[djansma]

How do other clubs get help for there events.
its seems harder every time to get help it seems we use the same old people all the time and some new members which is not fair to anyone involved it is no fun to be in the field all weekend only coming out to get your dog of the truck and run to the line to run you dog. I wish all club members would be willing to help in some way it would make life better. If every one that helps would bring one friend thats all you need . As for the question Can I gun the flier? than I will help, as being a person thats guns about all the events and a few on the road it is a job not all play you have to kill the birds and try for the same area all the time;it is not just shooting ducks.We will take all the help we can at all events and will do our best to make it fun and we will be in your debt and thank you over and over again.

sorry for babling on if any one has a answer let me know

David Jansma

 

[Mike Perry]

We usually have ours at a prison farm where the inmates are the bird boys. We do have to pay them.
We have a "captive" audience.
Have seen other clubs use Boy Scouts, ROTC, Ball teams, students needimg public service hours ets.

 

[maxx]

I think our Club used ROTC guys once and it was awful. Guys running there dogs got POD cuase the couldn't hit a flier to save there life. So they switched them out and put in some of the members.

Getting help is hard and there is never enough, which then makes it worse for the people helping. Everyone wants to run there dog and no one wants to help. I just got done helping at our clubs hunt test last weekend and I didn't have a dog. So basically I sat in a blind by myself for 4 hours straight with no relief Lucky it was under a nice big tree.

The other thing that pissed me off. Once I got done with the test I was helping with I went to watch some other test. There the marshall who was a girl had to load a bucket up with birds to bring to the gun stations. There were about 5 guys that just sat there and watched. So i grabbed it from her and ran them out.

I don't care who you are if your done running your dog the least you can do is grab some birds and run them to the gunners. Hell i would do that stuff even it it wasn't my own club.

 

[MikeBoley]

We hire an organization that lets inner city youth experience the outdoors. They do it as a fund raising project to fund their "fun" trips. The kids are very good help and it is a win win for both sides.

 

[KC Steve]

I have also used high school 4H clubs and some high school athletic teams. They get fund raiser without aveing to go door to door selling candy!

Win - Win!

Steve

 

[badbullgator]

Our club has been paying BB's $45 for Saturday and $50 for Sunday if they make it back. We have had a great bunch of Experienced BB at our events. $95 dollars is a video game or two for these 13-17 year olds. We normally have at least 2/3 of our BB returning for each test.
I was at another clubs test last year and they did not pay the BB?s. It rained ALL day Saturday and was cold. Sunday found seniors and juniors starting 2 hours late because very few BB?s came back for another day of sitting in the rain for nothing. The few that did make it back were mostly kids of club members. The club had to ask the gallery if they would help out which is a pretty crappy way to run a test if you ask me.

 

[Julie R.]

Blue Ridge was short handed on the Friday of their spring trial. It was held in Culpeper, which has a place where hundreds of day laborers, mostly Hispanic, line up for work each morning in front of the tractor store. Some enterprising member, wutadog I think, grabbed some to work the open. From what I saw they worked out really well although at one point the FT sec. was frantically trying to find someone who spoke Spanish to explain to them about picking up marks for no birds!

 

[Trainwreck]

Our club makes a "donation" to the local scout troop and the scout leader provides birdboys for Saturday and Sunday. Most of the time, this works out fine. Occasionally, we have an issue of getting younger scouts that are not old enough and/or qualified to use the popper gun so we have to round up club members to work the stations. We do NOT use scouts for any shot flyers - all adult club members or friends/family of members for that.

 

[Guest]

hired help

Retriever club of Alaska provides instructors to teach hunter's safety to the Alaska Military Academy youth at risk program. Then we hav an orientation to teach them about throwing birds and the equipment. The provide the help and adult supervision and we make a donation to the program. They are polite, the run to stations and are excited about being there.

 

[TxFig]

How do other clubs get help for there events.

My club uses a combination of 2 things to get the workers we need for a test.

First, we hire bird boys. No discussion, no if, ands, or buts.
We tend to alternate between the local high school FFA, one of the TAMU corps of cadets units (nice, over 18, come in their own camo, taught to say "yes sir/maam") depending on who is available.
We never hire boy scout units (kids are just too young).
For 25 bb on Sat & 30 on Sun we pay $1600 to the organization.


B) we REWARD THE CLUB MEMBERS WHO WORK. This we do in 2 ways. First we give those who work both days of a hunt test a certificate for a free entry to any furture event our club puts on. This includes not just those on the HT committee, but all the marshals, the "gofers", folks who help with raffle, puppy stakes, lunches, live gunning, etc.
Secondly, we reward those club members who work 3 of the 4 hunt tests in a year. The reward is dependant upon club finances, how many people "qualified", etc. Last year, the qualified members went on a guided goose hunt (paid for by the club).


In 1994, our club (http://www.bcsrc.org/) was down to 5 members who would work a hunt test. The next year we started the rewards program. We had 35+ club members WORK our last test (450+ dogs).


I will not belong to a club that doesn't have a program like this in place.[/url]

 

[Steve Bean]

We routinely use the baseball team from a local high school. Good arms, good throws. Pay is about $65/day. Good help= good pay...well worth it. All flyer shooting was done by gun club members or other adults from the club, but with the new TN Game and Fish enforcement..this is no longer an issue.