WI Trad Ganger's - Are You A Member?

[mooshkat]

I guess i am in the same boat as lt-m-grow, i feel the same way, and he explained it perfectly. I also have been to the comptons shoot many times, but have never joined, because i know i will basically never really have any contact with the club, because nothing happens anywhere near my area.I would love to have a trad club i could go to and be involved in, but i dont want to drive 3hrs to do it.

[Kevin Winkler]

Great! I was wondering when the Stump Shooter would be arriving on everyones door step.

Rick, I got your online renewal and will be mailing out your membership card. The online membership is working really well!

If anyone wants to know more about WTA, just go to our website. We will be updating a few things very soon.  www.wistradarchers.com

[Orion]

As John F. Kennedy said more than 50 years ago, "Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country."  Substitute for country any organization that's working to preserve and promote bowhunting.  Sometimes it's difficult to see the direct link, but without them, past and present, we wouldn't be enjoying the bowhunting priviledges we now have.

[NBK]

It-m-grow and mooshkat,
The first WTA banquet I attended was about 7 years ago.  Didn't know anyone there, just showed up and walked in not knowing what to expect.  What I found was several hundred of the most accommodating, down to earth, and unpretentious people I've had the pleasure of meeting, (did my undergrad at Princeton... I know pretentious      ).  It was a pleasure to just spend time conversing with genuine people who share your passion.
I am not an "active" member in that sense, heck I still have to renew my membership for this year, but just being present is important, just as having the WTA being present as a legitimate organization is important.  Without it, there is no cohesive effort applied towards the exposure and promotion of trad archery in the state.
Case in point;  the WTA booth at the deer and turkey expo in madison I believe is vitally important because it provides an alternative to the mainstream hunting spectacle.   It's not hard to imagine that the pseudo militaristic, macho display of false bravado issuing forth from the majority of booths is hard to take for the average person just coming to check out the show.   The WTA booth stands in stark contrast, intentional or not.
Aside from promotional or legislative leverage the WTA is important just by "being", not unlike the value of membership.

[stagetek]

Kevin, Just sent you a payment via Pay-pal for a 3 yr. single membership. Sorry I missed you last Sat. in Madison.

[suburbanirma]

Great comments, Jerry and Mike! Doing nothing or saying nothing speaks volumes.

[Greg Szalewski]

Mike

Thank you for the kind words and your perspective on the WTA booth at the Deer and Turkey Expo. This is a big expense for us and we often question if it is worth it. We do get good response at the show and believe it is worth it. In these days of ever increasing technology in the archery seasons it is more important than ever to let people know that traditional archery is alive and well and the WTA will be there to help when someone desires to take the step into traditional archery. Without the support of the membership we would not be able to do it.

Greg

[Kevin Winkler]

Mike,
No problem! Haven't talked to you for several years, good to have you back with us. I will get your membership packet in the mail next week.

Kevin

[habujohn]

My wife and I drove down to Green Bay this morning and through Pound Wi.  Now I am thinking more about the shoot in May.  Does anyone have any details on this?  Is there a traditional club in this area?
Thank you!

[frassettor]

Originally posted by Kevin Winkler:
Mike,
No problem! Haven't talked to you for several years, good to have you back with us. I will get your membership packet in the mail next week.

Kevin

Kevin,
Did you receive the check yet?

[ChuckC]

HabuJohn   I have not been able to make a Bowjam event yet, even though I have wanted to.  I HOPE I will make this one since I retired and now (again, I hope) I will have the time.  Since I haven't made it there yet, I don't know for sure, but I believe that this is not so much a shoot as it is a self bow building jamboree.  Someone please correct me.

ChuckC

[Kevin Winkler]

Chuck,

Yes that's right. The WTA Selfbow Jamboree May 17 & 18 is mainly a fun family event, where anyone can learn how to build a selfbow.
Primitive camping is avaiable and our host Brian Collins has a large workshop area that we will be able to use. WTA has some hand tools that will be avaiable for use.

