aso magazine feb. 2015

February 2015February 2015 Sports OutdoorsSports Outdoors

To see previous episodes, click “VIDEOS” on our website!To see previous episodes, click “VIDEOS” on our website!

ASOMagazine.com

ISRA.orgISRA.org

See ASO-TV Sat., February 28th at 5:30pm on WTVP, PBS Ch. 47 See ASO-TV Sat., February 28th at 5:30pm on WTVP, PBS Ch. 47

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©Copyright 1994Published monthly by: Red Nose, Inc.Harry & Cathy Canterbury, Owners

TREMONT OFFICE1408 Downing Ct. • Tremont, IL 61568

(309) 925-HUNT (4868)Home Office: (309) 925-7313Harry’s Cell: (309) 360-0487Cathy’s Cell: (309) 370-6922

E-mail: [email protected] Web: ASOMagazine.com

Call Toll Free: (877) 778-HUNT(4868)[email protected]

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PRODUCTION - AD CREATION & LAYOUT:

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FEB. 2015 • ISSUE #219

Deadline for ASO editions is the 10th of each previous month.

Please send only digital media files.

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hooked on rabbit hunting. Itwas a main stay for meand my friends foryears. It was fun and whenwe ran beagles, it was aking’s sport.

Who knows what happened butover the years, but shooting a rab-bit became a tough thing to do.There are raptors, coyotes, foxes,cars, chemicals, floods, droughtno hedge rows, mowing, wildcats, and a dozen other reasonsthere are no rabbits.

The IDNR use to have the USpost office rural carriers count thedead rabbits on the road to get acensus of how many there wereper square mile. If that is so theyare extinct now at least in mostplaces. I still see more rabbits intown than in the country. I think Ifigured it out at least in my mind.The reason they are in the townsand cities is they are not huntedbut have very few predators ifany. I wish we could hunt them inthe cities, we’d shoot hundreds ofrabbits. I really have not huntedrabbits in years, except in SouthDakota while pheasant huntingwhere rabbits are like flies.

Sat. January 10th at my farmOrion Briney his posse and a fewfriends of mine hunted with bea-gles and shot 18 rabbits. It wasjust like it used to be back in the1960s, when the rabbit was theIllinois game king. Like I saidthey stay around the farm housebecause of few coyotes and theyare not messed with. It was a lotof fun and brought back memo-ries of the old days. The best waseating the rabbits with mashedpotatoes and gravy. I thought Iwent through a time machine to abetter place in history when lifewas simpler and rabbits weremany.

The wife and I had a wonderfultrip to Mexico the first week ofDecember 2014 to Playa del Car-men near Cancun. The food wasgreat, the resort was off the chartand it was one of the best vaca-tions I have had in years. We didnot do any fishing but it was

Canterbury Taleswell I never have and never willread that tripe.

Thank God you and I live in theMidwest where we still under-stand who we are and where wecame from. Bottom line is go andsee the show if you love America.It is not just about shooting theenemy at long range but the longrange collateral damage that wardoes to families and our fightingmen here at home.

There is an average of 22 sui-cides a day from all branches ofthe service of returning vets inthis country. It is an issue that weall should be aware of. This is agreat show only to be snubbed bythose who do not love America.Unfortunately America has theelite Hollywood weirdoes thatmostly don’t support this film anddon’t love out country.

The first thing I ever shot in mylife was a rabbit at my grandpar-ent’s farm around 1963 in ManitoIllinois. It was in the summer andwas not in season but I hadGrandpa’s 12 Gage double barrelshotgun walking in the cloverfield. Up jumped a rabbit, I shotand to my surprise it died.

I was thrilled but had heard youdon’t eat rabbits in the summerbecause they may have a disease.My Grandpa Hilst cleaned it andGrandma cooked it. It was deli-cious. Well after that I really got

Published by Red Nose, Inc. Red Nose, Inc. is not responsible forany injury received as a result of information or advice given.

Contents may not reflect opinions of Red Nose, Inc.

Today was a very good day. Iwent to an afternoon showing ofthe American Sniper with mygood friend Bob Murray, andwhat a great show it was. Ihaven’t been to a movie in manyyears. This show is worth seeingunless you are a left wing liberalwho hates America and what itstands for. Of course you allknow my position on our militaryand our country. It is withoutquestion that I am a patriot andwould give my life in the defenseof it.

I cannot believe there are peo-ple who made their fortunes offthe backs of Americans can saythings like ROLLING STONEmagazine that American Sniper isall most too dumb to criticize.And that big bag of air liberalMichael Moore who said Snipersare cowards. I have never seenany of his shows nor will I. As faras ROLLING STONE Magazine

Cont’d. on pgs. 8-9

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GUIDE TO ASO WRITERSGUIDE TO ASO WRITERS7 ......Mom's Recipe: Best Venison Stir Fry Ever! 8-9 ...Canterbury Tales continues… 10 ...Don Higgins-IWA, IDNR Housecleaning Needed 12 .....OUTDOOR EXPO Returns to Otto Center in Arthur FEB 13 & 14 13 .....Richard Pearson ISRA, Executive Director's Message14 .....Hilary Dyer, New Mossberg Guns For 2015: The Big 5 15 .....Norm Kelly, Peoria: On a Slippery Slope 17 .....Chris Hottensen/thesouthern.com, Bruno Delai, 93 of Herrin kills deer with bow18 .....Mike Roux, Traveling Tower Success 20 ....Bob Murray, Meandering Murrays, Give the Real Thing21 .....Voice One, Bluetooth Beanie22 ....February Outdoor IL Calendar of Events 22 ...IL Deer Hunters Harvest Total of 145,804 Deer during 2014-2015 Seasons 24 ....2015 Outdoor Shows25 ....Dave Shadow, Buy Quality for Better Longevity 26 ....Lee Giesser, Too Manny Turkeys in Kansas!27 ....Colby Simms, Fishing Lake of the Ozarks 29 ....Bob Park, In Memoriam: Clif f “Bubba” Elwell, 1971-2015 31 .....Mo Hunters harvest 11,000+ deer during alternative methods portion32 ....Jim Low, 2014 Missouri Conservation News 34 ....Bill Cooper, Carving Turkey Calls & More, 36 ....185-year-old gator killed in Mississippi? Brian Broom, The Clarion-Ledger 38 ....Wayne Baughman, No Banquet for Pikeland Spurs & Feathers NWTF Chapter39 ....IDNR NewsBits40 ....Conservation Police: 3 Charged With Illegally Hunting Deer at Night40 ....Still No Bobcat Hunting In Illinois41 ....Woo's Corner, How Fishing Has Progressed 42 ....Congrats to Kid Rock Trophy Buck & Mt Lion43 ....Daniel Vinovich, Its Just That Fast 46 ....Dave Herschelman, Three Days in November47 ....Jim Parrott, Bird Feeding Makes A Difference!48 ....Ed Devries BAI News 49 ....Daniel Xu, Idaho Angler Catches Record-contending Rainbow Trout50 ....Don Dziedzina, Looking at snow, thinking of open water 51 .....CPO Reports: OCTOBER 2014 55 ....Roland Cheek’s Campfire Culture: Simple Things I Mostly Forgot56 ....Kirby Schupp, Gunsmithing: Design Limitations and Built-in Problems58 ....Darrell Sterling, How to be a better deer Hunter 60 ....Bedford Sales OPEN HOUSE Feb. 13-14-15, 201561 .....Dave Evans, MINNESOTA MEMOIRS, "Looking for Spring

62 ....Bob Cowman, Learning From The Best63 ....Steve Pennaz, Better Bite Detection In Deep Water 64 ....Eagles and Winter Bird Watching in Southernmost Illinois66 ....Steve Welch, Illinois Fish Talk67 ....Lake Shelbyville Fishing Fun! 68 ....Rapella’s SHAD RAP® X-RAP® RAPALA® DT® Now Available 69 ....Outdoor Connection: Beautiful Idaho has Great Hunting & Fishing Adventures72 ....2015 SHOT Show Posts Second Highest Attendance Total Ever 73 ....133-year-old Rifle Found Leaning Against Tree in Great Basin National Park74 ....Gary Koehler, Cold-Weather Retriever Care75 ....Gary Koehler, The All-American Chessie76 ....DC American Legion77 ....Mike O’Bryan & friends duck hunting79 ....Wade Bourne, Seven Tips for Late-Season Ducks 81 .....Eagle Nest Resort, Reelfoot Lake Tiptonville, Tenn.82 ....Thane Hunt, You have to get out there, you can’t give up 83 ...Moon Shine Camo Introduces Two New Camo Patterns 84 ....Local Ducks Unlimited Project Improves Water Quality in Illinois 85 ....What's New At 25th Annual Illinois Deer & Turkey Expo Feb 20-21-2287 ....More Than 200 Big Illinois Bucks Expected Deer/Turkey Expo, Springfield, IL88 ....Dan Gapen Sr. Wild Pigs & Alligator Hunt 91 .....Congrats Mike Crabtree of Carlinville with his 3 beautiful bucks, all taken in 201492 ....Steve Herrick, Happy Camping!93 ....Pheasants Forever Annual Report 93 ....Pheasant Fest & Quail Classic Feb. 20-21-22, 2015, Des Moines Iowa94 ....Billy Canterbury, A fish scale in my wine 95 ....Keli VanCleave, PinkOutdoors.com, 50 Year Sleigh Ride96 ....Outdoors with Anita Williams, Northern Pike Cakes With Dill Sauce 97 ....Nici Haerter, Just Plain Lucky98 ....Diana Storrs, Close Encounters of the Cat Kind 99 ....Marlene Odahlen-Hinz, Food Plot Dude 100...AK Thompson, Dirt Church: Brain Church 101 ..Annie Otto’s Conklin Corner 102...Jason Houser, Making New Memories on the Ice 104 ..Mary Ann Vance, Real Estate Chatter 105 ...Jack Hart, Preppers-Who are they? Part 1 106 ...Norman V. Kelly, Photos by Bruce Brown a Polar Romp108 ...Bernie Barringer, Guide for Understanding Out of State Applications110 ...IDNR Partners w/ Marion VA for Equine Therapy for Veterans 111 ....Ray Simms, Ready For Spring 112 ...Jillian Peterson’s Great Day in the Field 113 ...Dan Galusha DAN’S FISH ‘N’ TALES®, Electronic Fishing Partners115 ...Michael J.W. Sells, Calling In Daytime Raccoons

WATCH ASO TV • Sat. Feb. 28 at 5:30 pmOn WTVP, PBS Channel 47

SEE previous shows on our YouTube Page!Check out Videos on ASOMagazine.com

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Best Venison Stir Fry Ever! If you take your deer to a profes-

sional butcher, chances are, alongwith those steaks, backstraps, roastsand hamburger he gives you backsome chops. Most people broil orgrill their chops, and that’s a greatway to do them up. But for a tastyoriental twist, try stir frying them.How much meat you need is depend-ent upon how many people you’ll befeeding. I figure about a half poundof meat per person, with my chopsabout a 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick; theamount of vegetables you use isdependent upon how much yourcrew likes them. Then I get a wholebunch of fresh carrots, fresh beansprouts, celery, broccoli, a red bellpepper, a handful of mushrooms,some unsalted peanuts, 1 mediumyellow onion and 2 cloves of garlic.You’ll also need 1 tbsp. of crushed

red pepper, 1 tsp. of ground cumin, acup of soy sauce and a bit of canolaoil.

The first step is to marinate thechops in soy sauce overnight in therefrigerator. Then comes the work—prepping the vegetables. That meanspeeling, then chunking, carrots, slic-ing celery, cutting broccoli and dic-ing the garlic and onion. I like tokeep everything in separate smallcups so it is all handy and easy to

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grab.It is best to do the cooking in a

large wok, but since I like to keep thebone in my chops I find a very largeskillet works best for me. Get theskillet very, very hot, then coat itwith just enough canola oil to keepeverything from sticking. Cook themeat about 30 seconds per side, addeverything else, including the season-ing. Stir constantly, making sureeverything hits the hot skillet and iscoated with all the spices and oil. Donot overcook!

Serve with a side of fried rice and,if I am feeling like it, I’ll top the stirfry with some of those crunchycooked noodles you can find in theoriental food section at the store.Wash it down with some icy TsingTao beer. This is a low-calorie, low-fat meal that doesn’t taste like it.

Mary Ann Harrell

Mom’s Recipe

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T h e B e s t V e n i s o n Re c i p e s E v e rBy Bob Robb, AmericanHunter.org

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LR: John Onion, Orion Briney, Jeremy Fisher, Clifford Lewis & Nick Woerner who was at farm with his dad Donnie Woerner both

from Tremont. It was a little cold that day at the farm but everyone had a great day rabbit hunting!

Harry’s middle son, Scott, inside the cabin holding a few rabbits killed that day.

The rabbits were split up and cooked byeveryone who was there that day!

Peewee the rabbit dog.

Harry & Cathy displaying the

beautiful quilt madeby good friend DebbiePark. Plus she signedand dated the quilt…

That is so cool!Thanks so much

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love it!

Thanks to Bob Park, ASO writer, friend & Deb’s husband for making this beautiful hand-tooled holster for Harry’s 9mm.

He will carry it proudly!

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ured I was easy pickins. You would think a company

you have been with for such along time could reduce yourcharge but not so. Just beware ofthose so called good guys thatvalue your business. Verizon willnot be my carrier in the future. Ifyou are getting new service con-sider another carrier, it probablywill save you money. And becareful when you travel usingyour phone for internet service itcan cost you tons of money.Goodbye Verizon!!!

The choice for a new IDNRdirector has been made. WayneRosenthall from the Litchfieldarea has been appointed and whatI know about him is he is a prettygood choice. I would of liked tohave Brent Manning as newDirector. I know he would havebeen a super choice but due to alot of personal reasons he puthimself out of the mix. Brent wasand could be again one of the bestdirectors the state ever had. But Irespect his decision and Wayne isthe next best choice.

The IDNR has been gutted andit will be on a rebuilding curvefor some time. It is about time wehave a Governor who cares aboutbringing out the full potential of

available. Rick Gebhardt andhis wife Maritza went with us.She is originally from Columbiaand speaks Spanish. No problemswith crime or drug cartels it wasjust a great time.

The only hitch that I had waswhen you go on vacation toMexico or anywhere is be sure toleave your phone at home. Youknow when you use your phoneinternet to get details on a topic.We were watching a movie andwanted to get the some dates onan actor’s life. Well I accessed theinfo on my phone and did not getit turned off the right way.

When we got back I had aphone bill for $613!! I calledVerizon which is like findingOsama Bin Laden to get the rightperson to talk to. I had in myopinion some of the most unqual-ified people you could ask for toget the charge reduced for mymistake. I talked to 6 peoplebefore they told me you have topay. They knocked off $200 withreluctance. I will end my Verizonphone service as soon as I can. Ihave spent thousands of dollarsfor their service for over 20 years.They were not only rude but fig-

not just the IDNR but the wholestate. He will for sure shakethings up and that is more thanthe last clown did.

One of the nicest sport shows Ihave attended this year was inBloomington last month at TheInterstate Center, Central IllinoisFin and Feather. Larry & FayeAndris know how to put on a verynice show. While I was there I raninto Chad Hunziker who raisesdeer. (HunzikersDeerScent.com)He had two buckand one doe ondisplay, not forjust the kids butfor all to see andfeed. Here is apicture of mewith the onlydeer I got closeto this year.Chad will be atthe CentralIllinois OutdoorExpo February13-14 down inArthur. Find himat Tinley Park

TALES… Cont’d. from pg. 5 show February the 7-8 and theElmwood Outdoor show onMarch 7-8.

Cathy & I will be at the HenryDecoy Show Sun Feb. 8, then atthe Arthur show on Fri Feb. 13.ASO will host booth #601 at theDeer & Turkey Expo at PrairieCapital Convention Center indowntown Springfield. Find a $3coupon off admission to the showon pg 17. See a complete list oflocal shows on page 24.

Not a lot goingon right now butI do think I willtry to shoot a fewcoyotes down atthe farm. Keepsupporting ourreturning veter-ans.

Be safe outthere…

Keep yourPowder Dry andyour Worm Wet!

Harry

We’ll See You at the Central Illinois Outdoor ExpoFebruary 13-14 • Arthur, IL

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NEEDEDBy Don Higgins

In the near future Governor Bruce Raunerwill take over the reins of Illinois governmentand hopefully bring the kind of change manyof the state’s residents have waited too long tosee. One of the first things he will do isappoint people to various positions on hisstaff. Of great interest to Illinois sportsmenwill be the appointment of a new DNR direc-tor.

I remember very well the appointment ofMarc Miller as DNR director by GovernorPat Quinn. I was privileged to be invited to ameeting at DNR headquarters during the firstfew weeks of Millers tenure. Illinois WhitetailAlliance president Kevin Chapman was alsopresent at that meeting. The purpose of themeeting was to discuss the late-winter antler-less seasons which IDNR was looking to

pens to be in a political position with pres-sures the rest of us will never fully understand.Like many of us, Director Miller has a boss.To some degree he has to do what his bosstells him. While he will long be known as theDNR director who let the deer herd fall apartunder his watch, Miller really did nothingmore to make that happen than the directorswho came right before him. He simply leftthe management of the states deer herd to ateam of biologists who proved over and overagain that they are in over their heads andtotally clueless regarding solid whitetail man-agement on a statewide level as well as in deal-ing with the public.

When Governor Rauner names his newIDNR director that person will also face thesame question that Director Miller facedwhen he took over that position; will he (orshe) continue to allow the same team of biol-ogists to manage Illinois deer herd? How thatquestion is answered will likely set the tone forhis/her legacy. It will also instantly set the tonefor how the public views their new IDNRdirector.

All one has to do is get on any website dis-cussion forum where the topic of the man-agement of Illinois deer herd is being dis-cussed and it becomes very clear that the pub-lic has lost all trust in the biologists who havebeen managing the states deer herd for thepast 20+ years. Not only are many Illinoisdeer hunters disgusted with the condition ofIllinois deer herd, they are also disgusted withthe biologists managing it. To leave any ofthose individuals in their current positionsputs the new director in a precarious position.

expand. Those of us representing Illinois deerhunters at that meeting were offering sensibleproposals regarding the antlerless season andcontrolling an expanding deer herd in a waythat was more beneficial to the herd while alsooffering quality recreation opportunities forIllinois deer hunters.

As the meeting wound down one could lit-erally see the anguish on Director Millers face.He had no argument to counter any of ourproposals and yet he had a team of biologistswanting to go in a totally different direction.He was going to have to make a decision andit was clearly going to be a tough one for him.I left that meeting knowing that this one deci-sion would set the tone for Miller’s entiretenure as leader of IDNR. He would eitherfollow the common sense plan laid before himby his constituents or he would give the ball tohis biologist and let them control the game forhis entire time as head of IDNR. He chose thelatter and under his watch the wheels fell offthe bus that is the Illinois deer herd.

To be fair, I honestly believe that MarcMiller is a very decent human being who hap-

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The public is likely to cut the new directorsome slack and give him some time to rightthe ship if he is willing to come in and cleanhouse. Sticking with the same old individualswill make the lights shine brighter and themagnifying glass more intense as every moveregarding deer management is closely scruti-nized.

Let’s be clear that I am not suggesting any-one be “fired”. Instead a “reassignment ofduties” would be in order, but that’s not mycall. Leaving even one of the current “white-tail management team” in place would lessenthe public’s trust in the new IDNR directorand destroy their hope that positive changesare coming. These biologists have had theirchance and all they did was turn the bestwhitetail herd on the planet into a patheticmess. When a cancer surgeon removes atumor he doesn’t leave part of it behind. Heremoves it all.

With my finger firmly on the pulse ofIllinois deer hunters I can confidently say thatthey don’t really care “who” Governor Raunerplaces in charge of IDNR. Instead they aremuch more concerned with how that persondeals with the whitetail biologists in charge ofthe states deer herd. How that one question isanswered will not only set the tone for howthe new director is viewed by Illinois deerhunters but also in how they view GovernorRauner. Many of them voted for “shaking upSpringfield”, now they want to see it start withthe whitetail biologists working at IDNR.

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What is quickly becoming one of the area’s topwinter events, the Fourth Annual Central IllinoisOutdoor Expo will be held Friday, February 13 andSaturday, February 14. The venue for the show willbe the Otto Center located on County Line Roadone quarter mile south of downtown Arthur.

The 4th Annual Expo will have a full list of ven-dors ranging from hunting, fishing, archery andtaxidermy to hiking, camping, boating, bird calls,lures, generators, and chainsaws as well as infor-mation on conservation of our natural resources.The list of vendors has grown each year and 2015is no exception with over seventy coming to exhib-it at the show. If you and your family like to spendtime in the great outdoors then the Outdoor Expowill be a great way to preview all the latest equip-ment and information to help you do just that.

Seminars will be held both days of the event byarea outdoor experts. Jim Crowley, NorthAmerican fishing expert, will be in on Saturday forone of his entertaining and informative seminars. Dave Shadow, champion fisherman and popularoutdoors writer, will be on hand both days to talkabout hunting, fishing and the great outdooropportunities we have here in central Illinois.Seminars on deer hunting by Illinois Whitetail

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Alliance with Kevin Chapman (sponsored byKitchen Seeds) will be open to Expo attendees aswill talks by experts from the Illinois Departmentof Natural Resources (IDNR) and Buck Brush. Alsoon hand will be experienced dog handlers from TheQuail Shed to talk about training and upland gamehunting.

Sponsors and organizers are excited about thereturn of exotic animals from Maple Lane WildlifeFarms from Topeka, Indiana to the expo this year.They will again have live animal displays which this

year will fea-ture new ani-mals such as abull elk, grizzlybear, two alli-gators, ringtailed lemurs,spider mon-keys, bluemacaw and anexotic speciesof sheep calledthe Aoudadwhich is nativeto NorthAfrica. Thepopular whitetiger willreturn as well.The exhibit is agreat additionto this familyfriendly event.

Each daythere will benumerous giveaways as well as door prizes sup-plied by event vendors and others. Millrich CustomGraphics will be on hand selling souvenir T-shirtsfor the Expo plus food will be available on site atthe exhibition. On Friday and Saturday both, therewill be a grand prize drawing for a $250 Cabela’sgift card.

“We still have a few spots open for exhibitors,”according to one of the event organizers, JamesAikman. You can obtain more information on theevent sponsored by the Arthur Association ofCommerce by visiting www.arthuroutdoorexpo.com or you can call Millrich Outdoors at 217-543-3848.

