Votes & Polls

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Regarding trying to make presentations more concise and allow for more questions which would allow the presenter to provide more details where the attendees specify (this will allow for more time for the devotional and attendees to congregate at the end), that’s a good idea but there won’t be adequate time to make a thorough training presentation and a thorough devotional.  Therefore, we’ll alternate between them and DVD’s, as mentioned above.

Presenting on more advanced topics, reviews and demos of new products, and reviews/slideshows on places somebody has hunted or fished are all good ideas and we’ll try to implement them.

Regarding a training presentation on deer and habitat management, there are only two FCS members that I’m aware of who own hunting property.  Therefore, as this would only affect a small number of people, I won’t make it a priority at this time.

Regarding a presentation on field medical training – one is scheduled for the Tuesday, 6/7/22, 7:00 – 9:30 PM FCS Meeting at my house.  

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On 2/9/20 Randy Rowley sent out a poll to determine which business card club members and future club members preferred. 

Randy noted that the advantage of a picture-style card is, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.  It immediately conveys some of what we do to those who we will give business cards to.  The disadvantage to this card is some consider it to be “busy” (too much going on).

Randy noted that a logo-style card doesn’t say what we do quite as well as a picture, but it comes pretty close.  It is also not as “busy” as the first one.

The poll ended on 02/17/20.  The results of the poll are as follows:

• Seven respondents favor a logo business card
• Three respondents favor a picture business card
• One respondent is fine with either card
• One respondent would prefer either a logo or picture membership card

On 1/30/20 Randy Rowley sent out a poll to establish interest in an FCS Membership Card or business cards.  The poll ended on 02/06/20.  The poll results were as follows:

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On 11/26/19, Randy Rowley initiated a vote among the Supporting Members that we change Section III (E) of the Bylaws to read (the sentence in red is new):

1. All supporting FCS members have the following benefits:

• FCS window decal (a one-time benefit);
• make amendment proposals to the FCS Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith;
• make expenditure proposals;
• participate in all supporting FCS member discussions and votes;
• check out (borrow) FCS equipment items, videos, and books; and
• have their articles, hunting and fishing stories, jokes, link recommendations, members’ profiles, pictures, poems, product and service reviews and recommendations, recipes, safety tips, and useful information for sportsmen submissions posted on the FCS website.

As with all membership benefits, a member does not have to avail himself or herself of them if they are unwanted.  We will also make the FCS window decals available at cost (.52 each or $1.13 each if you wish to have one or more mailed to you (.52 for the window decal, .06 for an envelope, and .55 for a stamp)).  However, neither of these facts needs to be included in the bylaws (the first one is a given and the second one is handled via our FCS Gear web page).

The vote ran through 12/3/19.  The proposal passed 10 for to 0 opposed.

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On 10/23/19 Randy Rowley sent out a poll on purchasing FCS window decals.  He noted that a long time ago we included FCS window decals as a new membership benefit.  We ran out of them prior to 2008.  The officers are considering purchasing a supply of new window decals.  We can get 100 4″ x 4″ window decals for $52 or .52 each, including tax.  Shipping is free.  The poll ended on 10/31/19.  The results are as follows:

11 respondents indicated that they think that an FCS window decal should be included as a membership benefit for new and renewing members and existing supporting members (a one-time benefit).

2 respondents indicated that they think that an FCS window decal should be included as a membership benefit for new members and at cost for everyone else.

12 respondents think that FCS window decals should only be made available for purchase at cost, including postage (such as how we handle shirts and caps).

3 respondents are not interested in an FCS window decal.

Based on the poll results, Randy will proceed with ordering the decals.

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On 5/2/19 Randy Rowley sent out a poll on South Zone dove hunts, as to the length of hunts and where to stay.  The last response was received on 5/3/19.  Six people responded.  The results are as follows:

Three respondents prefer to hunt for two days.

One respondent prefers to hunt for one or two days.

Two respondents prefer to hunt for one day.

Two respondents prefer to stay in a motel.

Two respondents are fine with staying in a motel or camping.

One respondent prefers to camp.

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On 1/3/19 Randy Rowley sent out a poll on adding additional events to the FCS calendar.  The results through 1/21/19 were as follows:

Event	Number of People Interested
Kayak outings to local lakes, rivers, or large tanks.	Two
Single-day Conservation goose hunt (no limits, unplugged guns, electronic calls, north Texas or panhandle	Two
Multi-day Conservation goose hunt (no limits, unplugged guns, electronic calls), north of Texas.	One
Sandhill crane hunt at the coast or panhandle.	One
Kansas pheasant hunt.	Two
Private charter offshore trip for tuna, etc. – 24 hours.	Two
Party boat offshore trip for tuna, etc. – 24 hours.	One
Two-day bass fishing trip.  Lakes within three hours such as Whitney, Belton, Somerville, etc.  Stay in a Cabin, RV, B&B, etc.	Three
Three-day bass fishing trip.  Lakes within six hours such as Falcon, Amistad, Sam Rayburn, etc.  Stay in a Cabin, RV, B&B, etc.	Two
Four or five day fishing trip.  Lakes within ten hours in Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc.  Targeting Walleye, pike, smallmouth bass, trout, etc.	One

Additional Questions	Answers
For kayak trips, do you have an extra kayak to loan to a member?	Two respondents (one has three)
For boat based fishing trips, do you have a fishing boat you would be willing to share with other members and guests?	One respondent
Are there any other activities you would like to see planned?	Guided kayak fishing trip   Panhandle goose, duck, and sandhill crane hunt
Willing to lead/coordinate	Goose hunt (Jeff Morris)   Guided kayak fishing trip (Jeff?)

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On 1/1/19 Randy Rowley proposed to change the Bylaws that pertain to safety, shooting, hunting, and camping rules and adding fishing rules.

Our Bylaws state:

1. Conduct

Safety and Shooting Rules

Members agree to:

1. Obey the rules of safe weapon/rod handling.

Hunting and Fishing Rules

Members agree to:

5.  Always be aware of where the muzzles of their guns are pointing.

6.  Always keep the safeties of their guns on except when they are actively shooting at game (dove, hogs, etc.) or clay, paper, etc. targets.

Randy noted that when we wrote those bylaws around 28 years ago we did not see a need to go into further detail, but as we’ve had some issues, especially with people not always using their safeties and with fishermen making unsafe casts over our 30 years of existence, he would like to change them to the below.  For the Shooting Rules he tried to encompass all aspects of before the shot, during the shot, and after the shot, from several sources.  Additions are in red.  Strikethroughs are deletions.  Sentences in blue are explanations and will not be included in the revised Bylaws.  Randy realizes that a lot of this is common sense, but as the saying goes “Common sense is not so common.”

1. Conduct

Safety, Shooting, Hunting, Fishing, and Camping Rules  

These rules will be enforced at FCS events.  Violators can lose shooting, hunting, fishing, and camping privileges.  Repeat violators can be banned from FCS events and/or lose FCS membership, per our established procedures.  {Please realize that Randy is not looking for ways to trim our membership; in fact, the opposite has always been the case with him; however, he wants people to know that we are very serious about safety and will take action if we have to.}

Safety and Shooting Rules

Members agree to:

1. Obey the rules of safe weapon/rod handling.

Shooting Rules

Members agree to:

1.  Always treat all guns with the respect due a loaded gun.  Before handling a firearm, visually check the chamber, receiver, and magazine to make sure there is no ammunition anywhere in the firearm.

2.  Always wear eye and ear protection.

3.  Always learn how their gun operates.  Ask for instruction before going hunting.  {Yes, we have had more than one occurrence of someone going on a hunt not knowing how to load their gun.}

4.  Always have their gun ready at the time of the hunt.  Do not arrive at a hog hunt, for example, and ask everyone to wait a couple hours for you to go sight in your rifle.  {Yes, this happened once.}

5.  Always load when the guide/leader says to load and unload when the guide/leader says to unload.

6.  Always check their gun and ammunition before loading.  {We have had more than one case of someone loading a 20 gauge shell in a 12 gauge shotgun; we have also had a case of someone loading a .270 in a .30-06.}

7.  Always make sure their barrel and action are clear of obstructions and carry only ammunition of the proper caliber for their gun.

8.  Always put their safety on before loading and watch their muzzle at all times, including while loading.  Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times.  Never let the muzzle cover anything that is not intended to be destroyed.  Never rely on their gun’s safety.

9.  Always be sure of their target and what is in front of it and beyond it.  Know the identifying features of the game being hunted.  Ensure there is an adequate backstop—don’t shoot a rifle or handgun at a flat, hard surface (e.g. a rock) or water.  The bullet may ricochet and travel in unpredictable directions.

10.  Always keep their finger outside the trigger guard until your sights are on the target.  This is the best way to prevent an accidental discharge.

11.  Always keep the safeties of their guns on except when they are actively shooting at game (dove, hogs, etc.) or clay, paper, etc. targets.  {This rule was moved from the Hunting Rules.}  {A guide recently asked that we not bring back one of our members for this season.}

12.  Always point their gun only at something they intend to shoot.

13.  Always put their safeties back on immediately after firing.

14.  Always handle their gun with care, if it fails to fire when the trigger is pulled.  If a chambered round of ammunition does not fire when the trigger is pulled, put the gun on safety and keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.  Treat the gun as if it could still discharge.  Wait at least 30 seconds before slowly and carefully opening the action and unload the cartridge from the chamber.

15.  Always unload their gun before climbing a fence or tree, jumping a ditch, or running and pull guns toward them by the butt, not the muzzle.

16.  Always unload their gun when not in use.  Leave actions open, and carry firearms in cases and unloaded to and from the shooting area.

17.  Always store their guns and ammunition separately and safely.

18. Always clean their guns when needed and have them repaired, if needed.  {We have had more than one case on a hunt where a gun was so dirty it would not operate, including a pump shotgun; we had to disassemble it with pliers in order to clean it.}

Hunting and Fishing Rules

Members agree to:

5.  Always be aware of where the muzzles of their guns are pointing.  {This rule was moved to the Shooting Rules.}

6.  Always keep the safeties of their guns on except when they are actively shooting at game (dove, hogs, etc.) or clay, paper, etc. targets.  {This rule was moved to the Shooting Rules.}

12.  Always obey all hunting and fishingregulations (examples of frequently violated regulations include: buying your child a hunting and/or fishinglicense for the purpose of taking more game or fishfor yourself and saying that your child bagged them, taking game or fishover the limit and giving the excess to others, taking game or fishover the limit and eating the excess, and shooting across county roads).

14.  Never kill or shoot at birds, and animals, or fish and never shoot at birds and animalsthat they do not intend to eat or are not doing so to assist in wildlife depredation (e.g., shooting at sparrows and dragonflies).

Fishing Rules

Members agree to:

1.  Always learn how their reel operates.  Ask for instruction before going fishing.

2.  Always have their reel ready at the time of the fishing trip.  The start of a fishing trip is not the time to fill your reel with line.

3.  Always watch where your hooks are at all times, including every backcast (where your lure/hook is when you bring it back to cast), every single cast.  {To date we have had two people hit in the face by lures, including one in the eyelid, from guys not watching their backcasts.}

4.  Always ensure that line is not wrapped around your rod before you cast, every single cast.  If line is wrapped around your rod tip it can cause the lure to “rebound” and come back towards you or others. {Randy was hit in the eyes by a lure when someone did this once; fortunately he was wearing sunglasses.}

5.  Always obey all fishing regulations (examples of frequently violated regulations include: buying your child a fishing license for the purpose of taking more fish for yourself and saying that your child caught them, taking fish over the limit and giving the excess to others, and taking fish over the limit and eating the excess).

6.  Never kill fish that you they not intend to eat or are not doing so to assist in wildlife depredation (e.g., throwing carp on the bank to suffocate).

Camping Rules

Members agree to:

2.  Always keep guns in camp unloaded.  {This was moved to the Shooting Rules.}

A vote was taken on 1/9/19.  On 1/17/19 the proposal passed 16 for to 0 opposed.

2018

On 10/11/18 Randy Rowley noted that he was supposed to have the officers discuss and vote on the next Fiscal Year Budget in August and forgot about it.  He sometimes forgets about it as our fiscal year goes from each 9/1 to 8/31.  This repeated failure caused him to think about the Budget, as well as the Calendar.

The historical facts are we have never had an officer vote against the Annual Budget (not to be confused with adding expenditures like buying caps) or the Annual Calendar.  This being the case, one could ask why are we spending time having a one-week discussion on each followed by a one week vote.  It’s academic and is a waste of time and energy, in his opinion.  We have procedures in place on the calendar where each vice president and event coordinator submits his events each year to the president.  We could change discussing and voting on the calendar to simply say that the calendar is maintained by the president, vice president, and event coordinators.  We also have a procedure if a supporting member wants an event to be added to the calendar.  We have similar procedures regarding the budget.  We could change discussing and voting on the budget to simply state that it’s maintained by the president and treasurer.

These changes would require the below amendments to our bylaws.  As a bonus, if approved, they will shorten our bylaws and allow us to eliminate the section on executive decisions (which were for expenditures and events).  Randy added language (formerly from the executive decision section) where the supporting club members could address a president, vice president, and event coordinator (for an event decision) or a president and treasurer (for an expenditure decision) who allegedly made a questionable decision.

Below are Randy’s proposed changes to the bylaws.  The added language is bolded.  The deleted language is struck through.

III.  Membership:

F.  All supporting FCS members have the following benefits:

• make amendment proposals to the FCS Bylaws, Statement of Faith, and/or Annual Calendar of Events, and/or Annual Fiscal Year Budget;
• make expenditure proposals;

IV.  Officers:

D.  FCS President:

6..Responsible to ensure that all supporting FCS members are given an opportunity to ponder and discuss amendment proposals to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith and all officers are given an opportunity to ponder and discuss the proposed Annual Calendar of Events and Annual Fiscal Year Budget for a minimum of one week before a vote on the proposal is scheduled to be held. Discussions can be held by e-mail, mail, phone, or in person.

7.  Responsible to ensure that votes on bi-annual and called officer elections and on amendment proposals to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, and/or Annual Fiscal Year Budget take place and the results are tabulated and reported to the supporting FCS members within seven days of the vote. (Supporting FCS members can vote on Bylaw and Statement of Faith votes, but the event coordinators vote on the Annual Calendar of Events and the officers vote on the Annual Fiscal Year Budget.) An attempt must be made to obtain votes from all supporting FCS members or FCS officers (as applicable) via e-mail, mail, phone proxy, or in person. All supporting FCS members or FCS officers must be given, at a minimum, one week to respond to all votes (if possible). Any candidate approved by a majority vote or any proposal approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the supporting FCS members or FCS officers (as applicable) who cast a vote shall constitute as an official FCS action. If there is a tie during an officer election a runoff election must be held. The FCS officers can, in situations where it is impossible, due to time constraints, to hold a minimum one week discussion by the supporting FCS members followed by a minimum one week vote of the supporting FCS members, make Executive Decisions (officer only votes). The FCS President must attempt to obtain votes from the FCS officers as soon as possible in order to make an Executive Decision. Any Executive Decision can later be overturned by a two-thirds majority vote of the supporting FCS members who cast a vote (a supporting FCS member would have to propose a full vote on the Executive Decision).

VII.  Annual Fiscal Year Budget:

A.  The FCS and Chapter presidents and treasurers shall maintain an Annual Fiscal Yearthe Budget (beginning each September the 1st). The proposed Annual Fiscal Year Budget must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the FCS officers who cast a vote prior to implementation.

VIII. Amendment proposals to the Bylaws, Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, Annual Fiscal Year Budget, and/or Proposals to Remove Members from FCS Membership:

A.  Supporting members (only) can make amendment proposals to the Bylaws, Statement of Faith,Annual Calendar of Events, Annual Fiscal Year Budgetand/or proposals to remove FCS members from FCS membership. Amendment proposals to the Bylaws, Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, Annual Fiscal Year Budget and/or proposals to remove members from FCS membership must be made to the FCS President and can be in written (preferably) or oral form.

B.  Amendment proposals to the Bylaws, Statement of Faith,Annual Calendar of Events, and/or Annual Fiscal Year Budgetand/or proposals to remove members from FCS membership do not require a “second” in order to be considered.

D.  The FCS president will present amendment proposals pertaining to the Annual Calendar of Events from supporting members to the FCS officer who is in charge of the event(s) for a minimum one week discussion and aminimum one week votedecision.  Any such decision can later be overturned by a two-thirds majority vote of the supporting FCS members who cast a vote (a supporting FCS member would have to propose a full vote on the decision).

E.  The FCS president will present expenditure proposals pertaining to the Annual Fiscal YearBudget from supporting members to the FCS officers treasurer for a minimum one week discussion and a minimum one week vote decision.  Any such decision can later be overturned by a two-thirds majority vote of the supporting FCS members who cast a vote (a supporting FCS member would have to propose a full vote on the decision to the president).

F.  Any proposal on an amendment to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the supporting FCS members who cast a voteand any proposal on an amendment to the Annual Calendar of Events and Annual Fiscal Year Budget by a two-thirds majority vote of the officers who are eligible to voteshall constitute as an official FCS action.

A vote was taken on 10/18/18.  On 10/24/18 the proposal passed 14 for to 0 opposed.

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On 7/28/18 Randy Rowley initiated a poll on where we should have our 2018/2019 season duck hunts.  16 respondents indicated that they would like to hunt at the Pinoak Ranch.  Four respondents indicated that they would like to hunt with Ricky Ethridge.  Five respondents indicated that they would like to hunt with Rayce Jenkins.  Three respondents indicated that they would like to hunt with Jack Chamberland.

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On 7/27/18 Randy Rowley initiated a poll on where we should have our 2019 Hog Hunt.  Twelve respondents indicated that they would like to hunt at the Pinoak Ranch.  One respondent indicated that he would like to hunt at the Independence Ranch.  One respondent indicated that he would like us to keep looking for a better deal.

