KAMO – April, 2021 Newsletter
For comments related to this document, contact Mike

President?s remarks –
Hello everyone,
This is KAMO President Mark Walters with my monthly report. In early April the BOD had a meeting and we made the decision to let the BOD vote by May 1st to either resume KAMO activities or to keep them on hold for the time being. By a vote of 7 to 3 it was decided to at least for the time being, to resume KAMO activities taking into account the advice of state and local health agencies.
On Tuesday, April 28th I attended another meeting for what is becoming KAMO’s newest chapter at The Beaver Dam Conservation Club. In all honesty, it was a glorious event as the Beaver Dam High School and Middle School teams were practicing trap shooting and there were 40 kids there. To say the least I am very excited for what will soon be, I believe, a very thriving chapter.
The last weekend of June the Baraboo River Chapter of KAMO will be holding their annual camping trip on Castle Rock Lake. I have attended this event in the past and it is open to other members of KAMO chapters, Rick and his crew do an excellent and simple job – give him a call.
I honestly believe that God willing, we are at a crossroads where KAMO can either substantially take off or fizzle out. My bet is that we are going to blossom and grow!
As always, thanks for all that you do for Kids And Mentors Outdoors.
Mark G Walters

Hunter Education – Statewide, there were 13 traditional classes and 32 internet field days on GoWild recently. The La Crosse group decided to have a class with only 9 participants on April 10th. We hold another class after the online only is lifted.
Having a hunter education instructor in your chapter opens up some doors – you can run learn – to – hunt classes without relying on someone outside your group. Sometimes members of your classes may be interested in KAMO?s activities.

GoWild Conservation card update – This information was gathered/ verified during a call to the DNR information line on April 27th,2021. .
These plastic cards have been updated to contain all your licenses. An exception would be vehicle registrations,which should be kept with your vehicle.
A card from any year they were issued can be used – they do not expire. So, if you have this card from a previous year – 2018, 2019, 2020, it can be scanned for license information and you technically don?t need the newest year issue.
If you are fishing the Great Lakes or Mississippi (boundary waters) – you should carry a paper license. This is because of the possibility of a non DNR entity checking you in these areas – they do not have access to the DNR?s Conservation Card system.
If you are doing a specialty fishing or hunting outing that needs a special tag, you need to carry a paper license.

DMAP – Bob Nack sends notices of new DMAP landowners and the latest report is for John Bridgeland, who has 200 acres in Green County. He is receptive to groups hunting deer,turkey, and racoon. On the landowners application, they can pick any combination of four group choices – KAMO, United Special Sportsman Alliance, Learning to Hunt for Food, and the Wisconsin Trappers Association. John picked all but trapping.
There are over 340,000 acres of private property statewide enrolled. The state map showing number of acres per county can be found at: dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/wil
How do you find out about a DMAP property in your area? You can contact Bob Nack at Robert.Nack@wisconsin.gov or 608-617-3492 (cell).
DMAP landowners provide some of KAMO?s best hunting spots, are often very friendly, accommodating, and offer to have their land used for activities outside of hunting – wildlife viewing, fishing, monitoring bird populations, etc.

Mentor Recruitment Tool – After years of experimenting with volunteer sites, the Mentoring Connector – Mentor.org has proven to be worthwhile. It is free, gives the administrator a notification when a prospective volunteer has expressed interest,and seems to be increasing in use. If you give it a try,make sure to emphasize contact by phone. Email communications can end up in a spam folder and drop your percentage of ?hear back froms? noticeably.

Mentee Recruitment Tool – School district websites often list community resources and more parents than ever are realizing the need for their children to spend more time outdoors. Contact administrative offices of schools in your area to get started. You will likely have to provide some basic information about your group and may have to provide a non endorsement clause. This beats making a poster to hang in the school. The poster will come down. Your information might stay on the website for years without having to do anything after the initial placement.
A KAMO chapter that works with kids ages 9 – 14ish. That translates to late elementary to middle school.

Directory Updates – A nice response on updating the directory. With the Beaver Dam chapter on board, it brought us up by 23 mentors. Our group?s impact goes well beyond our official mentors. The annual Joe hunt is a good example of an event where the familiar faces of non mentors appear in large numbers. Coulee holds a paddle,pedal,and picnic event every year conditions allow it and most of the adults that day are not officially in our chapter, but come back year after year to help. Ditto for the whole group.

Bylaws and Policies – One of the statements in the bylaws is that the bylaws/ policies are to be reviewed annually.They are due for a tune up with some known issues. There Is a policy/ procedure committee, but it would be nice to have more people look them over and see If they are detailed and comprehensive enough. If you wouldn?t mind looking them over, I can send them your way electronically.

B.O.D. Vote on whether to open up more fully or not results

Option A – 3 votes
It is too early for chapters to hold group activities.We should stick to our one on one policy until agencies such as the CDC and local health agencies give the green light for group activities.

Commentary related to this choice.
Three members, representing two chapters, went with this option
One stated that this is a quieter time of year for them anyway, so waiting would not stand in the way of what they might have planned.
One stated that we should wait until the youth population is vaccinated.
Another member canvassed his chapter before weighing in and found that the majority said they would feel more comfortable holding off a while to see how things develop..

Option B – 7 votes
Chapters may resume group activities while following Covid 19 local/ state guidelines – (ie; social distancing, masks at close range/ indoors) about what those guidelines have to say about the need for precautions.

Commentary related to this choice:
One member said that they are optimistic that we are approaching a time when things will be back to normal and they can always be cautious until then.

Another member said that they are a new chapter eager to get started and that it will be awhile before they are ready to do group activities anyway.

So, what does this mean for your chapter? You have the option to do more things, but use guidelines recommended by local health agencies in doing so.Remember that we will review our status periodically until the pandemic gets behind us.

Chapter Reports –

Baraboo – The Baraboo River chapter met on April 12 at Rivers Edge Resort. During the month of March one of our mentors did a lot of skiing with kids and there were hours spent out shed hunting by a couple different guys. Our group already has a camping weekend planned in June, but with more and more people getting vaccinated and restrictions loosening, we will be planning more activities to get reconnected with our kids. I’m sure 2021 will have its challenges, but KAMO will persevere and move forward.

Beaver Dam – The newly forming chapter had a very productive meeting on April27th. Mark was able to attend and give us some guidance on how to proceed. We are currently trying to come up with a chapter name and once we come up with that we will open a Checking account along with a P.O. Box. We discussed the chapter name and all were in agreement we want something that will POP. Our meetings will be held the last Tuesday of the month at Beaver Dam Conservation club.

Jim B

Coulee – Fishing has been solid in the river. Walleyes, perch, and redhorse suckers.
The West Salem Rod and Gun Club has asked Coulee to support a table on June 19th. Randy usually supports this station which features game calling.
We have a new volunteer – a woman who lives in Coon Valley and has an interest in recreation.
Our group is going to meet outside on May 10th.

Northwoods – Have an early May meeting scheduled.

Yellow River – Gearing up for a May15th brat fry fundraiser.