Brian will have targets setup in the woods. Sat. evening is the pot luck dinner and campfire. Sunday morning will be a breakfast.

Free will donations help pay for the event. No competitive shooting going on, just a lot of fun and freinds sharing a weekend together

[Bigriver]

I have to agree with the positive comments on here. The WTA has become my extended family for sure.I have made a bunch of lifelong friends since joining years ago.

 The banquet and functions are top notch and so are the people.

They do a great job of promoting traditional archery, that alone is worth the life membership to me.

[ChuckC]

I hope I get to see " all y'all " at the jamboree.

ChuckC

[Rudy Cariello]

After reading this thread I started to re-think my reasons for not being a current member. Was a member back in the 90's and early 2000's for years and just kind of drifted away from all my memberships. Was a member of WTA, WBA, PBS, NRA, NMLRA and the United Bowhunters of Illinois.

I'm happy to say that I have just sent in my payment and re-joined the WTA.

Thanks Kevin for bringing it to my attention

[Kevin Winkler]

It's great to see the response on this thread. Thanks for the constructive comments and the positive input.

I would like to welcome those of you that have just joined or have renewed to WTA and now are back!

As our mission statement says:
The mission of the Wisconsin Traditional Archers (WTA) is to promote responsible and ethical bowhunting practices, support other archery organizations that do the same, bring together those interested in traditional archery equipment and skills, and to ensure the continuation of the traditions and skills passed down by our traditional archery forefathers.

I hope to meet many of you at a future Trad activity. I have met so many great people and made new life long freindships through WTA and look forward to developing many more.

[ChuckC]

I have been a non operational member of several clubs and groups over the years, mainly because my job took me away a lot and I really found it difficult to participate, as some are saying.  Sometimes life gets in the way of fun.

That changed recently and I hope to participate much more.

The WTA, I am finding out, is a lot of fun.  Like minded folks.  More and more get together's.  We had three separate bunny hunts this winter.  At one of them, we discussed the possibility of other similar events, maybe a group bow fish day (or maybe several !), and others as we come up with them.

Anyway, the group is fun to be around, but it also
provides more.  I hear about upcoming issues because someone of the group is always paying attention as needed,  we donate our time, money and efforts to the archers community (and more), and we are active in reviewing, commenting and hopefully, driving legislation that affects us.

Yeah, our numbers aren't great, but with just a little help they can be that much greater.  

Even the most experienced person started out at the bottom.  A group starts with two, then gets bigger.  Well, we are well beyond just two !

We are talking about Wisconsin and the WTA in THIS thread, but every state should have a similar entity and all of them are important and need your backing.

ChuckC

[ArrowArrow]

Great question     I just joined WTA today and this is my first post on TradGang.  I hadn't heard about WTA until a friend left a couple Stump Shooters at our cabin this fall that I finally got around to reading due to this endless winter.  I have hunted on and off with a recurve for the last 13 seasons...but finally harvested my first deer with it this fall.  With all the changes going on here in WI (mainly crossbow and the Kroll ideas) I just felt now was the time to put my money where my mouth was and join up.  We need a loud voice for those who just want to take to the woods bow hunting each fall.  It just seems that as a state we're heading in the wrong direction...it's just so contrary to what those who came before (Fred Bear, LaHa, Pope/Young) would have thought was right.

I'm proud to be a WTA member and someone who has harvested deer I had to work for  

[Greg Szalewski]

ArrowArrow

Welcome to the WTA. Congratulations on your first traditional harvest. Please send a pic to our editor for the Stump Shooter. Our members will be just as happy for you. I hope to meet you soon at an event and by all means let us know how we can improve on promoting traditional archery.
Greg

[lt-m-grow]

I have to say I have really enjoyed this conversation overall and NBK, you have me rethinking my opinion.

Thank you all for the wonderful conversation and dedication to the sport.