The Central Illinois Outdoor Expo will open atnoon on Friday, February 13 and continue until 8pm that evening. Saturday, February 14 the hoursfor the Exposition are from 8 am until 4 pm. There

is a $5 admission fee for adults. Kids 13 years oldand younger are admitted free of charge. A shut-tle will be available only on Saturday, February 14from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. leaving from theArthur Welcome Center located at 106 E. ProgressStreet in downtown Arthur.

This year’s sponsors The Arthur AreaAssociation of Commerce, Arthur Area EconomicDevelopment Corporation, Country Shoe Shop,Hupy and Abraham, Millrich Outdoors LLC, KitchenSeed Company, Otto’s Canvas Service, IllinoisWhitetail Alliance, the State Bank of Arthur, Tri-County Welding and Millrich Custom Graphicsinvite you to come out and experience the greatoutdoors in the Arthur area for a weekend of win-ter fun for the family.

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012_001.qxd 1/24/15 9:48 PM Page 1


From the Desk of:

Rich Pearson,

ISRA Executive Director

financially. It will take time and money to rebuild the ID-NR. Let's make sure Director Rosenthal gets all the supporthe needs.

We have added a new class to the ISRA Academy whichis very exciting. This class is an Emergency Medical Re-sponse Course for Range Safety Officers and Instructors. Itwill count for continuing education for NRA and EMT cer-tification. The first class is scheduled for March 15th at ournew Range Clubhouse in Bonfield. Watch the ISRA calen-dar for updates.

Like you, I have been watching the recent attacks inFrance. It seems incredible to me that our Political Leadercan't see that this is a war on western civilization. What hastaken place in France coincides with what I have been talk-ing about in the previously.

1. This is a jihadist war on western civilization that will befought here. Here is wherever you are - France, Australia,Canada, Russia, and the United States, or wherever you arein the world. This war will be fought among us. We will beinvolved in it and so will your loved ones. It is not ourchoice; it is the jihadist's choice and we can't avoid it.

2. We need to be prepared to defend ourselves and ourloved ones. No one will arrive in time to save us

3. I am constantly urging you to get training; now I findthat to be more important than ever. The Muslim Jihadistsin France were certainly trained. I am sure other attacks wereperpetrated by jihadists with training. The ji-hadists already have the advantage of surprise.We should get some level of training to giveourselves a better chance of survival.

4. It is obvious the jihadists are ready toboth kill and die. They have no intention ofcoming out alive and want to take as many

isra.orgJOIN TODAY!

OR GIVE AN ISRA MEMBERSHIP TO FRIENDS &

FAMILY!

See ASO-TV Sat. Feb. 28,

5:30pm on PBS station

WTVP, Ch. 47!See previousepisodes at

asomagazine.comClick on

“VIDEOS”.

I just returned from the annual Shooting, Hunting andOutdoor Trade Show (SHOT SHOW) in Las Vegas. Ifound a lot of new products that are or will be availablesoon. I hope to report on some of those items in upcomingmonths.

Governor Rauner has made several appointments to ad-ministrative positions. One of those is the new Director ofthe Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). Gov-ernor Rauner selected State Representative Wayne Rosen-thal for the Director position. Wayne Rosenthal is an out-standing selection for this position. Aside from being a StateRepresentative, Director Rosenthal is a retired F-16 pilotand retired Brigadier General from the Illinois Air NationalGuard. He is an avid outdoorsman and a proud SecondAmendment supporter.

Director Rosenthal will have his work cut out for him.The IDNR was once in the top five such organizations inthe country. The problem is that for the last 14 years the ID-NR has been gutted both in the personnel department and

other people with them as they can. Governments who treatthese attacks as a crime problem get us all in trouble. This isa war.

The French are poster children for the lack of prepared-ness. Private gun ownership is different in France. There isa small group of hunters who are even having trouble keep-ing their guns. The French and the rest of the world need toforget their gun prohibitionist views and allow their citizensto defend themselves. In the meantime, let's make every ef-fort to see that our Second Amendment rights are secure.

The recent spectacle of Secretary of State John Kerry andJames Taylor crooning "You've Got a Friend" to Frenchpeople has led me to the conclusion that the U.S. State De-partment must be the largest single employer of village id-iots anywhere.

Illinois Gun Owner Lobby Day (IGOLD) to be held onWed. March 18, 2015 at 10am at the Prairie Capital Con-vention Center, off 9th St. in downtown Springfield. Planon being there! Ride a bus or drive your auto. Bus scheduleand more details are available on our IGOLD web: igold.is-ra.org

The Illinois State Rifle Association Academy is pleased toannounce the 2015 educational opportunities for those in-terested in improving their shooting knowledge and skills.

The number of classes offered will be expanded during

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New Mossberg Guns For 2015: The Big 5 by Hilary DyerMossberg introduced what it’s calling ‘The Big 5” new guns last night at the 2015 SHOT Show. With more than 116 new SKUs for this

year, Mossberg’s been busy innovating and putting out plenty of new options for today’s hunter.

The Mossberg Big 5:1. Mossberg Patriot Bolt-Action: A new bolt-action rifle

with classic styling and modern features, the Patriot comes in11 calibers — including, a Mossberg first, the .375 Ruger. Fea-tures include a box magazine, Lightning Bolt Action (LBA) ad-justable trigger, fluted barrel, a spiral fluted bolt, streamlinedbolt handles, a classic stock shape and four stock finish options(walnut, laminate, black synthetic or Break-Up Infinity camo).You’ll find the Mossberg Patriot on dealer shelves around the$350 mark, a bargain by any measure. Certain models are alsoavailable with a Vortex scope for $450 to $500.

2. Blaze Rimfire: Mossberg’s newest rimfire autoloader uti-lizes a polymer barrel to bring the weight of the gun down to 3to 3 ½ pounds. It’s just a good old reliable American-maderimfire. Features include a 25-round mag, available barrel-mounted Picatinny rail attachment, and options such as ban-tam stocks for youth, a holographic-style green dot, and a fewreally cool camo patterns — Muddy Girl, Wildfire Camo andKryptek Highlander.

3. Blaze-47 Rimfire: If you’ve ever wanted a .22 AK-47lookalike, Mossberg has got your answer with the Blaze-47.It’s built on the Blaze rimfire rifle but with AK-style features.Stock options include adjustable or fixed synthetic and fixed-LOP wood. Comes with your choice of 25- or 10-round mag-azine.

4. Four New MVP Lines: Four new MVP lines are comingout this year: The MVP-LC (light chassis) with Magpul stock,P-Mag and MOE pistol grip; the MVP LR (long range) and

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5. Mossberg500 Series Left-Handed: Water-fowlers rejoice:Mossberg is in-troducing 15different SKUsof left-handedshotguns, a firstfor the compa-ny. You can nowget a variety of500, FLEX 500,590 and 590A1shotguns in left-handed models.


the year. All classes and updates will beon our website www.isra.org. Please visitthe education and calendar section of thewebsite.

2015 Illinois Indoor Classes: Women on Target classes held at the

Chillicothe Sportsman’s Club are amongour most popular and designed for thosewith little or no experience.

Sat. February 7th Pistol Class in Chilli-cothe

Sat. March 7th Pistol Class in Chilli-cothe

Our Firearms Maintenance classes havebeen very popular. These classes do not re-quire shooting but include assembly anddis-assembly, operation and cleaning.These classes include the AR-15, AK47,Mosin-Nagant and the SKS.

AR15 Classes:Sat. February 21st Bonfield Sat. March 21st Bonfield AK47, SKS, and Mosin-Nagant Class:

Wed. February 25th Interested in any ISRA Academy cours-

es?Please contact the ISRA office at (815)

635-3198 for more information.MORE DETAILS ON CLASSES ON

THE BACK COVER OF THIS EDI-TION OF ASO!

ISRA… Cont’d. from previous pg.

014_001.qxd 1/25/15 11:30 PM Page 1

PEORIA: ON ASLIPPERY SLOPE?

Born here in 1932 I guess I have asgood a picture of Peoria, Illinois, thedeath of our downtown, and the cur-rent phase we are in as any other oldcitizen. When I turned 50 in 1982 Peo-ria had already concluded its disap-pearing act. I witnessed these changesbut I can tell you at the time we justthought it was some kind of progress,you know, “Out with the old in withthe new.” I mean even in the late1940’s we saw a few very old busi-nesses close, some businesses, hotelsand other buildings we grew up withjust disappear, some damn near overnight.

In the beginning as we stood aroundwatching wrecking balls tear some oldplace down the question was always

the same. “I wonder what they are go-ing to put in there?” By the end of1951 the answer was pretty damn clearto most of us and that was “Nothing.”I thought I would walk among thedowntown streets and see if I can getyou to understand what I mean.

First let’s slip back to 1937 becauseafter a lot of study I think 1937 showedPeoria at what would appear to beamong our best and typical years. Itended to exclude the war years here intown with all the transients and wartime production and overall madness.1937 in Peoria was a stable period, ourjob situation was solid, great schooland library systems and vice, gam-bling, prostitution and serious crimeseemed to be well within acceptableparameters.

The city was moving north a bit evenbeyond El Vista which was the firstsizeable addition with new houses be-ing built all over the area and we had adistinct feeling of growing as a cityand county. The City of Peoria was awhopping 12.28 square miles and ourdowntown was thriving with an in-credible array of shopping opportuni-ties. We had 258 taverns, saloons, bars,dumps and dives and many of themwere located in local neighborhoods.To battle the saloons were 102 church-es, adequate high schools and 24,000active telephones in our homes and lifewas good.

Nine movie theatersentertained us, withthe Armory and theShrine and dozens ofhalls and entertain-ment places frompool halls to bowlingalleys. Peoria was thecenter of all this activ-ity and our downtownstreets were crowdedand places to spendyour money wereendless. We had 8 ma-jor hotels, and 13 oth-ers that were goodand always full. Andthe final count was 48with a ton of othersmaller places wherea guy would not wantto plan his vacationaround…if you getmy meaning. Theriverfront welcomedthousands and ourparks were fun placesto be. Peoria wascalled “The PlaceWhere Land and Wa-

ter Meet.” Our Peoria was a conven-tion city with a bawdy reputation and atown that welcomed its visitors.

The truth is WW2 was good to Peo-ria and considered a major libertytown. The sad news was that of the22,010 young people that went off towar 662 of them never came backhome.

THE FITIESBy early 1950 there were a lot of old

buildings that had been razed, but therewere very few Peorians who were notglad to see most of them go. Hell,many of them had been vacant foryears. People would gather behind thefences and watch these dirty old placesfall into a pile of dust. “Sidewalk En-gineers” we were called but the onebuilding that stopped old kids like mewas the fact that on Jan 5, 1952 the oldColumbia Theater bit the dust. It wastruly a pretty filthy place but for all ofus Western fans it was just fine for us.

We paid anywhere from four centsto nine cents to get into the place andthe long narrow, kinda smelly placewas okay by us.

There was a massive crowd, proba-bly older members of Harry Canter-bury’s family as well, when they beganto tear down the Stockyards Hotel.Now this was a place of fine foodwhere the rich and the ordinary folksrubbed elbows. I forgot the date but it

was around the time when there was ahorrendous fire in a Pekin Distillerycausing total destruction: you know Ithink it was in August. Next was TheSouthern Hotel at 2125 Washingtonthat became a hole in the ground. Thistoo was a meeting place for all thestockyard buying and selling peopleand it looked like a giant era in Peo-ria’s history was coming to an end.That date was February 10, 1955.

Some group from Chicago boughtthe Mayer Hotel, we wondered whatthat meant. The Crown Hotel at Jeffer-son and Hamilton gets the axe on Feb-ruary 29, 1956 and another longtimelandmark in downtown Peoria the Mil-ner Hotel at 214 N. Adams is now apile of rubble. But a huge explosion inWest Peoria soon takes the headlinesinjuring seven people and flattening afew buildings.

Now on March 24, 1957 SheridanVillage opened up and it is my opinionthat the opening of the ‘Village’ wasreally the very day we can point to thattruly started the end of downtown Peo-ria, Illinois.

In 1958 The YMCA at 6th andFranklin was torn down and on March31, 1958 the beloved Apollo Theaterclosed, but we still have remnants ofthat building and the balcony remainsopen to this day. ABC, a washing ma-chine company that employed a lot of



by Norman V. Kelly

CIGCA GUN SHOWFeb. 21 & 22, 2015

www.cigca.netCIGCA hosts 4 shows a year for buying,

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COME TO THE GUN SHOW at the FAIRGROUNDS in NEW BERLIN, IL

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015_001.qxd 1/26/15 12:00 AM Page 1

Call Predatorswith your

Smartphoneby Mark Olis

Extreme Dimen-sion’s iHunt wirelessBluetooth speakerand the iHunt byRuger App allow youto use your smartphone as the controller for more than 600 sounds from 46species. Once you sync the iHunt speaker with your phone you can down-load the iHunt app for free.

The app breaks calls down to specific species. So if you want to call coy-otes, you simply tap the coyote selection and scroll through dozens ofsounds — including coyote vocalization and prey-distress sounds.

The speaker will work wirelessly up to 100 yards from your location anddoesn’t require cell service to work. The speaker runs on four C batteries

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PEORIA… Cont’d. from previous pg.

local people closed in East Peoriaand moved to Michigan. In 1959 twobad storms came to Peoria, one was amassive snow storm and the other wassomething called ‘Meter Maids.’

City planners always had their eyeon West Peoria: however those folksvoted 298 to 76 to stay out of the city.We also went after the Heights, Bar-tonville and Averyville. After a legalbattle we annexed Averyville. The lastfew days of 1959 the tearing down ofthe oldest hotel in Peoria began: TheCrescent Hotel was on her way to thetrash can.

During this time Peoria had somegood things happen like the opening ofthe Murray Baker Bridge and the GlenOak Towers but for us older folks oureyes seemed to be fixated on our dis-

appearing downtown more than itsgrowth in other parts of the city.

Anyway Downtown Peoria was‘gone’ as far as we were concerned.However I am among the long list ofwitnesses to the fact that many areas ofthe old city were basically just a groupof old, worthless buildings. Too damnbad we could not have saved some ofthem but for what purpose? I can tellyou the answer is simple. It all boileddown to money, taxes and the totallack of interest in preserving them. Or-ganizations did save a few of them ac-tually, but it was because of privatemoney, certainly not the tax payer’sdollar.

Editor’s Note: Norm is a regularcontributor to ASO, and is a local His-torian and Author. Many of his storiesare online. [email protected]

IL Trappers Association Veterans Outreach Banquet

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Tickets are $45 per person$80 per couple

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016_001.qxd 1/26/15 12:59 AM Page 1


93-year-old Herrin man kills deer with bowby Chris Hottensen

Bruno Delai wanted one more deer.The 93-year-old lifelong Herrin resident, who has bowhunted every year since 1957 — the first Illinois

deer hunting season — wondered if he had shot his last deer three years ago."I said, 'Here I am 93. I would like to kill one more deer. I would like to kill a deer before I go,” Delai

said.With the lease on his usual hunting grounds sold, he was forced to find other places to hunt the last

three years, but didn't have any luck.This year, his friend David Lee Meneese drove him within 10 feet of a deer blind on his Stiritz property.With his walker, Delai made his way from the four wheeler to the deer blind that he calls his "hut" and

late in the day Nov. 10, three years of hunting frustration came to an end for Delai.Just before 5 p.m., a doe surprised him, appearing seemingly out of nowhere from a direction Delai did-

n’t expect a deer to come.“I was looking down a trail and my eye caught this little flicker and I turned and there she was,” Delaisaid. “That excited me a little bit because it was so quick.”

The World War II veteran was able to pivot and sight in the 150-pound doe with his crossbow.After Delai set free his arrow, the deer lowered her head like she was about to jolt, causing the arrow

to hit the deer in the side instead of the chest. The deer ran andDelai called Meneese to help him look for it.

With darkness falling, they couldn’t track it down until thenext morning when Meneese located the doe not more than 50yards away from where it had been shot.

The recipient of five silver medals in World War II said he was“excited” about tagging a deer after coming up empty the pastthree years, but the significance of that day went beyond whathappened in a woods in a Stiritz.Not only did the man who served in five different campaigns dur-ing World War II find the deer on Veterans Day, but it was alsohis anniversary and the day his wife died six years ago.

Seeming almost ho-hum when talking about his deer, Delaibecame deeply emotional when speaking about his wife, OliveJean.

His moistened eyes drifted away and he seemed lost in a seaof memories he shared with the woman he was married to for 63years.

"It's just like it was yesterday. She was a wonderful person,"Delai said. "There's a lot of wonderful women, a lot of goodwomen, but she was the best. There was not another one like herno place. I miss her everyday."

Bruno and Olive Jean, who were married Nov. 11, 1945 — 11days after he returned home from World War II, raised two boysand two girls together in Herrin.

Bruno, who has lived long enough to enjoy his seven grand-children and seven great-grandchildren, said his healthy life mayhave a lot to do with genes passed down from his parents.

But he also suggested that two glasses of wine, three goodmeals, a beer once in a while and "special coffee" that hisdaughter makes hasn't hurt either.

"He still drives. He lives alone. He does most of his cooking,"his daughter Donna Moore said. "He is a rather fascinating gen-tleman."

Traveling to Jamaica each of the last six years, he continuesto lead an active lifestyle building birdhouses, working in hisgarage and mowing what he calls his "North 40."

He also has no plans to give up deer hunting and this timenext year will once again be in the woods looking for one moredeer.

"I like to go, and if nothing happens next year I'll have a goodplace to go. I got to go as long as my health is good," Delai said.

Thanks to Chris Hottensen of The Southern Illinoisan, (email: [email protected]) for allowing ASO toprint this story on Bruno Delai. Find more great news at: TheSouthern.com

Bruno Delai, 93, of

Herrin poseswith his

Novembercrossbow

kill taken inWilliamson

County.!

(Photo provided by

Bruno Delai)

017_001.qxd 1/22/15 1:59 AM Page 1


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Every now and then I comeacross an outdoor product that per-forms exactly the way it is adver-tised, increases my odds of successand is built to work and last formany seasons in the field. Such itis with the TRAVELING TOWER(TT) mobile hunting stand.

Ever see a field that would be aperfect spot to hunt but there wasno practical cover options? Everset up your gear and then realizeall the action was in the next clear-ing? Never again will you havethose kinds of problems. TravelingTower is a hunting tower you cantake anywhere. This hunting standfolds down and attaches to yourATV, UTV or Pickup. It will goanywhere you can go.!

Drive to your spot and effortless-ly raise the tower to get straight tobusiness. With the option to stakethe TRAVELING TOWER into theground, you can pull your ATV,UTV or Pickup away for all oftheir other uses. You have multiple

camouflaging options so as far aswildlife is concerned you are just atree.

The TRAVELING TOWER isbuilt with electrolyzed powder-coated steel. That means you, afriend, and all your gear can sit atan 11 to14-foot observation heightor higher with our new extensionkit.

My experience is simple and Iwill start off by telling you thephotos in this article do not do thisproduct justice. You MUST visittheir website to see all the amazingvideo which shows not only toplace and use the tower, but alsohow you load it onto you truck fortransporting it between locations.I have never seen such a versatileand handy way to get an elevatedhunting position where tree standsare just not feasible.

I have used my TT in Mississip-pi River swamps, CRP fields,creek bottoms and in places wherethere are trees, but none of which

TRAVELING TOWER SUCCESS

BY MIKE ROUXwww.MikeRoux.com

are stand worthy. Now Iwould like to take just aminute to add a greatamount of value to the TT.

Last year I set my TT upon my Missouri lease in aspot where I could not finda good tree for a stand. Igot it up a few weeks beforethe season and as I scout theday prior to the openerthere were deer tracks 10-yards from the tower. Ikilled a doe from the TTwith my late Father-In-Law’s M1 Garand, whichyou read about last month.Good friend Mike Hamskigot his hands on a nice buckin front of the stand, aswell.

If you can increase yourreturn on investment withany product you purchasethen you come out wayahead. Because this toweris totally, 100% mobile andportable let me share withyou some of the other uses Ihave found for this remark-able tool.

First of all there are lotsof places where I do uselock-on tree stands. I am58-years old and I weighover 275-pounds. Placinglock-on stands is not onlydifficult for me but alsosomewhat dangerous. I usemy TT as a work platformto make the stand-hangingprocess much quicker andmuch safer. I can put everything Iwill need for the job on the plat-form before I raise it. When I getup there the job is virtually effort-less.

I have used my TT to trim treelimbs in my yard and to change

high light bulbs on my porch. Iused it to put up my Christmaslights last month. My neighbourused it as a scaffold to paint hishouse. My son’s friend used it toput square hay bales in his barnloft. The number of uses for the

The TRAVELING TOWER attaches toyour ATV and can be placed

anywhere it can go. (Photos by Mike Roux)

018_001.qxd 1/22/15 1:59 PM Page 1

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TT is as varied as your needs andyour imagination.I am going to hold off any fur-

ther descriptions or uses to a min-imum to leave room for somephotos in this article. I cannotstress to you enough how impor-tant it is for you to see the videoson their website, www.taveling-tower.com. This tower is not forevery hunter in every situation butif you get one of these it willchange your deer hunting forever.Those of you reading this that aredeer hunting outfitters, having theflexibility that a couple of thesetowers can give your operationcan make the difference in creat-ing very happy hunters and returnbusiness.

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Missouri deer hunter Mike Hamski knows

the value of the TRAVELING TOWER. (Photo by Mike Roux)

ASO friend BruceBrown’s daughter

Aryn spent a month inFrance last fall. She

got to stay in Picasso'shouse (it's a long

story…ask Bruce!).Aryn took this fabulousphoto…capturing thatrainbow! She is a greatphotographer, just likeher father! Find him

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019_001.qxd 1/22/15 1:57 PM Page 1

The MeanderingMurray’s

By Bob Murray


GIVE THE REAL THING

It is February and we are in the dol-drums of activity in the woods on thewater, or given the addition of drones, evenin the air. So unless you have a trip plannedto warmer climes to take advantage ofmaybe some tropical endeavor, the biggestthing you have to look forward to thismonth is most likely Valentine’s Day.

Regardless of your age or particular orpeculiar taste in mates, everyone can have aValentine. I am here to lobby for givinghearts to your Valentine but I am going forthe real thing. No trussed up box of choco-lates that will be cursed for the thousandsof calories that exist in those evil littlebrown pleated beds. The buggers rest intheir little pockets just waiting for a bitethen a sigh that is followed by the rolling ofthe eyes into the back of the head to be

then hurriedly gobbled up in a flash ofimpatience, then followed by yet anotherand another. That is when you are cursedbut it is just the begining. This act isrepeated until that Two Pound FannieMae wonder is a memory that will onlyexist on the bathroom scale and the tapemeasure. YOU! You and your lack ofimagination cast the die for your near termfuture. It ain't good!

