Tyson Brown, Iowa DNR Conservation Officer, will be the guest speaker at the upcoming Izaak Walton League Wild Game Feed next Wednesday evening, Feb. 21. Each year the local Ikes Chapter members host an night to gather, eat delicious wild game foods, and enjoy a conservation program. This year the event will take place at the Fisher Community Center in Marshalltown beginning at 6:15 p.m. to select a plate full of game foods. Brown will speak afterwards of the duties of law enforcement specific to DNR laws and regulations on hunting, trapping and fishing. Ikes members, current and former, and their families and guests are invited to attend. Potential new Ikes members are welcome to attend and learn more about the local Ikes activities, facilities, and recreational opportunities.

A WILD GAME FEED is coming this Wednesday, the 21st. As a tribute to the huge amount of delicious protein sources that fish and game provide each and every year, local outdoors enthusiasts and Izaak Walton League club members will have a wide selection of buffet style foods to select along a very long set of serving tables. There is no doubt that food can help bring out a crowd of people as they gather together. You can bet that many stories of how that big deer was harvested, or how ducks and geese were taken and now prepared in tantalizing dishes, or the fish that did not get away last summer on the lake, are now set out along the buffet line. The trouble, as always, is to select a bit of everything just to try it, and not heap the plate too high.

Ikes members, families and guests are invited to partake and enjoy Mother Nature’s bounty of great foods. Many long-time friends will be there to share their common theme of the love of the outdoors. Conservation of all natural resources is a never ending task that these sportsmen and ladies, and kids understand more so than many other folks. Wild game from the waters and lands of our nation provide sustenance that cannot be purchased at a grocery store. The value of all wild game and fish sources is huge. It also reflects upon the need for ongoing long term conservation policies, federal and state, and adequate funding to professional resource agencies and their personnel so that every sportsman and lady, young or old, can continue to enjoy the activities associated with our chosen passion for outdoor sports.

Ikes president Charles Strobbe has indicated that the menu, just for starters, will include salmon, venison from deer, elk and moose, beaver, squirrel and more to come. Labels in front of each warm aroma filled crock pot will tell you what is inside. You will enjoy the food.

State Conservation Officer Tyson Brown will present the evening program at 7 p.m. He will offer his perspective on the duties of law enforcement related to his specialized tasks. Tyson has a long background of college studies, law enforcement academy training, seasonal patrol duties in various parts of the state before he applied for and was hired to a game warden position. He will share the intense training schedules required to be aware of the legal, and yes sometimes illegal activities, concerning fish and game. Insuring a fair chase, legal methods of take within prescribed seasons, proper licensing, tags and high standards of ethics during outdoor pursuits is a top priority. Protection of non-game birds (for example the Trumpeter Swan), small mammals, other animals and even endangered plant species are part of a conservation officer’s job.

It is a fact of life that some people, certainly not all, like to slip under the radar to take fish or game illegally. To this end, lots of law abiding sportsmen and women are the additional eyes and ears to know what is taking place in outdoor pursuits, see something wrong, and report it by calling officers such as Tyson Brown. He could not do his job effectively without the cooperation of other outdoor enthusiasts. Come hear what he has to say, learn more about conservation officer duties, and enjoy great wild “fast foods” of game and fish.

Ikes members are requested to come a bit early, prior to 6 p.m., to help set up serving tables for the food.

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DUCKS UNLIMITED Iowa River Chapter reminder: Date is March 17. The place will be the Impala ballroom in Marshalltown. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets to the event can be obtained by calling Rich Naughton at (641) 328-0124. Nineteen sports arms will be in the mix of prizes during the evening program. DU is a national conservation organization dedicated to wetland habitat enhancement and protection. Associated grassland uplands are also vital to the the hundreds of species of non-game animals (song birds, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals) and each spring and fall migratory flights of ducks, geese. By this time next month, longer days will be a driving force for waterfowl needing to move northward toward summer breeding habitats. It will be a spectacle ages old to see the sky filled with waterfowl wings again. Help the local DU Chapter add much needed funds into the equations for Iowa DU projects.

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Reminder No. 2: The IOWA DEER CLASSIC is coming up quickly. The dates of this show are March 2-4. The place is the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. Hy-Vee Hall will be filled as well as the lower floor of Vets Auditorium. Everything related to deer, deer hunting, land conservation, and tools or equipment to enhance habitat will be available to see and study.

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The PHOTO CONTEST winners for the Marshall County Conservation Board were announced at a chili supper on Feb. 6. This scribe attended to see what others saw and I marveled at those moments of time preserved forever in photographs. It was outstanding. All the images will be on display at the Grimes Farm and Conservation Center for several more weeks. A quick glance at the photo display may ignite your ideas for 2018. Be ready with your camera at all times to see nature in its raw and best forms. I encourage everyone to visit the Conservation Center. As one of the highlight attractions in this area, the Grimes Farm has a lot to offer for those inspired by nature.

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DENNIS SMEINS passed away recently. Dennis loved to be outdoors, to travel, and locally use his poke boat to float along Linn Creek. He also served as a board member to the Marshall County Conservation Board during 1998 – 2000 along with fellow members Jerry Turner, Howard Messerer, Dennis Eige and the late Bob Graves. Thank you Dennis Smeins for your contributions to conservation.

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“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

— John Muir

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Garry Brandenburg is a graduate of Iowa State University with BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology. He is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. Contact him at PO Box 96, Albion, IA 50005.