Category: Events

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Texas Youth Hunt 2022

Mark your calendars ORWMA is once again hosting the Texas Youth Hunt Program. The Texas Youth Hunting Program (TYHP) was formed with the Texas Wildlife Association and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1996 to provide opportunities for youth to participate in hunting activities safely, legally, and ethically, while learning about the role landowners and hunters play in wildlife conservation

With the youth group set to arrive by Friday afternoon on November 18, 2022, we’ll need assistance with the set-up that morning at the Community Center starting at 9:00 AM. We’ll need to set up (if not already done) the tables and chairs as well as checking on the evening meal preparation with Doug Jeske and his crew. We’ll also coordinate the serving area and drink stations.

On November 18 the hunters will proceed to Vernon Wallace’s for a safety briefing and checking of firearms and then set up tents at the Community Center. ORWMA will provide hamburgers and hot dogs for Friday evening meal. The Friday evening meal is for the hunters, chaperones, hunt masters, and those landowners providing deer stands.

Saturday morning hunters and their guardians will be taken to their stands and picked up to return to the Community Center at 9 am. ORWMA will provide breakfast for the hunters. The hunters will provide their own lunch on Saturday. They will again be taken to stands and picked up after the evening hunt is completed.

ORWMA will provide barbequed chicken, sausage, and sides for supper. All landowners are invited to attend the Saturday night meal. In addition to the main meal, we would like to request donations of baked goods (ex: cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, etc.) for dessert from our group of ORWMA members. All desserts must beindividually wrapped. Please let us know if you will be able to assist in this effort. We will also accept cash donations.

Per Texas Youth Hunt rules, no tobacco products are allowed, and no visible alcohol is allowed.

On Sunday morning the hunters will again be taken to stands and picked up after the morning hunt is completed. ORWMA will again provide breakfast. Following the ORWMA presentation, hunters will pack up and pick up around their area before departing.

Earl Fly

ORWMA President

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2022 Fall (Doe) Meeting

The ORWMA Fall Meeting (AKA the Doe Permit Meeting) will be held Saturday, September 10 th at 9 am at the Community Center. Colorado County Wildlife Biologist, Mark Lange will be present to go over new rules and regulations. In order to print out doe tags, landowners must be registered on the Texas Parks & Wildlife LMA data base. A $30 fee must be paid online to the State of Texas by October 1 st and $25 ORWMA dues must be paid by September 30 th .

The September ORWMA Board Meeting will be held Immediately following the Fall Meeting. (The ORIA Board Meeting is Sunday September 11 th at 2 pm). Among the topics for discussion will be election of ORWMA Board members that will be held at the October Board Meeting. Currently, 2 positions are up for election for a term of 2 years.

A) President (Currently Earl Fly)

  • Provides the administrative leadership, sets the Board Meeting Agenda and presides
    over Board meetings.
  • Maintains the by-laws and interprets by-law questions for the association.
    B) Communications Chairperson (Currently Angie Peters)
  • Will post events/news on the ORWMA website and ORWMA Facebook page.
  • Will ensure that advertising events and notices of events are emailed to Landowners
    through the ORWMA g-mail account.
  • Will prepare calendar of events/news to be turned in to ORIA for quarterly newsletter.
  • Will help to maintain ORWMA Bulletin Boards at North & South gates.

In addition, the President is also a member of the Colorado County Wildlife Management Association (CCWMA) Leadership Team. In this role the President helps in the planning and execution of the CCWMA Spring Banquet. The President also takes part in the CCWMA Scholarship selection process.

Also, up for discussion at the board meeting, will be the November Youth Hunt. We are looking for cash donations, landowners to volunteer deer stands, and volunteers to help with the event.

Hope to see you Saturday
Earl Fly
President Oakridge Ranch Wildlife Management Association.