I will include flowers in my equation.Cut, and nicely arranged in a cut glassvase, highlighted with greens and baby’sbreath and created with something moreoriginal than plain old roses. Talk to theflorist about what your Valentine likes andthey will help you. More practically checkwith the grocery store clerk that just tookthat bouquet out of a box and stuck it in

the bucket that you found it in. Hey it isthe thought that counts. Right?

I won't include sexy unmentionables forI am not sure what relationship you actual-ly have with your V'tine, so anything inthat category I will defer to your goodjudgement.

Now we'll get down the "real heart" ofthe matter with the agreement that a din-ner out is a great idea at which time youpresent your V'tine with a dinner invita-tion to your place at which time you aregoing cook a wonderful meal that includeseither hunted or purchased hearts. Now pighearts are out cause they use them fortransplants, but beef and lamb should beavailable at a nearby processing house, orspecial ordered from your supermarket.

I would prefer the use of something thatyou have harvested i.e. deer, elk, moose andso on. It's too late if you are a small gamehunter to collect a number of Pheasant,quail, or rabbit hearts but you can thinkabout them for next year. It'll take quite abit of collecting and freezing to get enoughfor a meal but it would be worth the effort.

I had a friend years ago that saved heartsfrom a number of hunts and I'll tell you atwelve pack of your favorite beverage and abowl of deep fried hearts and a bottle ofLouisiana Gold makes a great afternoonparty.(He owned a hunting preserve)

But, we're talking dinner here and whatI am about to present to you can be uni-versally done to any large animal heart. Ofcourse a small white tail may need to be

done as a set of two or three whereas an elkwill certainly stand alone. You have tomake the quantity call before you start, andfigure out the size portions you want toserve. A good sized heart should serve 4.

You know that like anything game, it hasto be cleaned. Trim any fat, sinew and anyblood collected in the chambers and washwell under cool water. I like to soak mygame in milk before I cook it so I don't seewhy I wouldn't do it here. Soak it any-where from 4 hours to overnight. Whatyou'll need to make this underappreciateddish is as follows:1 Deer, cow or two calf hearts1 Med. onion chopped2 Celery ribs chopped1 Med to lg carrot chopped3 Cups bread crumbs2 Tablespoons veg. or olive oil4 Tablespoons butter (margarine if youinsist)1 or 2 Cloves garlic minced2 Cups water with 2 beef cubes or the samequantity of stock or broth.To taste Salt and pepper (I use Creole sea-soning) Lawry’s can add to flavor. Cut back on thesalt if you use either.3 Bacon strips1/2 Cup decent red wine. (never cookingwine...something you'd drink)

Remove heart from milk, rinse and dryvery well. Season with salt and pepper.Heat oil in a Dutch oven or oven friendlycoverable pan, and brown the heart on all

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sides over med high heat, remove to a plateand set aside.

Cook the vegetables in the same oil and addsome of the butter if it has gotten dry. Startwith the carrot and cook it for a couple min-utes then add the rest and cook until theonions are translucent. Now melt the butterin the veggies, then add the bread crumbs andstir all together. At this point you want it to beabout the texture of wet sand so either addmore butter if dry and more crumbs if it's toowet. When you get it right remove from heatand let cool till you can stuff the heart withoutthird degree burns.

Put stuffed heart back the pan and coverwith bacon strips. Cover with lid. Put in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about an hour oruntil the heart can be pierced with the tip of asharp knife. When it is done, remove to aplate and cover loosely with aluminum foiland remove bacon grease from the pan.

Put the cooking pan on a burner and turnto a medium heat. Add the red wine andscrape the bottom to get all the goodies loose.Then add the broth and simmer for about 5-6 minutes. (If you want a thickened gravy in-stead of an au jus, before you add the winemelt two tablespoons of butter with two ta-blespoons of flour and stir those together thenadd the wine, stock etc.) Slice the heart andserve with the gravy, mashed tatters, yourV'tines favorite veggie, and chocolate coveredstrawberries for dessert. You're a hero.

Keep it clean out there Spring is almost up-on [email protected]

021_001.qxd 1/25/15 2:39 AM Page 1


Feb 10• F inal day of raccoon and opossumhunting seasons, north zone

Feb 14• ‘Super Saturdays’ children’s eventon the Underground Railroad at theIllinois State Museum, Spring field.Museum.state.il.us/events

Feb 15• F inal day of rabbit hunting season,statewide• F inal day of squirrel hunting season,statewide• F inal day of extended mink andmuskrat trapping season, north andsouth zones• F inal day of raccoon and opossumhunting seasons, south zone

Feb 20-22• IDNR Booth at Illinois Deer andTurkey Expo, Prairie CapitalConvention Center, Spring fieldDeerinfo.com/illinois

FEB.2015

CALENDAROF EVENTSFor more info:

dnr.illinois.gov

Feb 6-7• Children’s Overnight Camp atIllinois State Museum, Spring field,Museum.state.il.us/events

Feb 7• Eagle Day Festival, Dickson MoundsMuseum, Lewistown, 9 am–4 pmMuseum.state.il.us/events

Feb 7-8• IDNR Booth at Tinley Park F ishingand Show, Tinleyparkfishingshow.com

Feb 9• Deadline to apply for 3rd lottery forSpring Wild Turkey hunting permitsdnr.illinois.gov/hunting/turkey

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Feb 22• Birds of a Feather program, CacheRiver Wetlands Center, Cypress, IL,2 p.m., phone 618-657-2064 formore information

Feb 27-March 1• IDNR Booth at ‘The Boat Show’,Illinois State Fairgrounds,Spring field, Theboatshowinspring field.com/

Feb 28• Crow hunting season ends,statewide• Waterfowl Birding Tour, MermetLake State F ish and Wildlife Area, 9 a.m., phone 618-657-2064 formore infor

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Illinois DeerHuntersHarvest

PreliminaryTotal of 145,804

Deer during2014-2015Seasons.

Deer HuntingSeasons Closed

January 18. SPRINGFIELD – Hunters in Illinois

harvested a preliminary total of 145,804deer during all 2014-15 seasons, whichconcluded Jan. 18. The total preliminarydeer harvest for all seasons of 145,804compares with a total harvest for allseasons of 148,614 in 2013-14. 2014season is down by 2810 fewer deerkilled. During this year’s deer seasons,hunters took 47 percent does and 53percent males.

A breakdown of Illinois deer huntingseasons are as follows:

*Archery: Archery deer hunters inIllinois took a preliminary total of56,083 deer during the archery seasonQuail & Pheasant HuntingQuail & Pheasant Hunting

022_001.qxd 1/25/15 4:12 AM Page 1


(Oct. 1, 2014-Jan. 18, 2015), compared with the archery deer harvest of 57,364 in the 2013-14 archery sea-son.

*Youth: Young deer hunters harvested 2,768 deer during the 2014 Illinois Youth Deer Season (Oct. 11-13,2014), compared with 3,016 deer in 2013.

*Traditional Firearm Season: Hunters took a preliminary total of 76,729 deer during the 2014 IllinoisFirearm Deer Season (Nov. 21-23 and Dec. 4-7, 2014), compared with 74,318 taken during the 2013 season.

*Muzzleloader: Hunters using muzzleloading rifles harvested 3,478 deer during the 2014 Muzzleloader-On-ly Deer Season (Dec. 12-14, 2014), compared with 3,536 in 2013.

*Late-Winter Seasons: The 2014-15 Late-Winter Antlerless Only and Special CWD deer seasons concludedon Jan. 18, with a combined preliminary harvest total for both seasons of 6,746 deer, compared with a harvestof 10,380 deer taken during those seasons in 2013-14. Season dates for the Late-Winter and CWD seasonswere Jan. 1-4, and 16-18, 2015.

With the addition of Will County this year, 12 northern Illinois counties were open to the Special CWDSeason, compared to 11 in 2013-14. The Special CWD season is used to assist in slowing the spread of chron-ic wasting disease in the Illinois deer herd.

Twenty fewer counties were open for the Late Winter Antlerless Season in 2014 because they had reacheddeer population goals. The number of open counties went from 55 to 35 this year. Counties that are at or be-low their individual goal for two consecutive years may be removed from the late-winter season.

Preliminary county harvest totals for all the 2014-15 Illinois deer seasons are included.

023_001.qxd 1/25/15 4:09 AM Page 1


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024_001.qxd 1/25/15 1:09 PM Page 1


Since the hunting seasons are winding down incentral Illinois it’s time to get out to some fishing,boating, and outdoor sports shows. This is thetime to prepare for the upcoming fishing seasons.They will be here before you know it! Some of theguys are ice fishing now with some fine results. Iused to do this with some regularity but it seems

that age or something reduced my desire to set inthe cold for a few small fish. Besides it takes metoo long to cut a hole in the ice big enough for mytwenty-foot Ranger boat. (I’m spoiled!)

It’s always fun to see the “new and improved”gadgets and innovations in gear and tackle. Theboats get bigger, shinier, and glittery every year.The engines have more horsepower and better fu-el economy. The rods get more sensitive and thereels get smoother according to the manufactur-er’s reps.

The many lure innovations include a few newideas and a bunch of “makeovers” of items fromthe past. Go to these shows with an open mind(and an open pocketbook) and it’s possible to finditems and ideas that will make you a better fisher-men. It’s also possible to spend a bunch for verylittle return. Attend as many of the seminars aspossible. These are a good place to pick up newideas. The shows are a great place to spend theday but sticking to the basics will catch more fishthan will new gadgets.

Before you venture out to the shows get out yourexisting gear and tackle and do some testing andmaintenance on it. First, you’ll probably find thatyou’ve already got more lures and terminal tacklethat you can possibly use in the next few years.The items to look at closely are the guides on yourrods, the rod finish, and especially the reels. Rodguides get cracks in them that are hard to see andpose no problem when casting normally. Thesecracks are devastating when the rod is put understress from a large fish and the line is pulled

across the crack in the ceramic insert. It will cutthe line like a razor.

Use a cotton swab and clean each guide thor-oughly. If you can see tiny bits of cotton clinging inthe guides, they are cracked. Either replace theguides or the rod before it costs you a big fish. Ex-amine the rod blank and the reel seat for cracks,wear or water damage.

Using the manual that came with each reel (I’msure you still have them) and check the surfaceswhere the line contacts each reel for cracksand/or wear. Then disassemble, clean, oil, and re-assemble each one checking for rough bearings orbroken parts. In lieu of doing this yourself, takethem down to Ken @ Dels Rod and Reel @ Neogafor a pro job. Since the reels have so many moremoving parts they are of more concern and re-quire regular maintenance. You may find thatsome of your older reels are better built than someof the newer stuff.

If you find the necessity to replace some gear orsimply want to add a few, consider the quality aswell as the fancy features on each. Unfortunatelyquality and price do not travel equally when itcomes to fishing gear. I’ve always thought that ifsomeone were to remove all the name tags andprice tags from a bunch or rods and reels; Thengive us our picks of a few of each, I suspect thatwe would pick just as many $35 dollar rods orreels as we would $250 dollar models. Name asso-ciation and shiny finish sometimes clouds our se-lection processes.

My primary theory on buying fishing gear is to

buy the best quality that you can afford. I wouldmuch rather have two decent quality rod/reelcombinations that a dozen of the “low-end” mod-els. Many times the more expensive rods have su-perior quality guides and this is important. How-ever another rod may also have the same guidesand rod blank without the “big name” or the sig-nature of a pro angler inscribed upon it at muchless cost. Do a little research before buying.

Conversely, the “low end” equipment is seldoma good choice. Very inexpensive rods and reels areusually just a source of frustration. That is, if youintend to actually use it rather than just hang it onthe garage wall. The “low-end” models will simplynot stand the rigors of repeated casting and re-trieving required for most game fishing activities.

UPCOMING SHOWS:• S t Lo u i s R V Va c a t i o n , T ra v e l s h o w ,

J an 29-Feb 1, www.stlrv.com• S o . I l l i n o i s B o a t / f i s h i n g S h ow , M a r i o n ,

J an 29-Feb 1• C e n t ra l I l l i n o i s O ut d o o r E x p o , A r t h u r ,

Ot to Center, Feb 13-15• Il l inois Deer and Turkey Expo, Spring fie ld,

Feb 20-22• The Boat Show, Spring fie ld, I l l inois State

Fairg rounds, Feb 27-Mar 1• St Louis Boat Show, Mar: 4-8

Lots of others, but these are the closest to me.See ASO magazine for others.

See you at the shows or soon on the water!It’s Faith, Family, and Fishin

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025_001.qxd 1/26/15 7:59 PM Page 1


Last year Rod hosted eight hunters at hisplace and they killed 14 birds. The onlyperson that didn’t succeed was a bowhunter who had 4 opportunities. I guessyou could say his opportunity factor was200%.

Turkey populations are on rise. This lastdeer season while hunting I observed a lotmore birds than in the past. Maybe thedryer weather we have been experiencinghave helped the broods------whatever it isthere’s just too many turkeys!!!

Experience a successful turkey hunt thisseason with a 2 bird limit (over the count-er tags) be sure and give Rod a call!!

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With most seasons over or windingdown, there is no better time to start plan-ning for a successful spring turkey huntthan right now. If your one of those whoseem to wind up short each season maybeit’s about time to change things up a littlethis year.

To be successful you should probably begood and be lucky and be in the rightplace. You can be good and lucky and Isuppose that counts for something butodds aren’t in your favor if there are not tomany birds around.

This brings me to the point of this arti-cle. If you’re looking for a place with TOOMANY TURKEYS and close to 100%

chance tonot onlyget onebird but

two, then you should give Rod Simmer acall in NE Kansas. I have been going outthere for around ten years and I have neverfailed to kill my limit of two birds and thatis with archery gear.

026_001.qxd 1/25/15 3:49 PM Page 1


In Missouri, when people say they’re go-ing to the lake, they’re usually referring toLake of the Ozarks. This famed body ofwater is unquestionably one of the truegems of the Show Me State, and a great ex-ample of its fine multi-species fishing.LOZ is one of Missouri’s biggest family va-cation destinations, and it’s also a summer-time party hot spot, but we’ll explore itshot year round fishing opportunities.

BLACK BASSThe lake’s bass fishing rates good for

both numbers and big fish. Largemouthbass make up the majority of the catch forour team guides in most areas, but spotted

bass are also abundant. When fish are ac-tive, it’s hard to beat a big spinnerbait, butcranks and topwaters also take bass whenfished quickly to trigger reaction strikes.When the action slows down, bass in aneutral or negative feeding mode will re-spond better to jigs, as well as Texas andCarolina rigged soft plastics with bulkycraw tubes and freakbaits some of the best.Look to cover for the lake’s big bass.Docks, laydowns, stumps, and rocks willhold these fish. The best spots have a shal-low water shelf, flat, or gradually taperingshoreline, with sharper drop off to deepwater nearby. Cont’d. on next pg.

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PANFISH Crappie and bluegill are another big

draw for anglers. The lake produces num-bers of good sized crappies, and big bluegillwill hold the interest of young children andexperienced anglers alike. One of the mostpreferred methods for taking these feistypanfish is to rig a small panfish tube on a1/32 to 1/8 ounce tube jig. This bait is usu-ally suspended under a small float. The rigis slowly dragged over and along rockybanks, flats and points with wood cover.

TEMPERATE BASSLinesides are another big draw to LOZ.

The lake has populations of stripers andwhite bass to provide feverish action. It’snot uncommon to catch several hundred ofthese beautiful, hard fighting bruisers in aday. Many times, when we get on top ofsome big schools of these pelagic fish, we’llcatch a fish on every single cast, sometimesdozens of times in a row! One cast mayproduce a scrappy white bass while the nextcast can yield a big striper. What’s more, isthat largemouth bass, spots, walleyes and

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027_001.qxd 1/22/15 5:28 PM Page 1


Lake of the Ozarks holds the Missouri statehybrid striper record that weighed in atover 20 pounds! Pound for pound, they’resome of the hardest fighting fish in fresh-water.

Stripers and whites can be taken on a va-riety of presentations throughout the year.These fish roam around the lake a lot andthey feed almost exclusively on baitfish, solure choices should revolve around baitfishimitations. Spinners, spoons, jigs andbladebaits take lots of fish all year round.Crankbaits, minnowbaits and surface lureshave times when they excel for these fish.

OTHER SPECIESCatfishing is one of the lake’s oldest pas-

times. LOZ is truly a world class cat fish-ery, offering blue cats, flatheads, and chan-nels of enormous proportions and lots ofthem. Snagging for spoonbill during theseason is another big draw for big fish. Thelake has coughed up the state recordmuskie, over 41 pounds, the state recorddrum, over 40 pounds, and some pigwalleyes over 30 inches!

GET OUT THEREIt’s easy to see that Lake of the Ozarks is

a fantastic fishery in more ways one. An-glers interested in booking a guided fishing

other species will mix in with the temperatebass species and feed with them! At times,it’s almost like saltwater fishing, as younever really know what you’ll catch next.

trip to Lake of the Ozarkswith a top Colby SimmsOutdoors Team StaffGu ide c an con t ac t us at MO Office: 573-358-5948 or IL Office: 618-521-0526e m a i l c o l b y s i m m [email protected] our web site atw w w . C o l b y S i m m s Outdoors.com or Likeand message us at www.facebook.com/ColbySimmsSportFishingPro andw w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / C o l b y S i m m sOutdoors for fishing and outdoor sportsnews and information. Of course, the onlyreal mistake that any of us can make, is nottaking the time, the time to disconnect,from this overly connected and fast pacedsociety of today, and get out into God’s

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COLBY SIMMS is a multiple-time bass & muskie tournament champion &multiple-time circuit championship title holder, a record holding fishing guide,award winning national network TV personality, popular radio personality, afamous international public speaker, and an internationally renowned awardwinning writer. He’s Founder & Owner of the Colby Simms Outdoors group

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OZARKS… Cont’d. from previous pg.

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028_001.qxd 1/22/15 5:27 PM Page 1


I N M E M O R I A M :CLIFF “BUBBA” ELWELL

1971-2015

by Bob ParkAt the writing of this month’s article, I

was planning to dole out some hints andtechniques for over-winter fishing reelmaintenance. But between last month andthis month’s deadline, we lost a very goodfriend of the ASO family. At the writing ofthis article, Cliff Elwell, or as we all knewhim, and he preferred to be called, “Bubba”passed away a few days ago and he will besorely missed by a great many of thosewhom he touched with his generosity,knowledge of all things outdoors, and espe-cially his friendship!

My wife Deb’s and my relationship withBubba started a number of years ago whenwe walked into Pekin’s Dragon Dome toan outdoor show where Bubba had set up abooth for his “Eagle Eye Taxidermy” busi-ness. I had with me a 150 class WhitetailDeer scull I wanted scored and he made mean offer to clean and preserve the trophythat I couldn’t refuse, and that old deer stillhangs proudly displayed over my fireplace

to this day. Since then I have had three more bucks

mounted by Bubba and especially the pairof bucks I harvested in 2007. That year wasthe 50th anniversary of licensed deer hunt-ing in Illinois and also the season of my50th birthday. I was fortunate to harvest avery nice 9 Point 140 class buck with mybow and 10 days later another nice 10Point 130 class buck with my shotgun.Two exceptional bucks from my familyfarm in Knox County and expertly mount-ed by Bubba! Since then he also mountedanother 150 class 14 pointer I shot duringfirearm season in 2011. Every time I lookat these beautiful mounts in my home, Iwill have fond memories of my dear friend.

Bubba’s connection to us didn’t only re-volve around deer hunting, as we also en-joyed many hunts afield during dove sea-sons past, as well as more than a few springmushroom hunts. Fishing was also not on-ly a big part of my life, but brought myfriend and me even closer together on morethan a few trips to local lakes.

Bubba helped me to come up with sever-al of the more than 70 patterns of spinner-baits my company Raptor Premium Spin-nerbaits produces and we even named onefor him, “Bubba Shad!” I recall a day notlong ago just after I purchased my RangerCherokee bass boat. On its maiden voyage, Cont’d. on next pg.

Bubba and I had the day of our lives aboardthe new vessel. We caught more and biggerBass than either one of us had ever seen inone fishing trip in our lives, including apair of 7-8 Lb Largemouth Bass caught andproudly released by me and a beautiful 5-6Lb Walleye caught and proudly eaten byBubba!

All of which were caught on RaptorSpinnerbait patterns we were testing thatday! The photos of those fish are a proudpart of my personal album and the memo-ry of that trip of a lifetime is forever etchedin my memory and the story will be fondlyshared with anyone willing to listen. Butour fishing trips also included my wifeDeb, and the time we three were fishing ona Sunday morning. I called in an “On TheWater” fishing report to the “RednoseGang Radio” program that morning a cou-ple years ago. During that report, Debhooked, caught and Bubba helped her landher largest Bass to date and all was done onthe air live! He was a bit upset that she hadoutfished him that day on “his” lake andeventually calmed down when I told himshe always outfishes any of the guys who wefish with, me included!

Bubba also made a guest appearance onthe radio program in studio one day talkingTaxidermy and bear hunting. I’ll never for-

Bubbalast yearwith uson Lake

Michigan

029_001.qxd 1/22/15 7:36 PM Page 1


wife Deb will have a Very SpecialGuardian Angel looking over us in our fu-ture days afloat and afield. God bless youand keep you old friend. ~Bob Park

bear that laid down to take a nap at thebase of his tree just before dark andstranded him up in the stand until thebruin decided to leave and he could safelyget down and back to camp!

These stories came from some of hismany trips to Canada each spring insearch of Black Bears. Bubba also fre-quented lake Michigan with us severaltimes over the years and caught some ofthe largest Steelhead Trout and KingSalmon of his life, and was present whenDeb landed a nearly 20 Lb Steely that ismounted and hanging on our wall todayas well! And by the way, she outfished sev-eral of us guys on that trip too!

And I can’t begin to count the numbersof Crappie and Bluegills we also caught,cleaned and ate with our good friend overthe years. This year’s trip to Lake Michi-gan will also include a moment of silentprayer followed by a rousing toast to ourdeparted fishing partner somewhere in themiddle of the Big Lake!

Bubba also touched our lives in a multi-tude of ways that will never be able to bereplaced… he was our outboard motorand lawn equipment mechanic…our part-ner in cutting and splitting firewood eachwinter, a welcome visitor in our home formeals and social gatherings, and hisbeloved Yellow Lab, “Mikka” was also asbig a part of our family as was he!

