The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association (RMC-NAVHDA) is hosting the first annual Mark Lance Memorial Event on Saturday, August 26 at the High Plains Shooting Club. Register now!

Registration closes August 23rd.

10 a.m.-3 p.m. MT
Saturday, August 26, 2023
High Plains Shooting Club (WCFW)
38997 Co Rd 51
Eaton, CO 80615
https://www.wcfw.org/

The event will honor our friend and fellow chapter member, Mark Lance, who passed away from cancer in 2022. The event will feature the gathering of friends, a sporting clays course, food, and a silent auction. All of the funds raised at the event will support the conservation-related activities of RMC NAVHDA, a local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, notably Team Elevate, the youth development program.

Please come help us celebrate Mark’s life, passions, and what binds us together.

About Mark
Mark Lance loved people, wild places, dogs, fishing, and photography.

His passion for dogs and hunting started innocently enough when he was hired to take some professional photos at a hunting preserve in Colorado. He had no experience with bird hunting or hunting dogs. However, his amazing photography skills in the fishing world landed him at the preserve lodge for his first hunting photo shoot. The connection he witnessed in the field between the dog and its owner changed the course of his life forever, as well as his wife Sharon. The couple was already passionate about the outdoors, but the spark to get a hunting dog was lit that day! After some research and family negotiation, Mark’s journey with versatile hunting dogs began with the purchase of Zeke, a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon.

Mark first came with Zeke to the Rocky Mountain Chapter of NAVHDA for a training day to see what training a hunting dog was all about. This started his journey training and hunting a versatile dog of his own, like the one that he witnessed at that preserve lodge. Many people create lasting friendships through training their dogs with other NAVHDA members, and Mark was no exception. He quickly made friends, and by the next hunting season, he had a trained hunting dog and a group of friends to take Zeke into the field. That first hunt brought all his passions together-people, dogs, photography, wild places, and adventure. He appeared to love every minute of it. Mark had found that special bond with a hunting dog, Zeke, who he had trained himself, with the help of his NAVHDA family.

Where does the money go? About RMC NAVHDA’s Team Elevate:
RMC NAVHDA is the local front range Colorado Chapter of NAVHDA, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to the responsible hunting community, wildlife conservation, and well-trained versatile hunting dogs.

The Rocky Mountain Chapter includes over 100 members focused on the following goals:
 Support youth upland hunting through our youth program Team Elevate
 Promote upland hunting with versatile hunting dogs
 Foster ethical hunter behavior and conservation practices through education programs.

The funds raised at the Mark Lance Memorial event will support the conservation-related activities of RMC NAVHDA, notably fostering the next generation of responsible, ethical, conservation-minded upland hunters through Team Elevate. The youth development program engages participants to learn dog training, hunting, and outdoor skills through mentorship and volunteering. Participants also learn responsibility by caring for and training their dogs. Team Elevate youth participate in Aims & Rules Clinics, train and volunteer at training days, and test dogs.

More about the event:
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. MT
Saturday, August 26, 2023
High Plains Shooting Club (HPSC)
38997 Co Rd 51
Eaton, CO 80615
https://www.wcfw.org/

$100 per adult ($50 for youth) includes sporting clays course and lunch!

Also, participate in our online Silent Auction with many great items, including:
Vacation stays in Silver Thorne Colorado, Estes Park colorado
A custom fly rod
Boss shot shells
Decoys
Yeti cooler
Artwork and more

What you can do to help:
–Join us Saturday, August 26!
-Donate items for auction (contact Hunter Townsend)
-Bid in the online auction.

This year’s Snake Avoidance Training Clinic will be held on Wednesday, May 31st, starting at 9 a.m.

Register on the Training: Clinics/Seminars page.

Greetings Fellow RMC Members,

I hope this message finds you wrapping up a successful hunting season, and everybody, member, family, and dog alike, healthy coming into the New Year.

We have some quick chapter business to take care of, and a chapter meeting is in order to wrap this business up. The meeting will be at 7:00pm on Sunday, January 15th via Zoom (information to join is at the bottom of this email).

The NAVHDA International Annual Meeting is being held at the end of January in South Dakota. There are several motions proposed by other chapters for consideration before the International Board of Directors. We as a chapter have a chance to vote on these and express our position on these motions to the International Board. At the bottom of this message are links to the motions proposed by the other NAVHDA chapters for you to read; there are an unusual number of motions for consideration, but thankfully, a number of them are related to the same subject. As a chapter, we will discuss each motion, comment, and as a Board vote on the motions; the Chapter’s Annual Meeting delegate will present our positions on the motions to the International Board during the Annual Meeting.

