SHERBURNE - The Earlville Conservation Club held their 51st Annual Big Buck Contest and annual dinner on January 17, 2026, at the Sherburne Legion.

Attendees enjoyed a delicious meal Catered by Sherburne Legion and presentations from Bruce McGowan and Jason Fleming.

The slate of officers was nominated & elected: President: Sam Walrod, Vice President: Art Fleming, Treasurer Dave Whorrall, Secretary Betsy Campbell. A brief report highlighted events we’ve held during the year including; our annual Youth Turkey hunt, club member turkey hunt- our Annual Youth Fishing Derby [Labor Day Sunday] annual gun raffle, our annual Youth Deer Hunt [Columbus Day weekend] and we inducted ‘new’ lifetime members between last year and this year: 2026 Recipients are Don Campbell, John Carpenter, and Jim Dowd. We also selected Ethan Slentz, Jr. member, to go to summer DEC camp.

Bruce McGowan: Executive Director for New York State Conservation Council, a 5013C, where funding comes from the local & state conservation clubs. It is a grass roots group, and they want to hear from you. They are not a lobbying group but meet with all groups in Albany. There is dialog there! The council also educates. There has been a major revamp on their website, https://www.nyscc.com/ and the council is growing, adding new focuses and positions. Their main focus is YOUTH… for example, dropping the hunting age down- we want to make it permanent. If you have an idea to help, add, change, send the message to them at the council. Bruce can be reached at executivedirector@nyscc.com

Some recent topics/event the council has handled are Holiday Hunt, the wind turbines, chronic waste coming up from PA, in the Catskill area- AR & Bears, Long Island area- marine licenses don’t cost anything, but one needs a fishing license anywhere else, giving free licenses to Veteran’s: If you open the door; Then others will want free…and in turn, funding goes down.

Jason Fleming: New York State Conservation Council, Region 7 Director youth state trap shoot, President of Rockdale Rod & Gun Club and coach for BG Clay Cats Target Club.There is a New York State High School Clay Target League.ny.usaclaytarget.com .

The USA Clay Target League started in 2008 with 3 teams and 30 participants. This is the fastest growing High School league in the United States! In 2025, there were 1,900 Schools, 11,000 coaches, regular volunteer and school “liaison” advisors and 56,000 kids. Also, since the USA Clay Target League’s  inception in 2008, there have been no recorded injuries to athletes, coaches, or spectators. Ever.

Last year’s New York State Tournament, held yearly in Cicero in June, there were 120 NY schools and had to be expanded to a 3-day event to accommodate the growing sport.

Clay Target teams or clubs are for grades 6-12, must be ‘affiliated with a school,’ and compete at a local range. The Spring season is nine weeks, and the Fall season is five weeks.

Leagues are based on team size, not school size. Jason reported in four years the BG Clay cats grew from 6 to 18 ladies and gentlemen.

A great draw to clay target sport is everybody participates; no benchwarmers!

Competitions are at the home club/field with scores being submitted online. Like-sized clubs compete against each other as teams andindividuals based on season averages. They shoot in 4 disciplines: Trap Shooting, Skeet Shooting, Sporting Clays and 5 Stand.

The hard part about getting a clay target team started is the requirement to have school affiliation. BG is set up as a club with a school staff member as an advisor. They have no school financial funding, school recognition, and sadly, little to no school moral support. Parents/students League fee is $50, and the club fundraises the rest of the year for all their needs.

Rockdale Rod & Gun Club is holding a Safari club youth day on February 28th. This is an open house; any youth is welcomed and encouraged to try trap shooting.

We presented the winners of our big buck contest. We extend a big thank you to Andy Migonis and Jim Dowd for scoring the racks for the club, and to Many Maples for the scoring location. We ended our evening with a gun raffle and door prizes. Thanks to Joe Cirigliano, FFL, for handling our gun raffle, Mayhoods and other club members for the door prizes.

The Earlville Conservation Club will meet on Wednesday, March 4 at Many Maples Sugar House; 697 Rt. 26, Georgetown, NY.  Meetings start at 6 PM. Some of the events sponsored by the club include annual youth fishing derby, youth turkey hunt, youth deer hunt, trap shots, sending youth to summer camp, member turkey contest and the annual big buck contest. 

Yearly memberships cost $10/adult & $5/youth [16 & under].  How can you become a member? Contact us through our Facebook page; “Earlville Conservation Club.” contact Betsy Campbell [607]226-1673 or stop in at Smyrna Feed to get your membership. A person would need to be a member for 3 consecutive years and 70 + over to be a lifetime member.

- From the ECC