May 2026, Volume 81 No. 5
Club Website- www.richlandrodandgun.org
Club Facebook- www.Facebook.com/RichlandRodandGunClub
2025/2026 Officers
President
Richard Sharp
(509) 551-6785
Secretary
Mike Estes
(509) 551-9066
Treasurer
Ron Moore
(509) 521-4528
I GIVE MY PLEDGE AS AN AMERICAN TO SAVE AND FAITHFULLY DEFEND FROM WASTE,
THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF MY COUNTRY; ITS AIR, SOILS, AND MINERALS.
ITS FORESTS, WATERS, AND WILDLIFE. I WILL HELP EDUCATE FUTURE GENERATIONS
TO BE RESPONSIBLE CARETAKERS OF THE RESOURCES OF AMERICA.
Vice President
Owen Matson
(619) 861-9204
May 5 General Meeting
6:30pm at the Richland Public Library
Most of us have heard about tiger muskies but likely have never fished for them. The fish are a sterile cross between northern pike and muskellunge (true muskie). They were introduced in Washington into a very limited number of lakes to control stunted populations of small fish and to provide trophy fishing opportunity. Our program presenter this month is Dave Hickman of Hickman Guide Service. Dave caught the Washington state record muskie at Curlew Lake in Ferry County on July 26, 2014 and the record has not yet been broken. If you are looking for a new fishing challenge and adventure, this may be it. Come join us for a fun and informative program.
Become a member today!
Download the May 2026 newsletter
Salmon in the Classroom Fish Release
Chinook salmon that were raised from eggs in fish tanks at approximately 40 local schools were scheduled to be released into the Columbia during the Salmon Summit on April 21 and April 22. The release on April 21 went very well. Students were assisted by a dozen RRGC volunteers on a fair-weather morning. Miss Tri-Cities was there to hand out Salmon Summit stickers to the kids. Everything went smoothly. The release on April 22 did not happen. The second day of the Salmon Summit was canceled due to forecasted high wind gusts. Benton Conservation District (BCD) and the involved school districts did not want to risk that the wind might break a limb from one of the big trees in the park that could fall on a student or exhibitor. What a disappointment for the kids that didn’t get to release the fish that they raised and what a disappointment for the volunteers who missed hearing the chatter and watching their faces as each child released a fish into the river. The second day of the Salmon Summit could not be rescheduled so BCD picked up the salmon from the schools and delivered them to the river to begin their outbound migration.
MEETINGS AND DEADLINES
Next General Meeting – May 5, 6:30 PM at Richland Public Library
Next Board Meeting- May 19, 7:00 PM at Griggs Pasco Hunter Ed room
June Newsletter Contribution Deadline is May 22.
Email: admin@richlandrodandgun.org
2026 KOE Fishing Events
The 2026 Kids Outdoor Education (KOE) fishing events were held at Columbia Park Pond on April 17 and April 18. KOE and the lady in the leading role, Marilyn Steele, expressed thanks to the RRGC volunteers and others who contributed to the success of the Special Needs and Kids’ Fishing events again this year. Nearly all of the approximately 150 Special Needs fishermen caught their 3 fish limits on Friday afternoon. Roughly 900 youth fished in one-hour shifts on Saturday from 7:30am to 4:00pm and the catch rate remained nearly as high as on Friday. Dale Schielke reported that 141 tagged fish were caught for prizes. Only 10.7% of the 1,320 fish that were tagged were caught which is an indication that there were lots and lots (thousands) of trout still in the pond available to be caught after the conclusion of the KOE events. Thanks to WDFW for raising the fish and stocking the pond and to KOE for paying for the fish food for WDFW to raise them.
A total of about 900 volunteer hours were logged for the two events. There were 69 volunteers on Friday and 65 volunteers on Saturday. Approximately one-third of the volunteer hours were by RRGC members. Volunteers were treated to a pulled pork dinner on Friday evening prepared by Marilyn and her crew followed by a Dutch oven dessert prepared by Dale Schielke. Volunteering to help at these events is fun and rewarding!
New Members
Maija Greer has graciously volunteered to serve as our Membership Chair. Thank you Maija! Nine new memberships were approved at the April Board of Directors meeting. Please join us in welcoming Rob Mackley of Richland (1 year family), Scott Long of Pasco (1 year family), Mark Hartzell of Richland (1 year individual), Grayson Davis of Connell (1 year family), Xuehang Song of Richland (1 year family), Rhett Caudill of Richland (1 year family), Matthew Eisen of Kennewick (1 year individual), Michael O’Neill of Richland (1 year individual), and Jesse Holliday of Royal City (1 year individual). We hope that they all become frequent participants in our activities.
