On August 3rd WHIN had a winter feed planting project at the Overton WMA There was a good turn out of about 15 people to help with the project. When we arrived we found out that Tim and his staff at Overton had already planted the seed. Brock Perry knew that the blinds needed repair so a new plan was devised to get that work done. 8 blinds were worked on and put back to hunting condition. With winter feed in the ground and the blinds back in shape we should have good hunting out in Overton this coming season. Thanks to everyone that helped on this project.
On July 14th WHIN went to Key Pitman and planted winter feed to encourage ducks and geese to stay on the refuge and encourage nesting as well. We also put up an electric fence to keep the cattle out of the newly seeded areas. There were also three new blinds built and some blind repair as well. WHIN would like to thank Brock Perry for bringing this project to our attention. If this planting works as well as the Overton planting did last year we should have many happy hunters at Key Pitman. Thanks to everyone that came out and helped with this project.
On June 24th 7 members of WHIN met at Loves Truck Stop at I 15 and highway 93 to clean our section of highway in Lincoln County. We started at Lincoln mile marker 31 and cleaned up two miles of discarded trash that is thrown from cars and trucks as they travel down the highway. We were blessed with a cloudy morning and a gentle breeze that kept us cool while we worked. Thanks to everyone that helped.
WHIN had 2 members help with the Fraternity of the Desert Big Horn Sheep on May 4th with their tank replacement of project Judy. The reason for this was that a wild fire had destroyed the existing tanks. The first thing to be done was to cut up the melted tanks and fly the debris out, then fly the new tanks in and plumb them to the drinker. Keven Picardo and Michale Guest arrived to late to be flown up on the mountain to help. So they stayed at the landing site and unloaded and reloaded on trailers the melted tanks as they came off the mountain. Then as the project was ending they unloaded all the equipment used on the project and loaded it into the fraternity trailer so that when the people started to be flown off the mountain the work of cleaning up and loading up was already done. After a little ribbing for not being on the mountain they were thanked for their efforts.
WHIN was asked by the Las Vegas Hunting and Retriever Cub to help them out with their spring hunt test on February 23rd and 24th. This was held at the Overton Wildlife Management Area. There were over 100 dogs that tested that weekend. Dogs came from all over the west some from as far as Colorado. Saturday night they held their annual fundraising Banquet and it was a huge success. Sunday the test continued and at the end of the day a special raffle was held for the volunteers that helped out. Robert Werner was the proud winner of a Weatherby Shotgun. WHIN looks forward to working with the LVHRC again.
On April 13th and 14th WHIN worked with the Fraternity of the Big Horn on their Bare # 1 project located just south of Beaty. This was an overnight project and most everybody brought their trailers and camped out. The project consisted of a complete new build. There was a 80X40 foot metal apron constructed on site 5 tanks were installed along with all the plumbing and a new drinker as well. Almost all of the work got done on Saturday leaving small chores and the installation of the new drinker for Sunday. Saturday night Jelindo Tiberti cooked 40 steaks and I can tell you you have never had a better steak anywhere. Sunday proved to be challenging for a while but with persistence the drinker was finally in place. What a transformation from a sage brush covered hillside to a beautiful sheep drinker. The Fraternity knows how to get things done.
In late March Ron Reed went to cold creek to turn on the water to the drinkers and access the mile and a half water lines for breaks and the floats for repair. There were several small leaks that he repaired and one big leak that was needing more attention. Ron reported back to WHIN the status of the line. In early may 6 members of WHIN went to cold creek and repaired the major leak in the line. They also walked the line and did a temporary repair on a float valve and found that the water had reached all 6 drinkers and was spilling over the stock tanks at the end of the line. WHIN has decided to replace drinkers 4, 5, and 6 with new 55 gallon poly drums, they have been purchased and are waiting to be painted in camo before they are installed. Stay tuned for the date this project.
On February 9th WHIN assisted the Fraternity of the Big Horn Sheep with a complete rebuild of their Poppy drinker located in the North Mc Cullough range. WHIN was asked by then President Paul Harris if we could supply labor for the rebuild. We had 15 people show up to help. If you have never been to a sheep guzzler built by the Fraternity you should make plans to help them on one of their projects. They are things of beauty, and the sheep like them too! It is a lot of work but well worth the effort. You will get a free helicopter ride in and out of the project, plus the satisfaction of knowing that you are helping the sheep. They helicopter everything they need up to the site, like pallets of cement, generators, new tanks, cement mixers, all tools, piping, and they fly out ALL the old tanks and anything that needs to come off the mountain. WHIN looks forward to helping the Fraternity on future projects later this year.