Secondly, Pete Corso/Director of Training will present information regarding this year’s handlers clinic.

Third, I’d like to organize an in-person Midwinter Meeting sometime in early February – mid-February; I’ll try to have something in place then, with announcements to follow on the Chapter Facebook page.

Lastly, we will open the floor for other discussion.

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:
Call the Meeting to Order
Take Roll of the Board Members present
Discuss Motions presented to NAVHDA International
Vote on each Motion
Presentation of the 2023 Handlers Clinic – By Pete Corso
Open Floor for Other Discussion
Adjourn
I look forward to the meeting and the upcoming training season.

Sincerely,

Tim Griffin
President, RMC NAVHDA

Meeting information:
Time: Jan 15, 2023 07:00 PM Mountain Time
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85908575090?pwd=OEtnM0hjcVpxWko5UW1VMzZhb01uZz09
Meeting ID: 859 0857 5090
Passcode: 054816
One tap mobile: +16469313860,,85908575090#,,,,*054816#

Proposed motions for discussion:
Bushkill Chapter (4 motions)
Deleware Vallery Chapter
Potomac Chapter
St. Croix Chapter (motion 1)
St. Croix Chapter (motion 2)
St. Croix Chapter (motion 3)
St. Croix Chapter (motion 4)

The photos from the August 2022 test are now available. A huge “Thank You” to Dana Crego and Sharelle Gonzales for taking great photos.

Friday, August 19th | Saturday, August 20th | Sunday, August 21st

Click on an image to make it big. Once you have one open, you can scroll through the rest. In the gallery, the images are sorted by title, and the titles are over the photos so that it’s easier to find a particular dog.

The photos from the May 2022 test are now available. A huge “Thank You” to Dana Crego, Erica Sparrow, and Sharelle Gonzales for taking great photos.

Friday, May 13th | Saturday, May 14th | Sunday, May 15th

Click on an image to make it big. Once you have one open, you can scroll through. In the gallery, the images are sorted by title, and the titles are over the photos so that it’s easier to find a particular dog.

The Board of Directors would like to inform members that the annual chapter meeting will be held Saturday, August 20th, 2022 at 6:00 pm at Jake and Sara Heesackers. As stated in the chapter by-laws, the purpose of the annual meeting is to:

a. Elect new board members
b. Present Treasurer’s report
c. Appoint a delegate to the International meeting
d. Vote on changes to the by-laws
e. Present a proposed schedule for the following year’s events

Included in Item (e) is to set test dates and training days. A major reason for moving up the date of the annual meeting is to allow the chapter test secretary a better opportunity to schedule judges for our tests.

I hope to see a good turnout for the meeting as it’s been so long since we’ve been able to get together as a chapter. See you all on the 20th.

Tim Griffin
President, Rocky Mountain Chapter – NAVHDA

UPDATE: The chapter will be providing dinner. Please RSVP.

Join us on Saturday April, 23 for a fun day at the Cobb Lake Unit of the Wellington SWA. We will pack out trash, clean parking lots, remove invasive trees and have an amazing time with our fellow upland hunting and bird dog enthusiasts. We are excited to partner with Pheasants Forever and other local Northern Colorado hunting dog clubs for this event.

Please bring gloves, boots, appropriate workwear, sunscreen, and any tools you want to help collect garbage. Friends and family are welcome to come.

Please get in touch with John if you can volunteer so we have a head count for lunch.

When: April 23rd from 9:00 – 3:00
Where: Wellington SWA, Cobb Lake – meeting at the east parking lot: coordinates 40.660516, -104.963109
Directions: From I-25 and Hwy. 14 exit, go 5 miles N on E service road to CR 56, then 1.4 miles E to CR 3, then N to the parking lot on the west side of the road.

On January 8, 2022, RMC-NAVHDA held it’s annual meeting. If you were not able to make the meeting, you can find the meeting minutes here.

Mark Lance, Sharelle Gonzales, and Riverlight Images have posted the pictures from this year’s Spring Test. Thank you Mark and Sharelle for all your work at the test days this year. To view the pictures, please click on your test day:

Spring NA Test – FRIDAY photos by Mark Lance

Spring UT Test – SATURDAY photos by Sharelle Gonzales

Spring NA Test – SUNDAY photos by Mark Lance

If you would like to purchase any pictures or if you have any questions, you may email Mark at [email protected], call 720.258.5820, or contact him on instagram @riverlightimages.