PVCI

Phoenix Varmint Callers Inc. Website



      PVCI- Achievements and Projects

The annual See Canyon Trail Clearing is an event started by Hy Hancock, Jr. during his term as club president in the early 1960s. The original "Mogollon Rim Road” was no more than a pickup road in good weather, and a challenge to the best of four-wheel drives in bad weather. The purpose for clearing and marking the trail was to provide a two way path, an escape route for hunters or others trapped on the Mogollon Rim by sudden or unexpectedly severe snow storms, and a rescue route for search teams to access the rim with pack animals without having to go the long way around. This mule trail, once used by bootleggers to run moonshine from a well concealed still under the rim top rock to the cowboy camps scattered North of Payson, provides a direct route off the rim from the trail-head near Promontory Point Lookout station to within a short distance of Christopher Creek Lodge. The Rim Road was paved many years ago, and weather forecasting has improved, so now the trail mostly provides access for individuals wanting to experience the beauty and solitude of the rugged country under the rim.  Other successful club projects sponsored through the years include:
 

Strong support of the Arizona Game and Fish Department's Adopt-A-Ranch· program, where members donate their time and physical labor to help with conservation projects benefiting wildlife on private ranches. PVCI has lain over two miles of water pipe donated by U.S. Forest Service and Arizona Game & Fish from a spring to formerly dry water tanks on the desert floor. The water not only helps the rancher's stock, but all wildlife in the area, and more importantly establishes good relations between sportsmen and ranchers. The work is scheduled during a weekend and accompanied by a pot-luck dinner, campfire, and good times.
Donations of volunteer work and money to the Ben Avery Shooting Range and the· Jack Walters Memorial, located at the desert bighorn sheep enclosure in the Phoenix Zoo.
Strong support of National Hunting and Fishing Day since its inception in· 1972.

Volunteer work and financial aid to defeat anti-hunting and anti-firearm· legislation at the local level and strong support of the National Rifle Association at the national level.

Sponsored the nationally acclaimed Sportsmen Against Vandalism Everywhere· (SAVE) program and produced the award winning film, Wrong Kind of Varmint.

Provided the majority of the samples for early Arizona Game· & Fish Department surveys on coyote feeding patterns.

Participation in the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s hunter safety program.·

The annual barbecue, is a tradition started in the early years of the club· that still survives. At the first few events the meat was javalina harvested from that year’s spring hunt. However, after a short while the people wanting to try some of the feisty little pig outnumbered the available meat supply so the barbecue pit was supplemented with elk, bear, venison, and an occasional mountain lion. This is a family camping event that features a great meal centering around cooked game meat with all of the trimmings, shooting contests, and other activities geared for the family that enjoys the outdoors.

Yet another family social function is the Christmas party, featuring a potluck· dinner, and a time to share season’s greetings for adults. The Christmas party also features a fund raising auction where we auction all sorts of donated items. The treasures may range from used but still good camping supplies donated by members to expensive items donated by various sporting goods stores and manufactures. Traditionally half of the profit from the auction is donated to the club’s chosen charity, the Rainbow Camp for terminally ill children.

Organized varmint calling flourished nation wide during the last half of the sixties decade. It seemed clubs sprang up faster than coyote pups. California boasted clubs in Los Angeles, San Diego, as far north as San Francisco and a huge club in Pasadena. Clubs were also present in South Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

In 1965 a state wide association called the Arizona State Varmint Callers was formed joining clubs from Tucson, Glendale, Mesa, and Superior. Collectively these clubs represented an 800 member alliance dedicated to promoting predator calling with a mouth blown call as a sport.

For well over a decade PVCI was recognized as the leading hunting fraternity within the state. Some of the state association's major accomplishments were:

The organization's newsletter, which was widely distributed through sporting· goods stores and special mailings.

Sponsorship of a big game award known as the Big Nine, recognizing individuals· who successfully harvested each of Arizona's big game animals (excluding buffalo) in fair chase without the aid of guides or dogs.

One of the major sponsors of the SAVE campaign.·

Sponsorship of an annual awards banquet recognizing club members who· successfully harvested the largest each of the big game species plus bobcat and coyote.

Recognized by Game and Fish Department and other state agencies as a major· voice of the Arizona hunting fraternity.

Organized club hunts in conjunction with the California Varmint Callers· Association. There were three of these Arizona/California hunts held with the meeting place rotated between Blythe and Needles. Never before nor probably since, have so many people gathered in one location all dressed in camouflage, many with grease paint on their face and hands, and some wearing scent that would make a hound dog howl.


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