Sunday the 4th of January was the lasttime I was to see my friend and brother in

arms at our annual Post Holi-day gathering of friends inour home in GermantownHills where we exchangedgifts and ate some really greatfood and drink with all ourfriends. I did speak with himon the phone a couple moretimes planning outings tocome and just touching basechecking on him as he was be-ginning to come down withthe flu that this winter hasbrought us. But after severaldays of being unable to con-tact him, I got the news thathe had passed. Deb’s and mylives have been foreverchanged. Our “little brother”has been called home! It’s all10 lb bass and 10 Pointbucks, full limits of doves andcrappies for him from nowon…

Any one and Everyone whohad the pleasure of meetingand getting to know this won-derful man and good friendwill sorely miss him and allour lives have become a littleless special without him in

BUBBA… Cont’d. from previous pg.

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Bubba caught this Steelhead afew years back. We all had a

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Bubba & Deb on a morning before we all hit the water fishing.

Bubba with a nice 4 pounder

get the look on Norman Kelly’s face whenBubba shared a Bear hunting tale about abruin that tried to climb the ladder of thetree stand he was hunting from! Or the

them from this day on! Rest in peace, Brother and know that I

for one will never be the same from nowon. But I know in my heart that I and my

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Hunters harvest 11,000+deer during alternativemethods portion of MO

deer seasonb y J o e J e re k

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Depart-ment of Conservation (MDC) reports that huntersharvested 11,025 deer during the AlternativeMethods portion of the 2014 deer hunting season,which ran Dec. 20-30. Top harvest counties wereOregon with 269, Franklin with 248, and Howellwith 244. The total harvest for last year's Alterna-tive Methods portion was 11,967.

For 2014 harvest totals by county and seasonportion, and for past season totals, visit the MDCwebsite at mdc.mo.gov/node/29442.

This season's deer hunting continues witharchery hunting through Jan. 15 and the firearmslate youth weekend Jan. 3-4.

The alternative methods portion replaced themuzzleloader portion of firearms deer season in2012. Hunters are allowed to use muzzle-loadingfirearms, center-fire pistols, air-powered guns,bows, crossbows, or atlatls during the alternative-methods hunt.

Conservation makes Missouri a great place to

hunt deer for about 520,000 hunters. Deer hunt-ing is also an important economic driver in Mis-souri. It supports more than 12,000 jobs andgives a $1 billion annual boost to state and localeconomies. Many businesses rely on deer huntingas a significant source of revenue, such as meatprocessors, taxidermists, hotels, restaurants,sporting goods stores, and others.

For more on Missouri deer hunting, go online tomdc.mo.gov.

White-Tailed Doe. Photo by Noppadol Paothong,

Courtesy MDC.

APPLY ONLINE FOR MDC SPRING MANAGED TURKEY HUNTS

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri youth, archery, and firearms turkeyhunters can apply online for managed hunts during the 2015 spring turkeyseason beginning Jan. 9 to Feb. 28 through the Missouri Department of

C o n s e r v a t i o n(MDC) website atmdc.mo.gov/node/11252. Managedhunt details and ap-plication proceduresare outlined on thewebpage. Applica-tion results will beavailable beginningMarch 13.

Spring turkeyhunting youth week-end will be April 11- 12 with the regularPair of Wild Turkeys

Photo by Noppadol Paothong, Courtesy MDC.

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MDC researchers started a five-yearstudy in northeast Missouri to bettermanage our valuable wild turkey popu-lation. Staff captured 260 turkeys inPutnam, Schuyler, Monroe, and Mari-on counties to radio track the birdsthroughout the year to determine sur-vival rates and nesting success.

FEBRUARYWorking with the U.S. Dept of Agri-

culture, conservation groups, agricul-ture organizations and landowners, theDept continued to lead the battleagainst feral hogs. Last year more than1,400 feral hogs were removed fromMissouri's landscape.

MARCHThe 4 trout parks were stocked with

more than 30,000 keeper-size trout foropening day.

Paddlefish snaggers found a bumpercrop of big "spoonbills" in the OsageRiver, Lake of the Ozarks, TrumanLake, and Lake Taneycomo thanks to arecord stocking of more than a quarterof a million paddlefish from MDC'sBlind Pony Hatchery in 2008 and anadditional 145,000 stocked in 2007.These 2 strong year classes will contin-ue to provide superb fishing over thenext few years.

Mo hosted the first-ever white-taileddeer summit meeting March 3-6 at BigCedar Lodge near Branson. The meet-

ing brought more than 200 hunters,landowners, wildlife managers, andhunting-industry representatives fromthe U.S. and Canada.

MDC received calls from all over thestate about fish kills in large and smalllakes and ponds. After looking into thereports, biologists concluded that thewidespread problem was the result ofan unusually cold winter.

Mo Stream Team celebrated 25 yearsof a citizen movement that now hasmore than 85,000 volunteers workingto protect and improve Mo streams.

The 6th annual Mo NationalArchery in the Schools Program tour-nament at Tan-Tar-A Resort March28-29 turned into a record-fest inwhich the state record score fell and fellagain, and again. The tournamentbrought together nearly 1,267 contest-ants in grades 4-12 from 81 schools totest their skills with bow and arrow.Eighth-grader Joe Wilder of St. Petersset a new tournament record by scoring295 points out of 300 possible. Thenext day Hunter Berry, a 12th-graderfrom Sarcoxie, nudged it up anothernotch to 296. Lee's Summit HighSchool Freshman Shelby Winslow hadthe last word when she raised the bar to297 points, just two points shy of theworld record.

APRILYoung hunters checked 4,332

turkeys during Missouri's youth turkeyhunting season, topping the 4,000mark for the second time in the youthseason's 14-year history.The MCC voted to reduce the numberof firearms antlerless deer permits that ahunter may fill in all or part of 59 coun-ties. It also reduced the availability ofantlerless permits to two in all or part ofanother 19 counties.

Working with the Iowa DNR andThe Nature Conservancy, greaterprairie chickens were trapped in Ne-braska and released at The Nature Con-servancy's Dunn Ranch and Dept'sPawnee Prairie in Harrison Co. Biolo-gists reported good numbers of boom-ing prairie chickens at the Wah KonTah Prairie release site in St. Clair andCedar counties.

MAYMo turkey hunters enjoyed another

successful season and checked 43,273turkeys during the regular spring turkey

spring season running April 20 -May 10.

Detailed information onspring turkey hunting will beavailable in MDC’s 2015 SpringTurkey Hunting Regulationsand Information booklet avail-able online at mdc.mo.gov inlate January with printed book-lets available from permit ven-dors and MDC offices and na-ture centers around the state be-ginning in mid-February.

Conservation makes Missouria great place to turkey hunt. Tolearn more, go online tom d c . m o . g o v / h u n t i n g -trapping/turkey-hunting.

TURKEY…Cont’d. from previous pg. 2014 Missouri

Conservation NewsBy Jim Low

Nature lovers found much to cele-brate in 2014 and continued to expandthe frontiers of conservation in theShow-Me State. Here is a brief summa-ry of the year's top outdoor news sto-ries.

JANUARYThe second-largest archery deer har-

vest in Mo history (50,507) pushed thefinal tally for the 2013-2014 huntingseason to 252,574.Hunters donated 227,358 pounds ofvenison to needy Missourians duringthe 2013-2014 hunting season. That isenough for more than 600,000 meals.

032_001.qxd 1/22/15 9:52 PM Page 1


season, the third annual increase in a row.The MDC continued trapping black

bears for the 4th year, placing radio track-ing collars on dozens of bears to learnmore about their habits and populationdynamics. Resource Scientist JeffBeringer estimates the Show-Me State'sbear population at 300. Learn moreabout the Missouri Black Bear Project atfwrc.msstate.edu/carnivore/mo_bear/

JUNEThe Conservation Commission

approved regulation changes regardingthe regulation of hunting preserves anddeer-breeding facilities in an effort toreduce the risk of fatal diseases to thestate's free-ranging deer herd and captivedeer.

MDC invited hunters and other Moresidents with an interest in white-taileddeer to express their opinions about deermanagement at 14 open house meetingsaround the state in June and July. Allinfo. gathered will be used to developfuture deer hunting regulations and thestatewide deer management plan.

JULYA citizen alerted state conservation and

agriculture officials to an emerald ashborer infestation in St. Charles County. Itwas the destructive insect's first knowninfestation in the St. Louis area.

AUGUSTMDC waterfowl biologists announced

that duck-hunting prospects wereextremely bright, with mallard numberstopping 10 million and blue-winged tealnumbers at a record 8.5 million.

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Boning Steaks, Roast, Ground Deer Other Sausages: Summer Sausage, Snack Sticks, Bratwurst, Bologna, Jerky, Cheese Snack Sticks 1524 S. Main • Red Bud, IL • 618-282-3334 • [email protected]

(We participate in Illinois Sportsmen Against Hunger)

elk at Peck Ranch and Current RiverConservation Areas continued to grow asa tourist draw for the Ozarks, especially inthe fall when bull elk bugle as part of theirmating ritual. MDC estimates theMissouri elk herd has grown to morethan 120 animals.

MDC & DU hosted a dedication cer-emony to celebrate the completion of amulti-year renovation project at DuckCreek Conservation Area in Bollinger,Stoddard, and Wayne counties. Theproject was part of the GoldenAnniversary Wetlands Initiative launchedin 2004 to revitalize managed wetlandprojects constructed in the mid-20th cen-tury.

The Conservation Commissionapproved regulations regarding the oper-ation of hunting preserves and wildlifebreeding facilities that hold captive deer.

Hunters checked 5,691 turkeys duringMissouri's fall firearms turkey season Oct.1-31.

Working with conservation partnersand private landowners MDC reintro-duced Topeka shiners to the SpringCreek watershed in northeast Mo. Thissmall prairie minnow was once commonin Mo and is designated as a federally

endangered species.

NOVEMBERBuilding on a strong opening weekend

harvest, Mo hunters checked 167,205deer during firearms deer season Nov. 15-25. The number exceeds last year's har-vest of 157,273. Top harvest countieswere Howell with 3,418 deer checked,Franklin with 3,338, and Texas with3,170.

DECEMBERThe MDC started a 5-year study in

NW & So Cent Mo on white-tailed deerto determine the impact of large-scalehabitat changes, hunting pressure, move-ment patterns, and survival rates. MDCstaff are working with landowners to cap-ture and fit deer with radio collars.Information from the study will help staffbetter manage our state's valuable deerherd.

Hunters checked 9,107 deer during theantlerless portion of Missouri's firearmsdeer season, bringing this year's tally tomore than 240,000. Remaining portionsinclude alternative-methods portion Dec.20-30 and the late youth portion Jan. 3-4.

A Colorado man pleaded guilty to ille-gally trafficking paddlefish caviarobtained in Warsaw in 2012. The casewas part of an undercover investigationcalled "Operation Roadhouse" led byU.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and MDC.To date, 240 out of 256 state chargeshave been completed against numerousindividuals with over $61,000 in finesand court costs levied. The fine moneywent to the school districts in the countieswhere the violations were committed.

MDC released alligator gar reared at itsChesapeake Hatchery in Mt Vernon in acontinuing effort to restore the species atMingo National Wildlife Refuge andother parts of southeast Mo.

SEPTEMBERMissouri's Sept. 1 opening of dove sea-

son fell on the Labor Day weekend, draw-ing larger than usual crowds of hunters atmore than 100 conservation areas withfields specially managed for dove habitat.

MDC released a small-game huntingforecast showing quail, pheasant, andsquirrel numbers increasing and rabbitslikely to follow the trend. Results of theannual wild-turkey brood survey showeda poult-to-hen ratio 26 percent greaterthan the previous 10-year average.

MDC offered a new application formobile devices that lets hunters andanglers buy permits and view permitspurchased during the previous yearThis year, Mo hatcheries stocked morethan 1.5 million trout in trout parks,Ozark streams, and winter fishing lakes.

OCTOBERSelf-guided driving tours to view wild

033_001.qxd 1/22/15 9:58 PM Page 1


ly,” he said. Black walnut, cedar, andlarge grapevines are other favorite woodshe puts under the knife.

Competitions soon caught Jack’s eye.He entered the International Woodcarv-ing Show in Davenport, Iowa in 1980and 1981, and won first place both yearswith his relief carvings. In 1981 he tookthe Marples Tool Company PurchaseAward. His life size carving of an Indianmaiden now stands in the entryway of thecompany’s headquarters in Sheffield,England. His life size turkey carving wonfirst in Silver Dollar City in 1990. Thesame year, Burrus took first in the Na-tional Wild Turkey Federation’s OverallPresentation for Turkey Calls.

Today, wild turkey carvings, and thoseof small characters, especially cowboys,are the most popular items which Jackproduces. He used to sell some of hisitems through large businesses like BassPro, but soon found it disappointing. “Ilost contact with my pieces when some-one else sold the larger carvings,” he com-mented. “I poured much of myself intothe carvings, so I want to know who buysthem. That allows me to keep up with thepieces and possibly sell other works to theowners.”

Burrus is an accomplished turkeyhunter. While visiting his shop, I foundmyself pulled back to the turkey carvings,

his lifetime toserve in the U.S.Army. Vietnamproved a bit dif-ferent than thelaid back lifestyleBurrus had beenaccustomed to inShannon County.Upon returninghome in 1968, hevowed to neverleave Eminenceagain.

Jack soon re-turned to the stavemill. In 1969, hemarried Betty,and they settledinto a lifestyle inthe country thatmost people canonly dream of. Hetook employmentwith the NationalPark Service in1979 and re-mained there untilhis retirement.

“I have neverhad any formal training in woodcarving,”Burrus began. “I carried a pocket knifewith me everywhere I went. Whittling ona stick seemed the thing to do.”

Jack, no doubt, found whittling a satis-fying and productive experience. He soongraduated into whittling knives, spears,and bows. He credits his advancement incarving to Shannon Ennis. “Shannongave me a small set of carving tools in1969. I still have it. Those tools allowedme to be more creative.”

Burrus soon began to tackle more chal-lenging woodcarving projects. His first

attempt at carvinga large piece pro-duced a 3 foot tallHillbilly man. Hestill proudly dis-plays the piece inhis studio along-side many of hisaward winning fig-ures.

A local craftshow in Eminenceintroduced Jack tothe possibilities ofmaking moneyfrom his abilitieswith carving tools.Small woodentools and figurinesof owls, Indians,and Hillbilly char-acters became thestaple of his goodssold primarily tovisiting tourists.

Burrus preferswhite walnut,commonly knownin the Ozarks asbutternut, for

most of his carving needs. “Butternut is amedium hard wood with a texture suitedto carving. Too, it finishes out beautiful-

CARVINGTURKEYCALLS

& MOREb y B i l l C o o p e r

Jack Burrus is a wood carving junkie.The tall, mild mannered, retired Bur-

rus lives just east of Eminence on Hwy106 with his lovely wife of 38 years, Bet-ty. Their charming, rustic home doublesas a studio for Jack’s intriquing works ofwoodcarving art. A majestic Bald Eaglegraces the top of a post in the front yardto mark the location of the shop. A tow-ering bear carving held the premier spotuntil its head rolled off after almost adecade of slowing passersby to take a gan-der at the amazing carving. Many thenstopped in to take a look at Jack’s offer-ings.

Burrus is one of the few fortunate’s inthe world who found his calling very ear-ly in life and stuck with it. Having beenborn and reared in Shannon County puthim in the midst of the wooded Ozarksfrom his beginnings. His father managedIndependent Stave Company in Emi-nence. Upon graduating high school, Jackworked at the stave mill for three years,but not without incident. He worked as asaw filer and Millwright. Filing dozens ofsaw blades and keeping the mill works inoperational order required hard work andrisky chores. He lost a thumb in theprocess.

Burrus left his Eminence home once in

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034_001.qxd 1/26/15 1:34 AM Page 1


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be they full bodied or relief. The detail ineach brought the birds to life right beforemy eyes. I noticed that every last carvingof a turkey sported a monster beard. Up-on quizzing him about the out-sizedbeards, Burrus lead me to his personalbeard board. “See any little beards?” hechuckled. He proved to be a normalturkey hunter.

Burrus’s carved turkey calls are cre-ations of functional art. Although each isa gorgeous work of art, each one is a func-tional turkey call as well. However, I amnot sure I would want to use such collec-tor’s items on a turkey hunt. Maybe once.

Turkey calls of every sort, size andshape adorn Burrus’s shop. The six footlong call that doubles as a bench would fitany serious turkey hunter’s décor. Reluc-tantly, I asked if that call should be usedto bring in the big ones. Burrus carefully

lifted the paddle shaped lid and slowlybegan to grate it across the lip of thegigantic box call. “No, it is a bull frogcall,” he said, with a sly grin spreadingacross his face. “Varoomph, vaa-

roooomph,” echoed through the studio.Can’t imagine the yams on that frog!

Jack’s favorite piece, he did for Betty.The beautifully sculptured male Indian,complete with buffalo robe and head-dress, stands proudly in their livingroom. The butternut from which the In-dian is made, holds a special place in Bet-ty’s heart as well. A large butternut hadfallen across the Current River just belowPulltight. He gained permission from theNational park Service to cut the tree. “I eased that big white walnut down intomy boat only to discover that its weightraised my boat motor completely out ofthe water,” Burrus related. “Some passingcanoers helped me load the log into mypickup truck.”

Even if you can’t afford to drop severalthousand dollars for a life size carving ofan Indian warrior riding on a horse, do

Hamm’s TavernHome to Generations of Hunters & Fishermen

Located on Rt. 100Near Anderson Lake Conservation Area

Serving Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner! 7 Days a Week • Open 12noon on Sun.

New Owners: Donnie Hamm & Geno Saal Call: 309-759-4100

stop buy Burrus’s Woodcarving Shop,just a couple miles West on Hwy 106out of Eminence. He has added a newfront door to the woodcarving shop. Itfeatures a Bald Eagle with wingsspread as it is alighting in a tree carryinga rainbow trout in its talons. Too, a life-size head of a magnificent 200-classwhitetail deer now hangs in Byler’sRestaurant in downtown Eminence.

Every turkey hunter worth his feathersshould own at least one of Jack Burrus’sturkey calls to honor both the wild turkey

and the wild turkey carver.

Jack Burrus may be reached at 573-226-3229. There are other woodcarvers and craftsmen in Emi-nence. For more information contactMayor Jim Anderson at Shady LaneCabins: www.ShadyLaneCabins.com.

See you at the Central Illinois Outdoor Expo Feb. 13 & 14 • Arthur, IL

035_001.qxd 1/26/15 1:33 AM Page 1


185-year-old gatorkilled in Mississippi?Brian Broom, Clarion-Ledger

The internet is truly one of the greatestinventions of our time. You can learn how tochange a cam sensor on a BMW. You can watchWeird Al videos over and over. You can even payyour taxes and do all your Christmas shoppingfrom your of fice desk when you're supposed tobe working.

While those are all great features, I think theinternet's entertainment value is right at thetop. A prime example is a story I ran acrosstoday about some Mississippi hunters whokilled a 185-year-old alligator - and the peoplewho believe it.

According to the World News Daily Report, a185-year-old alligator weighing 910 poundswas killed in November in Mississippi. What ismore sensational is that 9 musket balls fromthe American Civil War era were found buried inits hide. The assumption is that the lizard,when he was just a youngster, was used for tar-get practice by Confederate troops.

Just for your daily history lesson, this alliga-tor, if 185 years old, would have been born inthe spring of Andrew Jackson's first year aspresident. Coincidentally, the story says thehunters were from Jackson, which was namedaf ter President Jackson.

As the Outdoors editor for The Clarion-Ledger, a few tiny red flags popped up.

"Tarantula Eg gs Found Living Inside Patient'sBrain Af ter Trip to Guatemala"?

World News Daily Report's self-descriptionshouldn't raise any eyebrows, either. "World

News Dai ly Report is an American JewishZionist newspaper based in Tel Aviv and dedi-cated on covering biblical archaeology newsand other mysteries around the Globe. OurNews Team is composed of award winningchristian, Muslim and Jewish journalists,retired Mossad agents and veterans of theIsraeli Armed Forces."

Even so, the story has gone viral and hascommentors cursing and arguing over the man-ufactured harvest.

To me, the 185-year-old alligator story andits popularity points out a variety of things,but the most glaring is that I need to change myarticle content in the future.

Oh, and sure to buy a copy of The Clarion-Ledger Outdoors this Sunday. You don't want tomiss, "Big foot family caught eating a blackpanther in Pascagoula Wildlife ManagementArea: MDWFP mulls charges."

Contact Brian Broom at (601) 961-7225 orbbroom@j ackson.gannett.com. Fol low TheClarion-Ledger Outdoors on Facebook and@BrianBroom on Twitter.

The first item that made me slightly suspi-cious is that alligators only live 60 years or so.At least that's what Ive been told by biologists.Another was the fact that the article was post-ed in November, but alligator season closed inSeptember. Yet another is the fact that thephoto was of a gator harvested in 2012 and Ihave a copy of it in a file on my desktop.

I realize that not everyone is an outdoorseditor. I also understand that folks who are nothunters, particularly those that are nothunters in the southeast portion of the UnitedStates, might not be very skeptical of thisstory.

With that, I can see how folks would believeit. I mean who wouldn't trust a news source

with headlines l ike"Man's Genitals StolenDuring Trip ToThailand," and

Henry Decoy Show Sun., Feb. 8th 8am-2pm

Thanks for Photo by ASO friend Bruce Brown!

Henry High

SchoolHenry Decoy Show Sun., Feb. 8th 8am-2pm

036_001.qxd 1/26/15 1:47 AM Page 1

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always been a successful program generat-ing revenue for the work of NWTF. It ismy estimate that over the quarter of a cen-tury we have produced about a half a mil-lion dollars in net revenue for the organiza-tion. In addition we have involved a lot ofyoung people encouraging their involve-ment in outdoor activities.

The reason for canceling the fund raiseris simply the fact that no one is willing totake over the organization chairmanship.Most attendees at the event have no idea ofthe time the committee members committo the program. The chairmanship is an in-tense assignment demanding hours ofwork.The chairman is expected to arrange all ofthe committee meetings. After agreementof the date and site the chairman makes allof arrangements for the event including or-dering food supplies, ordering merchandisefrom NWTF, contacting local businessesfor support, accepting and storing mer-chandise, lining up volunteers to set up thebanquet hall,

The local chapter has been chaired thepast three years by a dedicated husbandand wife team that have devoted untoldhours to assure a successful program. Bothof them have full time jobs and like most ofus they have family commitments as well.Prior to taking on the chair position the lo-cal chapter was chaired one year by a localbusinessman. He found the demands onhis time really impacted his time availableto run his intense business. Before that afully committed turkey hunter and hisfamily ran the program. Matter of fact hewas the organizer of the local chapter.


