GSCO

[ramtagless]

I thought this nonsense was already resolved? More money going to lawyers instead of sheep.

This is not a fact, just my opinion. Dennis Campbell (is in my opinion) a first rate AHOLE.


On January 13, 2010, Federal judge Sharon Loveless Blackburn issued an order in the case of Grand Slam Club/Ovis vs. International Sheep Hunters Association Foundation, Inc. d/b/a ISHA and Foundation for North American Wild Sheep d/b/a FNAWS.

A hearing has been scheduled for March 8, 2010 to rule on all the post-judgment motions originally completed in early April 2008. Oral arguments will be presented by both sides at that time.

It would seem from this order that this case should come to final resolution either on March 8, 2010 or shortly thereafter.

The full text of the order can be read here.

Dennis Campbell
Executive Director, Grand Slam Club/Ovis


http://www.wildsheep.org/pdf/orderfor3-2010hearing.pdf

 

[littlebighorn]

+1
I withdrew my membership and sent a letter telling them what I thought of their organization the day after I got the first law suit copy from GSCO. Dennis Campbell actually called me at my home to argue their case, but he seemed clueless to what he was doing to the sheep hunting community! I will never be a part of them again!

 

[kevinp]

+2

I feel the same way littlebighorn....Pulled my membership as soon as I heard about the Lawsuit...

I never fully understood how these self-absorbed, inflated egos associated with this club, could benefit "Wild Sheep" in respect to the lawsuit...

 

[chasendeer]

I just sent them a nice email to remove me from any mailing list that they may have.
Jay

 

[MNHunter]

I never renewed my membership because of the lawsuit yet still receive correspondence, email & mail. I too have now sent an email requesting removal from all mailing lists.

"Whatever you are, be a good one."
- Abraham Lincoln

 

[NDhunter]

When the lawsuit deal was in the beginning stages I did the same thing and asked them to discontinue all correspondence with me in an email. Dennis C sent me an email in response trying to justify their actions. Haven't recieved anything since until very recently.

 

[fullcurl74]

Couldn't agree more. Seems like it's time for an audit of where GCSO money is spent. Does it benefit sheep in any way, or just lawyers that are hired to fight over who gets to use a certain word? Does it fund Campbell's hunting trips?

I'll be supporting WSF in Reno this weekend. Won't be sending a penny to GCSO until I actually kill a slam. Oops, I just said "slam" without their permission. Think they'll sue me?

 

[D13er]

I did the same as you guys did when this first started a few years ago......wonder how many others did the same??....had to hurt but obviously not enough.


great post/pic, thanks for sharing

JB

 

[Zeke]

I'm proud to be a "FULL CURL". I can hardly bring myself to say I have the grand slam because of the petty power grabbing!
What a waste of time, money and energy!
Put your money behind the people who actually try to help the wild sheep and the next generation of hunters who will be hunting them! Join the Full Curl Society! See you all on the 13th.
Zeke

 

[littlebighorn]

+1 Zeke
See you there and maybe one of us will win a hunt!

 

[eyespy]

Zeke, I am a member of all 3 organizations. But I also will be attending the Full Curl Society shin dig 'cuz I want my hard earned dollar to help the next generation (even though I am only a 1/4 curl). The one and only reason that I am a GSCO member is because I like to read reports from hunters like you. See in SLC. Maybe I will win a hunt too?

 

[cbeard]

I withdrew my membership in respose to the lawsuit also.Dennis Campbell came on another site trying to argue his case but refused to answer some pointed questions and disappeared.

Other organizations are about the sheep but GSCO is all about the ego of hunters.Only a small part of their budget makes it to the sheep.

 

[dwalton]

"I never fully understood how these self-absorbed, inflated egos associated with this club, could benefit "Wild Sheep" in respect to the lawsuit..."

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there are plenty of these self-absorbed, inflated egos in both WSF (FNAWS) and the Full Curl Society (created because the WSF left for Reno and egos were bruised). Just log onto the bow hunting site and view some of Nvagvup's (a WSF board member) ego-laced tirades, and it's easy to see why this issue was never resolved out of court.

Just remember that the WSF lost every item filed against them in the lawsuit. Something to think about before blaming everything on Dennis Campbell.

I guess that I'm one of those self-absorbed club members because I'm Grand Slam #1393. Oh, I also have been a member of WSF (FNAWS) for nearly 20 years. Both organizations have done enormous things for wild sheep and sheep hunters.

 

[kevinp]

dwalton

Thanks for the insight...I guess I stand corrected!

Congrats on your Slam #1393

 

[ramtagless]

I would say relatively speaking there are more "self-absorbed, inflated egos" at GSCO than other similar organizations.

GSCO's entire publication is about getting your name and picture in a magazine. No conservation, no stories, no biology...just "congratulations to Bob for going to Texas and shooting a mouflon on a ranch to complete his super duper slam."

"Just remember that the WSF lost every item filed against them in the lawsuit. Something to think about before blaming everything on Dennis Campbell."

I could give a rats behind who won or lost the lawsuit. What we are talking about is the decision to file the lawsuit and that is on Dennis Campbell. Screw him and his decision to trade mark 'grand slam' in the first place.

Did anyone see the pissing contest between Campbell and Walt Prothero in Sports Afield? Good stuff and Walt took Camppbell out behind the woodshed. Which is no surprise since Walt is on the side of right.

Congrats dwalton on the grand slam (oops do I have to send campbell a check?)that is an amazing accomplishment. If all the stars align I might pull it off someday...but I sure as hell wont be registering with GSCO.

