Bemidji State University’s student-run Ducks Unlimited chapter is hosting a Sportsman’s Night Out fundraiser on Feb. 23.

The banquet begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Beaux Arts Ballroom on the BSU campus; tickets are $25 and are available in advance only. Tickets are available by calling (763) 458-2980 or by visiting ducks.org. There is a bonus of 10 “duck bucks” offered for tickets purchased by Feb. 16; Duck Bucks can be spent on games and raffle tickets during the banquet.

The event will include a raffle and banquet for sportsmen of all genres, and is being held as a fundraiser for the Ducks Unlimited chapter. Raffle prizes include a waterfowl hunting equipment package, duck and goose decoys, 15-20 guns including shotguns, rifles and pistols, a deer-hunting package, fishing gear, local business gift cards, hunting- and fishing-oriented art prints and more.

Ducks Unlimited is the biggest non-profit conservation organization in North America. Bemidji State has one of approximately 120 collegiate chapters of Ducks Unlimited and is annually ranked among the top 16 of those chapters in the amount of money raised for the national organization.

Tacheny said the 2011 banquet raised $20,000 for Duck Unlimted, and raised $13,000 last year despite the banquet being held opposite a home Bemidji State men’s hockey game.

“I don’t think there is another organization that can match that,” Tacheny said. “We are hard workers who take time out of homework and social life in order to make our banquet run smoothly.”

Tacheny says the banquet and its associated raffle of hunting and fishing items is specifically designed to appeal to local outdoor enthusiasts.

“We find it work swell in Bemidji because we are a hunting- and fishing-driven community,” he said. “We include things like an individual gun raffle for anyone who wears camoflage or blaze orange clothing; it helps set the mood for the night, and is a good raffle for the people who attend.”

For more information or to purchase tickets, call (763) 458-2980 or visit ducks.org.

BSU Ducks Unlimited chapter leadership
Mounds View |55112| Blade Lane, sophomore, business administration, vice president
Perham |56573| Justin Mitchell, senior, aquatic biology, secretary
White Bear Lake |55110| John Yochum, junior, undecided, treasurer
White Bear Lake |55110| Neal Tacheny, junior, biology, president

LINKS
• Ducks Unlimited