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On 6/29/18 Randy Rowley let the other FCS officers know that he was about the order FCS caps.  He noted that inevitably, when guys see the caps they will want to order them (even though he sent out a couple polls on them).  He proposed to buy six caps to meet the needs of those who are allergic to responding to emails.  He noted that we have $1100 in checking so we can easily afford this.  He is confident that the caps will sell quickly/we will not be stuck with merchandise that we cannot sell.  A vote was taken.  On 7/12/18 the proposal passed three votes to one.

2017

On 10/21/17 Randy Rowley proposed the 2018 FCS Calendar to the FCS officers.  He made the following changes to the 2017 Calendar:

• Moved the Banquet to March.  This should help folks remember better, for example, how many events they attended in 2017.  Plus we won’t be celebrating a year that ended eight months before the Banquet.  I also moved the Banquet to the Cedar Park Texas Land and Cattle.
  
• Moved the Uvalde Dove Hunt with Tony Arce, Jr. back to the first Saturday in September.
  
• Added five self-chartered bass fishing trips back to the calendar.  As you know, he had to delete several this year due to his surgeries and recoveries.
  
• Removed the South Texas Dove Hunt near Falfurrias from the calendar due to the distance from Austin and lack of participation.

Proposed 2018 FCS Calender

January

• Monday, 1/1/18, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 1/6/18, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 1/6/18, AM – Guided Inland Duck Hunt with a guide TBD.
• Saturday, 1/13/18 – ‘Promatic Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 1/20/18, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 1/26/18 through Sunday, 1/28/18 AM – Self-guided Coastal Blast and Cast (Duck Hunt and Bay Fishing Trip) to Port O’Connor.

February

• Monday, 2/5/18, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Chili Dinner at Ron Denison’s home (1009 Ambrose Cv., Pflugerville, 512-670-7717 – Home, 512-217-4677 – Cell).
• Saturday, 2/10/18, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 2/17/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 2/17/18 – ‘Copperhead Clay Bowl’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Copperhead Creek Shooting Club in Marble Falls.
• Sunday, 2/25/18 – ‘Sweetheart Shoot’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

March

• Wednesday, 3/7/18, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – FCS Banquet at Texas Land & Cattle (14010 U.S. 183 B, Austin, 512-258-3733).
• Saturday, 3/10/18, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 3/17/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 3/24/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 3/24/18 – ‘Bluebonnet Special’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 3/26/18, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.

April

• Tuesday, 4/3/18, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Catfish Fry at Mr. Charles Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Saturday, 4/7/18, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 4/13/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a late TBD.
• Friday, 4/13/18 through Saturday, 4/14/18 – 24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot at the 74 Ranch near Campbellton.
• Friday, 4/20/18 through Sunday, 4/22/18 – Self-guided Hog Hunt at Mr. Charles Batts’ ranch near Junction.
• Sunday, 4/22/18 through Tuesday, 4/24/18 – Semi-guided Hog Hunt at the Independence Ranch near Gonzales.

May

• Thursday, 5/3/18, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Wild Game Dinner (Ministry Event) at St. George’s Court (1443 Coronado Hills Drive, Austin).
• Sunday, 5/6/18 – ‘McBride’s Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 5/7/18, PM – Chartered Striped/Hybrid Bass Fishing Trip with a guide(s) TBD.
• Saturday, 5/12/18, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – ‘FCS Open’ (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707) followed by lunch at La Palapa (6640 E. Highway 290, Austin, 512-459-8729).
• Saturday, 5/26/18 – ‘May Day Clay’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Copperhead Creek Shooting Club in Marble Falls.

June

• Thursday, 6/7/18, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Fajita Dinner at Jim McGee’s home (2605 Izoro Bend, Cedar Park, 512-791-3464).
• Saturday, 6/9/18, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 6/16/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Monday, 6/18/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Friday, 6/22/18 – Sunday, 6/25/18 – Self-chartered Bay Fishing Trip near Port O’Connor.
• Sunday, 6/24/18 – ‘Capitol City Classic’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

July

• Saturday, 7/7/18, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 7/14/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 7/14/18 – ‘Firecracker Special’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 7/21/18 – ‘Clayfest’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
• Saturday, 7/28/18 – ‘Freedom Clays’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Copperhead Creek Shooting Club in Marble Falls.

August

• Saturday, 8/4/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Monday, 8/6/18, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Steak Dinner at Randy Rowley’s home (512-922-2484).
• Saturday, 8/11/18, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 8/18/18 – ‘Cotton Canyon Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Copperhead Creek Shooting Club in Marble Falls.

September

• Saturday, 9/1/18, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans Ranch near San Saba.
• Saturday, 9/1/18, all day – Dove Hunt with Tony Arce, Jr. near Uvalde.
• Saturday, 9/3/18 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 9/8/18, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 9/14/18 – Saturday, 9/15/18 – Guided Teal Hunt with Rayce Jenkins near El Campo.
• Saturday, 9/15/18, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans Ranch near San Saba.
• Sunday, 9/16/18 – ‘Patriot Day’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 9/29/18, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba.

October

• Saturday, 10/6/18, AM – Self-guided Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Tuesday, 10/9/18, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Shrimp Boil at Bruce Crockett’s home (2119 Woodston Dr., Round Rock, 512-970-7797).
• Saturday, 10/13/18, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba.
• Sunday, 10/14/18 – ‘Smashing Pumpkins’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 10/20/18, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 10/27/18, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba.

November

• Friday, 11/9/18 through Saturday, 11/10/18 – Guided Goose Hunt with Rayce Jenkins near El Campo.
• Saturday, 11/10/18, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 11/10/18 – ‘Give ‘em the Bird’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 11/17/18 – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 11/17/18, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

December

• Sunday, 12/2/18 – ‘Buck N’ Clays’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Thursday, 12/6/18, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Venison Stew at Wayne Weilnau’s home (16100 Fritsch Cove, Austin, 512-388-3340 – Home, 512-589-4120 – Cell).
• Friday, 12/14/18 through Saturday, 12/15/18 – Guided Inland Duck Hunt with Ricky Ethridge near Bastrop or Marquez.
• Saturday, 12/15/18, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 12/21/18 through Saturday, 12/22/18 – Guided Inland Duck Hunt with Ricky Ethridge near Bastrop or Marquez.
• Saturday, 12/22/18, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Wednesday, 12/26/18, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Friday, 12/28/18 through Sunday, 12/30/18 – Self-guided Coastal Duck Hunt at a location TBD (if Port O’Connor it will be a Blast and Cast).
• Saturday, 12/29/18 – ‘Year End Finale’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

Events Summary
Sporting Clays Tournaments	16
Waterfowl Hunts	13
Sporting Clays Shoots	12
Freshwater Fishing Trips	11
Dove Hunts	6
FCS Meetings	6
Hog Hunts	2
Upland Bird Hunt	1
Bay Fishing Trip	1
24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot	1
Banquet	1
Ministry Event	1
Total	71
Category Summary
Shoots	29
Hunts	22
Fishing Trips	12
Meetings	6
Banquet	1
Ministry Event	1
Total	71

On 10/29/17, the proposition passed by a vote of 5 for to 0 opposed.

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On 9/1/17 Randy Rowley initiated a poll among FCS members and future FCS members regarding FCS meetings.  The poll closed on 9/30/17.

Randy noted that on 4/7/16 he sent out a poll regarding FCS meetings.  He noted that over the past couple of years we had a decline in the number of people who participated in FCS Meetings.  This has become significantly worse.  For our four meetings this year, we have five, nine, five, and four participants for an average of 5.75 people per meeting.  Here are the statistics, compared with the past five years:

Year	Total Attendees	Number of Events	Average Attendees per Event
2017	23	4	5.75
2016	52	6	8.67
2015	67	6	11.17
2014	80	6	13.33
2013	74	6	12.33
2012	76	6	12.67

Randy noted in the last poll that when we first started to have meetings 26 years ago (in 1991) they were major events.  In fact, they were our second most popular event category, behind dove retreats (we didn’t start shooting sporting clays until 1993 and didn’t start doing that regularly until a few years later).  Meetings were the major means for us to convey upcoming events and to have discussions and votes (we had quarterly newsletters that also conveyed upcoming events, but they came out only four times a year and we met six times a year).

He also noted that for at least the last decade he has conveyed upcoming events via his weekly FCS ENews and he has conducted FCS supporting member discussions and votes via email (which allows all supporting members to discuss the issue(s) and vote, not just the ones who come to a meeting).  We have not had a bylaw discussion and vote at a meeting for well over a decade.  What we presently do at meetings is:

1. fellowship (which we do at every FCS event);
2. eat (which we do at other FCS events);
3. discuss upcoming events (which we do at several other FCS events); and
4. have devotionals (which we do at other FCS events).

Nothing happens at our meetings that doesn’t happen at other FCS events.

Last year Randy pondered if meetings had gone the way of the 8-track player, hence the 4/7/16 poll.  The poll results indicated that the vast majority of respondents still wanted to have meetings (13 respondents).  Four respondents felt that we could discontinue them.  However, the number of attendees that we have experienced since then say that people no longer want to have meetings or we are doing something wrong.  Therefore, he initiated a more extensive poll.  Nine people responded to the questions.  Randy responded to some remarks in red.

1. Meetings Value

100% of respondents think that meetings are valuable and want to keep having them

0% of respondents think that we should discontinue meetings

1. Meeting Frequency

67% of respondents like the present frequency of meetings (bi-monthly)

11% of respondents think that we should meet more often:

• One respondent stated maybe one per month.

22% of respondents think that we should meet less often:

• One respondent stated quarterly.
• One respondent did not specify.

0% of respondents think that we should meet on odd months instead of even months

1. Meeting Schedule (presently we have two meetings on Mondays, two on Tuesdays, and two on Thursdays)

87% of respondents would like to continue with the present schedule

13% of respondents would prefer to meet on the following nights/days:

• One respondent stated Thursdays.

1. Meeting Length

75% of respondents think that the present meeting length (2 ½ hours) is appropriate

0% of respondents would like to meet longer

25% of respondents would like to meet shorter (specify length):

• 2 hours
• 1 to 1 ½ hours . In order to cut it down to an hour we would have to eliminate eating and the video and just sit around and talk. I doubt if many guys would be interested in coming over at dinner time without having something to eat.  1 1/2 hours would be doable, but without the video.  The last few meetings have been over by 9:00 PM (2 hours).  Perhaps a 6:30 – 8:30 schedule?

1. Meetings Begin and End (if you do not like the present 7:00 – 9:30 PM schedule)

• One respondent (11%) would like meetings to begin at 7:00 and end at 9:00.
• One respondent (11%) I would like meetings to begin at 6:00 and end at 7:00 or 7:30.

1. Meeting Location

87% of respondents would like to continue to meet at people’s homes

13% of respondents would like to meet at other locations (specify): Bass Pro Shops

Other:

• Either is OK provided the organization doesn’t incur expense.

1. Meeting Agenda

87% of respondents would like to continue with the present meeting agenda (fellowship, eat, discussion upcoming events, and have a devotional)

0% of respondents would like to discontinue anything from the agenda.

13% of respondents would like to add the following to the agenda:

• Reports/pictures/slideshows of others’ adventures.

1. Meals

35% of respondents prefer having someone cook (which also entails someone shopping for the food, bringing the cooking equipment, and cleaning up afterwards)

65% of respondents prefer to order pizza or similar  This equates to ordering pizza or similar at four or our meetings and cooking at two of them.

Other:

• Either is OK, although the chili and wild game meals should continue.
• I totally understand and appreciate the hassles and burden on the shopper and cook(s), but a wild game meal will definitely attract more participants. It doesn’t have to be every meeting.  Just whenever we have both donated game meats and a volunteer to cook.  I hope one of these days, I’ll be able to step up and do my part.
• This feels like it should be at host’s discretion. Some guys like cooking, and I like eating what a happy chef makes!

Regarding wild game, we do not get enough wild game donated to do both a Ministry Event at St. George’s Court apartments and also do an FCS meal.

1. Other:  Please share any other ideas that you have that you think would improve our meetings:

• Videos are cool.
• There are a wide varieties of hunting/fishing opportunities for people to choose from.
• If it wasn’t for the meetings, I would not have been presented with the cool hunts I’ve been on.
• Devotionals – devotions are hit or miss. Ask any preacher.
• We are not the same guys we were 20 years ago.
• We’ve all had major changes in our lives. Everything is different, health, relations, finances, jobs.
• Many of our focuses have changed. We’re not young yuppies anymore.  I think a lot of us are just tired.
• One thing remains the same. Without God, we’re just a bunch of guys who like to hunt and fish.
• FCS has been very good for me. It has helped me find a hobby that I have come to love.
• It has taught me things I can pass onto my kids, like a strong political stance on the 2nd amendment.
• This stance along with a strong Biblical belief has helped to widen the gap between being a solid Christian man and weak kneed, no backbone liberal.
• I try to not get too upset about smaller numbers. Where two or three are gathered…
• There’s too much defeatism going on in the world. I always tell my pastor when a message has touched my heart or when a message encourages me.  FCS encourages me to continue the good fight.
• In general I am fine with the current schedules, but would be open to different days and times. I really like eating something other than pizza.  The ones that stand out to me are the wild game dinners, shrimp boil, and chili cookoff.  I think we should keep it to simple meals that do not require a lot of prep or cleanup.  (The fried fish you mentioned would be on the too much work list.)  I would be willing to cook most times.  If we start getting more participation, I may need assistance.  I would also be willing to host more often.  I will say that the shows we have been watching have been weak lately.  Too much advertisement and not enough action.  I would prefer we DVR some programs or find something on the internet to watch.  Perhaps we can get more participation by including some activities in the meeting….fly tying…..knot tying competitions……fantasy fishing (is there such a thing?) shoot pool, play cards, cornhole, etc. I’ll consider your recommendations and agree with the Spiritual Outdoor Adventures DVDs are lacking (and a bit annoying).  We’ve done “how to” clinics at dove retreats but have not tried them at meetings.  I’ll see if I can round up some folks to do that.  I used to reload shotgun shells, but it was costing me more money to reload than it was to buy new shells, so I sold all of my reloading equipment.  Otherwise, I’d do a reloading clinic.  Perhaps I’ll do a European Mount clinic (lecture; we wouldn’t have the time to do an actual skull).
• I originally joined because I wanted to engage my son in outdoor activities but avoiding a lot of the drinking/swearing/womanizing etc. types of behavior I have seen in hunting camps. I was not necessarily looking for additional sermons, Bible study, etc. because I can get that through my church.  I suspect many others joined for similar reasons.  I think it would be interesting to know why others joined and see if we are meeting that expectation.  I think it would be valuable to hear what would make people more likely to participate in meetings.  That would be the people who did not make the cut on your first question.  I hear you on the spiritual aspect.  I certainly am not attempting to have FCS replace the church.  However, not every member gets fed the Word like you and I do.  For some, we might be all the “church” that they get, besides Christmas and Easter.  Also, I want us to be known not just for what we don’t do (drinking/swearing/womanizing etc.) but also for what we do (devotionals, prayer, and bearing our brothers burdens).  I believe that is the direction that the Lord led me to take the club years ago, but I acknowledge that some people don’t cherish it.  I have made attempts to shorten my devotionals to no more than 1500 words and to use spiritual outdoor videos, even though they have flaws.
• I don’t want these lower numbers to get anybody down.
• The meeting frequencies are just right, everything is just right.
• We’ve always been about letting our hair down and lifting up our
• I may not be able to afford some of the pricy hunts, but I do enjoy the brotherhood.
• Honestly I just need to put them on my calendar, I keep forgetting. Anyway we can set up the meetings as a calendar invite?  We tried that, but it proved to be a logistical nightmare that took up a tremendous amount of time.  It also only worked for folks who had Google calendars.  If you know of an easier way, I’m all ears!
• Share pictures of most recent hunts and fishing outings (I realize that these are on the website, but this could help generate interest).
• My life schedule is both hectic and sporadic, but I would like to meet and fellowship with the club as often as I am able to.
• Mine has more to do with my energy levels/health and nothing to do with the wonder-full-ness of meetings. If I can attend and feel good / energetically = I will.
• I like going to the meetings it’s just my schedule sometimes won’t allow it. I liked the meeting at the shooting range when we had it there.  The shooting range no longer is an option, as they want $75 to rent their meeting room.
• Stop having them and see what happens or have one or two good ones a year with good meals.
• I really appreciate the opportunity to fellowship the way we do. Work has been bad lately, and so I’ve been a poor attendee.  But this is a great group that should live on.  Meetings are just a small part of what we do, so even if we end up cancelling them, the show will continue to go on.  I doubt if we will end up cancelling them.  I’m going back to cooking, starting with the next meeting.  Hopefully that will increase attendance.  If that doesn’t work then maybe we’ll start meeting in restaurants.  I just don’t want to keep asking guys to spend hours cleaning their home and supplying an appetizer, desert, and drinks when so few people are showing up.
• The key thing is fellowshipping as much as possible.
• I have not been in a few years because of kids and other engagements. Now with twins I have not had not been able to attend Bible study and other meetings due to putting kids in bed.  I am hoping first of next year I can start getting out.  I would be more likely to attend once or twice a year which might be better for all because you are more likely to have more attendees with less meetings.  I would suggest August before season and January, February or March for other meeting.  If just once a year then in August.

1. If you do not attend meetings, please let me know what changes we could make to them that would make you want to attend them

• None ~ I do not have an interest in attending meetings….my membership is just club support.
• Don’t think it’s anything about you or the meeting content that drives this. It’s just that on the scale of priorities and time commitments, this is low and an occasional outing is a great option to decide in the moment.  I’m a member to support the cause and opportunity to join as able.
• I understand my opinion does not count for much because I can’t be involved right now but overall, I liked and was blessed by the meetings. Just busy life kept me away sometimes.  It was always a blessing to me.

