Fellow NBU Members:

We just came off a tremendous fundraising banquet April 5th at the Peppermill.  2,080 people were served dinner (an all-time record) and we had a highly financially successful evening!  We had the opportunity to recognize outstanding volunteers and we had amazing support from our sponsors and donors.

The Heritage California Bighorn Sheep Tag went for $70,000 and the Heritage Desert (Nelson) Bighorn Sheep Tag went for $87,500.  All the money raised from these tags will go directly to the Nevada Department of Wildlife’s Heritage Program.  Since NBU is an all-volunteer organization, the remaining funding raised at this banquet will go directly to habitat improvement projects, trap and transplant projects, youth programs, wildlife disease research, and public education efforts.

Highlights of the evening included a great meal and service by the Peppermill. The second annual taxidermy competition was a hit, congratulations to the people’s choice winners Joe Zweifel and Shawn Repp, and the biologist’s choice winner Wayne Comstock.  The true artistry and realism of these pieces, along with the other entry submissions was truly amazing.  The Wall of Heads was a masterpiece this year, thanks to those of you who let us borrow your trophies for the evening. The raffles were highly successful, thanks to the hours of preparation and the generous donations of our volunteers and sponsors.  The general raffle for the Wall of Guns performed exceedingly well. The auctions, both silent and general did very well.  One auction item in particular, the Maison T Ortiz Youth Antelope Hunt did very well and the funds raised from this auction item will go directly to the support of the upcoming youth skills camp this summer.  NBU youth scored with a camelback give-away, along with exceedingly generous extra youth gun donations from Jeremy Page and Albert Seeno.

NBU was honored to have new Nevada Department of Wildlife Director Tony Wasley present, along with interim director George Tsukamoto and past director Ken Mayer.  Our relationship with the Nevada Department of Wildlife remains strong thanks to the leadership of these men.  We had numerous legislators and dignitaries present, all of whom are working to support Nevada’s wildlife, sportsmen and sportswomen during this legislative session.  NBU was also honored to receive a $25,000 check from the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Gray Thornton for a guzzler project.  This kind of support for Nevada’s wildlife is wonderful!

The success of this banquet could not have been accomplished without the generous support of our sponsors and donors, which you will notice on the following page.  Please give a big thank-you to these individuals, corporations and organizations.  The NBU Board of Directors put in hundreds of hours to make this banquet successful.  I am thankful for the support and tireless drive of these exceptional volunteers.  Those of you who donated your time, effort, funding and expertise to pull off this great banquet are greatly appreciated.  Once again, NBU volunteers rise to the occasion and get it done!

Now that the banquet is behind us, it is time to do what we do best and that is to volunteer for the benefit of Nevada’s wildlife.  You will note a number of upcoming guzzler projects and volunteer opportunities on our website and Facebook page.  See you out on the next guzzler site!  Watch your e-mails for further details.

Proudly representing the best wildlife volunteers ever,

Dennis R. Wilson, DVM
President
Nevada Bighorns Unlimited