A BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY
RACING PIGEON CLUB
by Bruce Nykamp
The local club in south-east Idaho is the Snake River Valley racing pigeon club. It was founded in 1947 by a group of fanciers in Shelley, Idaho. The original founders were Ted Kendrick, Dick Taysom and Arlen Anderson. None of the original members owned a pigeon clock during the first year of racing. All three flyers lived about the same distance from the post office. The winner of the race was the first one to the post office with their first bird in hand! In the early days the pigeons were transported to the race stations by the rail road. The racing pigeons were shipped in used flower boxes obtained from local floral shops. After the railroaders released the pigeons at the designated race station along the tracks they would dispose of the flower boxes. The original members of the SRV were leery of allowing the Idaho Falls fanciers to compete with them as the race speeds were often under 1000 ypm. Fanciers living in Idaho Falls had approximately 10 miles of overflight on the Shelley members. With such slow race speeds overflight was a huge factor on who won or lost the race. Although reluctant the Shelley members decided to let the longer end lofts in Idaho Falls join the club. So in 1948 after on year of exsistance Bill Missledine and the rest of the long enders were allowed to join the SRV. The SRV club officially joined ARPU in 1948. Shortly thereafter pigeon timers were purchased by all those who wished to participate in the races. The birds were timed by Unique two-bird timers, then the stamper style clocks came on the market and then eventually the electronic Benzing clocks were used. Today’s electronic clocks are a real benefit to the birds and the fancier. In 1966 the railroad stopped shipping pigeons, and in 1967 Wycoff truck lines agreed to take the used flower boxes full of race birds and release them at the race stations. This method of shipping the birds continued until 1975 when the trucking company stopped accepting the race birds. So in 1976 the club members started furnishing the transportation to the race stations. Today the SRV club welcomes all flyers within a reasonable distance, which includes fanciers as far away as Alpine, Wyoming.
In the 50's and 60's the main strains of the time were Belgium Soffles, Sions, Trentons and Wegges. One of the highlights of the era came in 1965. During the old bird season Dick Taysom had the first bird in our area to home from the 500 mile station on the same day of release. It was a great feat that some of our older guys still fondly remember. The pigeons of that era were super tough, however the care they were given was not as advanced as it is today. The better flyers fed whole corn, wheat, peas and maybe a little red milo; if a guy was really motivated he might give the birds a couple of doses of vitamins throughout the year. Old birds were generally flown to the nest. Things were pretty basic. Today’s pigeons are much better athletes, flying at much faster speeds. Fanciers understand the value of keeping the racers healthy through the use of medicines, feeding the proper grains at the proper times and through better conditioning programs. Most guys use various tactics or systems designed to motivate the race birds to give a top performance on race day. The internet auction sites have influenced the sport in our area a great deal. In the past most top quality pigeons in the United States were obtained from a few professionals, or top breeders. It seems as though a select few purchased and then imported the National Ace pigeons from Europe and a high percentage of the countries breeding stock was sold by a few top lofts. Today there are several auction web sites where anyone can offer pigeons for sale with pictures and pedigrees on display for all to see. Pigeons of all strains, quality levels and price ranges can be purchased 365 days a year. As a result members in our club are shipping a faster and more athletic pigeon to the races they were shipping 10-20 years ago. In order to be competitive today you must have great pigeons in great condition. Today fanciers in general understand how, what and when to feed and how to properly condition a race bird through exercise and medication. As a result the races speeds are much faster and getting birds on the day, from the 500 mile station is common place in our club . The sport has really evolved over the past few decades. It is much more competitive and complicated.