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On 8/28/17 Randy Rowley initiated a vote among the officers regarding the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Budget (beginning 9/1/17), prepared by Kevin Wall.  It is the same as the FY 2017 Budget, with the exception of the website hosting fee, which was paid for by a donor.

Projected Income
55 memberships ($17.50/member)	962.50
Projected Expenditures
Liability insurance	(820.00)
Photocopies	(15.00)
Stamps and postage	(10.00)
Annual website backup fee	(30.00)
Projected Surplus	77.50

On 9/4/17, the proposition passed by a vote of 5 for to 0 opposed.

2016

On 10/24/16 Randy Rowley proposed the 2017 FCS Calendar.  He made the following changes to the 2016 Calendar:

• He moved the April shoot to 4/22, as Ken Miller reserved the 24-hour shoot for 4/14 – 4/15.  He also made the 4/22 shoot a shoot with a youth group.
• He moved the banquet to July, so we wouldn’t have a banquet and a meeting in August (we have our meetings on even months).
• He moved the striped/hybrid bass fishing trip to a Monday, so people could have a three-day weekend if they so choose.
• He added the Uvalde Dove Hunt back to the Calendar.

Proposed 2017 FCS Calendar

January

• Friday, 1/6/17 through Sunday, 1/8/17 – Semi-guided Management Deer and Hog Hunt near San Saba.
• Friday, 1/13/17 through Sunday, 1/15/17 – Semi-guided Management Deer and Hog Hunt near San Saba.
• Friday, 1/13/17 through Sunday, 1/15/17 – Parent/Child Self-guided Deer and Hog Hunt on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Saturday, 1/14/17 AM – Guided Inland Duck Hunt with Jack Chamberland near McMahan.
• Saturday, 1/14/17, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 1/16/17 AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Thursday, 1/19/17, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at Dos Salsas (1600 E Whitestone Blvd, Cedar Park, 512-260-7494).
• Saturday, 1/21/17 AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 1/21/17 – ‘Cold Clays Shoot’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 1/28/17 AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.

February

• Monday, 2/6/17, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Ron Denison’s home (1009 Ambrose Cv., Pflugerville, 512-670-7717 – Home, 512-217-4677 – Cell).
• Saturday, 2/11/17, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 2/19/17 – ‘Sweetheart Shoot’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 2/20/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.

March

• Saturday, 3/4/17 – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.
• Saturday, 3/11/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 3/18/17, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 3/18/17, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.
• Saturday, 3/25/17 – ‘Bluebonnet Special’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

April

• Sunday, 4/2/17 through Tuesday, 4/4/17 – Semi-guided Hog Hunt at the Wild Hog Hunting Ranch near Gonzales.
• Tuesday, 4/4/17, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Mr. Charlie Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Friday, 4/14/17 through Saturday, 4/15/17 – 24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot at the 74 Ranch near Campbellton.
• Saturday, 4/22/17, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot with the Youth from Northgate Apartments at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 4/29/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.

May

• Thursday, 5/4/17, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Wild Game Dinner (Ministry Event) at St. George’s Court (1443 Coronado Hills Drive, Austin).
• Monday, 5/8/17, PM – Chartered Striped/Hybrid Bass Fishing Trip with a guide(s) TBD.
• Saturday, 5/13/17, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – ‘FCS Open’ (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707) followed by lunch at La Palapa (6640 E. highway 290, Austin, 512-459-8729).
• Saturday, 5/20/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on Lake Fayette.
• Monday, 5/29/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.

June

• Thursday, 6/8/17, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Jim McGee’s home (2605 Izoro Bend, Cedar Park, 512-791-3464).
• Friday, 6/9/17 – Sunday, 6/11/17 – Self-chartered Bay Fishing Trip near Port O’Connor.
• Saturday, 6/17/17, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 6/19/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Sunday, 6/25/17 – ‘Capitol City Classic’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

July

• Saturday, 7/8/17, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Thursday, 7/13/17, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Officers Meeting at Dos Salsas (1600 E Whitestone Blvd, Cedar Park, 512-260-7494).
• Saturday, 7/15/17 – ‘Firecracker Special’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 7/22/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Thursday, 7/27/17, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – FCS Banquet at Texas Land & Cattle (6007 N. I-35 & 290, 512-451-6555).

August

• Monday, 8/7/17, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at a location TBD.
• Saturday, 8/12/17, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 8/19/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.

September

• Saturday, 9/2/17 – ‘Patriot Day’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 9/2/17, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans Ranch near San Saba.
• Saturday, 9/3/16, all day – Dove Hunt with Tony Arce, Jr. near Uvalde.
• Monday, 9/4/17 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 9/9/17, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 9/15/17 – Saturday, 9/16/17 – Guided Teal Hunt with Rayce Jenkins near El Campo.
• Saturday, 9/16/17, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans Ranch near San Saba.
• Saturday, 9/30/17, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba.

October

• Tuesday, 10/3/17, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Bruce Crockett’s home (2119 Woodston Dr., Round Rock, 512-970-7797).
• Saturday, 10/7/17, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 10/14/17 – ‘Smashing Pumpkins’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 10/14/17, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Scouting and Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 10/14/17, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba.
• Saturday, 10/21/17, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Scouting and Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 10/28/17, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba

November

• Saturday, 11/4/17, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Friday, 11/10/17 through Saturday, 11/11/17 – Guided Goose Hunt with Rayce Jenkins near El Campo.
• Saturday, 11/11/17 – ‘Give ‘em the Bird’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 11/17/17 through Sunday, 11/19/17 – Self-guided Coastal Duck Hunt near Corpus Christi/Port Aransas.
• Saturday, 11/18/17, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

December

• Sunday, 12/3/17 – ‘Buck N’ Clays’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Thursday, 12/7/17, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Wayne Weilnau’s home (16100 Fritsch Cove, Austin, 512-388-3340 – Home, 512-589-4120 – Cell).
• Friday, 12/15/17 through Saturday, 12/16/17 – Guided Inland Duck Hunt with Ricky Ethridge on the Navasota River.
• Saturday, 12/16/17, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 12/23/17, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a location TBD.
• Friday, 12/29/17 through Sunday, 12/31/17 – Self-guided Coastal Duck Hunt near Port Arthur.
• Saturday, 12/30/17 – ‘Year End Finale’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

Events Summary
Sporting Clays Shoots	12
Freshwater Fishing Trips (two are also duck scouting trips)	12
Waterfowl Hunts	11
Sporting Clays Tournaments	10
FCS Meetings	6
Dove Hunts	6
Deer and Hog Hunts	2
Officer Meetings	2
Upland Bird Hunts	2
Hog Hunt	1
Bay Fishing Trip	1
Ministry Event	1
Total	68
Category Summary
Shoots	23
Hunts	22
Fishing Trips	13
Meetings	8
Banquet	1
Ministry Event	1
Total	68

On 10/31/16, the proposition passed by a vote of 4 for to 0 opposed.

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On 9/30/16, Randy Rowley initiated a vote on a proposition by him to change the bylaws in relation to PayPal fees for membership products.

We recently added the capability for members to renew their memberships or for individuals to join the club on our website.  At issue is PayPay charges a 2.5% plus .30 per transaction fee, presently.  For example, for a $20 one-year membership the fee is $.80, so they will only deposit $19.20 into our account.

To offset this, as we are not-for-profit, Randy proposed to increase the cost of memberships for online memberships only by the percentage and fee that PayPal charges us.

Presently our bylaws regarding memberships state:

Membership due options include:

• One-year membership/membership renewal – $20.00
• Two-year membership/membership renewal – $35.00 (a 13% discount)
• Three-year membership/membership renewal – $50.00 (a 17% discount)
• Five-year membership/membership renewal – $80.00 (a 20% discount)
• Lifetime membership – $300.00 (equivalent to 15 one-year membership renewals)

Randy proposed to add the following:

For online memberships and renewals, the due options have been increased to compensate for the going PayPal transaction fee.  They are as follows:

• One-year membership/membership renewal – $20.80
• Two-year membership/membership renewal – $36.18 (a 13% discount)
• Three-year membership/membership renewal – $51.55 (a 17% discount)
• Five-year membership/membership renewal – $82.30 (a 20% discount)
• Lifetime membership – $307.80 (equivalent to 15 one-year membership renewals)

On 10/8/16, the proposition passed by a vote of 8 for to 0 opposed.  One supporting member recommended that we should round the figures off to the next higher dollar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On 8/11/16, Randy Rowley proposed to the Officers that the club buy dinner for our guest speak (Doug Du Bois) and his wife at the 8/11/16 Annual Family Banquet from our ministry budget.  Their meal came to $35.02.

On 8/18/16, the proposition passed by a vote of 6 for to 0 opposed.

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On 7/16/16, Randy Rowley proposed to the Officers that the club buy a Sportsman of the Year annual plaque from a trophy shop with 12 name plates (we will only need to purchase a new plaque every 12 years) from our ministry budget.  We should be able to get one for around $90 (8 X 10).  The expectation is the outgoing recipient will give it to the incoming recipient at the next banquet.

On 7/23/16, the proposition passed by a vote of 5 for to 0 opposed.

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On 6/30/16 Randy Rowley sent out another poll on meeting locations and frequency.  He noted that we will no longer have meetings at the Shady Oaks Gun Range.  FCS member Paul Irwin, who was their manager, no longer works there and we do not have a good enough relationship with their present management to continue to use their meeting room for free.  They now charge $75 to use their room for an hour or so.  So far, a plea for a host to have the meeting at his or her house has only been answered by one member, who already has a meeting at his house.

A new development is Larry and Laverne Dowden will soon be moving to Colorado (Larry would appreciate the help if you have a couple of free hours on this coming Saturday to help them load boxes).  In addition to no longer being blessed by Larry’s presence, we will no longer have our June meetings at his home.

So, unless we get a couple volunteer hosts, we will either need to downsize to four meetings a year or have a couple of the six meetings in restaurants.

The poll resulted in three members volunteering their homes for meetings.  We will continue with our bi-monthly meetings schedule.

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On 4/21/16 Randy Rowley sent four propositions regarding the bylaws to the supporting members.

Back in 1989, when we first developed our bylaws, we decided that we would handle club business, including votes, at meetings. This was long before email became popular. However, many years ago Randy instituted the handling of proposals to change the bylaws, the proposed annual calendar, the proposed fiscal year budget, etc. via one-week minimum email discussions followed by one-week minimum email votes (certain votes, like the calendar and budget, were just done by the officers). The revised system allowed all FCS supporting members to participate instead of just the ones who came to a meeting. We average around 12 people at a meeting (and not all of them are supporting members), where our supporting members average around 55, so Randy thought that it was fairer to devise a system where the majority had an opportunity to discuss the proposal and vote.

Our bylaws regarding meetings are geared towards the old system of discussions and votes at meetings only.  Randy proposes to delete the following bylaw (and to renumber the remaining sections):

VII. Meetings: A. Official meetings will be held according to the schedule of the Annual Calendar of Events that was approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the FCS officers who cast a vote. The President, or a majority of the other FCS officers, or the majority of supporting FCS adult members can also call a meeting.  Attempts must be made to notify all supporting FCS adult members at least 72 hours in advance of called meetings via e-mail and mail or phone proxy (for supporting members who do not have an e-mail address).  The ranking FCS officer or most tenured member (in the event that no FCS officers are involved) is responsible to attempt to notify all supporting FCS adult members.

The vote ran through 4/27/16. The proposition passed nine votes for to zero votes against.

Section VIII (Amendment proposals to the Bylaws, Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, and/or Annual Fiscal Year Budget and Proposals to Remove Members from FCS Membership) requires the president to present amendment proposals to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith to the other FCS officers for discussion.  If a two-thirds majority of the officers who cast a vote indicate that the amendment proposal to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith is appropriate and will be beneficial to the FCS the proposal will be presented to the supporting FCS adult members for a minimum one-week discussion and a minimum one week vote.  Randy proposes to revise these sentences as they are a needless bureaucratic step that requests the officers to vote twice (once on whether we should have the vote and then again on the actual vote).

The bylaw states: The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith to the other FCS officers for discussion.  If a two-thirds majority of the officers who cast a vote indicate that the amendment proposal to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith is appropriate and will be beneficial to the FCS the proposal will be presented to the supporting FCS adult members for a minimum one-week discussion and a minimum one week vote.

Randy proposes to change it to: The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith to the supporting FCS adult members for a minimum one week discussion and a minimum one week vote. The vote ran through 4/27/16. The proposition passed nine votes for to zero votes against. Randy also proposed to revise the following sentence to add the event coordinator positions and to clarify that this procedure only occurs when non-officers make the proposals. The bylaw states:The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Annual Calendar of Events to the FCS vice president(s) or Chapter president and vice president(s) (as applicable) for discussion and a vote (he or she can also vote for amendment proposals regarding FCS events). Randy proposed to change it to:

The FCS president will present amendment proposals by non-event coordinators to the Annual Calendar of Events to the FCS vice president(s) and event coordinators or Chapter president and vice president(s) (as applicable) for discussion and a vote (he or she can also vote for amendment proposals regarding FCS events).  The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Annual Fiscal Year Budget by non-officers to the FCS officers for discussion and a vote.

The vote ran through 4/27/16. The proposition passed nine votes for to zero votes against.

In addition, Randy proposed to add the following to that section: Any proposal on an amendment to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the supporting FCS adult members who cast a vote and any proposal on an amendment to the Annual Calendar of Events and Annual Fiscal Year Budget by a two-thirds majority vote of the officers shall constitute as an official FCS action. The vote ran through 4/27/16. The proposition passed nine votes for to zero votes against.

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On 4/12/16 Randy Rowley sent out a poll on an alternative place for an FCS meeting.  Randy noted that we have had meetings/shoots at the Shady Oaks Shooting Range over the past two years and will have another one in the summer or fall.  Another possibility is the new Safe Range in Round Rock.  Safe Range is a virtual shooting range.  They have a $5 one-time membership fee.  They have pistol and archery ranges and offer just-for-fun sessions to tactical training for police departments.  Archery includes real targets (not just simulated).  Shooting prices start at $25 for a 45-minute session with a SIRT pistol (that fires a laser).  For $10 more you can upgrade to real guns that have been modified for simulation (they have about 60% of the recoil that the gun normally has).  Sessions include:

• Target practice
• Tactical training simulations
• Entertainment sessions (shoot attacking zombies in their zombie exterminator simulator, go up against bad guys in their wild west simulator, try to restore law and order in their chaos city simulator, or experience Believe their futuristic simulator)

Archery is also $25 for a 45-minute session. Sessions include target practice and hunting simulations. Archers may use their own bows but will have to use Safe Range’s blunted tips for the hunting simulator.

They offer two-hour parties (in our case a meeting).  For $50 you get SIRT Guns and Recurve Bow Rental, an “Intro to Gun & Archery Safety” Class, and pizza or hot dogs and ice cream.

Three respondents expressed interest in holding an FCS meeting there.

Two respondents expressed interest in just having a shoot there.

As there is not enough interest in holding a meeting there, Randy will just pursue having a shoot there.

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On 4/7/16 Randy Rowley sent out a poll on FCS meetings.  Randy noted that over the past couple of years we have seen a decline in the number of people who participate in FCS Meetings.  Last year we averaged 11.17 (we averaged 13.33 the year before).  For this year, we had 12 on 2/8/16 and only 4 on 4/7/16.  That makes this year’s average 8.00.

When we first started to have meetings, 25 years ago (1991), they were major events. In fact, it could be argued that they were the major event category. Other than meetings we didn’t have many other events.  We had fall and winter dove retreats and an occasional fishing trip and that was about it (we didn’t start shooting sporting clays until 1993).  Meetings were the major means for us to convey upcoming events details and to have discussions and votes (we had quarterly newsletters that also conveyed upcoming events, but they came out only four times a year and we met six times a year).

For the last decade+ Randy has conducted FCS supporting member discussions and votes via email (which allows all supporting members to discuss the issue(s) and vote, not just the ones who come to a meeting).  We have not had a bylaw discussion and vote at a meeting for well over a decade.

So what does that leave on the agenda for meetings?

1. Eating (which we do at several other FCS events).
2. Discuss upcoming events (which we do at several other FCS events).
3. Have devotionals (which we do at several other FCS events).

In short, there isn’t anything that happens at our meetings that doesn’t happen at other FCS events. This made Randy wonder if meetings have gone the way of the 8-track player, hence the poll. The results of the poll are as follows:

Question 1	Meetings are valuable to me and I want us to keep having them	I think that we should do away with meetings
Total	13	4

Question 2 (Randy’s responses are in the right column)

I would like to make the following change(s) to meetings:
I think that the drop in attendance is due to the economy is much better and a lot of us are so busy that it is hard for us to make it. This is the case for me anyway. I have not been making it to many of the meetings because I am busy not because I don’t want to come.
I would love to attend more meetings; I have no issue with the format. I’m just so busy like all the rest with work and other events.
Nothing at this time.
Have hunters/fishermen from recent hunts/fishing trips share observations and experiences of those hunts/trips, with photos and videos as appropriate.	I will make this offer when I send out emails about meetings and on the Upcoming Events web page.
No annual meeting, but hold on call when there is a need.
Make meetings last only 2 hours.	I start cooking when I arrive and I make the announcements as quickly as I can. For the last couple of years, we have shown the Spiritual Outdoor Adventures DVDs, which are shorter than my typical devotionals. Just about the only way to pull this off would be to eliminate eating, the announcements, or the devotional. In my opinion, meetings would be incomplete without announcements and devotionals. Although, we might be able to shorten meetings by ordering pizza instead of cooking (I could do the announcements while the pizza is on its way).  It is also fine for participants to leave meetings early.
I think the format is fine as is.
Perhaps we need to make a change on the day of the week of the meeting. We made a change once before where we changed if from one day of the week to another to accommodate some members that had other activities during the week. This may not have that much of an effect but is worth considering.	For a few years, I have been alternating between Mondays and Thursdays for meetings. Now that several respondents prefer Tuesdays, I will probably plan two meetings on Mondays, two on Tuesdays, and two on Thursdays (providing the day of the week works with the host).
It might be nice to have a couple of social events each year.	I will greater emphasize in my Enews and on the upcoming events page that our meetings are social events.