THE THE MORNING MORNING

IS MINEIS MINEBy: Wayne Baughmanw e d a n c e 2 @ p i ke n e t . n e t

For More Information Call:(217) 868-2950

Or Write To:P.O. Box 1371 • Effingham, IL 62401

www.anthonyacres.com

On Beautiful Lake Sara

• Fishing• Water Sports• Golf• Family Fun• Reunions• Business Meetings• New Rooms

Anthony Acres on Lake Sara hasGreat Fishing forLargemouth Bass,

Channel Cat, Crappie, Bluegill,

White Bass & Walleye!

Wild Turkey Federation will not sponsor abanquet this spring.

The annual event held early each year has

Again the time demands just overwhelmedhim.

I have been involved with the local chap-ter 21 years, serving as the promotionspokesman. In addition like the other com-mittee members I have solicited supportfrom local businesses and encouraged indi-viduals to get involved. I have no regrets forthe time devoted to the organization butlike the other committee members justhave to much going on to take on thechairman task.

Now on a more positive note. Jeff Foiles,owner of Foiles Migrators is moving hisbusiness back into Pike County. A coupleof years ago Jeff closed his operation on thenorth side of Pittsfield and moved to theSt. Charles area to be closer to some of ma-jor duck clubs that are in that area.

The decision to move back to our area isthe fact that the bulk of his business is nowdone on the internet. I would guess that hisbusiness costs can be reduced substantiallysince the St. Charles area is an expensivearea to operate in.

He has purchased an old building at thejunction of US. Route 54 and Route 96.The building has stood for over a centuryserving as a general store, a snack shop andan antique store. Matter of fact way backwhen it was general store it was owned andoperated by my first wife’s grandfather.

I did a story on Jeff quite some time backtelling how he developed an acrylic duckcall from the handle of an old screw driver.The stable nature of the material thatwould allow the call to function under a va-riety of weather conditions led him intoeven more creative ventures. A major busi-ness enterprise was born as a result of thatlittle old screw driver.

I am delighted that he is back home! Until next month, Wayne

No Banquet for PikelandSpurs & Feathers NWTF Chapter

It is with regret I announce that after 25successful years of fundraising the PikelandSpurs and Feathers chapter of the National

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IDNR NewsbitsNews and events 2015 Illinois Licenses AvailableJan. 19: Illinois fishing, huntingand sportsman’s combination li-censes and usage stamps for2015 were available starting Jan.19 from DNR Direct license and permit vendors, onlinethrough the IDNR website at www.dnr.illinois.gov, orby calling 1-888-6PERMIT (1-888-673-7648). Theautomated license system is available 24 hours a day.The 2015 licenses and usage stamps purchased arevalid through Mar. 31, 2016 unless otherwise noted.

Kids Day: Visit the Dickson Mounds Museum on Sat.,Jan. 10 for ‘Kid's Day: Winter in Illinois’ from 1-3 p.m.Kids ages 5 and up with an adult will learn how ancientand historic people passed their time on a wintry dayin Illinois through hands-on crafts and activities. Ad-mission is free. Scouts are encouraged to participateas this program may fulfill some merit badge require-ments. The program is co-sponsored by the City ofLewistown. Dickson Mounds is located between Lewis-town and Havana off Illinois Routes 78 and 97. Themuseum is open 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day. Formore information, call 309-547-3721.

Pere Marquette Bald Eagle Days: Enjoy watching baldeagles on the Illinois and Mississippi rivers near PereMarquette State Park this winter by participating inone of the park’s popular Bald Eagle Days tours. Theinformative programs about bald eagles are conduct-ed on select winter dates. All programs begin at thePere Marquette Visitor Center at 8:30 a.m., andreservations are required by calling 618-786-3323.

To check the schedule of program dates, go online tohttp://www.illinois.gov/Documents/EagleDays-Brochure.pdf

Kaskaskia Eagle Fest – Feb. 7: Join the fun at theKaskaskia Eagle Fest at the Jerry F. Costello Lock andDam in Modoc, IL on Sat., Feb. 7 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.There will be eagle watching with spotting scopes,birds from the World Bird Sanctuary, interpretedwalks both upstream and downstream from the dam,and tours of the lock and dam. Sponsors include theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and WildlifeService, IDNR, Randolph County Economic Develop-ment, Lower Kaskaskia Stakeholders, Inc., RandolphCounty, Chester Tourism, North County Savings Bank,Evansville Booster Club, Horse Prairie Mutual/FarMu-tual, CLIFFTOP, and the Kaskaskia River Port District.For more information, contact the Kaskaskia RiverProject Office at 618-284-7160 or e-mail us atKaskyL&[email protected].

INPC Meeting: The Illinois Nature Preserves Commis-sion will meet on Tues., Jan. 27, 2015 beginning at 10a.m. at IDNR Headquarters, One Natural ResourcesWay, Springfield, IL 62702. The meeting is open tothe public. For more information, phone 217-785-8686.

Hunters Reminded to Mail in Card: Hunters who re-ceived a 2014-15 free upland permit to hunt at an ID-NR state site are asked to return those cards to the ID-NR by Feb. 15, 2015. The cards and data allow IDNR bi-ologists to better understand upland wildlife popula-tions and assess hunter success at state sites.Hunters must return these cards to the IDNR, or theywill forfeit hunting privileges at all Free Upland Huntingsites for the following year.

ICF Raffle: Tickets are available for the 2015 IllinoisSportsman’s Raffle, supporting the Illinois Conserva-tion Foundation’s youth outdoor education and con-servation programs. Tickets cost $100 each, or threefor $250. Prize details are available at www.ilcf.org .All business transactions and operations of this raffletake place exclusively in Sangamon County, Illinois.This raffle is being conducted in accordance with theRaffles and Poker Runs Act and the Sangamon CountyRaffle Ordinance. All funds are held in private ac-counts at the ICF. Raffle tickets may be purchased on-line by visiting www.il-cf.org or by calling2 1 7 - 7 8 5 - 2 0 0 3 .Drawings will takeplace on January 30,2015.

Camping Reserva-tions: Make yourreservations now forcampsites and shel-ters for many Illinoisstate parks and otherIDNR sites for2015. Reservationscan be made onlinethrough the Re-serveAmerica websiteat www.reserveameri-ca.com using a Visa orMasterCard. For moreinformation, check

the IDNR website at dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/Programs/Camping

Eagle Day Festival – Feb. 7: The 15th annual Eagle DayFestival at Dickson Mounds Museum is Sat., Feb. 7from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. The event includes activities atDickson Mounds Museum, the Lewistown Visitor Cen-ter, Havana Nature Center, Chautauqua NationalWildlife Refuge, and TNC’s Emiquon Preserve. Activi-ties include raptor programs and bird watching. Theevent is free, but donations are welcomed.

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Rend Lake. Restaurant/Lounge & Shell Station adjacent offering bait, licenses & permits.

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Congrats to Kaleb Ulery who got his first pheasant!

Thanks to ASO cousin Eric Hilst for sharing!

039_001.qxd 1/26/15 9:18 AM Page 1


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Local Fishing Information(217) 323-BAIT

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All of the bucks involved in this case hadtheir heads removed and their bodies left ordumped in the area in which they werekilled. No meat was kept from any deerinvolved. The subjects had been boilingthe buck skulls to make skull mounts. Allof the buck heads were seized as evidence.In addition, the .243 rifle used by the sub-jects was recovered and seized.

All deer were killed between the hours ofsunset and sunrise with the exception ofone killed on October 26, 2014.

After consultation with RichlandCounty State's Attorney David Hyde, war-rants were issued for all three subjects andthe charges were filed on December 19,2014. On January 2, 2015, a seizure war-rant was issued for the 2002 Dodge 1500pickup truck used in these violations. Thetruck has been seized pending forfeiture tothe IDNR.

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Caleb L. Diel Felony resource theftHunting by use of lights from vehicleUnlawful possession of a firearm with no

valid FOIDUnlawful hunting deer at night

Three Charged With Illegally

Hunting Deer at Night A Total of 13 Deer were Unlawfully

Taken; 11 were Antlered Bucks

OLNEY, Ilinois – Three RichlandCounty men have been charged with ille-gally taking deer at night. A total of 13deer, 11 of which were antlered bucks,were taken by three subjects. The case wasinvestigated by the Illinois Department ofNatural Resources (IDNR) ConservationPolice.

Caleb L. Diel, 18, of Olney, Dylan E.Mitchell, 18, of Olney, and a juvenile, havebeen charged in the case. Diel and Mitchellare charged with Felony Resource Theft,Unlawful Hunting by Use of Lights from aVehicle, and Unlawful Hunting Deer atNight. Diel also was charged withUnlawful Possession of a Firearm with NoValid FOID Card. The juvenile wascharged with Unlawful Take of Deer andrelated offenses.

Dylan E.MitchellFelony resource theftUnlawful hunting by use of lights from

vehicleUnlawful hunting deer at night

Juvenile SubjectUnlawful hunting by use of lights from

vehicleUnlawful hunting deer at nightUnlawful take of deer

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Still No Bobcat Hunting In Illinoisby Mark Olis

The House passed the bobcat-hunting bill 91-20 and the Senate passed the same bill30-19, but Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed the bill on Sunday (1/11/15).

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources recommended the bobcat-hunting sea-son. Stating that a hunting season would help with the long-term management of thespecies. Official say that bobcat numbers have grown to 5,000 animals, mostly in thesouth and west portions of the state.

Gov. Quinn said, “Bobcats are a valuable part of Illinois' ecosystem and continue toneed protection.” Bobcats were removed from the Threatened Species List in 1999.

The bill would have allowed hunting of bobcats between November and mid-February, and hunters would have been limited to one bobcat per year.

Quinn vetoed the bill on his last day in office. Republican Bruce Rauner was inaugu-rated on Monday (1/12/15).

040_001.qxd 1/26/15 10:03 AM Page 1


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HOW FISHING HASPROGRESSED

It can’t possibly be Februaryalready. Here we are with anotheryear going by too darn fast. Each yearI look forward to bass fishing andwhat it will bring to us in the comingmonths. I can say without a doubt ithas gotten better each year for thepast decade and several things play afactor in that. I’ll bring up a few thatI think are instrumental to why it isgetting better.

Bass fishermen have learned torelease bass back in to the water andnot to the frying pan and they need tobe commended for that. States acrossthe bass nation have learned thatgrass is good for fishing and theeconomy. New products like theRaymarine e-series with HybridTouch give 10 times more power thanconventional echo sounders. Thismakes reading the lake bottom somuch easier along with down visionit’s a wonder the bass have a fighting

this? Our lines have gotten so muchbetter in smaller diameters andstrength along with Fluorocarbonline that has really upped the ante infishing.

Now we have the media that con-stantly gives you up to date tech-niques on the latest hot lures and tac-tics and how to use them to your bestadvantage. As fisherman we canlearn so much faster now. It used tobe a hot bait would last two years atleast before the secret got out to thepublic but now you will read about itin publications and know about it indays. I love to read fishing articlesfrom across the country and learnabout new stuff all the time.

The lure companies stay on top ofthe trends now and you can go toBass Pro Shops and get what youneed tomorrow. Companies likeZoom Baits just keep bring the newbaits and colors. I have always won-dered what it would have been like tobe the only fisherman a few yearsback that had the Zoom lizard, trickworm, and brush hog in my boat. Ican tell you straight up it would havebeen “ Katy bar the door” for every-one else. I go through my old luresthat were so hot at times and wonderwhy they don’t work now. It bafflesme but the action of the lures, theamazing paint jobs and the new tech-niques of fishing them have justpassed up the old times.

All of the above have played a partit better fishing now and the fisher-man have just gotten a whole lot bet-ter. The new bass fisherman armed

WOO’S CORNERBY WOO DAVES

www.woodaves.com

WOOSHOES

with the internet and all this greatequipment. Wow, with this fastknowledge they can gain now havesimply gotten a lot better from theclub level right to the pro’s. I tell youright up front I’ve grown up with thebest sport there is and have seen allthe changes and it always amazes mewhen someone comes up with some-thing new. But guess what, it seemslike they always do and I can’t waitto see what the next thing is going tobe. I hope you love this sport as muchas I do and keep releasing those bassso they can fight another day.

If you need a tow vehicle visitwww.hendrickcars.com and mayGod Bless you this year. Please besure to thank a soldier when you passthem in your daily travels for a jobwell done.

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chance. Our boats now are so muchnicer to fish out of like my Nitro Z-8with the smoothest driest ride andcomfortable fishing ability not tomention the best storage in the indus-try.

How about Mercury motors Opti-max giving so much better gasmileage. Then Motorguide’s newtrolling motors that allow you to fishthree days without a charge is justsuper. I remember not that long agohaving to carry extra batteries just tofish one day. We have just come sofar in a short time and this all aidsbass fisherman.

Fishing tackle I can’t imagine hav-ing something like a Johnny MorrisCarbon Coil rod and Johnny MorrisCarbon lite reel 10, 20, 30 years ago.Occasionally I pick up one of my oldrods and reels in the garage and itfeels like I’m holding a cinder blockand I wonder how did we fish with

041_001.qxd 1/26/15 3:17 AM Page 1


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Kid Rock Takes a'Bama Buck &Mountain LionWay to go… a nice buck

and big mountain lion. Wearen’t sure if his friend TedNugent helped line this huntup. Ted is a great supporterand promoter of hunting andfishing in the outdoors. Tedsays take your kids into thewild and they will learn torespect nature and man.

Ted Nugent and fellowMichigan rocker, Kid Rock(Bob Ritchie), share theirlove for the outdoors. Tedposted several photos on hisFacebook page of this hunt.The anti-hunter creeps havebeen posting very mean andstupid comments. Be sure tocheck out Ted’s page andpost positive comments onthe benefits of hunting!

Mountain Lions, likewolves are predators and killfarmer’s livestock, sheep andmany other animals in thewild. To keep the cat popu-lation under control, hunting

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042_001.qxd 1/27/15 10:43 AM Page 1


Quick Clean and the stabilizer are on theshelf and the battery I will look up.” After afew minutes of bickering I was headed outthe door with a hearty good luck and a“don’t forget to bring my @#%%%^ coreback.” I assured him I would have the coreback before days end and headed home.

The boat cover was stubbornly stiff as Itried to keep it tight rolling it up over thewindshield and laying it on the bow trolling

The wind blowing across the lake had justa small hint of spring in it. The snow wasgone but the ground was yet to awake fromits winter nap. The small holes in the lakewould continue to grow today as the springsworked on the ice from below and the windfrom above. I walked back to the truck andyelled through the window to a client con-nected to my truck’s blue tooth. Maybe acouple more days and we can get a boat in.Let’s make it 3 just to be sure. The voice onthe other end was filled with amazementwith the lake report. “How could the ice gothat fast,” he asked? “We still have 8-9 inch-es up here, and it’s only the middle of Feb-ruary.” It’s Spring Lake I responded. The icegoes quick.

With the jibber jabber over, I looked atthe book and said I was free on Wed. for thefirst trip of the year. I told him we may notbe able to fish the whole lake but assured


motor. “Well, hello old girl,” I shouted...hopefully waking her from her winter’s nap.She did not respond. I plugged in her elec-tronic charging bank and she came to life.All kinds of red and green led lights lit upannouncing she was not dead. I carefullyworked the new battery into its hidden box,re-hooked the starting cables, and pluggedin the onboard charger. Within a few sec-onds the green light came on announcingthe battery was at full charge and ready foraction.

With a water hose hooked to the 225Merc, I gave her a turn. I could hear the fu-el pump running and the sharp beep an-nouncing the motor was ready to turn over.This part of my year always holds the mostanxiety for me…

Turning the key the other three quartersuntil she starts cranking. VROOOM the225 sprang to life; its low rumble shakingthe whole back of the 20 plus foot boat.Come on…Come on... There it was, thesmall stream of water coming out of herproving to me she was all good. I slid thesquare bucket of water under the 9.9 pulledthe choke and gave her a pull. It too firedright up. I let the 2 motors run as I emptiedthe 10 gallons of fresh fuel into the tanks. I

him enough would be open the whack a fewmuskies. Okay, lots to do. Covers off, mo-tors started, and batteries to check. I jumpedin the truck and pointed her to WatkinsMarine to see Rance about some spring sup-plies I need to keep the operation runningsmoothly for the next month or so.

At the door, I was greeted with a what theheck do you want, and a you should be onthe water from Rance. I need a couple bot-tles of stabilizer and Quick Clean and a priceon a new starter battery. He replied, “The

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gave her a quick wipe down and startedloading tackle.

I had forgotten how much I had when Istarted hauling it out of the basement whereit had been overhauled for the last fewweeks. Hooks, split rings, handmade lead-ers, it was all there packed tightly into herbelly. All that was left were a few rods andreels that hopefully would come UPS todayfrom my sponsor Bass Pro Shops. I was kindof hoping I could try one of the newly

when I saw Stanthe SightManager turninginto the parkinglot. “Well, helloDanny,” he said.I will check itagain at noon tosee if the ice isout of the ramp.If it is, I will takedown the cable.Good to see ‘ya.I will give you acall after lunch tosee if it is out.”

He headedout of the lot,and I headedhome to finishup tying a fewleaders. I had agrin from ear toear as I pulled down my road and saw theUPS man dropping the 7 foot plus rodtubes at my door announcing my new rodshad arrived from Bass Pro Shops. I was likea kid at Christmas ripping the packing tapeoff the end of the tube with my teeth. Outthey popped. I held one in my hand shakingit and testing the tip. “Boy, these new rodswere a hell of a lot lighter than the old ones,”I thought to myself as I set them down. Iquickly opened the other box containing thenew Johnny Morris Wide Spool Low pro-file reels. The reels looked sleek with linesresembling a black sports car. With the newreels and rods in tow I headed to my base-ment lair to get them filled will braid,mounted, and leaders attached. I spent mostof the rest of the afternoon checking andrechecking my equipment, tightening ascrew here and a bolt there. Tomorrow wefish, I said to myself as I turned off the lightto the garage and shut the door.

Daylight found me hooking up the boat

and bouncing off the walls after a sleeplessnight and a pot of coffee. “My boat lookedgood hooked up to my new red Tundra,” Ithought as I locked the house and walkedthe last 20 feet to its door. Inside, I put it ingear and pulled from the drive, hoping I hadnot forgotten anything. A block into the tripI stopped before the exit of the subdivisionto check everything was towing correctly. Itlooked good. A quick look at the inside ofthe boat to see if the rods were tucked in andwait, something was wrong. It didn’t lookright. Okay, keys, rods, tackle…….Damnit. I forgot the damn net…..I wheeled thetruck around and headed the long 400 yardsback home, raced up the driveway and intothe garage. I grabbed the big Frabill. I head-ed back to the street and tossed it over thefront seat.

“Always something,” I thought to myself.I would forget my head if it wasn’t screwedon! The trip to the lake, as always, was anadventure as people late for work jockeyed

FAST… Cont’d. from previous pg. designed muskie rods the first day out. Tuesday, Feb. 13, the coffee was going

down good as I rolled up to the ramp tocheck the ice. Three quarters of the lake wasopen. I could hear a distant flock of SnowGeese and Specks working the bottoms.The warm sun hit me right between my eyesas I raised my binoculars to peer fartherdown the lake. She was wide open all theway to the narrows, but unfortunately, theramp was still frozen in with the cable stillstretched across the entrance.

I turned and headed back to the truck

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044_001.qxd 1/26/15 11:01 AM Page 1


for position on the narrow 2 lane road. Italways amazes me I don’t see more wreckson this section of road. Halfway there, Iwatched a lone snow goose drop into adecoy spread only to be sent rolling headover heels by a shotgun blast, the dog mak-ing quick work on the retrieve.

Arriving at the lake, I walked up to checkthe ramp. It had a thin amount of ice whichI made quick work of with my handy dandyice breaker I had made this winter. Boat inthe water, motors warming up, gear off thefloor, and rods in the racks. All I was miss-ing were a couple of bodies which turnedinto the parking lot as soon as I looked up.Bodies loaded, I pulled away from the ramp.

The small talk was about the drive andhow my Whitetail season had gone last fall.I positioned the boat over a shallow flat anddropped the trolling motors. Handing bothrods, I went into my short speech on boatrules and safety. Both had fished with mebefore, so I was not too worried about theircasting ability.

Together, we started fan casting the flat,our baits looking like a child throwing rocksas they hit the water. One hour had gone bywithout as much as a follow. The conversa-tion became more heated as the 2 arguedover which Chicago baseball team was bet-ter after the spring start. I kept remindingthem to pay attention and make sure they

figure 8 every time at the side of the boat. My pleading went in one ear and out the

other. Boys, these fish always hit whenyou’re not paying attention. It will happenso fast you can’t respond. I’m telling ‘ya,better keep alert to what you are doing.

They just kept jawing about their damnbaseball teams. You would have thoughtthey would have gotten that out of the wayon the trip down. I positioned the boat overan old creek channel hoping the big femaleI missed last fall before the waterfowl seasonshut down the lake was still there. Weworked up one side and down the other.

The guys were doing a figure 8 about half oftheir casts. I had reminded them severaltimes without as much as an okay fromeither of them.

They were, again, ripping on each other’steams when I heard a huge splash and a myCubbbbbbssss, OH SH@## #$%^&*@#$%^& , followed by a thump on theside of my Targa. I turned to see a big fat 40inch plus diving back into the dark patch oflily stems she had come from. The boatwent quiet as both men stared at the lifelessbait hanging off the rod tip dripping smalldrops of water like a piece of ice melting on

a hot summer day. He knew he had misseda good chance. I did not have to ask whathad happened. The dull thud we all hadheard was the fish hitting the side of theboat, missing the bait as it was pulled fromthe water. We started casting in silenceagain. This time, all three rods doing a fig-ure 8 at the end of each cast. I looked backwith one hand wrapped around a handwarmer and one on my 8 foot rod, and said,“told ‘ya boys. It can HAPPEN JUSTTHAT FAST...JUST THAT FAST.”

We did end up putting several fish in themid 30 inch class in the boat that day, butall three of us knew we had missed the onethat would have made for great dinner con-versation for the rest of the year. The fellowwho will remain nameless did come backafter the spawn and stuck a good 41 inchfish. She was not as fat as the pre-spawn fish,but still a good one. He never finished a castwithout a figure 8 the whole day.

