Awards

The Tom Barclay Memorial Trophy was established in 1941 by V.P.S.A. membership to honor J. Thomas Barclay, first president of V.P.S.A. Mr. Barclay’s deer, bagged in November 1936 in Surry county, VA, won Virginia’s first big game contest on September 23, 1940 held at Wythe Hall, Kecoughtan Road, Hampton, VA and is recognized as Virginia’s first state champion deer. Mr. Barclay was responsible for setting up the working mechanics of V.P.S.A. The trophy is available to V.P.S.A. members only and is presented to the member that enters the largest scoring deer in the members only contest.

* The award was renamed “The Tom Barclay Memorial Award” in 1999.

Created March 13, 1983 by V.P.S.A. membership. This award is presented to any and all V.P.S.A. members that bags a black bear, antlered whitetail deer, and a wild turkey (bearded birds) in Virginia during the same hunting season, and enters all of them in the members only big game contest for that hunting season. To the best that can be determined, no member of V.P.S.A. had ever achieved this goal before John E. Herman did in the 1982-83 hunting season.

Created in 1944, this award was originally called “The Bear Trophy”. It was presented to the V.P.S.A. member that bagged the largest scoring bear and entered it in the annual members only big game contest. The trophy was renamed the Haldeman trophy in 1988 to honor William N. Haldeman, charter member of V.P.S.A. and winner of the first bear contest in 1945. This award is available to V.P.S.A. members only.

* The award was renamed “The William N. Haldeman Memorial Award” in 1999.

Created and sponsored by V.P.S.A. in 1985 to honor George Brooks Johnson, the founder of the Virginia Big Game Contest for whitetail deer in 1940 and black bear in 1945. He also developed the Virginia Scoring System for whitetail deer and black bear. This award is presented on a state level to the individual that wins the overall state championship Virginia big game contest for whitetail deer. The first award was presented to Mr. Johnson in person at the 1985 eastern regional and state championship Virginia Big Game Contest on October 12, 1985 at the Julius Conn Gymnasium in Newport News, Virginia. This award is available to the general public.

This trophy was created in 1988 to honor Berkley E. Norvell, Sr. Mr. Norvell was instrumental in the early development of the V.P.S.A. and the Virginia State Big Game Contest. During his many years with the V.P.S.A., he has won the Tom Barclay Trophy once and the William N. Haldeman Bear Trophy four times. Mr. Norvell is also recognized to be one of the best turkey hunters in the V.P.S.A.’s history. He is a lifetime member of the V.PS.A. the Berkley E. Norvell, Sr. Trophy is awarded annually to the V.P.S.A. member who bags the highest scoring turkey within the association. The first award was presented on September 10, 1988 at the Julius Conn gymnasium in Newport News, Virginia.

* This award was renamed “The Berkley E. Norvell Memorial Award” in 1999.

The Kenneth R.Pickin Award was established July 31, 2017 by the V.P.S.A. membership to be awarded to the youth hunter having the largest scoring youth deer entry in the annual state game contest. The first winner of the award was for the 2017 contest (2016-17 hunting season). The award honors Kenneth R. Pickin, longest serving association president (22 years) and tremendous supporter of youth hunting. This award is available to all youth deer entries statewide.

This award was created March 12, 1983 to honor V.P.S.A. members for outstanding work within the association. An individual can never win this award more than one time. This award is available to V.P.S.A. members only.

* This award was renamed “The Wade H. West Memorial Sportsman Of The Year Award” in 1999.