Question 5	I prefer having someone cook (which also entails shopping for the food, bringing the cooking equipment, and cleaning up afterward)	I prefer to order pizza or similar
Total	2	6

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On 4/5/16, Randy Rowley requested permission from the officers (as per our bylaws) to submit the following proposition to the supporting members.

Randy reviewed the bylaws and saw two issues that he thinks we should clean up.

Back in 1989, when we first developed our bylaws, we decided that we would handle club business, including votes, via meetings. This was long before email became popular. However, many years ago Randy instituted the handling of proposals to change the bylaws, the proposed annual calendar, the proposed fiscal year budget, etc. via one-week minimum email discussions followed by one-week minimum email votes (certain votes, like the calendar and budget, were just done by the officers). The revised system allowed all FCS supporting members to participate instead of just the ones who came to a meeting. We average around 12 people at a meeting (and not all of them are supporting members), where our supporting members average around 55, so Randy thought that it was fairer to devise a system where the majority had an opportunity to discuss the proposal and vote. The proposed changes are in red.

VII. Meetings: A. Official meetings will be held according to the schedule of the Annual Calendar of Events that was approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the FCS officers who cast a vote. The President, or a majority of the other FCS officers, or the majority of supporting FCS adult members can also call a meeting.  Attempts must be made to notify all supporting FCS adult members at least 72 hours in advance of called meetings via e-mail and mail or phone proxy (for supporting members who do not have an e-mail address).  The ranking FCS officer or most tenured member (in the event that no FCS officers are involved) is responsible to attempt to notify all supporting FCS adult members.

C. …The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith to the other FCS officers for discussion.  If a two-thirds majority of the officers who cast a vote indicate that the amendment proposal to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith is appropriate and will be beneficial to the FCS the proposal will be presented to the supporting FCS adult members for a minimum one week discussion and a minimum one week vote.

C. …The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Bylaws and/or Statement of Faith to the supporting FCS adult members for a minimum one week discussion and a minimum one week vote.

The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Annual Calendar of Events to the FCS vice president(s) or Chapter president and vice president(s) (as applicable) for discussion and a vote (he or she can also vote for amendment proposals regarding FCS events).

The FCS president will present amendment proposals by non-event coordinators to the Annual Calendar of Events to the FCS vice president(s) and event coordinators or Chapter president and vice president(s) (as applicable) for discussion and a vote (he or she can also vote for amendment proposals regarding FCS events).  The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Annual Fiscal Year Budget by non-officers to the FCS officers for discussion and a vote.

The vote ran through 4/12/16.  The proposition passed seven votes for to zero votes against.

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On 1/26/16 Randy Rowley sent out a poll on our self-guided coastal duck hunts off of Wilson’s Cut between Port Aransas and Corpus Christi vs. guided duck hunts.  Randy conveyed that for hunting off of Wilson’s Cut typically around 98 – 99% of the ducks that we have seen were redheads and around 94% – 97% of the ducks that we have bagged have been redheads (the area is the wintering headquarters for that species).  As the limit on redheads is only two per day, typically, the average hunter comes home with six ducks for a three day hunt.  This year, we did two trips to Wilson’s Cut (one in November and one in December).  Rather than do a third in January, three of us decided to do a guided hunt instead near El Campo (two of us ended up going as one of us became sick).  The rationale was that for around $40 more we could come home with six ducks and do it in 12 hours instead of a three days.  Or another way to put it is we decided that the time and effort to pull off a third trip to Wilson’s Cut was not worth saving $40.  The result of the trip is we bagged our limits.

2015

On 10/23/15 Randy Rowley initiated a vote on the proposed 2016 FCS Calendar.  It is the same as the 2015 Calendar, with the following exceptions:

• Two Salado dove hunts were deleted.
• The quail and hog hunt was deleted.
• The promotion was deleted (until we have a place/opportunity to have a promotion).
• The student instructor/student shoot was deleted.
• The clay target shoot with Legacy Outfitters was deleted.
• Our three guided striped/hybrid bass fishing trips were reduced to one.
• Randy is leading one fewer self-guided inland duck hunts in 2016 than he did in 2015.
• We’re having three fewer guided inland duck hunts with Ronnie Ray in 2016 than we did in 2015 (we exchanged one of them with a hunt with Ricky Ethridge).
• As two state holidays will fall on weekends in 2016, Randy won’t lead bass fishing trips on those dates.
• We changed the dinner to a banquet.
• We added two more self-guided coastal duck hunts in 2016 than we did in 2015.
• We added a dove hunt (San Saba) in October.
• We added a duck scouting and bass fishing trip

This translates to nine fewer events at the start of 2016 than we had at the start of 2015.

Proposed 2016 FCS Calendar

January

• Friday, 1/1/16 AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt at a location TBD.
• Friday, 1/8/16 through Sunday, 1/10/16 – Parent/Child Self-guided Deer and Hog Hunt on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Friday, 1/15/16 through Sunday, 1/17/16 – Self-guided Coastal Duck Hunt near Corpus Christi.
• Saturday, 1/16/16, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 1/18/16 – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt at a location TBD.
• Thursday, 1/21/16, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at a location TBD.
• Friday, 1/22/16 through Saturday, 1/23/16 – Guided Inland Duck Hunt with Ronnie Ray on the Colorado River near La Grange.
• Sunday, 1/31/16 – ‘Target Setters Special’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

February

• Saturday, 2/6/16 – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.
• Monday, 2/8/16, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Chili Cookoff at Ron Denison’s home (1009 Ambrose Cv., Pflugerville, 512-670-7717 – Home, 512-217-4677 – Cell).
• Saturday, 2/13/16, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM –Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 2/13/16, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.
• Monday, 2/15/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.
• Saturday, 2/20/16 – ‘CCT&S Founders Day’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 2/27/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.

March

• Saturday, 3/13/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.
• Saturday, 3/20/16, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Youth Clay Target Shoot (probably sporting clays) followed by a Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 3/28/16 – ‘McBride Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

April

• Friday, 4/1/16 through Saturday, 4/2/16 – 24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot at the 74 Ranch near Campbellton.
• Saturday, 4/2/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Sunday, 4/3/16 through Tuesday, 4/5/16 – Semi-Guided Hog Hunt on the Wild Hog Hunting Ranch near Gonzales.
• Thursday, 4/7/16, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Mr. Charlie Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Saturday, 4/16/16, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Thursday, 4/21/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Friday, 4/22/16 through Sunday, 4/24/16 – Self-Chartered Bay Fishing Trip near Aransas Pass.

May

• Thursday, 5/5/16, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Wild Game Dinner (Ministry Event) at St. George’s Court (1443 Coronado Hills Drive, Austin).
• Saturday, 5/7/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 5/14/16, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – ‘FCS Open’ (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707) followed by lunch at a restaurant TBD.
• Saturday, 5/21/16 – ‘Spring to Summer’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 5/30/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.

June

• Saturday, 6/4/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.
• Monday, 6/6/16, 3:30 – 9:00 PM – Chartered Striped/Hybrid Bass Fishing Trip at a location TBD.
• Thursday, 6/9/16, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Larry Dowden’s home (905 Cashew Lane, Cedar Park, 512-259-2490 – Home, 512-507-5894 – Cell).
• Saturday, 6/18/16, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 6/25/16 – ‘Dickie Loy Memorial’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

July

• Saturday, 7/9/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Monday, 7/11/16, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Officers Meeting at a location TBD.
• Saturday, 7/16/16, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 7/18/16 – ‘Firecracker Special’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Wednesday, 7/22/16, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – FCS Banquet at a location TBD.

August

• Monday, 8/1/16, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Shooting Range Shoot at Shady Oaks Gun Range (3100 Woodall Dr., Cedar Park, 512-394-7734).
• Saturday, 8/13/16, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 8/27/16 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.

September

• Saturday, 9/3/16, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans Ranch near San Saba.
• Saturday, 9/3/16, all day – Dove Hunt with Tony Arce, Jr. near Uvalde.
• Friday, 9/9/16 through Saturday, 9/10/16 – Guided Inland Teal Hunt with at a location TBD.
• Saturday, 9/10/16, 5:00 AM – 3:00 PM – Blast and Cast (Dove Hunt and Bass Fishing Trip) on the AOK Ranch near Lometa.
• Saturday, 9/17/16 – ‘Bill Hughes Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 9/17/16, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans Ranch near San Saba.
• Friday, 9/23/16 through Sunday, 9/25/16 – Dove Retreat on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Saturday, 9/24/16, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

October

• Saturday, 10/1/16, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba.
• Thursday, 10/6/16, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Shrimp Boil at Randy Rowley’s home (512-922-2484).
• Saturday, 10/8/16, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 10/15/16 – ‘Smashing Pumpkins’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 10/15/16, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba.
• Saturday, 10/22/16, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Scouting and Bass Fishing Trip on Granger Lake.
• Saturday, 10/29/16, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Scouting and Bass Fishing Trip on Stillhouse Hollow Lake.

November

• Saturday, 11/5/16, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Friday, 11/11/16, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt at a location TBD.
• Saturday, 11/12/16 – ‘Give ‘em the Bird’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 11/18/16 through Sunday, 11/20/16 – Self-guided Coastal Duck Hunt near Corpus Christi.
• Saturday, 11/19/16, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 11/25/16 – Guided Inland Duck Hunt with Guide Ronnie Ray near La Grange.

December

• Monday, 12/5/16, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Wayne Weilnau’s home (16100 Fritsch Cove, Austin, 512-388-3340 – Home, 512-589-4120 – Cell).
• Saturday, 12/10/15, AM – Self-guided Inland Duck Hunt at a location TBD.
• Sunday, 12/11/16 through Monday, 12/12/16 – Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt with Ricky Ethridge on the Navasota River.
• Friday, 12/16/16 through Sunday, 12/18/16 – Self-guided Coastal Duck Hunt near Port Arthur.
• Saturday, 12/17/16, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 12/18/16 – ‘Year End Finale’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

Summary
Freshwater Fishing Trips (two are also duck scouting trips)	13
Sporting Clays Shoots	12
Waterfowl Hunts	12
Sporting Clays Tournaments	10
Dove Hunts (one is a blast and cast)	6
FCS Meetings (one is also a shooting range shoot)	6
Upland Bird Hunts	2
Officer Meetings	2
Deer and Hog Hunt	1
Hog Hunt	1
Dove and Hog Retreat	1
Bay Fishing Trip	1
24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot	1
Banquet	1
Ministry Event	1
Total	70
Category Summary
Hunts	23
Shoots	23
Fishing Trips	14
Meetings	8
Banquet	1
Ministry Event	1
Total	70

The vote went through 10/31/15.  The proposal passed by a vote of five for to zero against.

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On 8/25/15 Randy Rowley initiated a vote among the officers on a proposed Fiscal Year 2016 (9/1/15 – 8/31/16) Budget by Kevin Wall, our Treasurer.  The proposed budget was as follows:

The vote lasted through 8/31/15.  The proposal passed by a vote of six votes for to zero against.

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On 8/13/15 Randy Rowley initiated a vote among the officers on a proposition to purchase a Spiritual Outdoor Adventures DVD (The Complete Season 12 (13 adventures and four disks).  See http://www.spiritualoutdooradventures.org/SpiritualOutdoorAdventures.org/Store.html.

The reasons that Randy wanted to buy it is Jimmy Sites’ DVDs have been popular at our meetings.  They also save Randy the four to eight hours that it takes him to come up with each of his devotionals.  Plus, having written over 50 devotionals, to be blunt he’s running out of interesting stories that he can build devotionals from.  With 13 adventures, assuming that none of them repeat ones that we already own, this would potentially cover a little more than two years’ worth of our meetings.

Presently our balance in checking is $2,134.  Our next major expense (around $750 – our liability insurance payment), won’t be due until the fall, so we can easily afford this DVD.  The DVD costs $35.50.

The vote ran through 8/19/15.  The vote passed, seven votes for to zero against.  Randy has ordered the DVD.

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On July 28, 2015 Randy Rowley initiated a poll among the members and future members regarding whether our 2016 annual dinner should be a banquet instead of just a dinner.  Randy conveyed that basically a banquet would look like our dinners to date – lots of opportunities to talk and to eat.  In addition we could have a speaker, door prizes and other awards, a slide show, etc.  For example, the Austin Christian Bass Club at their annual banquet gives out door prizes and awards to their Top Six fishermen (in their tournaments), an award for the biggest bass (from their tournaments) and an award for Sportsman of the Year (as voted on by their members).  They also have some funny awards like one for whoever lost the most lures.  Legacy Outfitters also has an annual Fishers of Men Banquet.  In addition they usually have a speaker and a slide show that plays during the meal.  Their banquet is always well attended and is one of their most looked forward to events on their calendar each year.  Of course, if we did a banquet, we wouldn’t have to do ours exactly like theirs.

Thirteen respondents indicated that they would like to attend a banquet style dinner next year at a restaurant with a private dining room.

Five respondents indicated that they preferred for next year’s dinner to be like our dinners have always been (only talking and eating at a restaurant).

Based on the results of the poll, Randy will explore a locale for a banquet next year.

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On 7/24/15, Randy Rowley initiated a poll among the 21 people who attended the 7/23/15 Annual FCS Dinner at Bass Pro Shops in Round Rock to determine whether Bass Pro Shops will be considered again to host an FCS dinner or banquet.

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On 2/18/15, Randy Rowley initiated a vote among the supporting club members on a proposal to change the bylaws.  Randy noted that as we have added three event coordinators and will be changing one of our vice presidents to an event coordinator it is necessary to add the event coordinator position description to our bylaws.  Below is the proposed position description.  Randy also proposed to clean-up of various officers bylaws (changes are bolded or struck through):

2014

On 10/11/14, Randy Rowley initiated a vote among the officers on the Proposed 2015 Calendar.  It is the same as the 2014 Calendar, with the following exceptions:

• He replaced the Hutto Dove Hunt with BCB Outfitters and the San Angelo Dove Hunt with Whitewings Galore with San Saba hunts, due to the success of the latter hunts.
• He replaced the guided duck and teal hunts with B and J’s Guide Service (waterfowl) with guided duck and teal hunts with Ronnie Ray.
• He deleted the Wild Game Cook-off (Ministry Event) at Hill Country Bible Church as they are no longer doing that event.
• He deleted the Shrimp Boil (Ministry Event) at Great Hills Baptist Church as they are no longer doing that event.
• He deleted the Promotion at the Outdoor Sportsman’s Expo at Fellowship Church as they are no longer doing that event.
• He added two more guided duck hunts with Ronnie Ray, due to demand.

Here are the details:

2015

   January

• Thursday, 1/1/15 AM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on a Lake TBD.
• Friday, 1/2/15 through Saturday, 1/3/15 – Guided Duck Hunt with Ronnie Ray on the Colorado River near La Grange.
• Friday, 1/9/15 through Saturday, 1/10/15 – Guided Duck Hunt with Ronnie Ray on the Colorado River near La Grange.
• Friday, 1/16/15 through Saturday, 1/17/15 – Guided Duck Hunt with Ronnie Ray on the Colorado River near La Grange.
• Thursday, 1/22/15, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at a location TBD.
• Saturday, 1/24/15, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on a Lake TBD.
• Saturday, 1/24/15, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 1/9/15 through Sunday, 1/11/15 – Parent/Child Self-guided Deer and Hog Hunt on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Friday, 1/9/15 through Saturday, 1/10/15 – Guided Duck Hunt with Ronnie Ray on the Colorado River near La Grange.
• Friday, 1/16/15 through Sunday, 1/18/15 – Self-guided Saltwater Duck Hunt near Corpus Christi.
• Sunday, 1/25/15, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – Promatic Open Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

February

• Saturday, 2/7/15 – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.
• Sunday, 2/8/15, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Red Apple Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 2/9/15, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Chili Cookoff at Ron Denison’s home (1009 Ambrose Cv., Pflugerville, 512-670-7717 – Home, 512-217-4677 – Cell).
• Monday, 2/16/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.
• Friday, 2/20/15 through Sunday, 2/22/15 – Self-guided Quail and Hog Hunt on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Saturday, 2/21/15, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM –Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 2/21/14, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.
• Saturday, 2/28/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.

March

• Saturday, 3/14/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.
• Saturday, 3/21/15, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 3/22/15, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘McBride Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

April

• Friday, 4/3/15 through Saturday, 4/4/15 – 24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot at the 74 Ranch near Campbellton.
• Saturday, 4/4/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Tuesday, 4/21/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Sunday, 4/5/15 through Tuesday, 4/7/15 – Semi-Guided Hog Hunt on the Wild Hog Hunting Ranch near Gonzales.
• Thursday, 4/9/15, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Mr. Charlie Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Saturday, 4/18/15, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 4/24/13 through Sunday, 4/26/13 – Self-Chartered Bay Fishing Trip near Aransas Pass.

May

• Saturday, 5/2/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Thursday, 5/7/15, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Wild Game Dinner (Ministry Event) at St. George’s Court (1443 Coronado Hills Drive, Austin).
• Saturday, 5/16/15, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – ‘FCS Open’ (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707) followed by lunch at a restaurant TBD.
• Sunday, 5/17/15, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘The Emerald Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 5/25/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.