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Upcoming Events and Notes

Mark your calendars! Listed below are upcoming ORWMA Events
17-Aug 8:30 PM Wednesday Spotlighting
20-Aug 8:30 PM Saturday Spotlighting & Social
24-Aug 8:30 PM Wednesday Spotlighting
27-Aug 8:30 PM Saturday Spotlighting & Social
31-Aug 8:30 PM Wednesday Spotlighting
10-Sep 9:00 AM Oakridge WMA Fall Meeting (AKA doe permit meeting) with Mark Lange
10-Sep ORWMA Board meeting immediately following doe permit meeting
October TBD ORWMA Board meeting to elect President and Communications Chairperson
(more details to follow)
18-Nov 3:00 PM Youth Hunt sponsored by ORWMA & TYHP
19-Nov Youth Hunt Continues, the whole Ranch is invited to supper Saturday night
(more details to follow)
20-Nov 12:00 PM Youth Hunt concludes

Some quick notes.
For Doe permits $30 payment must be made by September 30 th on the LMA website. ORWMA dues of $25 must also be paid by September 30th. And Herd Composition Forms need to be turned in.

If interested in serving as ORWMA President or Communications Chairperson, I will send out at later date the roles and responsibilities as defined in the ORWMA Bylaws.

For the Youth Hunt in November, we are looking for landowners who want to volunteer their deer stands (must be registered on LMA). We are also looking for cash donations to help fund the event as well as volunteers to help with the event. This includes setting up, as well as cooks and servers.

I will be sending out updates as we get closer to these events. I just wanted everyone to be able mark their calendars.
Earl Fly
President Oakridge Ranch Wildlife Management Association.

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Spotlight Surveys and Deer Composition

Spotlight surveys will be held every Saturday & Wednesday night in August.  The Saturday night surveys we want to make into a social event like we did in the past. This will be a good time to meet your neighbors or just chit chat with friends. You can bring cheese & crackers, chips & dip, or whatever you want. The spot lighters will meet at the Community Center at 8:30 pm and head out at dark. If you want to ride one of the trucks you can let Jerry Rogers (jerry.rogers@mcdermott.com), Angie Konvicka (ruaucajun2@yahoo.com), or Vernon Wallace (vwallace@satyainc.com) know. Hope to see you there.

Herd Composition Counts-  Form is attached. In the instructions you will see Mark would like a minimum of 30 observations meaning 30 deer seen NOT 30 trips to count deer. This can be any deer seen in the general area of the property you are hunting, they do not have to be on your property. These numbers are critical in the process of determining a harvest rate for the year. Try to make an effort to get the best numbers you can get, even if it’s from your vehicle in the AC.  Return the form to Jerry Rogers at jerry.rogers@mcdermott.com or his mailbox at 1128 Starridge Road the FIRST week of September, by mid- September it is too late. Returning the forms by the first week of September is required in order to get doe permits,

Earl Fly

President

Oakridge Ranch Wildlife Management Association

oakridgewildlifemanagement@gmail.com

Herd-Comp-form-CCWMA-22-23Download
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July 10, 2022 ORWMA Board Meeting

ORWMA met yesterday and Yolanda Gonzalez was appointed as the new event chairperson. We thank Lisa Kelly for her past service.

Deer season preparation will start next month.  There will be spotlighting every Wednesday and Saturday evenings in August.  We also HAVE TO FILL OUT AND TURN IN DEER COMPOSITION worksheets or Mark Lange said no permits for you!  More detailed information on both to follow so don’t panic.  Earl is getting this all together.

Thanks!

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More ORWMA news and Youth Hunt

1. In person burn seminar, September 24 https://orwma.org/event/texas-am-agrilife-extension-fire-seminar-at-weimar-civic-center-1754-ih-10/

2. When the deer checker information is finalized I will send out the list of contact information.  I will also include Scorer information.

3. According to Mark Lange we should be getting an email later in the week about printing tags.  DO NOT REPRINT TAGS!  This is a felony!  Ask Mark if you have any issues.

4. Our next board meeting is October 3 at 2:00 pm at the Community Center.


YOUTH HUNT – November 19-21, 2021

1. If you wish to donate a blind (that can sit at least 2 people) please email oakridgewildlifemanagement@gmail.com and I will forward to Keith and Vernon.