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045_001.qxd 1/26/15 11:00 AM Page 1


Still smarting fromthe total devastation tomy confidence experi-enced over the last twoday period, rather thanadmit defeat, I wasback in the saddle de-termined to make myown success! The windwas out of theEast/South East making a favorite stand of mine setup for such winds as my intended location. The white-tail activity was at the zenith of the year for rut activ-ity as the two previous days had proven.

My overall confidence had been shaken somewhatover the last 48 hours with the “close but no cigar”experiences; however, my ability to get within bowrange of a big whitetail was not at issue. The vital areaneeded for arrow entry seemed to be shrinking in sizeand shooting ability doubts entered my mind as re-minders of “what can go wrong usually will” over thelast two day period had proven! This stand providedsuccess in 2013 and deer movement would follow def-inite learned patterns based on the terrain and I knewthe formula!

The sky was overcast and the temperature wasbearable. Activity was constant as most of the doesand immature bucks seen earlier in the season wereon the move. One must make sure not to let your guarddown as a wary doe could ruin your life if she catchesthe movement from your stand and decides to confirmher suspicion. Many times such episodes have blownopportunities on nearby bucks oblivious to you but re-lying on the old doe for their marching orders!

Suddenly, at straight up 11:00 O’clock AM, move-ment was spotted from exactly the expected locationfrom the South. The tall wide rack and spastic butcontrolled gait indicated this was the “alpha of thewoods” and he was on the prowl for a receptive doe!His path of travel was exactly as imagined earlier andhe would give me a broadside shot from 19-25 yardsdistant. The wind was good as long as the shot wastaken early within my window of opportunity. His trav-el speed was quick but controlled and my preparationwas likewise! The sound of the leaves under hoofwould mask my mouth bleat to stop him if needed.

He moved between two downed trees and ap-proached – I slowly drew my bow and waited. Heturned slightly to me and proceeded, when suddenly hestopped and scanned the immediate vicinity quickly.Within an instant, he snapped his head and looked di-rectly at me! I doubted he had caught my scent ormovement but the blob 20-feet up in the tree was notto his liking! Now the element of surprise was goneand I calculated about 1.5 seconds before he would ex-plode to safer territory. No problem – my pin was onhis vitals and he was well within my shooting rangeabilities – the release was triggered and the arrow

3 DAYS IN NOVEMBER (DAY 3)

by Dave Herschelman

was off! The sound of the arrow punching through his body

was unmistakable! He wheeled and ran in the oppositedirection of his approach. Elation pulsed through mybody as I watched him run but when he covered the1001, 1002, 1003, of my silent count without col-lapsing – my sure thing double lung shot was evident-ly anything but! I saw him stop then walk away, anoth-er ominous sign.

Rerunning the last few seconds of the encounter inmy mind revealed a few things I should have concen-trated more on accomplishing! I remember his outlinebeginning to become fuzzy before the shot. Although Icannot improve my failing eyesight and I accept ashorter range of shot – I did not pick a spot on the vi-tals but shot at the animal when the pin appeared to bein a “cannot miss location”. The release was probablynot as smooth as needed as the “cannot miss atti-tude” was assumed.

I waited 45 minutes before descending from myperch, cautiously approaching the point of impact lo-cation. The arrow confirmed muscle hit blood but notthe sign desired! The unmistakable blood trail waseasily followed and after the first 200 yards with nosign of weakness or slowdown, my spirits were deflat-ed but at this point the trail was still going and bloodwas still visible. I continued to track hoping an inter-nal artery bleeding within him would be his demise but

with no sign of slowdown, I doubted this to be thecase!

In summary, the trail was easily followed for thenext half mile before the drips of blood were furtherapart and difficult to find! I will always do my due dili-gence but at the end of the day – the deer was not re-covered and my disappointment over creating thispredicament burned! Crippling an animal is the worstfeeling a bow hunter can experience and with the last3-days of having big mature animals within 20 yardsof me burned even worse as I have never experiencedthe success of having hunted successfully but failed inthe shot opportunities so miserably!

With the assistance of a fellow bow hunter thatevening we examined the bow carefully and the arrowthat had penetrated the animal. The arrow had a littlewobble and we found after carefully cleaning thebroad head and cleaning the insert of the arrow, thewobble was eliminated – little solace after the morn-ing experience.

As with most failings, several factors come intoplay at the same time to wreak havoc on our intentionsbut the last 3-days have proven, one must consider allpossible scenarios and attempt to control each withutmost concentration in equipment and preparation– failure to do so can be unnerving!

David Herschelman, January 10, 2015

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Bird Feeding Makes a Difference!

by Jim Parrott, Wild Birds Unlimited

Over 100 bird species supplement their diets atbird feeders across the country. Normally thisfeeder food accounts for 10%-20% of their totaldiet. The rest of their diet consists of insects,seeds, nuts and fruits that they forage for in theirnatural habitat. During certain times of the yearthese food sources may become depleted or noteasily found. That is when established bird feedingstations become important regardless of the sea-son.

Harsh winter weather takes its toll on the birdsdue to food scarcity, shorter days and much cold-er temperatures. Constantly foraging for foodsometimes does not leave much time for otherimportant duties a bird must perform to survive.Preening, or cleaning their feathers, takes timeaway from food searches but is necessary to main-tain body insulation and top flight condition. And,

with all that taking place, a bird must be vigilant tobe on the lookout for any predators that are look-ing for food too. Predators could be hungry hawks,who need one meal a day, or even feral and outdoorcats who can kill 100 birds in a year’s time.

Some foods to offer your winter featheredfriends would be black oil sunflower, striped sun-flower, sunflower hearts, safflower seed, whitemillet, thistle, peanuts (pieces or in the shell) andsuets. All of these foods offer easy calories and fat

to help birds go about their daily business and bet-ter cope with winter. Read labels on bird food bagsand avoid food that has fillers in them. (Milo, grainbyproducts, wheat and oats to name a few) I liketo offer a variety of different seeds to attract awider variety of birds. So look for a seed blendloaded with the food the birds actually like.

Don’t forget birds need water too! Bird bathheaters or heated bird baths are an easy way toprovide water for drinking and bathing in winter

when most water sources are frozen.If a winter storm is of long duration or extreme

impact bird feeding stations may mean the differ-ence between life and death for some birds.

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047_001.qxd 1/24/15 12:30 AM Page 1


the BAR Bowfishing Reel. The BAR is thefirst open faced spinning reel made specifi-cally for bowfishing. It mounts to the sightholes on the side of the bow and comeswith a built in mount and short fishingrod. A very interesting feature is its abilityto automatically open its bail when the ar-row is drawn. We have not tried it yet butplan to very soon. If it works it will offerbowfishers the ability to take very longshots and pretty much eliminate the linetwist encountered with closed face spincastreels.

Quick Draw Archery, makers of theQuick Draw Rest are coming out with anew rubber based glue specifically designedfor attaching bowfishing points to shafts.The rubber base makes it less brittle andwill help the arrow withstand impact whenhitting rocks or hard headed big heads!And for the shore bowfisher, a new quiverthat will hold your arrow and misc. small

tered in the contest proves it! We have hadseveral lead changes and many fish entered.Here is a look at the most recent leaderboard.

CABELAS WINTER LEAGUE STANDINGSFISH SPECIES;-Grass Carp-44in 43in 41in Jason Raddatz-Smallmouth Buffalo-31in Rick Urban -24in Ed DeVries//23in Jason Raddatz -Bigmouth Buffalo- 21in David Thack-er/19 Jake Swietek -Common Carp-30in Ed DeVries-26in Ja-son Raddatz - 24in Ed DeVries--Bighead Carp-37in Jason Raddatz -Longnose Gar-39in David Thacker /37.5Rick Urban/32.5 Jake Swietek -Shortnose Gar- 27.5 Rick Urban/ 25.5Jake Swietek 25in David Thacker-Silver Carp- 22.5 Jake Swietek -Fish For Species Only- Geno Grausam-Bighead Carp, Grass Carp Rick Urban

Ed DeVries-8 pointsJason Raddatz-13 pointsGeno Grausam-1 pointRick Urban - 12 pointsDavid Thacker -12 pointsJosh Swietek - 4 pointsJake Swietek -13 points

NEW PRODUCTS FOR 2015!

Bowfishing is growing!With the growth comesmore and more new prod-ucts for those who love the sport. Andmany new products have been unveiled forthe upcoming year!

Innerloc has really upgraded their fa-mous Grappler point adding 3 more barbsand callin the Gripper! This point has beenthe best point money can buy for holdingonto large soft fish, and with the addition-al barbs it will be even better! If you likebowfishing Asian carp or big buffalo besure to check out the Gripper from Inner-loc! (See image below)

AMS Bowfishing is now offering greenand blue camo colored fiberglass arrows.Until now most fiberglass arrows were on-ly offered in white. AMS tells us the patternis not simply a dip or paint but is actuallyinfused into the fiberglass. The fish willnever see what hit’em!!

Bohning Archery was once the leader inbowfishing gear and innovation back in the80s. While we have not heard much fromthe recently, theynow seem to be pay-ing more attentionto bowfishing offer-ing several newproducts! One being

B A I N e w s

B y E d D e V r i e s2015 FIRST FISH OF THE YEAR RECIPIENT!

Every year the BAA gives an award to thebowfisher who takes the first fish of theNew Year, and this year’s winner is GenoGrausam of Scott AFB in southern Illinois!Geno scored on some nice buffalo duringthe first week of the new year bowfishing aprivate pond near Lebanon Illinois. Con-grats Geno!!

CABELAS WINTER LEAGUE UPDATES

So far our winter has been much milderthan last year and the amount of fish en-

GenoGrausams

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items you may need when a long way fromyour car.You can find all these items at BowfishingExtreme, the ONLY online bowfishingsupplier you ever need and a long timesponsor of the BAI. Find them online atwww.bowfishingextreme.com or call Scottfor a catalog at 417-838-9291.

UPCOMING EVENTS FOR FEBRUARY

This month the BAI will once again setup it world famous on water bowfishing

range at the Tinley Park Fishing Show Feb7-8 at Tinley Park High School Illinois!Everyone has a great time at this show andits the only show I know where attendeescan shoot bowfishing gear at submergedtargets in the schools swimming pool! It’sone of the biggest shows in the state if notTHE biggest. Loaded with fishing gearvendors and clubs, it has something foreveryone. So make the trip, enjoy the showand shoot some arrows in the pool with theBAI! See you next month and best of luckin your outdoor pursuits!

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Idaho Angler Catches & Releases EnormousRecord-contending Rainbow Trout

By Daniel Xu, OutdoorHub.comIdaho angler Larry Warren is receiving praise for catching and releasing a gi-

ant rainbow trout earlier this month that allegedly weighed almost eight poundsmore than the current state record. Idaho Fish and Game released a photographof Warren with!his mammoth catch on Tuesday, and the image quickly drew theattention of anglers online.

According to Fish and Game, Warren caught the rainbow trout in the Clear-water River near Orofino on January 8 using a six-pound test line. At the time,he measured it to be about 28 pounds, but state records require that catches bedocumented on a certified scale. Since Warren released the fish, it is ineligiblefor submission as the new state record.

“This fish has been swimming in the Clearwater for years,” stated Fish andGame on its Twitter account.” …Our fisheries expert in the Clearwater Regionestimates the fish at seven years old.”

It seems that the fish will continue to thrive in the river and perhaps one daybe caught by another lucky angler. If the boat-side weight of 28 pounds is ac-curate, then it would clearly beat the current state record of 20.2 pounds. Thatfish was caught by Michelle Larsen-Williams from the Snake River in 2009.

Larsen-Williams’!record has been challenged before by another massive rain-bow. In 2013, a biologist at the Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery brought in a 28-pound, nine-ounce rainbow near the Dworshak Dam. Although that fish wasbrought to a certified scale and measured to weigh more than the state record, itwas not eligible since the angler,!Tui Moliga, caught it under tribal rules ratherthan state regulations.

“It would have been cool but it’s still not going to change the fact that is a bigfish that I caught,” Moliga told The Spokesman-Review. “I’m not a trophyhunter of fish but since I caught it I will be proud of it. It doesn’t change the factthat it’s the biggest one I ever!caught.”

For compari-son, the Interna-tional Game FishAssociation listsa 48-pound rain-bow trout as thecurrent worldrecord. That fishwas caught inCanada’s LakeDiefenbaker bySean Konrad in2009.

Image courtesyIdaho Fish and Game

049_001.qxd 1/27/15 9:09 AM Page 1


LOOKING AT SNOW, THINKING OF OPEN WATER

by Don DziedzinaAs this column is being sent to ASO,

I was able to look out my office win-dow and see that Chicagoland just gotits first real snowfall of the season.! It'searly January but I can't help but thinkof March first coming and fishing theopen water of Braidwood Lake.

Seems like a long time since we’vefished Braidwood Lake. And it seemslike winter has been here forever.! Butit won’t last long now.! The first localpower plant lake will be opened inabout a week and a half.! I think a lot ofanglers will be at the ramps on Marchfirst looking to catch some of the lakesbass, catfish and bluegills.

Anglers who venture out the Braid-wood for the first time will find watertemperatures warm for this time ofyear.! This is a power plant lake.! Thewater will be in the mid to upper 50’sand increase daily as the air tempera-tures warm.! Most fishing will be doneon the west side of the lake which is thedischarge side.! The shortest distance towarmer water on this lake can be hadby launching from the Kankakee Roadramps.

March fishing at Braidwood has

been successfulfor me by usingspinnerbai ts ,crankbaits, andplastics.! Every-thing seems towork well forthe bass earlyon.! I cannot lieto you though.The fishing will be getting tougher andtougher as every day passes with morefishing pressure.! Fishing is usually thebest during the first month of beingopen.! But even though the bass seem toget a bit scarce, there are always thecatfish and bluegills that will bite allsummer long keeping anglers quitehappy when the water really warms up.The key to finding spring fish at Braid-wood is to watch the winds.! The warmsurface temperature of the water will bepushed from one side of a pool to theother.! Let’s take the big pool on the dis-charge side of the lake for an example.After launching at the K-3 road ramps,you’ll head northeast around the big is-land.! Some people call it the Big Islandor Torino Island while others call itsomething else.! The big island is wherethe old town or Torino was once locat-ed.! Now that whole area is floodedwith lake water and that big pool be-tween the island and the power plantcan have some of the warmest water in

the lake all year round.When the winds blow from the west,

warmer water will be found by theeastern islands by that pool.! Fish willmigrate to that warmer water.! Shouldthe winds switch to out of the east, thenfish will migrate to the riprap wall thatruns north and south along KankakeeRoad.

Let me say something else about thebig island if I can. !If anyone has beento the lake when it first opened yearsago, it was at that time, a big island.Like any big mound of dirt and rock,winds and rain will wash away the sur-face which ends up in the lake. !!The is-land is much smaller now.! For themost part, I’ve investigated the watersaround that island and found them to benon-productive.! The water is prettyshallow with the wash off from the is-land, so check it out if you want, but I’dgive it a pass.

The islands to the east of that bigpool do hold some nice fish.! Many ar-eas have deep water close to shore andthat’s a good thing.! Be cautions whilenavigating some areas because they dorun shallow with rock piles.! Hot Spotshas a good map of the lake and most allhazards are marked.! The DNR puts outhazard buoys, but still, some are un-marked.! Just be careful.

Some areas just to the west of theseislands can run to depths of nearly fiftyfeet.! Watching your depth finder canshow you that fish will often hold onthese drop offs and stage themselvesbelow schools of shad that love to sus-pend over these deep holes.

The south wall by the K-3 Ramps is

good too when the winds come out ofthe north.! Here you have a doublebanger.! Wind from the north blowswarm water to that south wall.! The dis-charge of the plant pushes water south.It hits that wall then turns to the east togo around the islands to return to theplant.

This portion of the lake is perchedabove the normal terrain.! This is howthe lake is capable of having a currentthat starts at the north end and travelsaround the lake and back up northagain.!! By building manmade dikes atthis part of the lake, the water level ismuch higher than the surrounding areaat the northwest side of the lake than itis at the northeast side.

Fog can be an issue at Braidwood inthe spring, but when it is navigable, theDNR will open the gates to launch.Watch the flags at the boat ramps.! Redflags warn boaters that the seas can bevery rough because of high winds.When it’s really rough, the DNR willjust close the ramps.! Yellow flags aremost often seen and they indicated thatthere is a good wind out there but usecaution when on the water.! The greenflag indicates that the waters are calm.Braidwood is a fun lake to fish and willbe busy with boaters and shore anglersin its first couple of weeks.! The lake isroughly located at Rt. 53 and theWill/Kankakee Co Lines in Will Co.Get your boat ready by checking every-thing before heading to the ramps.! Itwon’t be long before we experiencesome good times at Braidwood and seethat great fishing is not that far away.

Visit Don’s blog at www.IllinoisOutdoors.com

Don Dziedzina shows off an early season bass from

Braidwood Lake in Will County.

050_001.qxd 1/27/15 10:38 AM Page 1


October 1stREGION IA District 7 CPO performed compliance

checks on two fishermen at Double T State Fish& Wildlife Area (SFWA) and one individual wasfound in violation by unlawfully taking a large-mouth bass under 21”.

A Spring Valley man discovered during aWisconsin DNR and Illinois DNR joint investi-gation pleaded guilty to unlawful harvest of gin-seng before season. The subject was fined$420.00 and surrendered over 6 pounds of driedginseng to Illinois Conservation Police. Thevalue of the surrendered ginseng is several thou-sand dollars.

District 7 CPOs are investigating complaintsof criminal damage to state property at BannerMarsh State Fish & Wildlife Area and AndersonLake State Fish & Wildlife Area. In order tomaintain our state parks and preserve naturalresources we ask for your assistance in reportingunlawful acts within state managed properties.

Conservation Police investigated a complaintthat a local individual was illegally taking paddle-fish by commercial means in Pool 18. Afterspeaking with the subject, the officer determinedthat two paddlefish were an incidental catch in atrammel net.

A District 1 CPO issued citations and writtenwarnings to two Sterling kayakers on the RockRiver with no wearable PFDs and no water usagestickers.

A District 1 CPO issued citations to 2 Chicagomen for possessing an undersized walleye and nothaving a sport fishing license while fishing belowthe Sterling/Rock Falls lower dam on the RockRiver.

REGION VDist14 CPOs scheduled an airplane detail in

Pope and Hardin Co to identify subjects spot-lighting from vehicles. The airplane observeridentified and directed CPOs to a vehicle that wasobserved spotlighting in Pope Co. The CPOslocated and stopped the vehicle. Thesubject threw the spotlight out the window. TheCPOs found the 3 million power spotlight beingused. The subject was issued a citation for unlaw-

ful use of a spotlight from a motor vehicle in anarea where wildlife was present.

A CPO was patrolling in Perry Co when heheard shooting near the county line. A dovehunter was located hunting a sunflower field inJackson Co. Further investigation revealed thesunflower field had been baited with wheat. Theinvestigation is on-going as there may be severalsubjects involved. The case will ultimately bereferred to the USFWS.

A CPO was given several trail camera picturesof subjects trespassing on a Jackson Co resident'sproperty. The unknown subjects appear to be onthe properties digging ginseng. The investigationinto who these subjects are is continuing.

A CPO cited a subject for fishing without alicense in Perry Co.

A CPO served charges for Wyoming Gameand Fish for unlawful take of a bull elk without alicense and wanton waste.

A CPO is investigating a timber theft casein Williamson Co.

A CPO charged a man for taking a deer with arifle during closed season and hunting from aroadway.

A CPO is currently investing several deer bait-ed stands in Williamson Co.

October 8thREGION IA District 6 CPOT received a call of a wound-

ed owl in the northbound median of I-90. TheCPOT was able to locate the owl which appearedto have been struck by a vehicle. There was asmall puddle of blood on the ground near the owland one of its eyes was closed. When the owlspotted the CPOT, it flew across I-90 and disap-peared into the woods.

A District 6 CPOT received a complaint froma concerned citizen. The man stated he lived nearRockford Airport and typically sees largeamounts of geese. The man went on to say hehad not seen any geese at all this year. The manadvised the CPOT that an airport worker toldhim he was going to kill all the geese on the air-port property and the man was concerned thatthis was why he hadn’t seen any geese thisyear. The CPOT advised the man that he would

a grocery bag with turkey wings stickingout. The CPO met the man at the door andasked if she could help him. The man askedwhere he could find a dumpster. The CPOexplained there were several throughout thecampground but asked what he had in the bag tothrow away? The man said a turkey. The CPOasked the man to tell her about his hunt. TheCPO asked where the tag for the turkey was. Theman explained it was in a bag back at his camp-site. The CPO checked the man’s huntinglicense. It was determined the hunter hadn’ttagged the turkey and had transported ituntagged from one county to another. The CPOexplained the importance of immediately taggingthe turkey upon kill and all of the consequencesit could have. The CPO invalidated the man’stag and helped him check his turkey in.Appropriate enforcement action was taken.

A District 1 CPO responded to Big Bend Fishand Wildlife Area over the weekend after 3-hunters were trapped in a parking area due to adowned tree. A local Hunter Safety Instructoraided the hunters in cutting the tree off the roadway with permission.

A District 1 CPO attended the Illinois TrapperAssociation Convention held at the Mercer CoFair Grounds in Aledo, IL. As part of the con-vention they sponsored a Trapper SafetyEducation Course. Unfortunately the number ofstudents was lower than expected, however thecold weather was believed to influence the lowturnout. The ITA membership coordinator saidtheir membership numbers have nearly doubledin the past 2-years and they expected a largercrowd but the weather did not cooperate.

A District 1 CPO worked a TIPS complaintCont’d. on next pg.

OCTOBER 2014look into the permits issued to the airport andoffered other explanations for the lack of geese theman had been seeing.

A District 6 CPOT received a complaint froman archery deer hunter about hunter harass-ment. The CPOT spoke with all parties involvedand found no violations. The CPOT explainedhunter harassment and other property and hunt-ing related laws in question to both parties andattempted to diffuse the situation. The disputebetween the hunter and adjacent land owner isongoing and may require future interventionfrom law enforcement.

A District 7 CPO was on routine patrol whenhe observed a subject in the woods with a back-pack. After contacting the subject it was found hewas looking for ginseng. A short time later anoth-er subject was also found looking for ginseng.Both had been dropped off in an illegal area (StateFish and Wildlife Area) and neither had ginsengharvest licenses. The drop off driver was contact-ed and appropriate citations were issued.

A District 7 CPO arrested 3 Chicago men fortrespassing to harvest ginseng. 155 ginseng rootswere seized as evidence.

A District 6 CPO arrested 5 individuals forfishing without a valid fishing license.