June

• Saturday, 6/6/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.
• Monday, 6/8/15, 3:30 – 9:00 PM – Chartered Hybrid Bass Catching Trip with Jay Garrett on Lake Belton.
• Thursday, 6/11/15, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Larry Dowden’s home (905 Cashew Lane, Cedar Park, 512-259-2490 – Home, 512-507-5894 – Cell).
• Monday, 6/15/15 – Chartered Bass Catching Trip with Jay Garrett on Lake Belton.
• Tuesday, 6/16/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 6/20/15, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 6/21/15, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – ‘Dickie Loy Memorial’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 6/22/15, 3:30 – 9:00 PM – Chartered Hybrid Bass Catching Trip with Jay Garrett on Lake Belton.

July

• Saturday, 7/11/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Monday, 7/13/15, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Officers Meeting at a location TBD.
• Saturday, 7/18/15, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 7/19/15, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Hotter-n-Hell Shoot’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Wednesday, 7/22/15, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – FCS Dinner at a restaurant TBD.

August

• Saturday, 8/1/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 8/1/15, 4:00 PM – dusk – Clay Target Shoot with Legacy Outfitters at a ranch near Georgetown.
• Friday, 8/7/15 through Saturday, 8/8/15, 6:00 AM – 6:30 PM (both days) – Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
• Wednesday, 8/27/15 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Monday, 8/10/15, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Shooting Range Shoot at Shady Oaks Gun Range (3100 Woodall Dr., Cedar Park, 512-394-7734).
• Saturday, 8/15/15, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

September

• Tuesday, 9/1/15, 4:45 AM – ? – Dove Hunt at the Union Grove Wildlife Management Area near Salado.
• Saturday, 9/5/15, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans Ranch near San Saba.
• Saturday, 9/5/15, 4:45 AM – ? – Dove Hunt at the Union Grove Wildlife Management Area near Salado.
• Saturday, 9/5/15, all day – Dove Hunt with Tony Arce, Jr. near Uvalde.
• Friday, 9/25/15 through Sunday, 9/27/15 – Dove Retreat on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Saturday, 9/26/14, 4:00 – 8:00 PM – Promotion at the Outdoor Banquet and Expo at a location TBD.
• Friday, 9/11/15 through Saturday, 9/12/15 – Guided Teal Hunt with Ronnie Ray near La Grange.
• Saturday, 9/12/15, 5:00 AM – 3:00 PM – Blast and Cast (Dove Hunt and Bass Fishing Trip) on the AOK Ranch near Lometa.
• Sunday, 9/13/15, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Bill Hughes Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 9/19/15, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 9/19/15, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans Ranch near San Saba.

October

• Saturday, 10/3/15, 10:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt on the Evans ranch near San Saba.
• Thursday, 10/8/15, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Shrimp Boil at Charles Cutchens’ home (2704 Buckeye Trail, Cedar Park, 512-918-8205 – Home).
• Sunday, 10/11/15, 12:45 – 4:00 PM – ‘Bob White Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 10/31/15, AM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 10/17/15, AM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Scouting and Fishing Trip on Granger Lake.
• Saturday, 10/17/15, 9:00 AM – 12:15 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot with the Youth from Hill Country Bible Church at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

November

• Wednesday, 11/11/15, AM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on the AOK Ranch near Lometa.
• Saturday, 11/14/15, AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 11/14/15, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 11/22/15, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Mike McAlpine Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

December

• Saturday, 12/5/15, AM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on a lake TBD.
• Monday, 12/7/15, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting at Wayne Weilnau’s home (16100 Fritsch Cove, Austin, 512-388-3340 – Home, 512-589-4120 – Cell).
• Friday, 12/18/15 through Saturday, 12/19/15 – Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt with Ronnie Ray near La Grange.
• Saturday, 12/19/15, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 12/26/15, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on a Lake TBD.
• Sunday, 12/27/15, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Year End Finale’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

Summary
Freshwater Fishing Trips (one is also a duck scouting trip)	16
Clay Target Shoots	13
Waterfowl Hunts	13
Sporting Clays Tournaments	10
Dove Hunts (one is a blast and cast)	7
FCS Meetings (one is also a shooting range shoot)	6
Officer Meetings	2
Hog Hunts (one is also a quail hunt)	2
Upland Bird Hunts	2
Ministry Event	1
Deer and Hog Hunt	1
Dove Retreat	1
Bay Fishing Trip	1
24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot	1
Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot	1
Dinner	1
Promotion	1
Total	79
Category Summary
Hunts	26
Shoots	25
Fishing Trips	17
Meetings	8
Ministry Event	1
Dinner	1
Promotion	1
Total	79

The vote went through 10/16/14 and passed by 5 for to 0 against.   The Calendar has been updated.

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On 9/18/14 Randy Rowley initiated a vote among the supporting members on a proposition to incorporate the long-standing Field and Camping Rules into the Bylaws.  Randy noted:

Approximately 21 years ago, at our first Dove Retreat, Paul Wilson established rules of conduct for the retreat.  These rules became known as the FCS Field and Camp Rules.  Over the years, we added to them as incidents/situations occurred.  However, we never formally added them to the Bylaws.  I think that it is time to add them. Below are our Safety and Shooting Rules and Hunting and Fishing Rules from our Bylaws.  I added the Field Rules and Camp Rules (with some minor editing).  The new rules are highlighted.  The proposed additions start at new Bylaw #4. I significantly changed present #5 (To never take advantage of a game bird, animal or fish (shooting at an unwounded bird on the ground or in a tree, for example).).  The problem with the way that it was written is it delved into the realm of ethics and what is ethical for one hunter may be unethical for another.  For example, some hunters think that using decoys or corn feeders is cheating while others have no problem with them.  Some hunters think that shooting hogs and leaving them where they lie is fine while others have a major problem with wasting meat. The problem with the current bylaw is it isolates a legal means – shooting birds in trees or on the ground.  Some hunters think that is wrong but others see no problem with it. (The safety issue of shooting birds on the ground is covered by new Bylaw #16 “To never take an unsafe shot (e.g., taking shots when they do not know what is beyond their targets and taking low shots when other hunters are within the ranges of their guns)”.)  Rather than have a mile long list of ethical hunting practices and debate their validity until Jesus returns, I think that the best way to handle the issue is to state “to never use methods not authorized by game laws in the taking of a game bird, animal or fish.”  I also changed one of the Field Rules (Be an ethical hunter (e.g., don’t shoot at game outside of your effective gun range) to just “To never shoot at game outside of your effective gun range.” I deleted present Bylaw #4 (To be unselfish in our hunting and fishing practices (permitting a new hunter first shot at a bird, assigning new hunters and anglers to the prime spots, not shooting at a bird that is heading directly for another hunter, permitting a new angler to fight the first fish on a chartered boat, etc.).) and present Bylaw #6 (To never become possessed with who can bag the most birds, shoot the largest racked deer, or catch the most fish) as, just like ethics, selflessness is not something that we should delve into (what is selfless for one person may not be selfless for another).  Certainly dying to self is something that we should encourage, through mediums such as our Bible studies/devotionals, but it should not be a rule/requirement. I also added the new Bylaw #17 (To never take a shot that could potentially destroy someone else’s property (e.g., shoot dove off power lines)). After our one-week discussion I changed the don’t shoot at sparrows, dragonflies, etc. rule to “To never kill or shoot at birds, animals, of fish that you do not intend to eat or are not doing so to assist in wildlife depredation (e.g., shooting at sparrows and dragonflies).” I also combined a couple rules (never take shots when they do not know what is beyond their targets and never take low shots) into “To never take an unsafe shot (e.g., taking shots when they do not know what is beyond their targets and taking low shots when other hunters are within the ranges of their guns and are within their line of fire).” Changes are bolded. X. Conduct: Members agree to: Hunting and Fishing Rules

1. To always respect the property of the landowner (e.g., closing gates that they open).
2. To always learn the rules of the host or landowner and follow them (e.g., staying put until the agreed upon time).
3. To always carry their fair share of the load. (e.g., paying a fair share of gas money and other expenses and doing a fair share of chores).
4. To always be aware of where the muzzles of their guns are pointing.
5. To always keep the safeties of their guns on except when they are actively shooting at game (dove, hogs, etc.) or clay targets.
6. To always hunt with any guests and minors that they bring.
7. To always let the hunters around them know their position, especially when walking up on hunters who have their backs to them.
8. To always control their dogs in the field.
9. To always pick up their trash and any other trash that they find in the field (this includes empty shotgun shells).
10. To always take dove, duck, etc. waste away with them, if required by the landowner.
11. To always obey all hunting and fishing regulations (examples of frequently violated laws include: buying your child a hunting and/or fishing license for the purpose of taking more game or fish for yourself and saying that your child bagged them, taking game or fish over the limit and giving the excess to others, taking game or fish over the limit and eating the excess and shooting across county roads).
12. To never use methods not authorized by game laws in the taking of a game bird, animal or fish.
13. To never shoot at unidentified furry or flying objects (UFO’s).
14. To never kill or shoot at birds, animals, of fish that you do not intend to eat or are not doing so to assist in wildlife depredation (e.g., shooting at sparrows and dragonflies).
15. To never shoot game that the landowner, outfitter or guide has disallowed from being hunted (check the hunt details or ask the landowner, outfitter or guide if you’re not sure).
16. To never take an unsafe shot (e.g., taking shots when they do not know what is beyond their targets and taking low shots when other hunters are within the ranges of their guns and are within their line of fire).
17. To never take a shot that could potentially destroy someone else’s property (i.e., shoot dove off power lines).
18. To never shoot at game outside of the effective ranges of their guns.

Camping Rules

1. To always camp in the designated area only (if camping is allowed).
2. To always keep guns in camp unloaded.
3. To always pick up their trash and any other trash that they see in the campground.
4. To always control their dogs at camp.

The vote went through 9/25/14 and passed by 19 for to 0 against.   The Bylaws and Field Rules have been updated.

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On 2/14/14 Randy Rowley initiated a vote among the officers on a proposition to discontinue the Month at a Glance Calendar (based on the 2/3/14 poll results that only 16% of members were using it as their primary means of keeping abreast of upcoming FCS events and they can still keep abreast of them via Randy’s weekly emails, the Year at a Glance Calendar, and the Upcoming Events web page).

The vote went through 2/18/14 and passed by 5 for to 0 against.  The Month at a Glance Calendar has been removed from the website. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On 1/30/14 Randy Rowley initiated a poll of the membership regarding how they keep abreast of upcoming FCS events.  The results (as of 2/3/14) are as follows:

• Nine respondents (56%) primarily use Randy’s weekly emails
• Four respondents (21%) primarily use the Year at a Glance calendar
• Three respondents (16%) primarily use the Month at a Glance calendar
• Two respondents (11%) primarily use the Upcoming Events web page
• One respondent (5%) primarily uses both calendars
• No respondents primarily learn about events at FCS meetings

Based on the results of the poll, Randy initiated a vote among the officers (for the results, see the 2/14/14 vote results above).

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2013

On 10/15/13 Randy Rowley initiated a poll to determine how many people are interesting in having a three day dove retreat at the Threadgill Ranch near San Saba (if the owner is agreeable to it) at his price of $75/day.  Five people expressed interest. On 10/7/13 Randy Rowley initiated a vote of the officers on the proposed 2014 FCS Calendar.  It is the same as the 2013 Calendar, with the following exceptions:

• He added a Hutto Dove Hunt with BCB Outfitters.
• He re-added the Parent/Child Deer and Hog Hunt at Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham and the Dove Hunt with Whitewings Galore near San Angelo in the central zone.
• He deleted the shooting range shoot and the self-guided white bass fishing trip due to lack of interest.
• He deleted the dove hunt at the Balcones Canyonlands Wildlife Refuge near Liberty Hill as this year’s hunt wasn’t good and we can go to a better hunt on the same day (near Salado) for no cost and won’t be required to use non-lead shot.
• He moved the self-chartered bay fishing trip from mid-July to mid-April, based on the advice of FCS member David Smith, who fishes there around 26 weekends a year.
• He moved the saltwater (coastal) duck hunt from January to December as there appear to be more ducks there in December.

Here are the details: January

• Friday, 1/10/14 through Saturday, 1/11/14 – Guided Duck Hunt with B and J’s Guide Service (waterfowl) near El Campo.
• Thursday, 1/23/14, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at a location TBD.
• Saturday, 1/25/14, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 1/11/14, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM – Wild Game Cook-off (Ministry Event) at Hill Country Bible Church (12124 Ranch Road 620 North, Austin).
• Friday, 1/17/14 through Sunday, 1/18/14 – Parent/Child Self-guided Deer and Hog Hunt on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Saturday, 1/18/14, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 1/25/14, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Sunday, 1/26/14 – Promatic Open Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

February

• Saturday, 2/1/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.
• Saturday, 2/8/14 – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.
• Sunday, 2/9/14, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Red Apple Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 2/10/14, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Chili Cookoff at Ron Denison’s home (1009 Ambrose Cv., Pflugerville, 512-670-7717 – Home and Work, 512-217-4677 – Cell).
• Saturday, 2/15/14, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM –Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 2/17/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.
• Saturday, 2/15/14 – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with Schumann Brothers Outdoors near Dime Box.

March

• Saturday, 3/1/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a Lake TBD.
• Saturday, 3/22/14, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 3/23/14, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘McBride Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

April

• Friday, 4/4/14 through Saturday, 4/5/14 – 24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot at the 74 Ranch near Campbellton.
• Saturday, 4/5/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Friday, 4/11/14 through Sunday, 4/13/14 – Self-Chartered Bay Fishing Trip near Aransas Pass.
• Monday, 4/21/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Sunday, 4/6/14 through Tuesday, 4/8/14 – Semi-Guided Hog Hunt on the Wild Hog Hunting Ranch near Gonzales.
• Thursday, 4/10/14, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Catfish Fry at Mr. Charlie Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Saturday, 4/19/14, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 4/25/13 through Sunday, 4/27/13 – Self-guided Hog Hunt at Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.

May

• Saturday, 5/3/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Thursday, 5/8/14, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Wild Game Dinner (Ministry Event) at St. George’s Court (1443 Coronado Hills Drive, Austin).
• Saturday, 5/17/14, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – ‘FCS Open’ (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707) followed by lunch at a restaurant TBD.
• Sunday, 5/18/14, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘The Emerald Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 5/26/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.

June

• Saturday, 6/7/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.
• Monday, 6/9/14, 3:30 – 9:00 PM – Chartered Hybrid Bass Catching Trip with Jay Garrett on Lake Belton.
• Thursday, 6/12/14, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Fajita Dinner at Larry Dowden’s home (905 Cashew Lane, Cedar Park, 512-259-2490 – Home, 512-507-5894 – Cell).
• Saturday, 6/19/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 6/21/14, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 6/22/14, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – ‘Dickie Loy Memorial’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 6/23/14, 3:30 – 9:00 PM – Chartered Hybrid Bass Catching Trip with Jay Garrett on Lake Belton.

July

• Saturday, 7/5/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Sunday, 7/13/14, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Hotter-n-Hell Shoot’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 7/14/14, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Officers Meeting at a location TBD.
• Saturday, 7/19/14, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Wednesday, 7/23/14, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – FCS Dinner at a restaurant TBA.

August

• Saturday, 8/2/14, 4:00 PM – dusk – Clay Target Shoot with Legacy Outfitters at a ranch near Georgetown.
• Thursday, 8/7/14 through Saturday, 8/9/14, 6:00 AM – 6:30 PM (both days) – Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
• Wednesday, 8/27/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Monday, 8/11/14, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Steak Dinner at Mike Coppedge’s home (3920 Crest Lane, Round Rock, 512-632-9550).
• Saturday, 8/9/14 – Self-chartered Bass Fishing Trip on a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 8/16/14, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 8/23/14, 4:00 – 8:00 PM – Promotion at the Outdoor Sportsman’s Expo at Fellowship Church (3600 Ranch Road 1869, Liberty Hill, 512-515-5579).

September

• Sunday, 8/31/14 – Tuesday, 9/2/14 – Dove Hunt (Central Zone) with Whitewings Galore Dove Hunts near San Angelo.
• Monday, 9/1/14, 4:45 AM – ? – Dove Hunt (Central Zone) at the Union Grove Wildlife Management Area near Salado.
• Saturday, 9/6/14, all day – Dove Hunt (Central Zone) with Tony Arce, Jr. near Knippa (10 miles from Uvalde).
• Saturday, 9/6/14, all day – Dove Hunt (Central Zone) with BCB Outfitters near Hutto.
• Saturday, 9/6/14, 4:45 AM – ? – Dove Hunt (Central Zone) at the Union Grove Wildlife Management Area near Salado.
• Friday, 9/12/14 through Saturday, 9/13/14 – Guided Teal Hunt with B and J’s Guide Service (waterfowl) near El Campo.
• Saturday, 9/13/14, 5:00 AM – 3:00 PM – Blast and Cast (Dove Hunt and Bass Fishing Trip – Central Zone) on Joel Kirby’s land near Lometa.
• Sunday, 9/14/14, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Bill Hughes Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 9/20/14, 9:00 – 11:30 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 9/27/14, 11:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt (Central Zone) on a ranch near San Saba.

October

• Friday, date TBD through Sunday date TBD – Dove Retreat (Central Zone) on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Thursday, 10/9/14, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Shrimp Boil at Charles Cutchens’ home (2704 Buckeye Trail, Cedar Park, 512-918-8205 – Home).
• Saturday, 9/27/14, 11:00 AM – sunset – Dove Hunt (Central Zone) on a ranch near San Saba.
• Saturday, 10/18/14, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 10/19/14, 12:45 – 4:00 PM – ‘Bob White Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club.

