The Nakusp Royal Canadian Legion hall was full as people came out for the annual Rod and Gun Club award ceremony.
The ceremony itself has been happening since the 70s, though in a different form. There used to be a wild game banquet. Hunters were asked in the fall to set aside a roast or other type of wild game, and the items were cooked at home and later brought to a central location for the banquet, with awards being given out as well.
Because of restrictions concerning health, the banquet gradually stopped happening. The ceremony as it is today was started up again in the 1990s.
When it comes to determining how prizes are awarded, the club goes by the Boone and Crockett Standards.
The Boone and Crockett Club is the oldest wildlife conservation organization in North America, founded in 1887 by Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell.
“We use their scoring system, but we don’t do anything as crazy as saying ‘A deer has to be a 10 to be Boone and Crockett,’” said Hank Scown, president of the Rod and Gun Club. “The deer that’s entered for us, if the biggest one is a two, that one gets the prize. We’re not hung up on their hierarchy of numbers.”
Scown says the entries are fairly measured, because they’re all compared to the same standard.
While there were many people at the ceremony, it was noted there were fewer entries this year.
Fishing in the area has been really poor, along with deer hunting.
Scown thinks part of the reason there weren’t any entries for the moose category is time.
“It’s quite an onerous job to prepare that skull to get it to the scoring committee,” he said.
“In order to clean it, you’ve got to cut the skull and boil it, and get the hide and skin off. That’s a fair amount of work.”
At the ceremony, a variety of knives were given out as prizes for the various awards. They ranged in size and style from small pocket knives, to a large hunting knife who’s handle was made out of an elk antler.
The big winner of the night was 12 year old Ledger Coates.
He won the award for best junior hunter, and also received the Fred Pigott Memorial Award.
Upon accepting, he joked that he was the first person in his family to get lucky (in hunting) in a few years.
When asked what his first thought was when he found out he won: “Ha, dad.”
Hunting is something Coates has been doing for as long as he can remember.
“I was raised in a hunting family,” he said. “My dad grew up here hunting, I’ve been growing up here hunting, I was just kind of raised to hunt.”
He said he enjoys hunting because it gives him an opportunity to spend some time with the people he cares about.
“I think it’s a good way to bond with my friends and family, and I like meat.”
When it comes to hunting and fishing, Scown sees the importance of acknowledging those in the community who take part.
“It’s part of the Nakusp culture of using fish and wildlife. I think it’s pretty important to recognize that part of our community that still does that.”
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Winners of the evening went as follows:
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Seniors
Rocky Mountain Elk Typical: Terry Warren
Rocky Mountain Elk Non Typical: Ray Hascarl
Whitetail Deer: Terry Warren
Whitetail Deer Non Typical: Jordan Trenholm
Mule Deer: Chris Ewings
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Archery
Whitetail Deer: Mike Smith
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Junior
Whitetail Deer: Ledger Coates
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Fred Pigott Memorial Award
Ledger Coates