A District 6 CPO arrested 2 individuals forfishing without permission.

A District 6 CPO arrested 2 individuals andissued 9 citations for unlawful harvest of ginsengfrom a Nature Preserve. 68 ginseng roots, teaboiled down from the roots, and tools used forharvesting were all seized.

A District 1 CPO was checking archery deerhunters. A Cicero man was cited for huntingwithout a hunting license and warned for no habi-tat stamp. The man explained he thought he onlyneeded the per-mits. The CPOwent over theHunting Digestwith him andasked the manwhen he took hishunter safetyclass? The manresponded “just acouple yearsago.”

A District 1CPO was work-ing on somepaperwork oneevening when aman in camou-flage walked upto the office with

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POLICE… Cont’d. from previous pg.regarding an archery deer hunter who was hunt-ing within the village limits of Carbon Cliff. TheCPO located the hunter in question as he wasdragging a deer out to his vehicle. The hunterappeared to be properly licensed and following allState laws. It appeared the Colona IL man maybe hunting within village limits. This violationwould be covered by village ordinance and mustbe enforced by local law enforcement. This casewas referred to the Rock Island Co Sheriff’s Deptfor further investigation.

While checking archery deer hunters, CPO’sobserved 2 men placing trophy rocks in front oftheir deer stands. The CPO informed the menthat feeding deer was illegal. Both men weregiven citations for feeding or placing food wheredeer are present. The feeding of deer is illegal dueto the spread of CWD and its enforcement widespread.

In early Sept. a District 7 CPO received a tres-passing complaint from a privately owned firm inwest central Illinois. The complaint was made byan employee after he noticed pictures of the sus-pects on a trail camera. The photos showed3males carrying fishing poles into the incorporat-ed property. After coordinating with the localSheriff’s office, the investigation led to the identi-fication of all 3 suspects including an accomplice.Two district 7 CPOs interviewed one of the sus-pects and received a confession outlining theunlawful activities. 8 citations and 4 writtenwarnings were issued to the 4 suspects for crimi-nal trespass to real property, fishing without per-mission, and fishing without a valid sport fishing

license

REGION IIIDistrict 11 CPOs identified several baited

areas within District 11.A Dist 11 CPO investigated a Target Illinois

Poacher hotline complaint of a Macon Co manseen leaving the Shelbyville WildlifeManagement Area in Moultrie Co with anuntagged doe. The CPO located the man andthe deer was tagged and reported in as a harvest.

A Dist 11 CPO arrested 2 Shelbyville men forhunting without permission in rural ShelbyCo. A man went to hunt in the morning and the2 Shelbyville men were in his 2 man ladderstand. One of the men was warned last year notto hunt on that particular piece of property.

A Dist 19 CPO investigated a complaint inKickapoo State Park regarding hunters walkingaround with their bows and hiding 2 deer in atent. The deer were indeed found in the tent;however the hunters were completely legal.

A Dist19 CPO wrote a Decatur man for hunt-ing over bait on opening day of bow season.

REGION VAn archery deer hunter was arrested for violat-

ing his Restricted Driving permit. Stipulations ofthe RDP were to operate from 6:00 a.m. – 6:00p.m. for work only Monday -Saturday.

CPOs located a baited area in Dist 14 viaa landowner complaint. The area is being moni-tored.

A CPO responded to a call of an injured BaldEagle in Alexander Co. The eagle had a brokenwing. It was taken to a local rehabilitation facili-

ty for evaluation. A CPO is investigating a baited deer hunting

stand. A CPO charged a Union County subject with

unlawful take of deer with high powered rifle(30-06), from the roadway.

A CPO continued monitoring baited deerstands in Williamson Co. No arrests have beenmade as of yet.

A CPO is investigating several baited deerstands in Johnson Co.

October 15thREGION IA Dist 7 CPO was contacted and responded to

a report of a fatal hunting accident. The reportalleged a male subject had fallen from an elevatedtree stand the evening before. Upon arriving onthe scene, 2 Dist 7 CPOs observed and pho-tographed the scene and spoke to witnesses. Allwitness accounts and evidence gathered werecompiled and the investigation is ongoing.

A Dist 7 CPO responded to a call of a malesubject who was reported missing from a bargeon the Mississippi River. The report alleged amale subject had left the Capt’s quarters to usethe restroom and never returned. Search andrecovery efforts and an investigation into the inci-dent are ongoing.

While checking deer stands in Putnam Co, aCPO encountered 2 individuals who had justspread deer cocaine in front of their stand. TheCPO approached the 2 hunters and informedthem that feeding deer is illegal. Both men saidthey were unaware that feeding deer is illegal. TheCPO issued both hunters citations for feedingdeer. The area will continue to be monitored forfuture hunting activity to ensure no one is hunt-ing over a baited area.

A Dist 1 CPO responded to a complaint froma farmer of a poached deer on property he farms.The CPO opened the plastic bag that containeddeer remains and other garbage. The CPO wasable to track down a suspect based on what hefound. A check of the suspect prior to the inter-view showed the suspect did not have a huntinglicense, habitat stamp or any deer permit and pos-sessed only a valid fishing license. The suspectstated “Yes I did clean a deer to help out myneighbor and he gave me some of the deermeat.” The man went on to say he did not dumpthe carcass but would be happy to clean it up

right away. The CPO was very familiar with theyoung neighbor who harvested the deer in ques-tion. A check of IDNR records indicated theyoung neighbor did in fact have a valid huntinglicense, habitat stamp, archery permits (hechecked in 2 does on 10-9-14). The CPO theninterviewed the young Joslin IL man. The youngman stated “It stunk so bad we had to get rid ofit so I could use the bucket to clean the otherdeer.” The CPO told the young man he was verydisappointed with the way the situation was han-dled, trespassing on property he didn’t have per-mission to be on, dumping the carcass and leav-ing other trash with it (plastic bag, latex glovesmisc. paperwork). A talk about hunting ethicstook place and the young man was issued 2 writ-ten warnings for the violations.

A Dist 6 CPO arrested 2 individuals for fish-ing without a valid fishing license, fishing with-out permission & unlawful possession of drugparaphernalia, and unlawful possession of lessthan 2.5 gm of cannabis.

A Dist 6 officer conducted a compliance checkof two deer hunters at Starved Rock. One hunterwas trying to hide a plastic bag while the officerconducted the check. The officer found an ille-gally taken squirrel and mushrooms in the bag.The officer explained that the hunting area theywere in was only open for deer hunting.Enforcement action was taken.

A District 1 CPO cited 2 subjects archeryhunting at a State Site without blaze orange dur-ing the youth firearm deer season. Both subjectshad been in violation in the same area during thelate-winter season.

REGION IIIA Dist 19 CPO worked late shifts focusing on

spotlighting and illegal hunting activity along theeast side of central Illinois.

A Dist 19 CPO took enforcement action on ahunter without a Habitat Stamp near MiddleFork.

A Dist 19 CPO conducted administrativeinvestigations on whitetail deer harvests thatoccurred at Clinton Lake State Park. The detailrevealed numerous violations and the investiga-tion is still on-going and so far, one suspect wasinterviewed and issued 1-citation and 3 writtenwarnings.

A District 19 CPO, while checking fishermenon the Vermilion River in Vermilion Co located

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A CPO in Brown Co arrested an archeryhunter for hunting with the aid of bait. The sub-ject had a bag of apples he was using as bait.

A CPO in Adams Co arrested a subject forfeeding whitetail deer. The area was baited witha salt block and cracked corn. He had also con-structed a stand on public ground using nails.

A CPO in Adams Co checked 3 bowhunters. All 3 hunters were not wearing any blazeorange. One hunter did not have any per-mits. One hunter failed to tag his deer. All 3were given written warnings for the blaze orange.One hunter was cited for hunting without deerpermits. One hunter was cited for failure to tag adeer upon kill.

A CPO in Adams Co found a hunter in pos-session of an untagged 12 point deer at SiloamSprings State Park. There were no visiblewounds to the deer. The investigation is pend-ing.

REGION VFour men received over $2,200.00 in fines and

6 months supervision for unlawfully huntingwaterfowl over bait in Pope Co.

A CPO completed a random inspection on alivery license holder in Franklin Co.

A burglary at the Mt. Vernon Game Farm iscurrently under investigation.

An Alabama man was arrested in JeffersonCo for taking 2 youths firearm deer hunting a daybefore the season opened.

A CPO was able to identify 2 subjects pho-tographed on a landowner's trail camera. Thesubjects were walking through the landowner'sfield after setting up a tree stand on the ShawneeNational Forest. Walking through the field wasan easier walk than staying on the forest land.Both subjects have been warned to stay off thislandowner's property.

A CPO received a report of an injured BaldEagle in Jackson Co. Upon arrival, the BaldEagle had died. It was transferred to a local reha-bilitator to be transported to the USFWS.

A CPO conducted a random commercialinspection of a person with an aquaculture per-mit. No violations were discovered during theinspection.

A CPO received a call that a person was in aclosed portion of the Shawnee to collect snakeswith snake handling equipment which is illegal.The subject was gone upon arrival. Witnesses atthe area stated the subject had a snake hook withhim but had left it alongside the road when he

had been confronted by other hikers. They saidthat when he returned to his vehicle that thesnakehook had somehow been damaged. Thesubject's vehicle information was being forward-ed to the USFS.

A CPO checked hunters coming in off the BigMuddy River. One youth hunter had been suc-cessful and had killed a deer. The operator of theboat, however, had minor boat equipment viola-tions. He was issued written warnings for them.

A CPO cited a subject for hunting deer with-out consent of landowner Alexander County.

A CPO cited a Missouri subject for no blazeorange while bow hunting during youth firearmseason on his antlerless only permit.

A CPO cited a Louisiana subject who hadtaken a youth from Louisiana firearm deer hunt-ing. The youth stated that the adult "held theflashlight" on some deer so he could shoot one.The adult was cited.

A CPO stopped a vehicle in a remote area ofthe Shawnee National Forest. The subjectswere very nervous and suspected to be on stimu-lants as they had a strong odor of cannabis onthem. The CPO located the cannabis and multi-ple pipes on driver. The passenger was in posses-sion of methamphetamine, a plastic bag of methfell out of the passenger’s pant leg during patdown. The CPO also located cannabis in multi-ple locations in vehicle. Freshly harvestedcannabis was located in a box on the passengerfloor as well. A straw with white powder residuewas also located in the car. The driver also had asuspended driver’s license. The CPO issued mul-tiple IVC violations. Both subjects had criminalhistories which included dangerous drugcharges. Both were charged and jailed pendingbond.

District 16 Sergeant assisted the JacksonCounty Sheriff’s Department with an injuredBald Eagle. The Eagle was hit by a car and even-tually flew away after many unsuccessful attemptsto capture it.

A CPO cited two archery hunters for failing towear blaze orange during youth season.

October 22ndREGION IA District 1 CPO focused on waterfowl

enforcement on the opening weekend of water-fowl season in the North Zone. Several violationswere discovered and addressed including licenseand stamp violations, failure to maintain separatebag limits and several boat safety equipment vio-

lations. Two District 6 CPOs investigated a complaint

of unlawful baiting of deer. The suspect has notbeen identified and the case remains under inves-tigation.

A District 6 CPO received a complaint ofhunting without permission. The CPO located astand and two trail cameras. The two cameraswere seized and the investigation is pending.

A CPO in Henderson Co conducted a troutenforcement detail at Lake Argyle State Park inColchester. 12-boat and fish violations weredetected during the five hours of enforcementtime.

A case was started at a Spring Valley, IL boatdealer for not filing watercraft registrations andtaxes from boat sales within the 15 days followingthe sale. The case is on-going. Law Enforcementis making sure everyone gets their registrations inas soon as possible.

REGION VTwo boaters were recovered from a sinking

boat that hit a tree stump under the water line, onthe north end of Rend Lake. Two separate boatsassisted the stranded boaters. Local fishermenwere in a boat and the District 14 sergeant tookout Corps of Engineers Rangers on the IDNRboat to assist bringing the boaters and their gearto safety. The boat accident is being investigatedby the Conservation Police.

A CPO issued two citations for 2 subjectshunting without permission in Pope Co.

The District Sgt and the Lawrence Co CPOarrested a subject in the city limits of Effinghamfor killing a white tail deer by use of a crossbowand the aid of a vehicle.

A CPO cited a Perry Co resident for possess-

ing 2 live squirrels. The squirrels were releasedback into the wild.

A CPO charged 2 subjects for fishing withoutfishing licenses. One subject had been charged bythis same CPO several years ago for the same vio-lation.

October 29thREGION IA District 6 CPO checked a public hunting

area where there were reports of deer stands beingleft illegally overnight. The CPO located threestands in addition to one found earlier in the sea-son. Enforcement action is pending.

A CPO arrested 2 subjects on drug chargeswhile checking fishing licenses.

A District 6 CPO arrested 3 individuals forfishing without permission.

A District 6 CPO arrested 8 individuals forremaining in a State Park after it had closed.

A District 6 CPO arrested an individual forunlawful possession of alcohol on the trails atStarved Rock.

A District 1 CPO patrolled IDNR huntingproperties. The following violations were discov-ered and addressed: deer hunting without a validhunting license, deer hunting without a validhabitat stamp and deer hunting without a sitespecific windshield permit.

A District 7 CPO responded to a complaint ofindividuals engaged in unlawful boating activitieson closed waters of Anderson Lake SFWA.Boating activities are prohibited one week priorto the opening of the central zone duck season.This complaint came in the night before theopening morning of central zone duck season.Upon arrival, the CPO observed several boats on


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damage.A District 1 CPO investigated hunting

without permission complaint in OgleCounty. A subject was discovered hunting inthe landowner’s stand and fled the areabefore being identified. The landowner thendiscovered the trespasser had dumped a largeamount of bait on the ground and had set atrail camera up to view the bait. After view-ing the video on the camera, it was discov-ered the violator had himself on video dump-ing the bait. The investigation is continuing.

A District 1 CPO concluded an investiga-tion of a TIPS complaint in OgleCounty. The complaint was received after asubject had posted photos online of himselfdeer hunting during youth firearm season,but was not wearing blaze orange. A recordscheck of the subject showed he did not havea hunting license, habitat stamp, or any per-mits. The subject was located by the CPOafter a local agency had arrested him on anoutstanding warrant. The CPO interviewedthe subject and issued him citations andwarnings for his violations.

While checking fishermen in Ogle Co, aDistrict 1 CPO discovered a subject to be inpossession of an undersized smallmouthbass. The angler was issued a citation and thefish was returned to the river.

A District 1 CPO responded to a com-plaint at Johnson Sauk Trail SRA of a vehicleparked in a hunting area and not in a desig-nated parking lot. The hunters returned totheir vehicle and the CPO was waiting in the

dark for them. The driver was issued a cita-tion for not parking in the appropriate areaand several written warnings were issued forother violations.

REGION IIA District 2 CPOT and a District 4 CPOT

were conducting waterfowl enforcement onthe Fox Chain O’ Lakes. They initiated aboat stop on an individual for a no-wake vio-lation on the channel between Channel Lakeand Lake Marie. The operator, dressed inblaze orange, had an uncased shotgun sittingnext to him on the boat. The operator saidhe had been out duck hunting on the ChainO’ Lakes. Noticing blood and shotgun shellsin the boat, the CPOTs asked how manyducks he had killed. The operator proudlyopened his cooler and pulled out two deadloons and a dead sea gull. A check of theshotgun revealed no plug. The operator wastaken to Lake Co Jail and charged with 3counts of unlawful take of protected species,unlawful use of an unplugged shotgun,unlawful transportation of an uncased shot-gun, unlawful possession of slug shotgunshells while hunting waterfowl, unlawful pos-session of a firearm without a valid FOID,and violation of no-wake area.

Two District 2 CPOTs were conductingsport fishing enforcement in McHenry Co.Fishermen were checked on the Fox Rivernear McHenry. A check of their basketrevealed a 9 1/4 inch Walleye. The Walleyewas released and a fisherman was issued acitation for failure to immediately release theshort Walleye (14" minimum).

Two District 2 CPOs returned to an areawith a baited tree stand in McHenry Co.The subject in the tree stand denied knowl-edge of the mineral block 40 yards in front ofhis stand, as well as the fresh corn cob 25yards in front of his stand. A citation wasissued for hunting with the use/aid of bait.

REGION IIIA Dist11 CPO handled a dispute between

duck hunters & fishermen on LakeShelbyville in Shelby Co.

A District 11 CPO received a tip that arural Cumberland Co man had poached adoe on the 3rd day of archery season. TheCPO went and spoke with the man who hadshot the deer not far from his home on LakeMattoon. The man had no hunting licenseor deer tags. The man received citations andwarnings and has a pending court date. Thedeer meat was seized.

REGION VA hunter was cited in White Co for hunt-

ing deer over bait.Several CPOs and the Sergeant worked the

Paralyzed Veteran Ass (PVA) fishing tourneyat Rend Lake.

A Franklin Co deer outfitter was cited forallowing an Ind. resident to obtain residentdeer permits and harvest a doe during a sea-son in Oct 2013. The Outfitter did nothave hunter logs to present for inspection.

2-deer, a 10 point and a 7 point buck, wereillegally taken in Hamilton Co during previ-ous hunting seasons. An investigationrevealed several doe permits wereobtained and never filled by an out of statehunter. The Alabama hunter was cited forthe unlawful take of the 2-deer and civilpenalties were authorized on the citations.The hunter purchased $25.00 non-residentantlerless-only deer permits instead of the$410.00 non-resident either sex deer per-mits.

A CPO arrested a Tennessee man for falsi-fication residency to obtain Illinois residentarchery deer permits. The male was using arelative’s address.

A CPO issued an Illinois resident huntertwo written warnings for failure to tag hisdeer before moving it after harvesting thedeer. The man had left his wallet and permitin his truck.

A CPO cited 2-Georgia hunters who didnot have non-resident hunting licenses orhabitat stamps for 6 consecutive years.

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Anderson Lake SFWA unlawfully. The indi-viduals were contacted and the infraction wasthoroughly explained. Appropriate enforce-ment action was taken.

A District 7 CPO worked the opening dayof duck season at Rice Lake SFWA. Severalviolations were noted during vessel inspec-tions at the Rice Lake Boat Ramp. A thor-ough explanation of the infractions noted wasexplained and appropriate enforcementaction was taken.

A CPO investigated a report that a con-victed felon was hunting waterfowl in Dist7. The investigation is ongoing.

Responding to a TIPS complaint of illegalbaiting of deer and hunting without permis-sion, a District 6 CPO located the suspecthunting from the tree stand. While conduct-ing an investigation, the CPO discovered thehunter from Ohio didn’t have an Illinoishunting license, Illinois habitat stamp orIllinois archery deer permit. These violationswere in addition to hunting without permis-sion, unlawfully attempting to take deer bythe aid of bait and criminal damage to prop-erty for cutting a tree branch on the com-plainant’s property. The CPO issued cita-tions for attempting to take deer by the aid ofbait, hunting without permission and archeryhunting without obtaining an Illinois non-resident archery permit and written warningsfor not having an Illinois hunting license, nothaving an Illinois habitat stamp and criminal

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F a v o r i t e W i n t e r

L u n c h S p o tThe place is Rocky Point, up

Lake McDonald from the F ishCreek Campground. In winter,it's about a three-mile ski orsnowshoe journey from where theplowed road ends at theMcDonald Creek Bridge, nearApgar. A leisurely breakfast, acasual scenic drive to GlacierPark, and an exhilarating trekalong McDonald's shore, andvoila! A perfect place to eatlunch and drink from the elixir ofGod's excellence. The lake is not often ice-free, as it is in this picture, nor are we always sun-warmed, asDoug was during our visit. But the view is always spectacular, the company we choose while visiting, andour own physical élan by just being there makes it one damn good lunch place. Fortunately, there areother places of equal excellence, so there are enough choices to keep this one from over-crowding.


make most endeavors easier. People familiar withthem tend to take them for granted. Like me withoutdoor stuff.

* Layering, for instance. I've read for years abouthow advisable layering is when dressing for foulweather. Layering sounds complicated—like oneneeds to understand garment weaves or the meritsof polyester versus wool, or windbreaker nylon ver-sus down-filled canvas. But it might be nothing morecomplicated than your wearing three sweaters dur-ing a blizzard while your buddy is shrouded in aheavy down-filled, satin-lined, Gore-Tex outer-shelled parka that is impossible for him to shed aportion of as the temperature and sweat rises.

* Or did you know gaiters—leg coverings lappingboot and trousers—are effective for more activi-ties than the crosscountry skiing or snowshoeingfor which they were designed? Fall hunting, forinstance. Or while tramping through tall grass aftera soaking June rain.

* A bottle of drinking water can be more impor-tant in winter when dehydration might sneak up onyou while accompany lowered body temperatures.So you’re not hirsty—understood. But you alsomight more easily be subject to hypothermia.

* Have you ever had a boot eat your sock? That is,have you ever had on a pair of socks that seemeddetermined to work down to your toes while hiking?Of course you have. If not, you've done little hiking.But did you know stocking-creep can be preventedby tying a knot in your bootstring right at the peakof the arch?

No? Try it. You'll be surprised.

* How do you apply water-proofing to your boot?The way we did it in our fall hunting camps or priorto our spring hiking trips was to heat a can of bootgrease until it was liquid, then apply to boots with asmall one-inch paintbrush. No muss, no fuss.

If you're insistent that spray is your ticket, thenuse it outdoors. The odor lingers indoors longer thanthe protection it gives your boots.

* For your day hikes or hunts, think about using asmall pack to carry the inevitable things you'll need

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* Did you know old linen dinner napkins makegood dust rags because linen is usually lint-free?

* Or how about old newspapers? They can be usedto wipe window glass after washing. They, too, leaveno lint?

* Or listen to this: a quarter cup of vinegar pereach gallon of water used for washing windowsreduces spotting (apparently acids in vinegar cutslime in water)?

What does all the above have to do with an out-door blog?

Simple. They’re everyday things my wife knowsabout house cleaning that mystifies me. Her simplehousehold hints started me thinking . . .

There are, you see, a plethora of simple hints that

during the day, such as lunch, camera, field glasses,etc. Some people use a "fanny" pack that beltsaround the midsection, but I prefer a small pack-sack called a daypack. You can stuff more things ina daypack than in a fanny pack: items like a wind-breaker, plastic square to sit upon snow or dampground, small first-aid kit. And you’ll not be as likelyto come up sore in the lumbar region.

