President's Campfire....Summer '12

We did it again! Another great Bowhunters game dinner is in the books. I would like to thank all the people who make this dinner possible. First Phil Muller who heads up the game dinner committee does an outstanding job coordinating the efforts to make the dinner possible thanks from all of us. Next is the dinner committee, it is comprised of members from both UBNJ and TANJ. Jack Spoto, Brian Dolobacs, Brian Peters, Doc DeCaro and Ron Ellison. Thanks for all the work you put in on this event. Last but not least I would like to thank all the hunters who provide the deer for the dinner and Brett Search for the outstanding butchering job he does for us. I thank all the sponsors who donate hunts and door prizes for the event. It is a huge effort that always ends up giving everyone an outstanding evening. I am proud to be a part of it. Read more....

President's Campfire....Spring '12

I hope everyone had a great Holiday season. The New Year is here, and with our winter being so mild, I hope you all had the time to add some venison to your freezer. Usually this is a challenging time of year to hunt but can be productive since the deer are moving a lot and have to look for food. Please make sure when you are climbing into that stand during the cold, rainy winter months to check for ice on your steps and platform. A little caution will ensure you have a great hunt and be able to return to your loved ones.

For me this has been a tough season, the deer numbers in my area seem to be way down. I still managed to put a couple in the freezer but deer numbers are what bring me to my next portion of this campfire. Several times this season I have heard the phrase “the darn bowhunters are killing all the deer”. Obviously this statement was most likely made by hunters who do not bowhunt. Well nothing can be further from the truth. This us vs. them mentality is not productive and is a detriment to all outdoorsmen and women. Read more....

President's Campfire....Winter '11

Well the season is upon us! I hope everyone is having much success this year. I had one campfire written but events that have happened over the past few days caused me to rewrite it. As most of you know the UBNJ conducts several deer management hunts across the state. We work hard to help maintain a healthy deer population and at the same time provide our members with more places to hunt. These are not cull hunts, they are done to reduce and maintain deer populations in some areas and just maintain it in others. Most of the time this is done as an alternative to paid sharpshooters, while showing bowhunters can do the job! Many hours of work are involved to get one of these hunts up and running. This is all done by volunteer council members. I tip my camo hat to them because I know it is not an easy job.  Read more....

President's Campfire....Fall '11

We are now two weeks away from our 12th  Annual Bowhunters Jamboree and 3-D Championship. It seems like just yesterday I was walking the grounds of Assunpink WMA mapping out the course for the first time. It has really come along way since then, I feel it had grown into one of the best 3-D shoots in NJ. We now have 40 Rinehart targets, which are the best in the industry in my opinion. This year the date was moved to the first weekend in August out of necessity. Originally this date was going to conflict with the SFAA outdoor 3-D State championships. Well not wanting to have a conflict with the SFAA and Wax O Be Archery Club they moved their championship shoot to Sept 24th and 25th. This was a huge show of support for UBNJ on their part and I thank them very much and give them a big tip of the camo cap to them. I urge all members to please go out to not only Wax o Be’s future shoots but all clubs that are SFAA members. All outdoorsmen need to work together which will help archery and bowhunting prosper in the future. Read more....

Presidents Campfire....Summer '11

So far 2011 is off to a roaring start. We just finished up our 7th annual bowhunters game dinner. What a night it was! The weather was really great and attendance was awesome as always. I would like to thank our sister organization the Traditional Archers of NJ for all their help in pulling off another great event. The dinner committee which is made up of people from both organizations put in a ton of work on this event. I would like to take a minute to thank them all personally. Thank you Gerry “DOC” DeCaro, Phil Muller, Jack Spoto, Brian Peters, Renee Bickar and Gary. This team did a lot of work in a short time. I would like to also thank all our sponsors who donated items from hunts to stands to gift baskets. You generosity is very much appreciated. Cedar Gardens does a great job with the food and there was plenty of it. Read more....

President's Campfire....Spring '11

Wow! Happy new year to all and another year done and in the books. I hope everyone had a great holiday season along with a successful and safe hunting season. So another new year is upon us and another hunting season is in the rear view mirror. The UBNJ is hard at work already planning for a busy 2011. This year, we will kick off the new year at the Garden State Deer Classic which is held at the Raritan Expo Center. The show runs January 13th through the 16th. Once again we are a sponsor of the classic and will have a booth at the show. Please stop by to say hello, and check out our new shirts and other UBNJ merchandise that we will have for sale. We will also have an official scorer there if you need any animals you harvested scored.  Read more...

President's Campfire ....Winter '10

What a busy August! But by the time you read this though many hours will have been logged in a treestand and hopefully some big whitetails will be on the ground. Before that we will cover the busy month of August. It started out by the UBNJ attending Cheyenne Mtn. outfitters bowhunters bonaza sale event. It was nice to see friends we haven’t seen in a while and to see that Mike and Dave are doing well with the new store, best of luck to you. Next we move to the Whittingham 3-D shoot once again mant shooters attended this event. This is one of the premier 3-D shoots in the state with 3 20 target courses to shoot on. If you have never attended I suggest you mark it down on your calendars ofr next year. You won’t be disappointed! I would like to thank Pete G., Paul Catania, the Gould family and all of the UBNJ volunteers who helped work this event.
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President's Campfire .... Summer '10

The UBNJ has been very busy so far this summer. I am turning in my campfire a little late, but for good reason. I am pleased to say the 150ft perimeter bill has passed both houses and is sitting on Gov. Christie’s desk to be signed. Hopefully it will be signed and law by the time everyone gets this magazine. This is something the UBNJ has been working on for 5 years now. Past President Brian Dolobacs wrote the 150 bill along with the Sunday bowhunting bill years ago. He helped on the couple amendments that needed to be added in order for them to come to fruition. Brian I tip my camo hat to you. I also have to thank the NJOA for all the help in getting these bills to where they are today. Anthony Mauro and Tom Connors have worked tirelessly with us to see them through. Anthony, Tom and the rest of the NJOA staff  I cannot thank you enough.
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President's Campfire .... Spring '10