2.  We will have a ranch wide dinner on Saturday, November 20.  More details to come.

3.  If you wish to help, please email oakridgewildlifemanagement@gmail.com and I will include you when the planning meeting is scheduled.

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Wildlife District 7 Webinar 2021 Flyer and Mark your Calendars

D7-Webinar-Flyer-2021Download

The Colorado County Wildlife Management Association’s (CCWMA) Banquet is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Saturday, July 10, 2021, at the Columbus Hall (formerly K.C. Hall) in Columbus, Texas.  There will be live music from 4:00-6:30 and a full catered barbecue meal at 6:00 p.m. with free soft drinks and free beer while it lasts.  Meal tickets will be $12 for adults and $6 for kids 12 and under.  There is no cost to attend.

There will be card raffles for a Yeti cooler and an Argentina Dove Hunt, bucket raffles, a buck scoring contest and of course the drawing for the big raffle.  There will also be vendors with merchandise for purchase.  The 2020 Scholarship winners and the 2020 Whitetail Contest winners will be recognized. 

Bring your WMA harvested buck mounts to be displayed and be eligible to win one of five $50 gift certificates.   Make sure they can be hung for viewing.  Also, bring your game cam and regular photos for the Photo Contest.  This year’s guest speaker will be TJ Muir (Wildlife Damage Management Biologist with Wildlife Services) and he will discuss feral hog control. 

The general public is also invited to attend this family friendly event. Proceeds from the event go to help fund future scholarships.  To date, CCWMA has handed out over $130,000 in scholarships to local and/or CCWMA affiliated graduating seniors.  Hope to see you there!

The annual Ice Cream Social will be held July 17th at 5 pm at the Community Center. Bring your favorite ice cream, toppings, or cookies. Watch your email, facebook, and ORWMA website for details.

Attached is the flyer for the TPWD District 7 2021 Webinar Series.  All will be virtual over the lunch hour so hope you can find time to listen in.  The webinars begin July 7. Below is the link to register just in case the link on the flyer does not work.

http://bit.ly/D7_webinar_2021

And looking down the road, the Fall Meeting (AKA the doe permit meeting) will be held September 11th at 9 am at the Community Center. Mark Lange will address the changes to the MLD program and how they affect ORWMA.
Earl Fly

ORWMA President

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2021 Fish Fry and Crawfish Boil

THANK YOU OAKRIDGE

The 2021 fish fry/crawfish boil gathering was a great success. Hats off to the chefs that stepped up to help cook and serve food and those who set up and cleaned up. Thanks to all who brought desserts and everyone who enjoyed their meal. We raised $410 and 315 pounds of food for the Columbus Food Pantry. Again, a big thank you to our giving community.

Mark Lange with Texas Parks and Wildlife put on a presentation to landowners regarding the doe tags/hunting rules for the upcoming deer season. If you were not present you need to send your Name, email address, and Section # and Tract # to Mark Lange at mark.lange@tpwd.texas.gov as soon as possible.

Mark has received information for 47 properties and all 47 have a property created in LMA. 13 of those have done everything on their end and are all set up. 3 more have accepted the landowner invite but not the WMA invite yet. Mark says the mapping was easy with the uniformity of properties and that most had clearly visible boundaries. Mark says he had zero problems with the LMA mapping. Mark asks that everyone follow through so we can move along with the process.

Once again, a big thank you to everybody.

Earl Fly

ORWMA President

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Crawfish and Fish Fry

ORWMA

ANNUAL CRAWFISH/SHRIMP BOIL

DATE: April 17, 2021/Saturday

TIME: Serving 5pm to 7 pm

LOCATION: Community Center

FOOD SERVED: Boil Crawfish/Shrimp, Potatoes, Corn and Desserts

Our charity for this years is Colorado County Food Bank.  Donations of non-perishable items like canned goods, dry cereal, pasta, etc. 

Money donations are also welcome.

ALL OAKRIDGE LAND OWNERS ARE WELCOME!!