Donations and Thank Yous Received
A thank you letter was received from Friends of Mid-Columbia River Wildlife Refuges acknowledging receipt of our $300 Use of Funds donation in support of their environmental education program at McNary National Wildlife Refuge. The McNary Environmental Center hosts the public and students from many local schools during organized field trips and is primarily staffed by volunteers.
Kye Carpenter made a generous donation of fishing rods and tackle, framed photos, and various other items to the club this month. The items have been distributed to committee chairs to be used as auction items and prizes at the 2027 Wild Game Dinner, for kids’ fishing event prizes, and for monthly raffle drawing prizes. Three Okuma fishing rod holders were transferred to KOE for use at their fishing events. Many of us know Kye from working with him on club business over the past twenty plus years in his various job positions with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Thank you Kye!
RMSF Youth Shooting Program
SAFE SHOOTING SPORTS OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH
AT RATTLESNAKE MOUNTAIN SHOOTING FACILITY
Shooters under 18 shoot for free and must be accompanied by an adult while participating in events.
Rattlesnake Mountain Shooting Facility is located on State Road 225, north of Benton City, Washington.
Enter through the Shotgun Gate for the May Youth events.
May 9-- Youth Rimfire Sporter Match-- Gates to the Smallbore Competition Range open at 8:00 for registration. Mandatory safety briefing is at 8:45, and firing begins at 9:00. Shooting will be at 25 and 50 yards from prone, sitting and offhand positions. Shooting will be slow-fire and rapid-fire. This match is best suited to shooters with some previous match experience. https://www.tcsahighpower.org/_files/ugd/e01b6a_6818c268db154c53b53c3ceeae708d97.pdf
May 16-- Youth Hunter Education Challenge-- On-site registration will be in the Primitive Range Parking Lot at 9:00. Events will include Muzzleloader shooting, .22 Rifle shooting, Orienteering, and Wildlife Identification. Firearms and ammunition and compasses will be provided, or you can bring your own (primitive muzzleloader for loose powder and patched ball or any safe .22 LR rifle). All firearms must be left in your vehicle until after a safety briefing has been conducted. If you have eye and hearing protection, bring it. We’ll have loaners too. The event is free, and we’ll have hot dogs for lunch.
General information on Youth Hunter Education Challenge at https://yhec.nra.org/
For details email TCSAYouth@tcsa.info
========================================================================
YOUTH HUNTER EDUCATION CHALLENGE
Youth aged 17 or under, accompanied by an adult, are invited to register for attendance. Participation will be limited to 30 youth, so preregistration is advised.
Send preregistrations to TCSAYouth@tcsa.info or to Dave McNeal, 113422 North Harrington Road, West Richland, WA 99353.
YOUTH
First Name ____________________________Last Name______________________________
Age _________________ Hunting interest and experience level (if any) _________________
________________________________________________________________________
ADULT
First Name ____________________________Last Name______________________________
Address___________________________________________________________________
Email Address__________________________________________________________________
Youth Conservation Camp
Two applications have been received to attend Washington State Youth Conservation Camp (WSYCC) but we still have room for more campers. Camp will be held again this summer at Moran State Park on Orcas Island for boys and girls ages 12 through 16. Boys Camp is from Sunday, July 26 to Saturday, August 1. Girls Camp is from Sunday, August 2 to Saturday, August 8. Parents are responsible for dropping off and picking up campers at the Anacortes Ferry Terminal. Campers can participate in archery, marine biology, hiking, fly fishing and fly tying, survival, canoeing, leadership, conservation, and water safety classes. RRGC budgets to cover the $400 registration fee for multiple campers each year. If you know a boy or girl who is interested in attending camp WSYCC this year and meets the age criteria, please contact Larry Martin (509-521-2554) to discuss reserving a space for that special person.
Hunter Education
Chief Instructor John Prather reported that 28 persons registered for the April Hunter Education class. There were 4 no shows, 21 graduated, and 3 failed the written exam. John said the next HE class will be in July. Ben Burdett was presented a 10-year instructor certificate at the WDFW In Service Training course in Wenatchee last month. Ron Ruth recently re-presented the certificate to Ben in front of a local audience. Congratulations Ben and thank you for being an instructor with the RRGC HE team.
RRGC Memorial Scholarship Awarded
Our Board of Directors voted to award a $1,000 scholarship to Isaiah Porter-Mills of Colville, Washington. Isaiah is a student in the Natural Resources program at the University of Idaho with a major in Forestry and minors in Business and Fire Ecology and Management.