November

• Saturday, 11/1/14, 4:15 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 11/8/14, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 11/15/14, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Sunday, 11/23/14, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Mike McAlpine Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

December

• Thursday, 12/4/14, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Shrimp Boil (Ministry Event) at Great Hills Baptist Church (10500 Jollyville Road, Austin, 512-343-7763).
• Saturday, 12/6/14, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Monday, 12/8/14, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Turkey Dinner at Wayne Weilnau’s home (16100 Fritsch Cove, Austin, 512-388-3340 – Home, 512-589-4120 – Cell).
• Friday, 12/12/14 through Sunday, 12/14/14 – Self-guided Saltwater Duck Hunt near Corpus Christi.
• Saturday, 12/20/14, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 12/27/14, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 12/28/14, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Year End Finale’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

Summary
Freshwater Fishing Trips	14
Clay Target Shoots	13
Sporting Clays Tournaments	10
Waterfowl Hunts	9
Dove Hunts (one is a blast and cast)	8
FCS Meetings	6
Ministry Events	3
Hog Hunts	2
Upland Bird Hunts	2
Officers Meetings	2
Deer and Hog Hunt	1
Dove Retreat	1
Bay Fishing Trip	1
24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot	1
Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot	1
Dinner	1
Promotion	1
Total	76
Category Summary
Shoots	25
Hunts	23
Fishing Trips	15
Meetings	8
Ministry Events	3
Dinner	1
Promotion	1
Total	76

The vote went through 10/14/13 and passed by 5 for to 0 against. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 9/26/13 Randy Rowley initiated a vote of the supporting members on the following: Issue Before we developed our first website (back in the dark ages) we published and distributed quarterly newsletters.  The newsletters were up to 20 pages long and included past events, upcoming events, articles, recipes, etc. (documents that are presently on our website – nothing was included in these newsletters that is not presently on our website).  Over the years, as more and more members obtained internet access and email addresses the newsletters went the way of the 8-track player.  Now 100% of our members receive FCS news electronically and can access our website, including the calendar.  In summary, to say that all supporting members receive quarterly newsletters and an annual calendar is inaccurate and should be corrected. Proposition Remove the struck-out section from the below bylaw. III. Membership: E.    Current FCS adult membership benefits: All supporting FCS adult members receive: ·         Quarterly newsletters and Annual Calendar (for members who do not have web access). All supporting FCS adult members have the following rights: ·         Make amendment proposals to the FCS Bylaws, Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, and/or Annual Fiscal Year Budget; ·         Participate in all supporting FCS member discussions and votes; and ·         Check out (borrow) FCS equipment items, videos, and books. Supporting FCS adult members will have their articles, classified ads, hunting and fishing stories, jokes, links, members’ profiles, pictures, poems, product and service reviews and recommendations, recipes, safety tips, and useful information for sportsmen submissions posted on the FCS website. All FCS adult members will have their devotional, praise, and prayer request submissions posted on the FCS website. Submissions from prospective FCS adult members (men and women who are not FCS adult members) will not be posted on the FCS website. The vote went through 10/2/13 and passed by 20 for to 0 against. President’s note: more people voted on this issue than have voted on any other issue (beating our old mark by one). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 9/25/13 Randy Rowley initiated an officer’s vote on his proposed Fiscal Year 2014 Budget.  He based the income on the number of members who will come up for renewal this year (27), plus adding our average of 10 new members Fiscal Year 2014 Budget (Beginning 9/1/13) Projected Income 740.00 – 37 memberships ($20.00/member) 740.00 Total Projected Expenditures 713.00 – Liability insurance 18.00 – Photocopies 16.00 – Miscellaneous office supplies and other expenditures  15.00 – Stamps and postage 762.00 – Total Projected Shortfall -22.00 The vote lasted through 10/1/13 and passed by 4 for to 0 against. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 9/24/13 Randy Rowley initiated an officer’s vote on the following proposition: The President’s Columns are essentially reports on how we did for a quarter and what’s coming up. The exceptions are the State of the Club Reports, which summarize the entire year and add goals as well on a report of the previous year’s goals.  However, now that we are including officers reports at our bi-monthly meetings and in the meeting minutes, the quarterly reports are redundant.  I propose that we discontinue the quarterly reports.  The exception would be the State of the Club report, which should be a simple summary of the six meetings. The vote ran through 9/30/13 and passed by 5 for to 0 against. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 8/19/13 Randy Rowley initiated a vote on a proposal to add a new bylaw. The Issue (a summary of the discussion) We presently have 75 events on the FCS calendar (and it looks like we’re about to add another one). That’s far more than one a week. Even with two vice presidents and I planning the events it is a big load that takes many hours of our time. Thirteen of those events require considerable more planning and coordination than a “typical” event. These include the dove retreat, Lometa dove hunt, San Angelo dove hunt, coastal self-guided duck hunt, guided/chartered coastal blast and cast or duck hunt, guided teal hunt, semi-guided hog hunt, parent/child deer and hog hunt, guided upland bird hunt, 24-hour sporting clays shoot, chartered hybrid bass fishing trip, chartered bay fishing trip, and self-chartered bay fishing trip. This year we had two guided upland bird hunts, so there were 14 major events to plan and implement. The planners for these trips literally send dozens of e-mails working the details out. We’re reached the point of needing to do something to lighten the loads of these officers. Rather than add yet another vice president to assist with planning I propose to have the member(s) who will lead the event (when the president and vice presidents do not plan to attend) plan the event, communicate to the event participants, and ensure that the event details occur. For example, there is a small group that wants to go pheasant hunting in Kansas this coming spring. Neither Jim (who is in charge of upland bird hunts) or I have ever hunted in Kansas. We have no idea where to hunt, where to stay, etc. It will take considerable research and communication to make this trip happen. In my opinion, as neither Jim or I plan to attend the event, that research and communication should come from someone who actually will be attending the event. Another example of why this is needed is this year I have had men from California, Minnesota, and West Virgina inquire about starting FCS chapters. In each case I have encouraged them to contact the Christian Sportsmens Fellowship, as that organization has 20,000 members and 300 chapters (including at least one in all 50 states) and it would be much easier for them to join an already existing chapter than to start one from scratch. But let’s pretend that one of them says, “no we like you better and want to start an FCS chapter in California” (for example). The loop hole in our bylaws could be interpreted to require our vice presidents and I to plan their events for them. Regarding what makes an event an FCS event, such events are posted on the FCS Calendar. The calendar is voted on each year by at least the president and vice presidents, but I usually ask all eight of the officers to vote. Our bylaws (pertaining to the Vice Presidents) relating to the calendar of events require: 1.Responsible to develop a proposed FCS Annual Calendar of Events and submit it to the FCS President no later than the first day of November each year. 2.Responsible to communicate to the FCS President when he or she has made a change to the FCS Calendar a minimum of one week prior to the day of the event (with the exception of rain outs, cancellations due to lack of game or participants, etc.). 3.Responsible to enter FCS events into the FCS Calendar on the FCS website a minimum of one week prior to the day of the event. 4.Responsible to enter FCS events into the FCS Calendar on the FCS website within seven days of an event’s approval. 5.Responsible to notify the FCS President that a new event(s) has been entered into the FCS Calendar on the FCS website. 6.Responsible to ensure that the FCS Annual Calendar of Events is implemented. Will plan events far enough in advance to ensure maximum participation (obtain adequate information, make reservations, collect outfitter/guide fees and submit them by the due date, plan carpools, plan motel room pairings, etc.). If not able to attend an outing he or she can delegate some tasks to the leader that he or she obtains by mutual agreement. Our bylaws (pertaining to the President) relating to the calendar of events require: 5. (condensed) The FCS president will present amendment proposals to the Annual Calendar of Events to the FCS vice president(s) or Chapter president and vice president(s) (as applicable) for discussion and a vote (he or she can also vote for amendment proposals regarding FCS events). So an FCS event is an event that was approved by the president and vice presidents and placed on our Calendar of Events. I do, when asked, let people know about other events such as Joe Schram’s CHL and shooting classes, NRA events, Austin Woods & Waters events, Legacy Outfitters events, Kids Outdoor Zone events, fund raising shoots (such as the Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce and Operation Game Theft events), etc. Just because I choose to let people know about other organizations events does not make them FCS events. So, I think that we have all of the bases adequate covered, except for the duties of the event leader (if the president, a vice president, or another officer will not be leading an event). Proposed bylaw VI. Events (renumber the remaining sections) A. In order for an FCS event to happen, an FCS member(s) must commit to leading it. B. Leading includes trip planning, communicating to members and guests who have committed to go on the trip and ccing the Club president in all e-mails, as well as ensuring the particulars of the trip occur (such as collecting and mailing in deposits, travel arrangements, meeting the guide, arranging for specific groups to hunt or fish together, ensuring as much equity as possible in fish and game harvest opportunities, collecting tips from the group, ensuring the vehicle owners, boat owners, and the person who bought the food are reimbursed, etc.). C. Communication includes, but is not limited to, communicating what the participants can expect for the event (what can be harvested, costs, recommended tip, lodging, food, travel costs, beginning and end dates and times, rotating of boats, blinds, hunting areas, what they must bring and should bring, who will drive, who will ride together, who will bring a boat, who will hunt or fish together, the meeting place and time, any special rules, etc.) and answering questions within 48 hours of receipt. The vote ran through 8/25/13 and passed by 13 for and 0 against.

2012

On 10/30/12 Randy Rowley initiated an officers vote on the Proposed 2013 FCS Calendar. He added an Opening Day Dove Hunt at the Union Grove WMA on the shore of Lake Stillhouse Hollow, a Thermal Image Guided Hog Hunt at Texas Thermal Hog Hunts near Hubbard, and, as Richard Corbin has expressed interest in getting a group together, a 24-Hour Sporting Clays Shoot at the 74 Ranch near Campbellton in April. He moved the shooting range shoot from July to right before the April Semi-guided Hog Hunt, the Self-guided Saltwater Fishing Trip from late August/early September to early June, the Guided Duck Hunt from December to January.  the Wild Game Dinner from April to 1/12/13,  the 3/30/12 Self-guided Bass Fishing Trip to 3/2/12, and the February FCS Meeting from Valentine’s Day to 2/11/13. He again didn’t include a guided saltwater fishing trip or a guided teal hunt due to lack of interest (although we might add a guided teal hunt with Christopher Reeves if we have a good duck hunt with him in January). The number of events for 2013 (64) will be about the same as we’ll have by the end of 2012 (65). Proposed 2013 FCS Calendar January

• Friday, 1/4/13 through Sunday, 1/6/13 – Winter Dove Retreat at Mrs. Ewald’s ranches near Dilley.
• Friday, 1/11/13 through Sunday, 1/13/13 – Father/Child Deer and Hog Hunt on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Saturday, 1/12/13, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 1/12/13, time TBD – Wild Game Dinner (Ministry Event) at a location TBA.
• Friday, 1/18/13 through Saturday, 1/19/13, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM –Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Choke Canyon (near Three Rivers) with Shallow Minded Guide Services.
• Saturday, 1/19/13, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 1/19/13, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM –Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 1/25/13 through Sunday, 1/27/13 – Self-Guided Saltwater Duck Hunt near Corpus Christi.

February

• Thursday, 2/7/13, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at Mighty Fine Burgers (10515 North MoPac # B205, Austin, 512-524-2400).
• Saturday, 2/9/13 – Guided Upland Bird Hunt with the 4R Ranch near Tarpley.
• Monday, 2/11/13, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Chili Cookoff at Charlie Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Saturday, 2/16/13, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM –Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 2/23/13 – Self-Chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.
• Sunday, 2/26/13, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Red Apple Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

March

• Saturday, 3/2/13 – Self-Chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.
• Friday, 3/22/13 through Saturday, 3/23/13 – Thermal Image Guided Hog Hunt at Texas Thermal Hog Hunt near Hubbard.
• Saturday, 3/23/13, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 3/30/13 – Self-Chartered White Bass Fishing Trip at Granger Lake.

April

• Saturday, 4/6/13, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM – Shooting Range Shoot at the Eagle Peak Shooting Range (20026 Lindeman Lane, Leander; near Jonestown).
• Sunday, 4/7/13 through Tuesday, 4/9/13 – Semi-Guided Hog Hunt on the Wild Hog Hunting Ranch near Gonzales.
• Sunday, 4/7/13, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘South by Southwest’ Open Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Thursday, 4/11/13, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Catfish Fry at Ron Denison’s home (1009 Ambrose Cv., Pflugerville, 512-670-7717 – Home and Work, 512-217-4677 – Cell).
• Friday, 4/12/12 through Saturday, 4/13/13 – 24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot at the 74 Ranch near Campbellton.
• Saturday, 4/13/13 – Self-Chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 4/20/13, 9:00 – 11:45 AM –Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

May

• Monday, 5/6/13, 3:30 – 9:00 PM – Chartered Hybrid Bass Fishing Trip with Jay Garrett on Lake Belton.
• Saturday, 5/11/13 – Self-Chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.
• Saturday, 5/18/13, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – ‘FCS Open’ (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays) at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707) followed by lunch at the 290 Café in Manor.
• Sunday, 5/19/13, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘The Emerald Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 5/31/13 through Sunday, 6/2/13 – Self-Chartered Bay Fishing Trip near Port O’Connor.

June

• Thursday, 6/13/13, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Fajita Dinner at Larry Dowden’s home (905 Cashew Lane, Cedar Park, 512-259-2490 – Home, 512-507-5894 – Cell).
• Saturday, 6/15/13, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 6/15/13, 11:45 AM – 2:45 PM – ‘Dickie Loy Memorial’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 6/22/13 – Self-Chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.

July

• Saturday, 7/6/13 – Self-Chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.
• Monday, 7/8/13, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q (11570 Research Blvd., 418-9898).
• Thursday, 7/18/13, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – FCS Dinner at Texas Land and Cattle (14010 North Hwy 183, Building B, Austin, 258-3733.
• Saturday, 7/20/13, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 7/21/13, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘McBride’s Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

August

• Saturday, 8/3/13, 7:00 PM – dark – Clay Target Shoot with Legacy Outfitters at a ranch near Georgetown.
• Thursday, 8/8/13 and Friday, 8/3/13, 6:00 AM – 6:30 PM (both days) – Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
• Monday, 8/12/13, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Steak Dinner at Mike Coppedge’s home (3920 Crest Lane, Round Rock, 512-632-9550).
• Saturday, 8/17/13, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 8/24/13 – Self-Chartered Bass Fishing Trip at a lake TBD.

September

• Sunday, 9/1/13 – Dove Hunt (Central Zone) at Union Grove Wildlife Management Area on the shore of Lake Stillhouse Hollow.
• Saturday, 9/7/13 – Blast and Cast (Dove Hunt and Bass Fishing Trip – Central Zone) on Joel Kirby’s land near Lometa.
• Sunday, 9/8/13, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Bill Hughes Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 9/14/13, 3:15 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Teal Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 9/14/13, 9:00 – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Thursday, 9/19/13 through Sunday, 9/22/13 – Dove Hunt (South Zone) on Mrs. Ewald’s ranches near Dilley.
• Friday, 9/27/13 through Sunday 9/29/13 – Dove Retreat (Central Zone) on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.

October

• Sunday, 10/6/13, 12:45 – 4:00 PM – ‘Bob White Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club.
• Thursday, 10/10/13, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Shrimp Boil at Charles Cutchens’ home (2704 Buckeye Trail, Cedar Park, 512-918-8205 – Home).
• Saturday, 10/19/13, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

November

• Saturday, 11/2/13, 4:15 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 11/16/13, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 11/16/13, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 11/24/13, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Mike McAlpine Open’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

December

• Thursday, 12/5/13, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Shrimp Boil (Ministry Event) at Great Hills Baptist Church (10500 Jollyville Road, Austin, 512-343-7763).
• Saturday, 12/7/13, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Monday, 12/16/13, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Turkey Dinner at Wayne Weilnau’s home (16100 Fritsch Cove, Austin, 512-388-3340 – Home, 512-589-4120 – Cell).
• Saturday, 12/21/13, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt on Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights or Granger Lake near Circleville.
• Saturday, 12/21/13, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 12/29/13, 12:45 – 3:30 PM – ‘Year End Finale’ Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

Summary
Clay Target Shoots	13
Sporting Clays Tournaments	9
Waterfowl Hunts	9
Freshwater Fishing Trips	9
FCS Meetings	6
Dove Hunts (one is a blast and cast)	3
Officers Meetings	2
Ministry Events	2
Dove Retreats	2
Hog Hunts	2
Deer and Hog Hunt	1
Upland Bird Hunt	1
Saltwater Fishing Trip	1
24-hour Sporting Clays Shoot	1
Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot	1
Shooting Range Shoot	1
Dinner	1
Total	64
Category Summary
Shoots	25
Hunts	18
Fishing Trips	10
Meetings	8
Ministry Events	2
Dinner	1
Total	64

On 11/5/12 the proposed calendar passed unanimously (5 to 0). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 8/23/12 Randy Rowley initiated a vote of the officers on the Proposed Fiscal Year 2013 Budget. FY 2012 Facts Income – $864.00 Expenditures – $1,058.08 Shortfall – 194.08 This does not include our ministry budget, which is not based on specific donations; therefore, it cannot be projected. I am presently not concerned about our budget. We’re more than holding the line with almost $1,500 in checking. The expenditures are based on last year’s budget minus the $107 web hosting fee, $35 NRA donation, $50 in DVDs and $10 annual domain transfer fee (we will buy the remaining  Spiritual Outdoor Adventures series hunting DVD and devotionals in one). Proposed Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Projected Income 620.00 – 31 memberships ($20.00/member) 620.00 – Total Projected Expenditures 713.00 – Liability insurance 18.00 – Photocopies 16.00 – Miscellaneous office supplies and other expenditures 15.00 – Fill up the FCS propane tank 15.00 – Stamps and postage 10.00 – DVD purchase (for one meeting) 789.00 – Total Projected Shortfall -169.00 On 8/30/12 the proposed budget passed unanimously (7 to 0). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 7/12/12 Randy Rowley initiated a poll of FCS members and guests regarding the night of the week that FCS meetings should be held on. Nine people responded to the poll (seven responded with specific days of the week), including:

• Five members preferred meeting on Thursday nights
• Four members preferred meeting on Monday nights
• Two members preferred meeting on Tuesday nights
• One member preferred meeting on Wednesday nights
• No one preferred meeting on Friday nights

Regarding the question, “I have stopped going to FCS meetings for the following reason that is not related to meeting nights (please specify),” respondents stated:

• My limiting factor is conflicts with work, family life, etc.
• Finances, job and other obligations that fall on some Mondays.
• Health issues and prepping to move closer to Cedar Park.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 2/10/12 Randy Rowley initiated a vote of the officers on a proposal to buy three years of web hosting instead of one (buying three years would result in a 30% savings). Randy noted that we have $1517.72 in checking and our major expense (insurance) has been paid (we have more than enough money to pay the $250.20 fee). On 2/16/12 the proposal passed unanimously (8 to 0).

