CUT KNIFE — Founding member Glenn Stewart was honoured for more than four decades of service to the Cut Knife Wildlife Federation during the organization’s annual wildlife supper and awards banquet.
Stewart was presented with a special award recognizing his contributions to the group and the local hunting and fishing community.
In the late 1970s, Stewart joined the North Battleford Wildlife Federation. There, he connected with a couple of older members also from the Cut Knife area, and it was discussed among them that they should start a branch in Cut Knife. In 1979, the Cut Knife branch was established.
“I grew up on the farm and learned from a young age how to hunt and shoot, and was quite an active member while at the North Battleford branch,” said Stewart.
Once the branch was established, there were roughly a dozen active members, and in the early years there were many volunteers helping organize the annual suppers.
In the mid-1980s, Stewart became a horn scorer for the club after he was encouraged by others who had taken the training. A few years later, he completed the course to become an official Henry Kelsey scorer, allowing him to measure horns eligible for the provincial record book. Over the years, he has measured horns from Cut Knife to the Alberta border and in many surrounding communities.
“One of the most memorable horns I have measured was the bull elk, shot by Kyla Krushelniski from Macklin in 2016,” said Stewart.
The Krushelniski bull scored 462 5/8 and continues to be ranked first in both the Henry Kelsey record book and the Boone and Crockett records. Stewart has also scored many sets of horns that have set new provincial records over the years, including the most recent record for whitetail harvested near Unity by Bill Romanowski with a score of 194 2/8.
Over the past 46 years, Stewart said he is proud of what the organization has done to encourage people to try hunting and fishing.
The trout pond located near the Clayton McLain Museum was built by the Cut Knife Wildlife Federation, along with the local gun range.
The organization continues to look for ways to involve youth, though interest can take time to develop. Each year, a table of door prizes for children is set up, giving them an opportunity to take home a prize. The group has also hired a balloon artist to keep children entertained during the awards ceremony while allowing them to remain part of the event.
However, this year’s supper had no youth entries for moose, elk or fishing, and the group has recently stopped teaching the Hunter’s Safety course.
“We started running out of people to teach it, and it is now offered online. But we used to take the kids to the gun range in Battleford, giving them the chance to do a bit of shooting with an instructor there,” shared Stewart.
Although Stewart may be handing over the reins to younger members of the local branch, he said he will continue to help where he can and support the group he helped start for as long as he can.
