Ducks

Have you picked your pony yet? The Kentucky Derby is today, but that is far from the only thing running today. Chili on the Comstock is hosting their inaugural Fun with the Runs 5K Saturday at 10 a.m. The 1926 Edwards Motor Car is running, too, and ready for rides at the Nevada Railroad Museum. The wine walk is always a good time, and with Mother’s Day next weekend, it can’t hurt to peruse the shops before you run out of time to pick the perfect gift.

SATURDAY: Kentucky Derby Day:

Carson City’s first Sportsman’s Warehouse Outdoor Film Festival Tour will feature outdoor-themed hunting films shown in the parking lot at Carson Mall, Tuesday, April 28, beginning at 7 p.m. on a giant 20-foot screen and full-fledged sound system. Admission is free for this one-night-only event.

Bring your lawn chairs, coolers, bean-bags, family, and friends. Enjoy food, giveaways, raffle prizes, test drive and enter to win a 2015 RAM truck, and more.

The First Annual Sportsman’s Warehouse Outdoor Film Festival Tour will feature outdoor-themed hunting films shown in their parking lot, Tuesday, April 28, beginning at 7 p.m. on a giant 20 foot screen featuring a wonderful sound system. Admission is free for this one-night-only event.

Bring your lawn chairs, coolers, bean-bags, family, and friends. Enjoy food, giveaways, raffle prizes, test drive and enter to win a 2015 RAM truck, and more.

Carson City Ducks Unlimited will be hosting their annual banquet on May 2nd at Fuji Park Exhibit Hall. We are planning a family event with activities for youth (Green Wings) prior to the event. There will be duck calling and a BB gun range for the kids.

"Ducks Unlimited conserves, restores, and manages wetlands and associated habitats for North American's waterfowl. These habitats also benefit other wildlife and people."

Come be part of something big, and help support local waterfowl habitats.
We look forward to seeing you there.

May 2nd at Fuji Park exhibit hall

For the last few years, Elaine and I have left Carson City for a short period of time during the month of February to temporarily escape our Western Nevada normally long and cold winter weather.
In those past years, it was a welcomed change from the ice, snow and cold of this general area to the warmth and lushness of the desert southwest.

This is my annual reminder of my all-time favorite fund raiser. The highly-popular and fun-filled Carson Valley Chukar Club fundraiser will be held at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on Saturday, March 7. This year’s fund raiser will be its 29th version.

Chukar:
If you are brand-new to this area, about now you are probably wondering what in the world is something called a "Chukar?" Well, Chukar is Nevada's most popular upland game bird, bar none. If you don’t believe so, just ask any serious bird hunter.

The Ormsby Sportsmen's Association of Carson City has announced that it has disbanded and closed its doors after an existence of almost 70 years, beginning way back in August, 1945.

Duncan Golf Management has named Joe Kelly to the position of director of golf operations. Kelly comes to the job with 40 years of experience as a PGA golf professional in southern Nevada along with an impressive list of credentials including being a 2015 inductee into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame.

Kelly has been with Walters Golf, a division of the Walters Group, in Las Vegas for the past 16 years. He was responsible for golf operations at all Walters owned and operated courses including Bali Hai Golf Club, Desert Pines Golf Course and Royal Links Golf Club.

Fall is that time of the year when there are a multitude of all kinds of interesting outdoor activities in this general area of the Far West. Here is a listing of some of the fall activities that might be of interest:

Apple Hill, California.
Basque Festival in Carson City.
Candy Dance in Genoa.
Celtic Celebration in Reno.
Closing of the 2014 fishing seasons at Fort Churchill Cooling Ponds, Hinkson Slough, Hobart Reservoir, Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area, North Pond and Topaz Lake in Nevada.

My son Jim, daughter-in-law, Kathi, Elaine and I are four joint owners of the “Quilici Cabin,” located on a steep, mountain hillside at an elevation of 6,000 feet in the middle of a forest of pine trees, Quaking Aspen trees and brush, between Portola and Davis Lake in Northern California.

Monday, April 7 was the day that Elaine and I went trout fishing, and it was also the day that things did not go my way, again, as usual. The previous day, I asked her if she would like to go fishing at Indian Creek Reservoir in nearby Alpine County, Calif.

She replied that she wasn't interested, because it was a Sunday and the reservoir would probably be crowded with shore and boat fishermen.

The Carson City Chapter of Ducks Unlimited (DU) will hold its annual banquet and fundraiser on Saturday, March 22. That event will be held in the banquet facilities at the Carson Nugget with:

CARSON CITY — College Baseball Newspaper has included Western Nevada College in its 2014 National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Preseason Poll.

