6 for $100.00.  You have great odds in winning the package, and even if you don’t need the equipment you would be able to get a great price from somebody if you sold it.  Now, how is the money going to be utilized?

One very deserving project is Share the Harvest.  If we could help out our local processors with the costs involved with Share the Harvest we could really put a good face on deer hunting and the branch could get recognized for our ability to fund deer management projects.  An educational program that the QDMA has put together is a classroom designed study to help our schools educate their students on how to live with deer management in the urban communities.  Educating our youth will only help us out in the future to recruit more hunters, gather more voices for deer management ideals, and garner attention on how proper harvest techniques will control urban deer populations.  Some of the more influential voices that thwart deer harvesting as a means of control, just don’t understand the entire concept of deer management.  We need your help to forward some of these efforts and put our abilities to good use in the St. Louis area.

We are still planning on a January/February seminar and I am thinking about having Lonnie Hansen host the seminar due to the antler restriction pilot study concluding after this season.  It would be great to hear from Lonnie about the upcoming changes, if any, and what he thinks will work better for our state’s great deer herd.  We are also chewing on ideas for a seminar, after the spring turkey season, with a great land steward and habitat professional or a hunting celebrity to talk about summer habitat changes to enhance your fall hunting.  Having the ability to bring in such great professionals and letting them answer your questions on a one to one basis is a wonderful way to start off your summer plans for your properties.  We could do this seminar earlier in the year if enough interest is showed.  We will plan on having the banquet in August of 2008 and have not secured the speaker as of yet….but we have some great plans.  Please let me know of any ideas for a speaker?

In closing, the branch appreciates everyone that has supported our efforts!  We look forward to bringing the best minds to educate us in our goals of making our properties and our deer herds the best they can be.  Thank you for all of your help and considerations.  Have a great, safe season. 

Please email us at gatewayqdma@sbcglobal.net for ticket purchases or a snail mail address.

Please take a look at this new video about the QDMA's accomplishments and where we are headed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtN6qapdUN0

Thank you!

The QDMA promotes:

• Safe and ethical hunting.
• Adherence to wildlife and trespass laws.
• Adequate harvests of adult does.
• Restraint in harvesting young bucks.
• Hunter involvement in education and management.
• Cooperation with wildlife biologists and enforcement officers.
• Education of hunters and non-hunters toward a better understanding of wildlife management.
• Stewardship and appreciation of all wildlife.

The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) is a non-profit wildlife conservation organization dedicated to ensuring a high-quality and sustainable future for white-tailed deer and white-tailed deer hunting. Founded in 1988, the QDMA currently has nearly 30,000 members in 48 states and several foreign countries including over 800 deer management professionals - more than any other white-tailed deer organization. The QDMA has developed numerous partnerships with state wildlife agencies, timber companies, hunting groups, and product manufacturers. These partnerships have increased both the awareness of the QDMA and participation in the Association's management philosophy, Quality Deer Management (QDM). Without question, the QDMA is rapidly becoming the most respected and influential white-tailed deer organization in the United States.