Author: Pete Aplikowski

Hello Minnesota NAVHDA chapter members!

Even though it is the middle of hunting season, your board of directors has been hard at work planning for the 2025 Training & Testing Season.  With 2025  MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS  now open, we wanted to give our members an idea of what we have planned so far for 2025.

ANNUAL MEETING/FABLE FEST

Our Annual Meeting and “Fable Fest” will be Saturday Feb 8th in Blaine.   We had over 100 members in attendance last year. Don’t miss out!   Follow this link for full information and registration.  Pre-Registration is required.

WINTER TRAINING

Please see our Training Page for details about our winter training and to complete a questionnaire if you are interested in these classes.   Things will kick off with all day informational events on Saturday January 11th at Hooley Hall in Stillwater.

NAVHDA AIMS & RULES CLINIC-(Tentative)

May 10-11 at Four Brooks.   (This date and location may be moved and the clinic hosted by the Minnesota Northwoods Chapter at Pineridge Grouse Camp.)

SUMMER TRAINING

We are again planning to have regular small group training at Four Brooks north of Milaca, Kelley/Keystone Woods in Hugo, and the Iron Range Retriever Club in Virginia/Eveleth.   More information is on our Training Pages.

2025 TESTING DATES (Tentative)

Test entries will open mid-February to chapter members only.  All Testing information is on our Testing Page

  • May 10-11 Natural Ability
  • June 21-22 Natural Ability, Utility Prep, Utility
  • July 19-20 Natural Ability
  • Aug 16-17 Natural Ability, Utility Prep, Utility
  • Aug 23-24  Utility Prep, Utility
  • Sep 6-7 Natural Ability

Joe Dolesji Memorial Youth/New Handler Scholarship

Applications for 2025 awards are now open.   Full information and online application is here.

2025 Raffle Fundraiser-win a $4,000 coupon to Upland Gun Company for a custom fitted, custom made shotgun.   Full details here.

Bird Dog of the Day Merchandise Program. We now have a fundraising arrangement with BDOD.  All merchandise purchased through our link will generate a 20% rebate back to MN NAVHDA.   These items make great Christmas gifts-order soon!  Full details here

 

Help support our Minnesota NAVHDA Chapter by purchasing amazing bird dog or gamebird gifts from Bird Dog of the Day.  They will donate 20% of full-priced merchandise totals back to our local chapter!  Just make sure to order through our chapter’s link and make sure the promo code MNV is applied at checkout, which will also give you Free Shipping on your entire order!

Follow the below link and SHARE with your friends!  All sales through this link will benefit Minnesota NAVHDA.

https://birddogoftheday.com/discount/MNV

Hello chapter members,

This warm winter/early spring has our phones and emails buzzing with people wanting to get an early start on Training this season.   Please be patient!  We can assure you that your board of directors is hard at work behind the scenes making plans for this season.   We are also not scheduled to take delivery of any birds from our suppliers until late April, as usual.

KELLEY/KEYSTONE in Hugo:  One of the biggest hurdles and delays in planning is the ongoing uncertainty with the Kelley Farms/Keystone Woods property in Hugo.   What we can tell you is that there will be LIMITED training available for some small groups at Kelley in 2024 starting in mid-April.  More details will be announced in the next couple weeks.  We will also be holding 4 OPEN chapter training days at Kelley on some Saturdays- April 27th, May 18th, June 15th, and August 10th.

FOUR BROOKS north of Milaca:    With the limited scope of what we will be able to do at Kelley/Keystone, we will be pushing to  expand our weekly training options at Four Brooks this season.     There will also be an OPEN training day and perhaps a MOCK NA test on July 13th at Four Brooks.      There will be much more room to roam at Four Brooks than the limited amount of space we will have at Kelley.    2024 Passes are available for sale and self-printing now, and the grounds are available for your use, as long as you are not interfering with a scheduled event.  You must display your printed pass on the dashboard of your vehicle.    You can see the Four Brooks Event schedule here.

WE WILL NEED HELP!!    We will be needing help building and relocating bird pens again this spring.  Please watch for those email requests and/or Facebook events to be posted very soon and help us out where you are able.  We will also be looking for volunteers to assist with the OPEN training days and stations.  We are an organization built on volunteer efforts-please do your part!

FUNDRAISING-PLEASE MAKE A DONATION!-Please also support our 2024 Fundraiser-the raffle for a $4,000 value coupon to the Upland Gun Company for a custom fitted and built Italian shotgun.   Fundraising will be more important this year than ever for Minnesota NAVHDA to continue to offer our members adequate training & testing opportunities.  For more information on the raffle and to purchase tickets,  please go to this link:  2024 Upland Gun Company Raffle

 

I got a call tonight from a nice woman looking for the support of dog organizations to correct an error that was made when the legislature and county recorders went through a process of cleaning up and removing obsolete statutes. They accidentally removed a statute related to “estray animals”, and the obligations of a person that finds a stray. So now, currently in MN, if you lose your hunting dog, the person who finds it has no obligation to turn it back over to you or a shelter or even notify anyone. There is new legislation working its way through both chambers. The Senate Bill is SF3703 and the House Bill is HF4288. I researched this, and this is a real thing and a legitimate concern and the Bills authors could use your help to push it through. Please consider contacting your legislators to support these bills. It does not take much effort to send a quick email., You can easily find your Representative and Senators and contact information here:  https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/iMaps/districts/

Go to our Testing Information Page for all test dates and information.

Online entries for all 2024 tests will open at 8:00am on Saturday Feb 17th to chapter members only.     Open to Non-Members March 1st.

Make sure you have all Navhda International and Chapter membership up to date and that your dog has a valid NAVHDA Registration number.

 

Our condolences to the family of Vince Steffens on his recent passing.   Vince was a longtime chapter member and board member, last serving as our President in 2015.   Memorial/Obituary Info is below:

VINCE STEFFENS: Age 60 of St. Michael, passed away December 14th at his residence. A Memorial Service and time of sharing for Vincent Steffens will be held Thursday, December 28th at 1:30 PM, with visitation beginning at 1 PM, at The Peterson Chapel St. Michael-Albertville Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made at; www.thepetersonchapel.com.