February 5, 2016 at 3:02 p.m.
Hodag Sports Club holds annual banquet
A long-standing tradition continues
Hodag Sports Club holds annual banquet
The Hodag Sports Club has long been a fixture in the Rhinelander area, promoting shooting sports and competitions for several decades.
The club hosts the banquet annually and uses the proceeds on maintenance projects and to improve its trap range, rifle range and Steve Martin Training Center. Funds generated through the banquet have also been used to purchase additional land.
The club's activities include leagues for trap, skeet, five stand, Single Action Shooting Society matches, U.S. Practical Shooting Association matches and ranges for general marksmanship practice.
Approximately 350 people attended Tuesday night's banquet, enjoying great food, conversation and raffles.
The organization has grown by leaps and bounds since its very humble beginning back in the 1940s.
According to current president Virgil Davis, a group of diehard fishermen founded the Hodag Sports Club back in 1946. The original purpose of the club was to create public access points on many of the area's lakes.
"I would say about 80 percent of the lakes within 20 miles of town, such as Crescent Lake (had limited to zero access back then)," Davis said. "That boat landing is there (on Crescen Lake) because of the (Hodag Sports Club). They talked with people on the lakes and got their approval to make a launch ramp. Then they did the improvements to the launch area and then turned it over to the town or the county or whomever would buy it and maintain it. Then they'd go on to the next lake."
From there the club continued to grow.
"Eventually, some of the guys wanted to shoot trap so they leased 8 acres on Highway C where the current trap range is now," Davis said. "About the mid- 1970s, (Dewayne) "Speck" DeByle and Jim Birginal came along, and asked, 'Can we shoot?', so membership was $1 back then. They paid their membership and they were in. Speck asked once how much land the club owned out there. Well, when he found out we just leased those 8 acres, he was concerned what would happen if the lessor didn't want us there because of the noise. He said we should buy the 40-acre plot and sell off the house that was on it with 3 acres to pay for the purchase. When we were concerned what would happen if we couldn't sell that house, Speck said he'd buy the 40 if we couldn't sell that house...." After some lengthy debate, it was decided that the club would buy that first 40-acre plot of land. The house sold, the club paid for the land and even had some money left over. They had one trap back in those days, Davis said. Today there are five traps, two skeet fields, and a five stand facility. The property now includes over 900 acres and seven houses. Davis said the club rents out the houses to make money to pay the taxes on the land and to maintain the area.
The club also has a rifle range west of town. The rifle range started out as one range and an outhouse, Davis said. No other buildings were on the property. There are five ranges now and the club is looking to build two more this year. The group also recently purchased the Heal Creek Property, adding 207 acres to their lands, Davis said. The members plan to use this property for cross country ski trails, mountain biking and fat biking.
"Now we own all the land from the rifle range all the way out to the golf course. We had the idea that maybe we could hold a biathlon there. They could ski, then shoot, ski, then shoot. There's nothing like that around here, and we think it could be a big draw," Davis said, adding that the club is looking to attract other people to the property. "We'd like to get the younger folks involved and we'd like to see more women in shooting sports, too," he said. "So this is just one more way for them to get exposure to the sport and maybe they will decide to get into it."
Davis said the Steven Martin Training Facility at the rifle range, named in memory of a Rhinelander police sergeant and Army reservist who was mortally wounded while serving in Iraq in 2004, is open to police departments, federal government departments and others who need a place to train. In fact, the facility is used by several law enforcement agencies as well for hunter's safety classes. All of the land owned by the club is Open Forest Crop Land, meaning the public is free to use it for a variety of activities. The club also harvests the land on a regular basis. This helps to pay the taxes and other expenses, Davis explained.
Once made up of a small group of fishermen, the club now includes over 700 members in seven different states. For many years, the club has held an annual banquet to fund expansions and upgrades. According to Davis, club policy states that any proceeds from the banquet go toward capital improvements. Over the years, the proceeds from the banquets have been used to purchase additional land and preserve it as hunting land for the public. Over the years, the banquet has become one of the more popular events in the area, drawing very large crowds.
"The banquet started out at the gun club," Davis said. "We thought, 'Well, maybe this thing will last five years or so,' but now it's 39 years later. And pretty soon we had more people than the gun club could hold. Everyone would just bring whatever wild game they had left over from the seasons. We'd cook it up and everyone would eat it. We just charged admission. From there we went to the (Rhinelander Cafe & Pub), and that was great for many years. Of course, about that time the health department came along and told us we couldn't be cooking up wild game that people shot and serving it, so we went to a regular dinner, but we still tried to keep as much wild game as we could get through the restaurant. When we got too big for the Pub, we moved it out to - well, it was Holiday Inn back then, but now it's Quality Inn. They have room for 400 people, and we hit that limit once a couple years ago. But that's been a good place for us, so we go back every year."
Sportsmen and outdoor enthiasts look forward to the banquet every year, and this year's event certainly did not disappoint. There were 21 gun boards lining the room each with guns donated by various local businesses. The boards held anywhere from 1 to 5 guns each. Overall, there were 40 firearms given away at the banquet. The average price of each firearm, Davis estimated, was about $500. Background checks were conducted on all of the winners. Many other businesses donated items and gift certificates to be raffled off at the banquet.
"All of the guns are bought locally, and we do whatever we can to support the local area," Davis said. "The community has always been very supportive of us,and we're very grateful for that. What we want to do is to bring people to the area to enjoy competitive shooting sports. When we get people here for shooting events, they stay in hotels and they eat at restaurants. It's good for the local economy. We want to help the community that has supported us for all these years."
Davis said anyone who has an interest in hunting and shooting sports is welcome to join the club.
Annual memberships are $35 and are available at Debyle's offices, Mel's Trading Post, and Hodag Gun and Loan. Lifetime memberships are available for $200. Those interested should contact Speck DeByle, Tom O'Rourke, or Virgil Davis at Hodag Sports Club.
Beckie Joki may be reached at [email protected].
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