2011

On 11/22/11, I, Randy Rowley, initiated a vote of the officers on the proposed 2012 FCS Calendar (see below). Proposed 2012 FCS Calendar January

• Friday, 12/30/11 through Sunday, 1/1/12 – Winter Dove Retreatat Lee Ewald’s ranches near Dilley.
• Friday, 1/6/12 through Sunday, 1/8/12 – Parent/Child Deer and Hog Hunton Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.
• Saturday, 1/7/12, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Friday, 1/13/12 through Sunday, 1/15/12 – Self-Guided Saltwater Duck Huntnear Port Aransas.
• Saturday, 1/21/12, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 1/21/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Clay Targets Covered with Ice Sickles”Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane , Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 1/23/12, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meetingat Mighty Fine Burgers (10515 North MoPac # B205, Austin, 512-524-2400).
• Friday, 1/27/12 through Sunday, 1/29/12 – Self-Guided Hog Huntat the Walters Ranch near Jarrell.

February

• Saturday, 2/11/12 – Guided Upland Bird Huntwith the 4R Ranch near Tarpley.
• Monday, 2/13/12, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Chili Cookoff at Charlie Batts’ home (9706 Bordeaux La., Austin, 512-258-8773 – Home, 512-750-2225 – Cell).
• Saturday, 2/18/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Spread the Love (Broken Clay Targets) Around” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 2/24/12 through Sunday, 2/26/12 – Self-Guided Hog Huntat the Walters Ranch near Jarrell.
• Sunday, 2/26/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – Red Apple Open Sporting Clays Tournamentat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

March

• Saturday, 3/3/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – Spring “Break the Targets” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shootat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 3/23/12 through Sunday, 3/25/12 – Self-Guided Hog Huntat the Walters Ranch near Jarrell.
• Thursday, 3/29/12, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Wild Game Dinner at St. George’s Court (1443 Coronado Hills Drive, Austin).
• Saturday, 3/31/12 – Self-Chartered White Bass Fishing Trip at the Colorado Bend State Park.

April

• Sunday, 4/1/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – South by Southwest Open Sporting Clays Tournamentat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 4/7/12, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – “April Showers of Broken Clay Targets” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shootat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 4/9/12, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Catfish Fryat Ron Denison’s home (1009 Ambrose Cv., Pflugerville, 512-670-7717 – Home and Work, 512-217-4677 – Cell).
• Sunday, 4/15/12 through Tuesday, 4/17/12 – Semi-Guided Hog Hunt at the Wild Hog Hunting Ranch near Gonzales.
• Saturday, 4/21/12, 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM – “Rabbit Shoot” Sporting Clays Tournamentat the Gun Smoke Shooting Range (in Snook, near College Station).

May

• Saturday, 5/5/12, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM – “FCS Open” (Two Rounds of Sporting Clays)at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707) and the 290 Café in Manor.
• Friday, 5/18/12 through Sunday, 5/20/12 – Self-Guided Hog Huntat the Walters Ranch near Jarrell.
• Sunday, 5/20/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – The Emerald Open Sporting Clays Tournamentat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 5/21/12, 3:30 – 9:00 PM – Chartered Hybrid Bass Fishing Tripwith Jay Garrett on Lake Belton.

June

• Friday, 6/1/12 through Sunday, 6/3/12 – Self-Chartered Bay Fishing Tripnear Port Aransas.
• Saturday, 6/9/12, 6:00 AM – 6:30 PM – Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
• Monday, 6/11/12, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Fajita Dinnerat Larry Dowden’s home (905 Cashew Lane, Cedar Park, 512-259-2490 – Home, 512-507-5894 – Cell).
• Saturday, 6/16/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – Dickie Loy Memorial Sporting Clays Tournamentat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 6/23/12, 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM – Youth Skeet and Five Stand Shoot with Operation Orphans followed by an FCS Sporting Clays Shootat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

July

• Monday, 7/9/12, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – Officers Meeting at Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q (11570 Research Blvd., 418-9898).
• Saturday, 7/14/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Hotter than Blazes” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shootat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 7/16/12, 6:30 – 8:30 PM – FCS Dinner at Texas Land and Cattle (14010 North Hwy 183, Building B, Austin, 258-3733.
• Sunday, 7/22/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – McBride’s Open Sporting Clays Tournamentat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Saturday, 7/28/12, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Shooting Range Shootat the Eagle Peak Shoot Range (20026 Lindeman Lane, Leander; near Jonestown).

August

• Saturday, 8/4/12, 7:00 AM – 1:00 PM – Margarita Open I Sporting Clays Tournament at the WB Ranch near Whitney.
• Saturday, 8/4/12, 7:00 PM – dark – Clay Target Shoot with Legacy Outfitters at a ranch near Georgetown. Monday, 8/6/12, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Steak Dinnerat Mike Coppedge’s home (3920 Crest Lane, Round Rock, 512-632-9550).
• Thursday, 8/9/12 and Friday, 8/10/12, 6:00 AM – 6:30 PM (both days) – Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
• Saturday, 8/18/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Dove Tune-Up” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shootat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

September

• Friday, 8/31/12 through Sunday, 9/2/12 – Dove Hunt (Central Zone)with Whitewings Galore near San Angelo.
• Saturday, 9/8/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 PM – “Dog Days of Summer”Sporting Clays and Skeet Shoot at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 9/9/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – Bill Hughes Open Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 9/14/12 through Saturday, 9/15/12 – Guided Teal Huntwith Bill Sherrill Waterfowl near Wharton. Saturday, 9/15/12 – Blast and Cast (Dove Hunt and Bass Fishing Trip– Central Zone) on Joel Kirby’s land near Lometa.
• Thursday, 9/20/12 through Sunday, 9/23/12 – Dove Hunt (South Zone)on Lee Ewald’s ranches near Dilley.
• Friday, 9/28/12 through Sunday 9/30/12 – Dove Retreat (Central Zone)on Frank Hamilton’s ranch near Trickham.

October

• Saturday, 10/6/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Welcome Fall” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shootat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Sunday, 10/7/12, 12:45 – 4:00 PM – Bob White Open Sporting Clays Tournament at the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club.
• Monday, 10/8/12, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Shrimp Boil at Charles Cutchens’ home (2704 Buckeye Trail, Cedar Park, 512-918-8205 – Home).
• Saturday, 10/13/12, time TBD – “FlingFest” Sporting Clays Tournamentat The Gun Smoke Shooting Range (in Snook, near College Station).

November

• Saturday, 11/3/12, 4:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 11/10/12, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 11/10/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Thanks for Giving us the Knowledge to Make Clay Targets” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shootat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Friday, 11/16/12 through Saturday, 11/17/12 – Chartered Bay or Deep Sea Fishing Trip with Kenneth Gregory Guide Service near Port O’Connor.
• Saturday, 11/17/12, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 11/24/12, 3:30 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Sunday, 11/25/12, 12:45 PM – Mike McAlpine Open Sporting Clays Tournamentat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

December

• Thursday, 12/6/12, 6:30 – 8:00 PM – Shrimp Boilat Great Hills Baptist Church (10500 Jollyville Road, Austin, 512-343-7763).
• Friday, 12/7/12 through Saturday, 12/8/12 – Guided Freshwater Duck Hunt with Kenneth Gregory Guide Service near Port O’Connor.
• Saturday, 12/8/12, 3:45 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 12/8/12, 9:00 AM – 11:45 AM – “Rudolf’s Revenge” Sporting Clays and Skeet Shootat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).
• Monday, 12/10/12, 7:00 – 9:30 PM – FCS Meeting and Turkey Dinnerat Wayne Weilnau’s home (16100 Fritsch Cove, Austin, 512-388-3340 – Home, 512-589-4120 – Cell).
• Saturday, 12/15/12, 3:45 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 12/22/12, 3:45 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 12/29/12, 3:45 AM – 12:00 PM – Self-Guided Freshwater Duck Hunton Lake Stillhouse Hollow near Harker Heights.
• Saturday, 12/29/12, 12:45 – 3:45 PM – Year End Finale Sporting Clays Tournamentat the Capitol City Trap & Skeet Club (8707 Lindell Lane, Austin, 512-272-4707).

On 11/28/11 the proposal passed unanimously (4 to 0). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 11/16/11 I, Randy Rowley, initiated a vote of the officers on the Proposed Fiscal Year 2012 Budget. FY 2011 Facts Income – $1,454.50 Expenditures – $889.32 Surplus – 565.18 This does not include our ministry budget, which is not based on specific donations; therefore, it cannot be projected. I am presently not concerned about our budget. We’re more than holding the line with over $2,000 in checking. The expenditures are based on last year’s budget minus FCS Gear. As FCS Gear is no longer a membership benefit there is no longer a need to put it in the budget. We’ll handle the purchase of FCS Gear as we did the caps that we recently purchased (everyone who wants one pays for it in advance). I kept the purchase of six DVDs in the budget (I plan to buy the Spiritual Outdoor Adventures series – hunting videos and devotionals in one). As I was spending anywhere from 4 to 8 hours preparing a devotional for a meeting, I think that these will be a good investment. They’re entertaining, about hunting, contain spiritual applications, and will free up 24 – 48 hours of my time a year. I won’t send in the NRA donation until the end of the year and won’t send it in if we don’t meet our budget. Proposed Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Projected Income 1000.00 – 50 memberships ($20.00/member) 1000.00 – Total Projected Expenditures 713.00 – Liability insurance 107.00 – Annual Web Hosting renewal fee 60.00 – DVD purchases (for six meetings) 35.00 – Annual NRA (or another organization) donation 18.00 – Photocopies 16.00 – Miscellaneous office supplies and other expenditures 15.00 – Fill up the FCS propane tank 15.00 – Stamps and postage 10.00 – Annual domain transfer fee (automatically transfers when people type fcs-texas.com to fcs-texas.org) 991.00 – Total Projected Surplus 9.00 On 11/22/11 the proposed budget passed unanimously (6 to 0). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 5/16/11 Randy Rowley initiated a vote on four propositions (with consensus from the officers) to change our Bylaws. Proposition 1: Randy was contacted by an FCS member on 4/28/11 who was interested in a five-year or a life-time membership. Here is how a couple of organizations do their memberships/licenses: NRA Annual membership – $35 Two-year membership – $60 (a 14% discount) Three-year membership – $85 (a 19% discount) Five-year membership – $125 (a 28% discount) Life membership – $1000 (equivalent to 28 annual memberships) TPWD Annual combination hunting and fishing license – $50 Lifetime combination hunting and fishing license – $1800 (equivalent to 36 annual combination licenses) Also, it is possible that one of the reasons that our number of new members is down is we force them to pay $10.00 more for a new membership than an existing member has to pay for a renewal. Therefore, Randy is proposing to simplify our requirements and to take them back to what they once were (the same membership due for every member – new and renewing). Our current Bylaws state: “III. Membership: C. FCS adult members shall consist of those men and women who have: · Expressed a desire to be an FCS adult member by completing an FCS Adult Membership Application (the address to send your application and dues check is located on the application) and have paid FCS adult initial membership dues. New adult member dues are $30.00. New adult members who choose a FCS Gear membership benefit item that costs more than $14.00 will have to pay an increased due, according to the cost of the item. Exceptions to the $30.00 new FCS adult membership dues are noted on the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page. A new FCS adult member who wishes to have his or her membership benefit mailed must also cover the cost of postage and a large envelope (see the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page for specific postage and envelope amounts). Or · Paid $20.00 FCS adult membership renewal dues. Renewing FCS adult members receive no FCS Gear membership benefit; however, renewing FCS adult members who wish to purchase FCS Gear at the time of their renewals can do so as FCS Gear can be purchased at any time.” Randy proposed to change them to the following (the the highlighted words and sentences are new): · Expressed a desire to be an FCS adult member by completing an FCS Adult Membership Application (the address to send your application and dues check is located on the application) and have paid at least a one-year FCS adult membership due. The FCS Adult Membership Application only needs to be completed once (it does not need to be completed when a member renews his or her membership). Membership due options include: · One-year membership/membership renewal – $20.00 · Two-year membership/membership renewal – $35.00 (a 13% discount) · Three-year membership/membership renewal – $50.00 (a $17% discount) · Five-year membership/membership renewal – $80.00 (a 20% discount) · Lifetime membership – $300 (equivalent to 15 one-year membership renewals) New and renewing FCS adult members do not receive an FCS Gear membership benefit; however, they can purchase FCS Gear at any time. We also need to strike the following Bylaw, as new members will no longer receive FCS Gear as membership benefits: III. Membership: E. Current FCS adult membership benefits: New FCS adult members receive: · FCS Gear options as detailed on our FCS Adult Membership Application and FCS Gear web page (shipping is extra for some items – see the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page for specific postage and envelope amounts). Pros If a member were to join or renew via a multi-year membership we would have more income over a longer period We would not have to send out renewal notices as often This is friendlier to members and prospective members Cons Due to the discounts we would not bring in as much money ultimately It will be a little harder to figure out our budget The officers think that the Pros outweigh the Cons. Proposition 2: Our current Bylaws state: “III. Membership: E. Current FCS adult membership benefits: All supporting FCS adult members receive: · Quarterly newsletter and Annual Calendar (for members who do not have Web access). All supporting FCS adult members have the following rights: · Make amendment proposals to the FCS Bylaws, Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, and/or Annual Fiscal Year Budget; · Participate in all supporting FCS member discussions and votes; and · Check out (borrow) FCS equipment items, videos, and books.” In order to bolster our membership benefits and to clarify our submissions postings policy, I propose to add the following (the highlighted sentences are new): Supporting FCS adult members will have their articles, classified ads, hunting and fishing stories, jokes, links, members’ profiles, pictures, poems, product and service reviews and recommendations, recipes, safety tips, and useful information for sportsmen submissions posted on the FCS website. All FCS adult members will have their devotional, praise, and prayer request submissions posted on the FCS website. Submissions from prospective FCS adult members (men and women who are FCS adult members) will not be posted on the FCS website. This is a change to Randy’s (unwritten) policy. Up until now he has posted the above submissions from all members. What the officers and Randy would like to convey is that when a member chooses to not renew, he or she loses certain rights (see above) and the privilege of having certain submissions posted. This change will hopefully contribute to causing members to think twice about choosing to not renew. The last paragraph may sound unfriendly, but please understand that I receive many requests to post non-members classified ads (especially) on our website. Our website exists primarily for our members. It is not a service to the community at large who would like to use it as another Craig’s List. Proposition 3: For many years we have used a program called “Mycalendars.net,” which is a free online interactive web calendar, on our website. Our bylaws refer to this program (see below). As we will soon be only using our http://fcs-texas.org website, I propose that we change these bylaws. Our current Bylaws state: “IV. Officers: C: The Vice President (Events) is responsible to notify the FCS President when circumstances beyond his or her control preclude him or her from attending a scheduled FCS meeting. Specific expectations: Responsible to enter FCS events into the FCS Calendar on the mycalendars.net website a minimum of one week prior to the day of the event. Responsible to enter FCS events into the FCS Calendar on the mycalendars.net website within seven days of an event’s approval. Responsible to notify the FCS President that a new event(s) has been entered in the FCS Calendar on the mycalendars.net website. F. The Chapter Vice President is responsible to notify the Chapter President when circumstances beyond his or her control preclude him or her from attending a scheduled meeting of his or her chapter. Specific expectations: Responsible to enter his or her chapter’s events into the FCS Calendar on the mycalendars.net website a minimum of one week prior to the day of the event. Responsible to notify the FCS President that a new event(s) has been entered in the FCS Calendar on the mycalendars.net website. Randy proposed to amend the above bylaws to read as follows (the highlighted words were changed): C: The Vice President (Events) is responsible to notify the FCS President when circumstances beyond his or her control preclude him or her from attending a scheduled FCS meeting. Specific expectations: Responsible to enter FCS events into the FCS Calendar on the FCS website a minimum of one week prior to the day of the event. Responsible to enter FCS events into the FCS Calendar on the FCS website within seven days of an event’s approval. Responsible to notify the FCS President that a new event(s) has been entered into the FCS Calendar on the FCS website. F. The Chapter Vice President is responsible to notify the Chapter President when circumstances beyond his or her control preclude him or her from attending a scheduled meeting of his or her chapter. Specific expectations: Responsible to enter his or her chapter’s events into the FCS Calendar on the FCS website a minimum of one week prior to the day of the event. Responsible to notify the FCS President that a new event(s) has been entered in the FCS Calendar on the FCS website. This change will ensure that no matter what web program that we use to maintain our calendar that our bylaws will fit it. Changing the calendar program in the future will not require the bylaws to be changed again. Proposition 4: At the 2/22/10 FCS Officers Meeting, Randy presented the following: The IRS publication “Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations” states: “Religious Organizations Unlike churches, religious organizations that wish to be tax exempt generally must apply to the IRS for tax-exempt status unless their gross receipts do not normally exceed $5,000 annually.” Fact: Our gross receipts do not come close to exceeding $5,000 annually (our best to date was 2009’s $1,791.87). We would have to triple our supporting membership in order to take in $5,000 annually. The officers concluded: Because we are not recognized by the IRS as tax exempt, we do not have to file Form 990-N (the e-Postcard). Because we are a religious organization we do not have to file Form 1120 U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return. Randy had several conversations with IRS agents, who verified that our conclusions are correct. The officers agreed: “We should change our bylaws to call ourselves “a religious organization that has not applied for tax exempt status because our gross receipts do not exceed $5,000 annually.” I have already added, “We are also non-profit but have chosen to not apply for tax exempt status” to our main web page. If the IRS ever questions why we have not filed for tax exempt status we can show them our Bylaws as evidence that we do not need to file. We should change our Bylaws that describe us the next time that we need to make another change to them (we do not need to generate a discussion and vote just on this issue; rather we should lump it in with something else). The officers present unanimously agreed with this recommendation.” Now that Randy has initiated votes on the three above propositions, it is time to initiate a vote on the officers’ recommendation from 2/22/10. Our current Bylaw states: “II. Statement of Purpose: FCS is a non-denominational, non-political, non-profit sportsmen’s organization, founded in Austin , Texas in 1988 by a group of Christian sportsmen. FCS is a ministry to the hunting and fishing world. Randy proposes to amend the above bylaw to read as follows (the highlighted sentence is new): II. Statement of Purpose: FCS is a non-denominational, non-political, non-profit sportsmen’s organization, founded in Austin , Texas in 1988 by a group of Christian sportsmen. FCS is a religious organization that has not applied for tax exempt status because our gross receipts do not exceed $5,000 annually. FCS is a ministry to the hunting and fishing world. Adding the highlighted language makes it clear to the IRS (if they chose to audit us, which is very unlikely) exactly what we are. A vote of the supporting members was taken. It passed unamiously (10 for and 0 against on all four propositions) on 5/22/12.