 

[Zeke]

Hello all;

I must admit that there are HUGE egos in every organization.
The thought of a lawsuit over a name that was bestowed to an accomplishment still makes me a little ill. I won't go so far as to say I'm not part of the whole mess (I'm GS#1121)(ego) It took me 23 years to reach that goal and I'm proud of all the work, planning, time and $! (ego?)
Everyone is entitled to an opinion and I guess I should not throw too many stones while I sit here in my little glass house.
We all have a little ego. Crap, no one would share their cool hunts and photos with me if they didn't have SOME ego. I love it too!


One thing is for sure, I have met the BEST people in the world through my association with the hunting world. Many of them are on this site and they don't always have to agree with me to continue to be great people! Some of them have pretty big egos too! LOL

Zeke

 

[ramtagless]

Hey Zeke - good post. Congrats on the "Grand Slam" and you are right it, is a huge accomplishemnt.

I used to think it was an accomplishment I wanted to shoot for. Not so sure now. My only sheep is a dall, I will someday draw a bighorn tag in my home state of CO and hopefully will be successful. I would need to beat the odds at some point over the next 30 years and draw a desert tag. Becuse I can't (right now) afford to hunt MX and if I can someday...I refuse to pay that much.

Look at the price of Stone...I am beginning to think 2 more dall hunts would be better than one stone hunt. My attitude is changing and this GSCO crap is a big part of that.

 

[Zeke]

ramtagless;
I LOVE CO! Lucky for me, I drew a bighorn tag in your great state in 1990. I shot a ram exactly 1 year after my father died.
The entire experience was emotional and exciting at the same time. As usual, I was with my brother on that hunt.
The ram was my 6th sheep but only the third toward my slam.
Nothing is wrong with a little duplication! Right?

You brought up an interesting point about taking another Dall sheep. I have a friend who has taken several Dall and refers to them as his grand slam of Dall sheep! He hunts sheep because he loves to hunt sheep!(He was lucky and drew a Desert permit this last season and took a ram)

I don't know what the "right reason to hunt" is for other people.
I DO know why I hunt and I try to keep my compass pointed in the right direction! Good luck to all, the application season is here!
Zeke

 

[Cozmo8]

Four sheep of any flavor: Poormanslam

It is what I would like to accomplish, I am optimistic, who knows.


[email protected]

 

[littlebighorn]

I read the law suit from cover to cover when GSCO sent it to me because I was a member. It totally made me sick because I could see how they were probably going to win. But they weren't fighting for sheep. They were fighting over semantics and organizational turf! And the winner was GSCO---not sheep, or even sheep hunters for that matter.

dwalton, I have nothing against you or Zeke(good friend) or any Grand S...(can't say the word or I might get sued) number holder. But When GSCO filed that law suit, they knew that they would be taking money from Sheep Restoration to build their organization. And they do very little in the way of helping "keep sheep on the mountain" and lots to promote "look at what I did".

I loved getting their publication and seeing guys be successful, but IMHO if they keep up what they are doing they will eventually ruin sheep hunting for all but the well healed.

No doubt there are egos in WSF but at least their main goal is helping sheep. And if we really wanted to do it right and promote hunters and sheep we would all rally around the new Full Curl Society that is going to try to help the common guy in getting his Full Curl (anyone can use that term!)

 

[fullcurl74]

Great post Littlebighorn. I too used to dream about getting my Slam, and what the numbers would be up to when I finally reached the goal. Now the whole concept has been cheapened.

What would the first 100 slam guys say now if they could see what has happened? I think they might take Campbell out and teach him something.

 

[Cozmo8]

I am a member of all three organizations hoping that by diversifying my money some of it will be used for the benefit of sheep. Keep in mind that the terms 1/4 Curl, 1/2 Curl, 3/4 Curl, and Full Curl have been trademarked. I don't like it.

 

[slamless]

I quit GSCO after the lawsuit myself, my wife still has her G/S number but we will not support a club that has done that much damage to conservation. Our support is now with WSF and NBU, if and when I draw the desert and rocky/california I think I will just keep it quiet, but my ego may get the best of me also.

 

[dwalton]

NBU has done an amazing job at putting sheep on the mountain in Nevada!

 

[Zeke]

slamless;
I hope your ego gets the best of you whenever you harvest ANY ram and especially when you have your "FULL CURL"!
WE ALL WANT THE STORIES AND PHOTOS!
Change your name temporarily to "shameless" and share with us so we can be happy for/with you.
A sheep harvest is a celebration for us all!
Zeke
PS; I hope people didn't think I was bragging TOO much by posting my daughter's desert ram photos this year. (proud pappa)

 

[slamless]

Zeke, after 25 years of apps. here in Nv. when I finish my Full Curl I will probably put it on every billboard on I-80.Congrats to your daughter, I have some girls with enough points to draw soon myself if they did not inherit their dads luck.

 

[HornedToad]

I am a life member of WSF and GSCO (#972). I enjoy the GSCO magazine and record keeping, but do not believe the wild-sheep community is large enough to support multiple conventions. The WSF is committed to conservation first, so I will continue to attend the WSF convention, and not the others.

BTW - It seems likely that GSCO "won all counts on the lawsuit" principally because they were successful in establishing venue (i.e. home-field-advantage) in Alabama. It bothers me that some judge in Alabama is making decisions that adversly impacts wild sheep conservation in the West. Obviously, the judge is more interested in protecting the interests of a home-state organization (GSCO is based in Birmingham, Alabama) than in defending wild-sheep. It would be interesting to know whether this judge was appointed, or was she elected, after receiving campaign contributions from interested organizations?