We have never enjoyed a large number of flyers here in south eastern Idaho. The number of active flyers has fluctuated between 5 and 20 flyers. In the ‘80's the cost of flying a ten week old bird schedule with a couple of 500 mile races and an occasional 600 miler became cost prohibitive. As a result Holland Dredge put together a really unique and innovative plan. Holland contacted flyers in Southern Utah and Montana and formulated a system that serves flyers from four states and really helped cut costs for these small clubs. In January of each year all three clubs formulate their old bird race schedules. All participating clubs align their longer milage races for the same weekends. On any races over 200 miles we essentially swap race birds. Here is how it works; on any race over 200 miles the Bozeman, Montana club ships birds with the Snake River Valley club in Idaho Falls. The SRV club then hauls the race birds to Salt Lake City, Utah. On the same night the Utah clubs from Beaver and St. George, Utah also process their birds and meet the SRV club sometime after midnight in Taylorsville, Utah, which is the half way point between the clubs. In Taylorsville we swap the crates of race birds. The Utah driver hauls the Idaho and Montana birds south to the scheduled race station while the Idaho/Montana driver transports the Utah pigeons north to their race station. All birds are liberated after careful consideration of the weather conditions by the race secretary. If the Utah clubs are flying a race over 400 miles a Bozeman, Montana club member stays in Idaho Falls until our driver arrives with the Utah birds and then proceeds farther north to the scheduled race station for release. This system offers many benefits to the pigeons and the fanciers. One of the major benefits is that the pigeons are shipped on Friday night and released at sunrise the following morning, weather permitting. As a result the birds are in the baskets for the shortest possible amount of time, and are being transported during the coolest hours of the day. This system has served over 50 flyers at one time, offering a fantastic race schedule at a very reasonable price. It allows us to have great levity in our race schedule. Another big benefit of this plan is having a 500 mile release, a 370 mile release and a 200 mile release all on the same weekend. Having several races on the same weekend is excellent for the race birds and fanciers alike. A good fancier will only ship pigeons to the distance that they are prepared for, and in condition to fly from. It also allows for three winners each weekend. Rarely does the same fancier win more than one or occasionally two races per weekend. It is nice to have more than one fancier win each weekend. Another great benefit of this system is a weekly 200 mile sprint race. This option is available because of the generosity of Jack Schiess of Taylorsville, Utah. Jack has been such an asset to the flyers in our system. He allows us to drop our pigeons off at his shop and then releases them on race day. This 200 mile race allows us to keep our distance pigeons in condition in between the longer races. These short races are a good way to bring a pigeon into form if has been hurt, ill, laid eggs etc. These 200 mile races also offer a weekly venue for sprint pigeons to compete and also allow the younger pigeons to gain some easy experience if the fancier so desires. Jack has been such an asset to the flyers in Montana, Idaho and southern Utah by providing this service. We have dragged him out of bed at every hour imaginable, in every type of weather condition; he is always willing to help us lug our big wicker and aluminum crates in his garage where they are safe and dry. If the weather is questionable he feeds and waters the bird until weather conditions improve. He always has a smile on his face and as far as I know he has never cursed the whole situation! Jack has really been a great benefit to the fanciers in our area. We really appreciate him. As we interviewed Holland he revealed the key to making this system work “to be successful in our system, every person involved must make sure the well being of the race bird is the top priority, no cutting corners. The second someone gets lazy or is dishonest the trust between the group is lost and the system is doomed.” Very true indeed.
In 1989 Steve Earl of Idaho Falls, Idaho started racing pigeons with the SRV. Steve brought some new talents to our club and has been a huge benefit. He owned a radio/cell phone business and also is very good with computers. His shop is located right in town. He has generously allowed the club to use his large, insulated, heated shop as a club house. There are restaurants and other stores nearby and it has been the ideal place to ship pigeons from. Steve has also allowed club members to use his radio towers free of charge. On race day all the guys turn on their two way radios and can be heard talking pigeons and updating each other as the birds return home from the races. These radios have really added a fun element to race day. It is a very enjoyable experience to fly here. Steve also created a Combine web site www.srvclub.org. After the races are figured the results are posted on the web site. Steve also posts The St.George, Beaver and Bozeman clubs race results. The site also features the race schedules of all participating clubs and has a lot of other helpful information. It has been a real boon to the members in the sport in our area..
The SRV club in one form or fashion has been serving the fanciers in southeast Idaho now for 63 years. It has taken effort and hard work from the membership to remain successful. In Campbell Strange’s final article published in the Racing Pigeon Digest he stated that every flyer offers a unique set of talents and that it is up to each individual to use their talents to benefit the sport.” We have certainly seen that happen in the SRV.and it has made our club a great place to fly pigeons. We have also had our fair share of problems. Most of them derive from selfishness. We need to look out for the whole group and be willing to help each other, especially new flyers.
They need good birds and need to be taught good methods. Pigeon racing is expensive, time consuming and complex. Many of us have families, jobs and religious obligations. It can be tough to juggle all of these things. We need to be innovative and helpful. Pigeon racing is very enjoyable and rewarding. In my estimation the thrill of seeing the a racing pigeon return to the loft from a great distance in winning time is one of life’s finest pleasures. Lets keep ‘em flying!