The Wildcats are ranked 16th, marking the seventh straight season that Coach D.J. Whittemore’s team has been nationally ranked in the preseason. It ties the Wildcats with Iowa Western for the longest-running streak for inclusion in the preseason top-20 national rankings.

CARSON CITY — One of Coach D.J. Whittemore’s main goals each season is to find a home at the next level for each of his Western Nevada College sophomore baseball players.

Whittemore scratched three names off his relocation list on Wednesday when pitcher Christian Stolo, outfielder Conor Harber and middle infielder Jack Hall signed NCAA Division I letters of intent during a ceremony attended by many of their teammates on the Carson City campus.

Dear Outdoor Enthusiast, many of you are planning to be here next weekend, Sept. 14-15, for our NRA-Waterfowl Weekend.

If you haven’t put it on your calendar, you might want to add it based on what’s going on, highlighted below.
Lots of cool stuff for those interested in firearms safety and personal protection, waterfowl hunting seminars on a variety of topics, and several duck and goose calling contests plus kids’ activities and historical information.
Hope to see you here at Cabela’s next weekend.

Here's an annual reminder of a special event at this time of the year! The Davis Lake area, just north of Portola, California has some spectacular displays of colorful wildflowers blooming at the present time.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid said Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. Senate that he supports an assault weapons ban, limits on high-capacity ammunition clips and polices to improve access to mental health services. He spoke of mass shootings that have happened across the country and close to home in Carson City.

"As the case of the Carson City, Nevada IHOP tragedy reveals, the deficiencies in this nation’s mental health treatment system are another important part of the discussion about how to prevent gun violence," Reid said on the Senate floor. "We have simply not done a good job of providing funding for and access to mental health services. We have also done a poor job of removing the stigma that keeps many Americas from seeking the treatment they need."

In our many wanderings in the Great Outdoors in the last few years, Elaine and I have encountered all kinds of wildlife and birds; and I thought that it might be fun to share some of those encounters in the hope that, you too, might also experience some unforgettable memories.

So, with that as a lead-in, here's where to look and what you might see, and don't forget to take your iPhones or digital cameras for photos:

by ALEX POMPLIANO

It’s become somewhat of a cliché, saying in a retrospective astonishment that something began as an idea. In theory, everything begins as an idea. But I’ve never been a part of something from the very beginning that would eventually lead to a fully realized organization like the Nevada Media Alliance, so you’ll have to forgive the cliché.

By way of background, the “Quilici Cabin” is located in a rural area of Plumas County at an elevation of exactly 6,000 feet on a steep hillside between Portola and Davis Lake in Northern California; and it is jointly owned by Jim, Kathi, Don and Elaine Quilici, all of Carson City.

That two-story cabin was built back in 2003, and from our deck, you have a spectacular, world-class view of the surrounding groves of pine trees and quaking aspen trees plus the nearby and the faraway mountains.

CARSON CITY – An annual review of funds distributed to charitable groups from the sales of special license plates has found that the University Medical Center Foundation in Las Vegas failed to provide required documentation on the use of the money, and some inf

It’s that time of the year again!
The Davis Lake area, just north of Portola, California has some spectacular displays of colorful wildflowers blooming at the present time.

Ducks down at the Carson River enjoying the water and apparently practicing their synchronized swimming routine...One of 'em is off his mark a bit though.

By Don Quilici
After a record-breaking year of many major-sized snowstorms this last winter, the Davis Lake area, just north of Portola, California has some spectacular displays of colorful wildflowers blooming at the present time.

Here’s an advance notice of something very special in the Outdoor world that will occur in just 10 days:
Draw a great big red circle around the date of Saturday, June 11 on your calendar and then plan to have a fun-filled day in the Great Outdoors.

Here are some photos of wildlife in the region taken by Elaine Quilici.

Courtesy of www.GrandViewOutdoors.com
On a July evening a few years ago, a massive bull moose wallowed belly-deep in a small stream in the canoe country north of Ely. Facing the other direction, he had no idea a canoe was silently slipping up behind him. He kept dipping for the stems of water lilies and chewing them in the rich evening light.

We approached so closely that the 17-year-old in the bow of the canoe began backpaddling. He looked over his shoulder and shot me a silent glance that told me we were too close to that moose.
He probably was right.

By GrandViewOutdoors.com
The battle to rid Alexander Creek of salmon-munching northern pike may escalate into a war next summer. More pike will be targeted by state biologists after the Alaska Department of Fish and Game was awarded $635,000 from the Alaska Sustainable Salmon Fund for a four-year program to kill pike.

That supplements $127,000 in state money devoted to the project.

The Las Vegas Sun reports today that Gov. Jim Gibbons is looking to abolish, consolidate and make subcommittees of more than 100 state boards or commissions that regulate industries or professions in Nevada.