Picture Butte Fish and Game Association concludes annual award night with big wins

Posted on February 9, 2023 by Sunny South News

By Erika Mathieu
Sunny South News

The 47th annual Picture Butte Fish and Game (PBFG) Wild Game Supper and Awards Night 2023 was held on Jan. 27 as the association celebrated 71 years of community service, education, and conservation in southern Alberta.

The annual awards night celebrates the triumphs and excellence in a number of hunting and fishing categories to members from in and around Picture Butte. Funds are also raised during the award night’s auction. As is tradition, the awards night featured an extensive menu of wild meats including venison cold cuts, goose jerky, elk stew, moose roast, and mule deer meatballs. The two local 4H clubs were in attendance to serve up the wild game dishes and aided in the event’s cleanup.

The 2023 Wild Game Supper and Trophy Night was completely sold out with over 250 guests in attendance. The event brought in guests from in and around Picture Butte and presented hunters and anglers with a number of trophies acknowledging their participation and success in numerous hunting and fishing categories. The event also presents trophies to major awards winners of the night for their accomplishments during the 2022 hunting season. Winners of the major awards were as follows:

Largest Animal Taken with a Rifle was awarded to Dustin Howells. The Largest Animal Taken with a Bow Award was received by Jamie Klok, who also took home the Bow Hunter of the Year award, for 113 points with one animal entered.

The Joe Mrak Memorial Junior Rifle Hunter Award was given to Briar Bach who entered two animals and accumulated 94.35 points.

Ryan Chogi took home the (adult) Rifle Hunter of the Year for two animals entered and 152.7 points, as well as the Ron Pittman Memorial Grand Champion award for his scoring average of 204.2 per cent of P&Y and B&C.

The Outdoors Woman of the Year went to Liz Leusink with a scoring average of 87.9 per cent of B&C of two animals, and Art Leusink received the Kent Hage Memorial Award for 2022.

The Eddy Stroeve Memorial Award for biggest fish is given out during the annual supper to a participant of the annual Eddy Stroeve Fishing Derby which took place on June 4, 2022, and was won by Nathan Van Vliet, with a 25 inch catch.

The 2023 Eddy Stroeve Memorial Family Fishing Derby is set to take place in early June.

The night also crowned the winners of photographers in four categories. The award for Best Scenery and Best Activity photography was awarded to Deb Simonsen. Liz Leusink won the Best Wildlife category, and Travis Slingerland won for best Trophy photography.

The association’s longevity is a result of many intergenerational participants and life-long membership and support by many of the association’s members. The Picture Butte Fish and Game Association is a non-profit organization which focuses on improving wildlife habitats, and conservation, as well as

providing youth programming.

To learn more about the Picture Butte Fish and Game Association or to register as a member, visit https://www.pbfishandgame.com/.