March 2026 Newsletter 
A Note from our President
Gateway Area Chapter Newsletter
March 2026
A Note from our President:
I have two words to say THANK YOU for making our 21st Annual Fundraiser the most attended Fundraiser we have ever had 225 attendees. Mark your calendars for Saturday, March 6, 2027, same time same place, same venue. We welcome any suggestions you have on how we can make next year’s Fundraiser bigger and better. Our goal is to make our Fundraiser a Family event. We encourage you to bring as many families and friends as possible.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to Mackenzie Ruebel, our Youth with Disabilities Advisor; she is passionate about her new assignment and is looking forward to hearing from you. Her email address is: [email protected]
Our Chapter has set a 20% growth goal over last year’s event. And we achieved a 34.24% increase. You helped make that possible!
In the next few months, you will be hearing about Star Chapter, our new software package, and our annual calendar will be coming out soon. We will be planning an Annual Membership meeting to conduct Board elections.
In the months to come, you will be receiving information on the following initiatives:
- Signing our Memorandum of Understanding with Great Rivers Habitat Alliance that will provide Dove and Duck Hunting for First time Hunters for:
- Youth
- Women
- Veterans
- Announcing our new Youth with Disabilities initiative
- Shoot for the Vet’s at Nilo
- Check out the YouTube podcast our rewilding bill in Illinois.
-
Membership drive: our goal is to have 200+ members by year end.
We have other initiatives we are working on, and we will update you on the progress we have made.
Social Media
Be sure to like and share us on Facebook, use the QR-code below to navigate to our page. Pictures of the Banquet / Fundraiser are being posted daily, find and tag yourself, and join the fun!
Membership Drive
The Gateway Area Chapter has a goal of 200 members in 2026. Bring a friend to the banquet who would like to be a member. We will be offering discounted memberships at the banquet.
Exhibitors
Thank You!
We want to pay special thanks to our exhibitors who attended our 21st Annual Banquet / Fundraiser:
Sponsors
Thank You Donors!
We want to pay special thanks to our Donors who contributed to our 21st Annual Banquet / Fundraiser:
- AAA Alaskan Outfitters
- African Maximum Safaris
- Afrihunts Safaris, Namibia
- Alchemn Outdoors
- Annie Gunn's
- Antlered Mugworks
- Anurity Ranch
- Blue Reef Caribbean Resort
- Buchheits
- Buff City Soaps
- Café Napoli
- Catena Safaris- Argentina, South America
- Cold Water Outfitters
- Coppersmith Global Logistics of Chicago, lI
- Corju Hunting of Madrid Spain De Duine Safaris of South Africa
- Devoted Dove Jewelry
- Diamond Outfitters/Zero Outfitters
- European Wax Center
- Farm & Home
- Fur and Leather Center
- Gateway Gun Club
- Gameday Men's Health
- God's Country
- Hawkeye Safaris
- Heartland Lodge
- HP Wingshooting Adventures
- Heartland Seed
- Hellbent Firearms
- Hodgdon Powder
- Huntinspain & Alfonso Febres
- Jannie Otto Safaris
- Jensen Ringmakers
- Kuiu
- Limcroma Safaris of South Africa Limpopo Province
- M&R in Relle Firenze Inc.
- Mar Vida Sportfishing
- Marvel Africa
- Massage Envy
- Monarch Rivers
- Napoli II
- Nothing Bundt
- Oak Creek White Tail Ranch
- Paco Riestra
- Patchereno Studios
- Phillip Bronkhorst Safaris
- Pietoso Family
- Pointer Outfitters
- Redneck Blinds
- Reserve Ranch
- Ridgetec
- River City Outdoors
- Ryan Kirby
- Safari Unlimited
- Solon Lott
- St. Louis Home Fires
- Straatmann Feed
- Superior Ammunition
- Tom James
- Top Gun Sportsman's Club
- Twig, Fins & Fur
- Ubathi
- Wil-Nor Outdoors LLC of Ditter, Mo Wilderness Adventures, LLC of Monterey, Tn
-
Zeekoepan Safaris
Individual Donors:
- Tom and Elaine Williams
- Mark & Cindy Thurm
- Susan & Scott Nelson
- Gary & Kathy Robb
- Karla Stephenson
- Todd Smith
- Jeremy & Katrina Evans
- Lannie Rossi
-
Sheldon Alver
GAC Events Calendar
- Annual meeting TBA – June / July time frame 2026. Details to follow.
- Saturday, September 26, 2026, “Shoot for The Vets” at NILO Farms.
- Tuesday, Dec 1, 2026, Annual Christmas Party Syberg’s Maryland Heights.
- SCI National Convention Nashville TN February 17-20, 2027.
- Saturday March 6, 2027, GAC Annual Banquet/Fundraiser - Orlando’s Catering.
- Annual meeting TBA – June / July time frame 2027. Details to follow.
-
Saturday, September 25, 2027, “Shoot for The Vets” at NILO Farms.
Field Tips
For those of you that are developing food plots it’s time to apply Roundup and 2,4-D herbicide. Go check south facing hillsides for deer sheds.
Missouri’s 2026 spring turkey season begins April 20, with a youth weekend April 11 and 12. Focus on early morning roost sites and use decoys in open areas.
This field tip is courtesy of our Lifetime Chapter Member John Gibbs:
Planting season. For those of you that have difficult land to plant your food plots in try google Green Cover. They have developed a blend of seeds that will grow in the toughest ground. Your food plots need to be planted when the ground temperature reaches 60 degrees. You can google your location to determine what the ground temperature is as well as the water temperature.
You can look at Summer Relief for your May planting and Fall Relief for your August planting.
Green Cover also has a site called Smart Mix. Smart Mix will enable you to list what type of Wildlife you are trying to attract and then recommend a specific mix based upon your needs.
-John-
St Charles County Mo unveils 785-acre wetland park for birds / Great Rivers Habitat Alliance (GRHA)
Interesting article about the GRHA, that the Gateway Area Chapter is now part of, as Tom mentions above, and at our Banquet. Click the links below:
You will also want to view the Flip Book full Screen share link detailing the habitat and hunting successes of 2025 including a video:
Also please find the new Henges campaign brochure:
