SpoonRiverNAVHDA.org The South-Central Illinois Chapter of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association

SpoonRiverNAVHDA.org is the online home of the NAVHDA Spoon River Chapter in Illinois. (NAVHDA is the acronym for the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association.) The Spoon River Chapter membership is primarily drawn from throughout the South-Central counties of Illinois; such as Fulton, Peoria, Tazewell, McLean, Champaign, Mason, Logan, De Witt, Piatt, Cass, Sangamon, Christian, Macon, Morgan, and Menard Counties. The North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to foster, promote, and improve the versatile hunting dog breeds in North America. (Versatile dogs are bred and trained to dependably hunt and point game, to retrieve on both land and water, and to track wounded game on both land and water.)

Meetings
Reminder! Reminder! Reminder! Spoon River NAVHDA Training Day Saturday, July 12th (8 AM) at Gobbler's Knob. There are not many more training days before hunting season.... Any Questions: Call Terry Postin (309) 649-0112 Hope to see you there!!

The 2008 Annual Chapter Meeting was held Saturday, February 16th, 2008 at the Goose Pit in Banner. Click Here To Read The 2008 membership Letter. Note: 2008 Training Days and associated chapter meetings are now held on the 2nd Saturday of every month... Mark your calendars! Any questions... see note below or call Terry Postin at 309-649-0112 Download 2008 Membership Application

The 2007 annual chapter meeting was held on Saturday February 3rd 2007 - also at the Goose Pit in Banner. Read 2/3/07 Minutes Note: All Training Days usually start at 8:00 AM, unless the weather is unusually warm. Training Days include a break at 11 or 12 for lunch and meeting. All current and prospective members are invited to attend. As in previous years, the majority of 2008 "Training Day" meetings are are expected to be held at Gobblers Knob near Canton. A special thanks goes out from the chapter to Don Duell at Gobblers Knob for his continuing support. For reference, view 2006 meeting and event dates.

2008 Utility Test Event
The Spoon River NAVHDA Chapter held the 2008 (4th Annual) Utility Test Event on May 2-4, 2008. For any questions, contact Randy Ashman or Terry Postin.

2007 Utility Test Event: The Spoon River NAVHDA Chapter held the 2007 (3rd Annual) Utility Test Event on October 6-7, 2007. Randy Ashman and Terry Postin worked hard to coordinate the event. View 2007 Test Results Photos will be posted here as they are made available - anybody have some to contribute?.

The Chapter also hosted our Second Annual Utility Test Event on 9/30-10/1/06. A great time was had by all participants, and we saw some great dog work. View the final 2006 test results on the NAVHDA web site. (Scroll the browser window down for Spoon River Chapter data.)

Also, our first utility test event was held on September 30th - October 2nd, 2005. View the 2005 Results and Photos!

Handlers Clinic
Our Chapter held its First Annual Handlers Clinic on June 24th-25th, 2006. The photo shown above shows chapter member Bill VanderLaan and "Stella" during the puppy test segment. View more photos from our event!

Training Plans
Chapter members continue to discuss how training days should be structured.  The current approach is to have 30 minutes of structured training on a specific point of emphasis and then break out into groups for additonal training.  Contact Terry Postin by phone at 309/649-0112 with your suggestions. Gobblers Knob is our default meeting/training site. Alternative locations have been proposed for training on specific meeting days for this year, and any changes will be announced on our web site when confirmed.

Outreach
The Spoon River NAVHDA chapter supported a Youth Pheasant Hunt sponsored by the DeWitt County Pheasants Forever Chapter. This youth upland hunt special hunting and shotgun shooting experiences and was held on October 29th, 2005 at Clinton Lake. Six NAVHDA chapter handlers and their dogs assisted with this special youth event, which attracted 24 youth hunter participants. View Additional Youth Event Photos!

For information about the Spoon River NAVHDA Chapter, contact President Terry Postin at 309/649-0112 (mailing address: 950 S Third Ave Canton IL 61520) View Additional Chapter Contacts. View Chapter Photos by Jeff Olson.

More Questions? Learn about the international NAVHDA organization, download the 2007 Annual Meeting Minutes, 2006 Annual Meeting Minutes, or read the full 2005 Annual Chapter Report. You can also learn more about our national NAVHDA corporate sponsors, who greatly help our training programs.

Authoring for this site is donated by IllinoisHunter.com, and web site hosting is donated by SportingDomains.com. Training facilities along with quail, pheasant, and chukars have been provided by Gobblers Knob near Canton, Illinois (26471 East State Highway 9, Canton, IL, 61520, 309-647-3641)