It’s an honor to continue this annual thread.
This was now the second Shrewhaven Hunt without founder Ron LaClair. Ron was a staunch supporter of Tradgang and one of the leaders in the resurgence of traditional archery in the 1980’s. Perhaps someone with a little more Tradgang wizardry could add a link to some of the older Shrewhaven threads so newer readers could get a flavor for Ron and this oasis that is now in its 32nd year!!!
First, and foremost, a big shoutout and thank you to Bill LaClair. Bill is Ron’s son and he has continued to allow us to hunt through the club partnership after Ron’s death. Bill spent a week on the property with camp members and learned a great deal about his father’s time in camp. He’s vowed to be in camp next year and will hopefully be carrying one of his dad’s bows.
As far as this years camp, members present included Greg Nicolaou, Tim Cosgrove, Kevin Marshall, Roger Norris, myself and Henry Bodnik. Tim Cosgrove and Henry Bodnik now produce and sell the Shrew bow line.
The camp is located in Michigan’s upper peninsula which is steeped in hunting tradition. In Fred Bear’s early years of bow hunting whitetail deer he traveled to the upper peninsula to hunt. Ron’s desire was to recreate a camp with its own traditions. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams and we’re blessed to be able to continue them.
A few things worked against our hunting this year. A large corn field just off the property was still standing. The weather was the wettest I can remember in 32 years of camp. In spite of that we managed to hang a few deer and more importantly shared camp with a fantastic group of traditional archers. Roger Norris will be along shortly with some of his thoughts and pictures but I’ll start with this one which is our toast to Ron and those of us who are here to carrying on the tradition.