Wood Duck Nest Box Maintenance
Spring cleaning of all 650 wood duck nesting boxes was completed in March. Dale Schielke says there is still a bit more paperwork to do to finalize the data. So far, we can report that 281 boxes were used by wood ducks. 102 boxes were used by screech owls, 25 screech owls previously banded were recaptured, and 6 screech owls were captured and banded. 2206 wood duck eggs that did not hatch were found 1816 wood duck membranes (equates to ducklings hatched) were counted. The large number of unhatched eggs is likely due to very warm temperatures before the eggs were ready to hatch. Only 5 nest boxes were lost in the Yakima River December flood. Several more were pushed over by the flood water and laying on the ground, but were easily repaired.
Dale says the team is Beta testing a new software application to log data in the field that rolls up to cloud storage that will be instantly posted and available at our web site. Josh Evans, Dale 's grandson and a senior at WSU, developed the app and continues to work on improvements as it is Beta teste. WDFW and the Washington Waterfowl Association have expressed interest and will also be included in the Beta testing.
John Merk provided photos of two unusual encounters during box cleanings at Windmill Ranch and Black Dog Ranch in Franklin County. The photos below show Northern Saw-whet owls. Saw-whets are very infrequent visitors to our nest boxes. They are smaller than Screech owls more often found in the nest boxes. Emily Pizini is the WDFW employee shown holding one of the owls.
Guzzler Maintenance
Bill Watson, Mark Kerns, Bill Suhr & Larry Martin repaired Guzzler 317 on March 26. The guzzler was damaged by fire and required a new rain catchment frame and support legs. Guzzler 317 is located southeast of Prosser off of SR 221. On March 30, Larry Martin and his grandson Joshua Holland made improvements to Guzzler 17 by adding bolted brackets to the metal legs for added strength. Guzzler 17 is located south of Benton City in the Chandler Butte area.
Photo of the Month
There were four contest entries this month. Paul Kison submitted fishing photos from his trip to Sarasota, Florida in February 2026. One photo shows Paul and his nephew, Robbie, with two common snooks they caught in what Paul called “a Kison double”. The second photo shows Paul with a pompano that Paul caught. Monte Kelsey submitted two photos. One photo shows Monte with his granddaughters, Eva and Tai, with fish the girls caught at the KOE Kids Fishing event on April 18, 2026. The other photo shows Tai with her biggest fish of the day. All of the photos were declared winners.
Please submit some of your favorite photos so we can see how you have been enjoying the outdoors. Submit entries to rrgcsecretary@gmail.com no later than the day preceding the monthly Board meeting.
Click this PDF icon to download the May 2026 newsletter
Update your contact information!
If you have changed your address, your phone number, or your email address please use this link and scroll to the bottom of the page where it says
“Update My Contact Information”.
Richland volunteer opportunities for members (richlandrodandgun.org)
Get involved in one of our Committees:
Salmon in the Classroom: Mike Estes estesm34@gmail.com
Wood Ducks: Dale Schielke – dahlialou@gmail.com
KOE Kids Fishing Day: Marilyn Steele – momhoops46@gmail.com
Hunter Education: Ron Ruth – RonRuth.HunterEd@gmail.com
Guzzlers: Larry Martin - larry49martin@gmail.com
Youth Conservation Camp: Larry Martin - larry49martin@gmail.com
Membership: Maija Greer - richlandrodandgunmembership@gmail.com
Scholarship: Mike Estes - estesm34@gmail.com
Website: Ron Moore – admin@richlandrodandgun.org
RRGC Club Upcoming Activities
Next General Membership Meeting – May 5 at 6:30pm, Richland Public Library
Next Board of Directors Meeting – May 17 at 7:00pm, Grigg’s in Pasco
About
Richland Rod & Gun Club is an organized group of hunters, fishermen, and conservationists who share a common interest in the outdoors. Each year the Club members volunteer in a number of work projects that improve wildlife habitat, educate young potential hunters / fisherman, and raise funds for Club projects.
Meetings
The RICHLAND ROD & GUN CLUB meets the first non holiday Tuesday of each month except July and August at 7:00
The meetings are open to the public and consist of a short business meeting followed by a program of current interest.
Board meetings are held on the third Tuesday at 7:00 at Griggs Pasco meeting facility.
The Richland Rod and Gun Club offers opportunities to work in activities associated with wildlife, the outdoors and youth education. We would appreciate your involvement with one of our projects or programs that include, Fishing, Dog Training, Scholarship, Public Lands, Youth Activities, Migratory Waterfowl, Habitat, Game Birds, Big Game , Landowner Relations.
Content contributions, suggestions, or criticism to the RRGC website should be emailed to, admin@richlandrodandgun.org