2010

On 12/16/10 a poll was initiated to get feedback on where to hold the 1/1/11 “Bring in the New Year” Shooting Range Shoot – at Eagle Peak Shooting Range or Best of the West Shooting Sports. The results on 12/22/10 were two members favored shooting at Eagle Peak and no one favored shooting at Best of the West. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 8/20/10 Randy Rowley initiated a vote of the Officers on the proposed Fiscal Year 2011 Budget. On 8/26/10 the proposal passed unanimously (5 for and 0 against). One officer proposed that we don’t buy any new DVD’s. They will be our lowest priority (we will buy them only if we have met our other obligations and have adequate funds). Fiscal Year 2011 Budget (Beginning 9/1/10) Projected Income 330.00 – 11 new memberships ($30.00/member) 920.00 – 46 membership renewals ($20.00/member) 1250.00 – Total Projected Expenditures 673.00 – Liability insurance 318.00 – Membership benefits (FCS Polo shirts, T-shirts, or Mouse Pads) 107.00 – Annual Web Hosting renewal fees 40.00 – DVD purchases (for six meetings) 35.00 – Annual NRA (or another organization) donation 18.00 – Photocopies 16.00 – Miscellaneous office supplies and other expenditures 15.00 – Fill up the FCS propane tank 15.00 – Stamps and postage 1237.00 – Total Projected Surplus 13.00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 8/10/10 Randy Rowley initiated a poll of the Club inactive members regarding as to why theyhave not renewed their FCS memberships. The poll ran through 8/15/10. The results were as follows:

• 5/93 inactive members (of whom I have their e-mail addresses) responded (5%).
• No members have not renewed because the Club no longer gives FCS Gear to renewing members.
• Two members have not renewed because of being too busy to participate in Club events.
• Two members have not renewed because of not having the funds to participate in Club events.
• No members have not renewed because of not being happy with something the Club does or doesn’t do.
• Two members have not renewed because of the following reason:
• Keep forgetting/have not taken the time to mail in membership renewal check.

As there is no data to support the possibility that some long time members have not renewed because we are no longer giving FCS Gear as membership renewal benefits, there is no need to change the bylaws. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 6/5/10, I, Randy Rowley initiated a poll of the Club members regarding the two possibilities for our Annual “Student Instructor/Student Sporting Clays Shoot” at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio. Options included Saturday, 6/12/10 – Sunday, 6/13/10 (we would shoot on Saturday) and Thursday, 8/5/10 – Friday, 8/6/10 (we would shoot on Friday). The poll ran through 6/10/10. Two members preferred to shoot on 6/12/10, two members preferred to shoot on 8/6/10, and one member preferred to shoot on both dates. We will have the event on both dates.

2009

On 11/11/09, I, Randy Rowley, initiated a vote on three propositions from me to change our bylaws that address membership dues and change all references of ‘active’ member, and to add a bylaw regarding a Release of Liability Waiver. Proposition 1 Change: III. Membership: C. FCS adult members shall consist of those men and women who have: · Expressed a desire to be an FCS adult member by completing an FCS Adult Membership Application (the address to send your application and dues check is located on the application) and have paid FCS membership dues. New adult member dues are $20.00. New adult members who choose a FCS Gear membership benefit item that costs more than $14 will have to pay an increased due, according to the cost of the item. Exceptions to the $20.00 new FCS adult membership dues are noted on the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page. A new FCS adult member who wishes to have his or her membership benefit mailed must also cover the cost of postage and a large envelope (see the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page for specific postage and envelope amounts). or · Paid a $10.00 FCS adult membership renewal. Renewing FCS adult members receive no FCS Gear membership benefit; however, renewing FCS adult members who wish to purchase FCS Gear at the time of their renewals can do so as FCS Gear can be purchased at any time. To: III. Membership: C. FCS adult members shall consist of those men and women who have: · Expressed a desire to be an FCS adult member by completing an FCS Adult Membership Application (the address to send your application and dues check is located on the application) and have paid FCS membership dues. New adult member dues are $30.00. New adult members who choose a FCS Gear membership benefit item that costs more than $14 will have to pay an increased due, according to the cost of the item. Exceptions to the $30.00 new FCS adult membership dues are noted on the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page. A new FCS adult member who wishes to have his or her membership benefit mailed must also cover the cost of postage and a large envelope (see the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page for specific postage and envelope amounts). or · Paid a $20.00 FCS adult membership renewal. Renewing FCS adult members receive no FCS Gear membership benefit; however, renewing FCS adult members who wish to purchase FCS Gear at the time of their renewals can do so as FCS Gear can be purchased at any time. The reason for this proposed change is so that we can afford to pay for liability insurance each year. As you know, I started a poll on this subject a week ago. A record 21 (out of 60) active members responded to the poll. All respondents stated that they supported adding liability insurance and would continue to renew. I assume that the remaining 39 members are not opposed to the idea, or they would have so indicated in the poll. During our one week discussion on this proposal no one expressed opposition. Proposition 2 Change all references of ‘active’ member to ‘supporting’ member. The reason for this change is because I think that ‘active’ was not the best adjective for us to use to define a member who is current in his or her membership dues/supporting the Club financially. ‘Active’ intones an involved member who is participating in events. We presently have several ‘active’ members who are current in their dues who have never attended an event. We also have several members who are very involved in events yet are not considered ‘active’ because they are not active in their dues. Changing ‘active’ to ‘supporting’ would be a more accurate description of people who are supporting the Club financially. Proposition 3 Add: IX. Release of Liability Waiver: A. All members and guests must sign a life time FCS Release of Liability Waiver prior to participation in FCS events that involve the use of: landowners’ land and bodies of water, outfitters, guides, guns, bows, knives, other weapons, and vehicles used in hunting, shooting, and classes that involve the use of weapons (concealed handgun license, shooting, etc.); landowners’ land and bodies of water, outfitters, guides, vehicles, boats, bows, and knives used in fishing, canoeing, and kayaking; vehicles used in car racing; vehicles and trailers used in camping; and any other FCS events that involve potential hazards. It is at the sole discretion of the FCS president as to whether an event requires participants to sign a life time FCS Release of Liability Waiver prior to participation in the event. The FCS president shall maintain a binder of completed FCS Release of Liability Waivers. A member or guest who refuses to sign an FCS Release of Liability Waiver will not be allowed to participate in FCS events that involve potential hazards until he or she does so. We have required a Release of Liability Waiver at all Dove Retreats for around the past 12 years (during our hunts at Mr. Ewald’s ranches near Dilley and at the Camel Mills ranch near Pearsall) but have never formally included the requirement of a waiver in our Bylaws. We need to add this to our Bylaws and require that all members and guests sign a waiver for all events that are potentially hazardous in order to meet the requirements to obtain liability insurance. Instead of signing a waiver for a specific event, I propose a life time waiver for all FCS events involving hazards, which will be much easier for me to keep track of and will prevent members and guests from getting annoyed with having to sign a waiver every time that they attend an FCS event that is potentially hazardous. Waivers will also support our case if someone sues us for a baseless reason (e.g., a guest at an FCS duck hunt slams his finger in his truck door, breaking it, and then sues us for $50,000 for not providing a safe environment in which to hunt). The vote ran through 11/17/09. All three propositions passed unanimously (16 votes for and 0 votes against). On 11/17/09, I, Randy Rowley initiated a poll of the Club members regarding the two possibilities for our Annual “Bring in the New Year” Shoot at the Eagle Peak Shooting Range (Eagle Peak has handgun, rifle, and shotgun ranges). We can have it on Saturday, 12/27 and/or on Thursday, 1/1 (New Years day). The poll ran through 11/23/09. One member preferred 12/26/09. One member stated that he could shoot on either date. One member stated that he could shoot on either date or both. We will have the event at least on 12/26/09. On 11/18/09, I, Randy Rowley, initiated a vote on a proposal by me that the Club purchase liability insurance for $673. Our Bylaws require all proposed unplanned purchases of $50.00 or more must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote of the FCS officers who cast a vote prior to the purchase(s). The cost of the liability insurance was not added to our Fiscal Year 2010 Budget, which was approved by the officers on 9/5/09, and the amount is more than $50.00, therefore, we were required to vote on the proposal. I noted that the policy will be in effect for one year. We presently have $927.23 in our checking account (counting an IOU for $13 from one member), so we can afford it. This will leave us with $254.23 in checking. The results of the vote on the proposition by me to change our Bylaws that address membership dues so that we could afford the insurance were 16 votes for and 0 votes against. If we still have 60 supporting members in August of next year I will add this expense to my Proposed Annual Fiscal Year Budget (which means that the officers will vote on it when we vote on the proposed budget each year). However, if membership drops significantly we will have to revisit the issue at that time. The vote ran through 11/24/09. The proposal passed unanimously (6 votes for and 0 votes against). On 12/2/09 I, Randy Rowley, proposed the 2010 Calendar to the Club officers. The vote ran through 12/8/09. The proposal passed unanimously (6 votes for and 0 votes against). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On 8/1/09, I, Randy Rowley, initiated a vote on three recommendations from the officers. As I noted in the 7/20/09 Club Officers Meeting page, the officers discussed a problem related to our membership benefits. A history of the problem:

• On 4/10/97, the active Club members approved mandatory Club membership for all Dove Retreats. This was re-approved on 4/5/01 and implemented at the Fall Dove Retreat on 9/21/01.
• On 9/19/03, at the Fall Dove Retreat, the Club officers approved (by Executive Decision) and implemented a membership benefit of a FCS cap. We distributed almost the entire box of 48 caps at that Retreat. The idea was that distributing a box of caps or shirts would be easy, as most of the hunters at the retreat would receive one as a membership/ membership renewal benefit and/or would purchase one. During that time very little mailing of membership benefits was required.
• On 12/23/03, prior to the 12/31/03 – 1/3/04 Winter Dove Retreat, the active Club members approved the continuation of FCS Gear as membership benefits.
• In September of 2006, Mr. Ewald doubled his price for dove hunts. Consequently the large Dove Retreats, which averaged 46 participants, became a thing of the past. Our primary means of distributing membership benefits changed to mailing them to members.
• With currently 61 active members, the mailing of membership benefits, which remains our primary means of distributing membership benefits, has proved taxing.

In short, we never intended to mail massive amounts of FCS Gear as membership benefits. To be blunt, it is taking up too much of Richard Corbin’s (our Membership Director) and my time. The officers made the following recommendations:

• New members membership dues will remain at $20 and new members will continue to receive their choice of FCS gear. New members who choose a FCS Gear item that costs more than $14 as a membership benefit will have to pay an increased due, according to the cost of the item.
• Change membership renewal dues to $10 with no FCS Gear benefit. Renewing members who wish to purchase FCS Gear at the time of their renewals can do so.
• We should continue to not require active membership in order to participate in Club events. (This has been our position for 18 years. The officers recommended to continue with this position and to make it a Bylaw.)

These recommendations, if enacted, will require the following Bylaws to be changed: From: III. Membership: A. FCS adult membership is available to men and women, 18 years old and older, without regard to race, national origin, age, denominational preference, or political persuasion. B. Active FCS adult members shall consist of those men and women who have: 1. Expressed a desire to be an FCS adult member by completing an FCS Adult Membership Application (the address to send your application and dues check is located on the application); and 2. Have paid an annual FCS membership due. Current dues are $20.00 a year (any exceptions are noted on the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page). Those FCS adult members who wish to have their membership benefits mailed to them are asked to also cover the cost of postage and a large envelope (see the FCS Gear web page for specific postage and envelope amounts). C. A directory of members will be maintained by the FCS president and secretary. D. Current FCS adult membership benefits: Active FCS adult members receive:

• FCS Gear options as detailed on our FCS Adult Membership Application and FCS Gear web page (shipping is extra for some items – see the FCS Gear web page for specific postage and envelope amounts)
• Quarterly newsletter and Annual Calendar (for members who do not have Web access).

Active FCS adult members have the following rights:

• Make amendment proposals to the FCS Bylaws, Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, and/or Annual Fiscal Year Budget;
• Participate in all active FCS member discussions and votes; and
• Check out (borrow) FCS equipment items, videos, and books

E. A FCS adult member who declines his or her FCS Gear membership benefit (a T-shirt for example) will have the option of whether to designate the portion of their dues that would have been dedicated to cover the cost of the FCS Gear to either go to cover general expenses or to be contributed to a FCS Scholarship Fund that will be used to help active FCS adult members and youth members who need help in paying for FCS events. No revenues from the FCS budgets will be dedicated to the Scholarship Fund. To: III. Membership: A. FCS membership is not required in order to participate in FCS events. B. FCS adult membership is available to men and women, 18 years old and older, without regard to race, national origin, age, denominational preference, or political persuasion. C. Active FCS adult members shall consist of those men and women who have:

• Expressed a desire to be an FCS adult member by completing an FCS Adult Membership Application (the address to send your application and dues check is located on the application) and have paid FCS membership dues. New adult member dues are $20.00. New adult members who choose a FCS Gear membership benefit item that costs more than $14 will have to pay an increased due, according to the cost of the item. Exceptions to the $20.00 initial adult membership dues are noted on the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page. A new FCS adult member who wishes to have his or her membership benefits mailed must also cover the cost of postage and a large envelope (see the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page for specific postage and envelope amounts).

or

• Paid a $10.00 FCS adult membership renewal. Renewing FCS adult members receive no FCS Gear membership benefit; however, renewing FCS adult members who wish to purchase FCS Gear at the time of their renewals can do so as FCS Gear can be purchased at any time.

D. A directory of members will be maintained by the FCS president and secretary. E. Current FCS adult membership benefits: New FCS adult members receive:

• FCS Gear options as detailed on our FCS Adult Membership Application and FCS Gear web page (shipping is extra for some items – see the FCS Adult Membership Application and the FCS Gear web page for specific postage and envelope amounts)

All active FCS adult members receive:

• Quarterly newsletter and Annual Calendar (for members who do not have Web access).

All active FCS adult members have the following rights:

• Make amendment proposals to the FCS Bylaws, Statement of Faith, Annual Calendar of Events, and/or Annual Fiscal Year Budget;
• Participate in all active FCS member discussions and votes; and
• Check out (borrow) FCS equipment items, videos, and books

F. A new FCS adult member who declines his or her FCS Gear membership benefit (a T-shirt for example) will have the option of whether to designate the portion of their dues that would have been dedicated to cover the cost of the FCS Gear to either go to cover general expenses or to be contributed to a FCS Scholarship Fund that will be used to help active FCS adult members and youth members who need help in paying for FCS events. No revenues from the FCS budgets will be dedicated to the Scholarship Fund. Renumber the remaining letters as G – J. These changes should result in having to mail FCS Gear benefits and purchase FCS Gear less frequently. A vote was taken. The results were 15 votes for and 0 votes against. On 9/5/09, a vote was held among the officers regarding the proposed Fiscal Year 2010 Budget. The proposal passed seven votes for to zero votes against Fiscal Year 2010 Budget (Beginning 9/1/09) Projected Income 300.00 – 15 new memberships ($20.00/member) 450.00 – 45 membership renewals ($10.00/member) 750.00 – Total Projected Expenditures 339.00 – Membership benefits (FCS Polo shirts or Deluxe Caps and Mouse Pads) 109.00 – 500 brochures 80.00 – Annual Web Hosting and Domain Name renewal fees 72.00 – DVD purchases (for six meetings) 41.00 – Stamps and postage 35.00 – Annual NRA (or another organization) donation 32.00 – Photocopies 30.00 – Miscellaneous office supplies 12.00 – Fill up the FCS propane tank 750.00 – Total Projected Surplus 0.00 – Total