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Firearms production involves talent drawn from many different occupations to work as ateam. These may include designers and draftsmen (now likely as computerized cad-cam),plus machinists and metallurgists that are responsible for proving the feasibility of manu-facture. The cost control aspect will include continuing input from engineers and account-ants working in concert; their goal is to reduce the cost of materials being used and revise oreliminate what might be considered excessive or unnecessary steps in the productionprocesses. Prototypes will be put through what should ideally be a comprehensive series ofdemanding tests to expose and define any defects in operation or weaknesses in parts thatreduce reliability.

Cost reduction and manufacturing revision, when done during production, will some-times mean that newer parts may not be backwards compatible in previously produced

examples, or (alternatively) may need to be used to replace older typesof parts to improve wear life and function. One example noted sometime back had 2 basically identical examples of a better brand shotgunhere, and with serial numbers around 30K, but about 1000 apart, 2versions of the same system section were apparent during disassembly.One had a transfer bar with a long rod and short sleeve, and the otherhad a short rod and long sleeve. The different length sleeves each need-ed a unique spring to facilitate the corresponding difference in rodlength. That is what is known as a running design change, and mustbe utilized as a matched set when any parts replacement becomes nec-essary.

One aspect that sometimes seems to have had insufficient thoughtconcerns the repair and maintenance disassembly, especially if someparts deterioration (such as rust or heavy wear) or internal breakagecreates additional difficulties. One part being removed out of sequencecan sometimes be disastrous because it frees another part that now actsas an impediment to further disassembly. Having a small tab or otherinternalized keeper needing removal could have eliminated such a con-dition - just by making a slight alteration and no more potentially cost-ly headache.

Sometimes a simple assembly difficulty, such as getting a snugly fitbarrel lug precisely aligned into the frame, is a syndrome sometimesseen in new double gun owners that tend to ding the breech face andlump. A typical parts misfit repair is the temporary plug or fill of awood screw hole with slivers that, when found, requires remediationfor professional service. A more difficult rework situation can becaused by installing a screw before it is properly engaged in the threadsor has some damage – but is forced, anyway.

The first problem pictured is easy to spot: a thin wafer chip flakeddue to a bit of side force at the coin edge section and cleanly separat-ed from the inside face of the stock head. The second problem (at thered arc) had a corner chunk insufficiently adhered and ready to dropfree when removing the forend iron now providing the main support– not readily noticeable during a quick once-over. The third set ofdamages: a pair of screws that were installed in spite of misalignmentproblems and now had deformed threads, with salvage re-forming ofthe remainder counting on a bit of luck to pull through.There are going to be times when an assembled mechanism will comeapart, but have some issue that creates resistance to reassembly orrequires substantial repair beyond what was initially spotted. If anyoffending part is robust, like the barrel lump, slight misalignments or

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other errors don’t necessarily cause irreparable damage, but may show rub marks or dings.Lightly constructed items may not cause much change in feel in parts insertion, for exam-ple, but may have overly bent, stretched, or flexed a part past the yield and now needs repairor replacement. If a thin tab is present along the edge of a wooden stock, slippage or somemiscue (especially if the parts fit is snug) and there will be a delay in departure due to hav-ing to glue a chunk back in place – such as the side clip tab previously pictured.

A revolver extractor stem had edges that created drag due to dings and remainder burrsalong the sharp edges (red arrow) to the point of causing binding of the spring coils whenplaced over the stem. The edges quit snagging the coils after some slight corner reduction(green center arrow), but the end coil tip still had some rotational binding where the stemmet the extractor face back side. Some judicious corner and edge filing eliminated any resid-ual spring tip “grab” or drag, when combined with a slight smoothing of the cut tip of thespring wire end. Trimmed wire can have quite sharp corners, like cracked glass, and withsuch hard material as spring wire, a cutting edge similar to a chisel point may remain to diginto adjacent surfaces of lesser hardness.

Here is the spring contact seat of the opposing end, and the channel groove gouged with the


spring end is quite evident at the red arrows. There is even a slight proud edge with a sharpburr overhanging, and that edge could contribute to drag of the extractor in both directions.Some incidental stem burrs on the flat faces can be barely seen in the previous photo set downpast the red arrow near the back side of the extractor face. These remainder machining marksacted as slight stutters in extractor extension when any side force was present, and that is whythey had a bit of shine on the tops of the milling cuts.

Making the best of a budgetary situation is what determines which of many decisions is cho-sen, and the pick and choose method might turn out differently, depending on who makes thedecisions on the final cutoff. This will be true at any manufacturing or repair situation, sincefew times will there be anything approaching a “cost is no object” carte blanche to allow truefreedom from cost constraint in favor of doing the best job possible. That rarity is reserved forthe Boss and Rolls-Royce examples, while the rest is like Toyota and Taco Bell.

Regardless of the beginning intent, the end result will ultimately be tested in the fire of theabusive public’s hands, mainly because the caring side of the public won’t be likely to find theweak points in the equipment as soon as the ones who applied the well-known concept of“rode hard and put away wet”.

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057_001.qxd 1/26/15 7:56 AM Page 1


HOW TO BE A BETTER

DEER HUNTERby

DarrellSterling

The most sought after big game ani-mal on the planet is a whitetail deerevery year millions of hunter’s head outinto the woods searching for the buck ofa lifetime. I too have been hunting anddreaming of a monster buck so with thehopes of bettering my odds I decided tosearch for answers by interviewing a fa-mous outfitter who has guided the in-dustry's top hunters, men like Bill Jor-dan, Jackie bushman, Scott Hagen, andothers. I also wanted to interview a high-ly successful hunter from who owns staterecords for the largest buck harvested.

The famous outfitter is Matt Craigwho grew up in the business taking overhis dad's 35-year-old company over 10years ago. Boulder Creek outfitters hasbeen featured over 20 times on Buck

Master's and they have done 5 showswith Bill Jordan. Matt hunts on close to20,000 acres out West.

The Mid West hunter I spoke to isHip targets Pro Staffer Larry Napier whoharvested what was the state record bucktaken with a bow for Ohio. Larry’s mon-ster typical buck scored 186 3/8. He alsohas taken an amazing total of 16 Popeand Young bucks with his second largestbuck scoring 176 1/8. The man is an ab-solute master hunter.

I spoke to both Matt and Larry look-ing for tips I could use to improve myWhitetail hunting. I asked both menwhat were their keys to success? I startedwith Matt.

Me: Matt why do top hunters travel toIdaho every year to hunt with you?

Matt: We do our homework. We stayin the field covering lots of land each andevery day, you just need to put in thetime before, during and after the seasonto locate the bigger bucks and try to pat-tern them in a certain canyon or drawarea. Whitetails will tend to live in a cer-tain area in the fall so once you can findthem, which we usually do by sitting outin the early morning and late eveningglassing from the high ridges so we don'tbump them and get them out of theirnormal pattern. Mule deer and elk trav-el a lot more over the course of a day or

so, so they can be tougher tonail down, but whitetailstend to live in smaller areasbut may only show up onceor twice a week in the day-light hours because they areso smart.

Me: Matt what advisewould you give a landownerto hold deer on their proper-ty?

Matt: We hunt largerpieces of property out here,in the 10,000-20,000 acresizes, so it might be tough forme to give advice on smaller pieces like50-100 acre sizes. I know on both bigand small acreage good food sources areobviously very important. You needsomething to draw the deer to your placeand once they make a home on yourplace they'll live there for years andyears. We often see the same deer yearafter year in similar places they may notlive in the same exact draw all year long,but come hunting season you can counton them showing up for the rut in theirtypical areas. Out here in the west wehave a lot of wide-open canyons, so onething we like to have is some good tim-ber pockets near some agricultural areas,in areas with all farm fields and no coverwe don't see as many deer, they like the

nearby cover to escape to. Same thingwith heavy timbered areas, they tend tonot hold as many deer due to lack of agood food source. So if you have somefarm fields and nearby timber and tallbrushy areas that tends to hold the bestdeer populations.

Me: Do you use any permanent standlocations?

Matt: We don't do many permanentstands here in Idaho due to the largeopen canyon type country. We do usesome stands for archery hunting, but forrifle we use the spot and stalk method.We hunt our whitetails similarly to howwe hunt our mule deer, we go out andget up the ridges and glass large canyonslooking for movement and once we lo-

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058_001.qxd 1/26/15 12:21 PM Page 1

to put in the time and that big bucksrarely make mistakes but when that daycomes you have to be in the field to cap-italize on the moment. You might onlyget one or two chances in a season for amonster so you had better be out therewith the sun at your back and the windin your face (assuming you figure thedeer aren’t going to come in from

behind you). I hope these tips help youthis upcoming deer season. I know thatwhen I am sitting in my tree stand forthe ninth straight day wondering whatthe heck am I doing I will rememberback to the words of wisdom theseexperts have given me and that will helpme to climb back into my stand on dayten. Happy huntin!

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cate a buck we like the stalk begins,which can be a few hundred yards or itcan be a half a mile or more. Whitetailsare obviously more sensitive than muledeer so we can't get away with as muchmovement, but the overall method issimilar. We travel around a lot lookingfor bucks during the rut and once wefind one we may set up on a high ridgefor a few days and wait him out hopingfor another glance.

I turned my attention to Larry Napierand asked how he consistently harvestedrecord book bucks every year on smalltracks of land?

Larry: The key to taking big bucks isto be persistent and hunt scent free. Atruly mature buck will only make one ortwo mistakes throughout the huntingseason so the key to harvesting a maturebuck is to make sure that you are in thefield ready to go when that big bruiserwalks by.

Larry shared with me that he willspend hundred 100-120 hours in thefield on average to harvest a Pope andYoung class buck with his bow. I askedLarry how he was able to spend thatmuch time in the field?

La r r y :I am self-employ-ed andwill typi-c a l l yonly hunt 2 to 3 hours a day. I will eithergo to work a little later than normal or Iwill quit work in time to get into the treestand. I know if I want to be successful Ihave to put in the hours and be persist-ent. I found out through experience thatnothing contributes more to your suc-cess than putting in long hours over thecourse of the season in a well-placed treestand. I have to add that in less you arehunting scent free you're wasting yourtime. The wind is the most importantfactor because a large buck will pick upyour scent trail if you're not huntingwith the wind in your face. I don't carehow much scent block you have investedin if the wind is wrong then the gig isup.

The two highly successful huntersboth stressed how important it is to staypatient and persistent. They bothbelieved if you want to shoot a large tro-phy class whitetail you had to be willing

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Congrats Larry!

Outfitter Matt Craig's client took this giant!

Darrell Sterling with his largest trophy buck, his son Tyler &

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059_001.qxd 1/26/15 12:20 PM Page 1


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060_001.qxd 1/22/15 10:03 PM Page 1


MEMOIRS return after a brief hiatus dur-ing the Christmas Season and the preparationsfor it.

Once we close at the beginning of Octoberand preparations for hunting begin, I take abrief mental vacation from Minnesota. But itis always somewhere rattling around in mymind! (One month down, and six to go! -Two months down, and five to go...)

When I posted Christmas and New Year'sgreetings on my Facebook, I was reminded byBen Sampson, "Four months to opening!"With a mild winter after an early freeze (whichkilled our hunting season!), we are expectingour first measurable snow today, January 5.By this time last year, we were already winter-weary, and snow blowers were worth themoney. Maybe the worst is yet to come! How-ever, Ben was right! Only four months untilLeeward Shores opens on Nokay Lake for an-other season.

The Lake had an early heavy snow, but lit-tle since, and I have received pictures of snow-

less roads and vehicles which have droppedthrough thin ice!! It's very cold now, and ac-companying pictures of Ken McBride and atrophy northern taken through the ice ofRush Lake wii attest to a healthy ice covernow!

Folks often ask me if I ever go ice fishing inMinnesota, and I do not, have not, may do itsometime! When I see pictures like Ken's, Ithink about it! And many ice-fishing housesare more like homes, far removed from theshacks of GRUMPY OLD MEN! They havegenerators for heat and appliances and TV! The closest I have been to Minnesota ice fish-ing occurred when I visited the Ducks Un-limited Fishing for Ducks Tournament onLake Mille Lacs several years ago. But noshacks, tents, or shelters of any kind are al-lowed for the contest. Perhaps because theprize list is worth nearly $100,000! But sever-al thousand hearty Minnesotans venture forth,regardless of the weather, and angle for thelargest or smallest fish, with a hundred win-

ners, guaranteed.Visit "Fishing

for Ducks.org" forgreat pics andvideo of the event!

Once AprilDoes end andOpening Weekendis in sight, thenALL thoughts willbe of another re-turn to the lakeand another seasonin our little piece of"paradise!

Spring will already be in fullbloom here, but trees will still bebare at Nokay!! And so we will en-joy two springs again. If ice is stillon the lake or if a little snow is inthe air on opening day, they willbe of no surprise! Spring comeslate to the North Country!

In the meantime, we endureour winter here while some of ourfriends travel to Florida and otherpoints south. We curse the coldand remove the snow and "toughit out" like most folks.

In the meantime, football con-tinues until February 1, and afterFebruary, it's all downhill!

If one can make it through February, thenSpring Training begins, March Madness is

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upon us, baseballbegins in earnest inApril, and sudden-ly it’s May!

We used towait 50 weeks toreturn to the lake!Now we wait sevenmonths, and threeare already gone!About ten days tohalf-way! Whenwe were kids,Mark and I began

our count-down just a week orso before D-Day! Now I havetwo count-downs: one begin-ning early in October, and theother beginning Seriously inApril!

But the thrill is still the same,even after sixty years. I don'thave Mom's comic books andtreats to help pass the time oftravel, but we have our stops andlandmarks to break up any mo-notony, and the anticipation hasnot waned in the least.

People often ask, "How didyou get started going to Min-nesota for so many years?" Andthat's why I conclude each article

with..."Thanks Mom and Dad!"

MINNESOTA MEMOIRSby Dave Evans

“Looking for Spring”

Congrats to Ken McBridefor catching a northern he caught recentlythrough the ice of RushLake. Ken fishes Nokaywith us every summerHe’s son-in-law of our Bev Loman, part of our Leeward Shores family.

061_001.qxd 1/26/15 8:13 PM Page 1

cited this much. Time and time again, ashe explains our next adventure together,Mike’s voice accelerates with excitementas the details of the hunt or fishing tripgets explained. I am not sure what he likesmost… my hunch all of it!

He puts the time in by showing up.Mike taught me very quickly that show-

ing up was 90% of success. He consistent-ly can be found in the field or on the wa-ter when in season. Few people spendmore time outdoors than Mike. He has asaying that he uses regularly, “They areeverywhere more than anywhere else.” Inother words, the wildlife live in thewild….everywhere. Most people miss outon that elusive trophy simply because theydon’t spend enough time in the field.He pays attention to the details.

No matter what you set out to do, youmust have a program. Mike has one of themost elaborate hunting and fishing pro-grams anywhere. Not only does he havean overall program but sub-programs forarchery, shotgun, rifle, and muzzleloaderdeer seasons. He has a turkey program, awater fowl program, a small game pro-


I have learned so much from Mike and hehas modeled how to be successful at thissport to me time and time again. Here arefour things that we all can take from Mikethat will improve our chances of beingsuccessful.

He thoroughly enjoys what he does. I am never ceased to be amazed by

Mike’s passion and excitement for hunt-ing and fishing. In a recent conversationabout our Illinois deer hunting prospects,he said “I am so excited about the poten-tial on this farm. We have captured 12 dif-ferent bucks on our trail cams. We are go-ing to have so much fun.” Now you haveto put this in perspective. Mike has beenhunting for over forty years. I do notknow many people who have been doingsomething for forty years and still get ex-

LEARNING FROM THE BEST

BY BOB COWMANWhat is it like to hunt and fish with

professional outdoorsman Mike Roux ona regular basis? I have had the uniqueprivilege to hunt and fish with Mike fornearly ten years. I became his pastor atthat time and had done little fishing orhunting in my life. He turned this cityslicker from Ohio into a crazed huntingand fishing junkie in no time. I have, toMikes credit, taken three world classturkeys, several trophy bass, countless doe,and a half dozen buck. My largest one tak-en to date was this archery season.

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gram and the flip side is an entire fishingprogram. This didn’t happen for Mike ina week but rather a life time of meticu-lously putting together a detailed programreducing human error in the field. He isconstantly on me about my program andhow to improve to provide the best op-portunity to be successful.

He is not afraid to try something new. Most people get stuck in their ways.

People who are successful are even morestuck in their ways. You have heard thesaying “don’t mess with success.” I amconstantly amazed with the changes Mikemakes with his tactics, program andequipment. Regularly, I get statementsfrom Mike like, “I have to show you mynew so and so,” or “I changed up my en-tire program you got to see my such andsuch.”

It is no accident that Mike finds his wayinto outdoor publications. He is a trueprofessional. I have learned so much fromhim and will continue to do so. If youwant to be excellent at something, find theperson who does it the best and followthem!

Mike Rouxand Bob

Cowmanshare morethan justhunting

and fishing as they are also brothers in Christ.

(Photo byMike Roux)

062_001.qxd 1/26/15 12:54 PM Page 1


Better BiteDetection InDeep Water

How to put more suspended basin

crappies on the ice this winter

By Steve PennazOne of the best ways to catch

crappies during mid-winter is tohead for deeper basin areas.Depending on the type of lake,crappies will either suspend inthese areas or stay glued to thebottom. The depths we’re talk-ing about can vary from 15 to50 feet of water. Oxygen andfood availability play a huge part.

In the best case scenario, your flasher or graph will light up with crappies cruising themiddle of the water column. These fish could be feeding on anything from microscop-ic organisms to minnows. When they’re eating minnows, nuance isn’t such a big part ofthe game. Simply drop a jig and one-inch Gulp! Minnow and the fish generally bottle-rocket to your bait!

But what’s more often the case are crappies feeding on critters in the mud or zoo-plankton somewhere higher up in the water column. Unlike crappie chasing minnows,these fish typically just slide up to whatever they plan to eat and gently suck it in.

Now for the bad news…you miss most of these bites because the take is so gentle thatunless the fish moves off you feel nothing in this deep water.

The first time I watched basin crappies on the screen of my Aqua-Vu underwater cam-era I was stunned at the number of bites I didn’t know I was getting. So I started tweak-ing my presentation and developed a system that runs counter to what seems like crap-pie common sense, yet works well. And no, it doesn’t include a strike indicator.

Although a strike indicator works wonders for recognizing bites in shallow water, Idon’t like them in deep water. Rather, I find that boosting my sense of feel improves myresponse time. If my jig is 25 feet down, or more – by the time the strike indicator movesand I set the hook, the game is often already over.

So I switched to a much stiffer graphite ice rod (very little bend even with hooked fish)and a thin superline, typically Berkley NanoFil in 4-pound test. This combinationtelegraphs even light bites almost instantaneously allowing for quick hooksets.

I made another important change to my presentation. Now, when the line on mysonar representing the fish and the line representing my lure become a single line, I knowthe fish is on the bait and assume a bite is imminent or has already happened. Ratherthan waiting to feel the bite in this situation, I gently lift the rod three or four inches tocheck and if there is resistance I continue the lift to set the hook. If not, I drop the baitback to the fish and repeat the process until I either catch the fish or it leaves.

The key is to make subtle rod movements to avoid spooking fish, but aggressiveenough to find out if you have a bite or not.

With practice, this technique becomes almost magical. Although you’d think that the combination of stiff rod and no-stretch line would have

the tendency to rip baits out of crappie mouths, but it hasn’t been the case in the deep-water situations I fish. In most cases, the fish are played out (or suffering from the changein water pressure) before they reach the hole. I usually tie direct too, but if that freaks youout, simply add a monofilament of fluorocarbon leader to your presentation.

About Stone Cold Fishing/Steve Pennaz: Steve Pennaz is the former US National Ice FishingChampion and competed in two World Ice Fishing Championships as a member of Team USA.He hosts Stone Cold Fishing, a television series devoted to ice fishing.

063_001.qxd 1/27/15 11:21 AM Page 1


Eagles and Winter Bird Watching in Southernmost Illinois:

800-248-4373 www.southernmostillinois.com

What better way to start off the NewYear, then trying to spot Bald Eagles!There are several great locations to spotbirds. The Cache River Wetlands offergreat opportunities for eagle watching,

as well as spotting other birds. TheCache River Wetland Center providesresource and identification materials tohelp you spot eagles and other birds inthe area and along the rivers. They willprovide maps and directions to the view-ing station for the nest just off IllinoisRoute 37 off Perks road and south of thevisitor's center. There are also opportu-nities to learn about birds.

Feb. 22 attend a program -‘Birds of aFeather’ at Cache River WetlandsCenter, from 2-3:30pm. Birds can beidentified in a variety of ways. Somepeople can hear bird songs and knowwhich bird is singing. Other birds can beidentified by shape, size, or the appear-ance of their beak. For some birds,though, their feathers tell it all. Becausebirds have feathers, they can fly, stay drywhen it rains, stay warm when it’s cold,and cool when it’s hot. During this briefprogram, we will take a look at thosemiraculous things that make birds, birds–feathers!

Join a group hike of Waterfowl bird-ing Feb. 28 at Mermet Lake State Fish &Wildlife Area, 9-11am. Meet at

Mermet Lake State Fish & WildlifeArea, in the Bluebird Trail parking area,which is just before the lake. Led byMaster Naturalist Anne Parmley, partici-pants will drive around Mermet Lake,making several stops to identifybirds. Binoculars are recommended. Formore information or to call ahead, contact618-657-2064

Bald Eagle Watching in the Cache River Wetlands

Cache River Wetlands Center8885 State Route 37, South, Cypress, IL

618-657-2203The Wetlands offers great opportunities

for eagle watching,as well as spottingother birds. TheCache RiverWetland Centerprovides resourceand identificationmaterials to helpyou spot eagles andother birds in thearea and along therivers. They willprovide maps anddirections to theviewing station forthe nest just offIllinois Route 37 offPerks road andsouth of the visitor'scenter. For moreinformation call618-657-2203 orvisit dnr.state.il.us/l a n d s / l a n d m g t /p a r k s / r 5 /cachervr.htm

The Union CountyState Fish andWildlife Area

2755 Refuge Road,Jonesboro, IL618-833-5175

Lat: 37.4219 N°,Long: 89.3734 W°

A small preservewest of Jonesborothat clings toIllinois Route 146.Within its confinesare several viewingstations. Visitorsigns suggest thebest viewing timesare between

December and February. This is whenthe eagle migration brings the birds tothe region in search of water not frozenby the winter temperatures, as BaldEagles prefer to feed on fish.dnr.state.il.us/ lands/landmgt/parks/r5/UNIONCO.HTM

Horseshoe Lake State Fish andWildlife Area

Just east of Rt. 3, Miller City, IL62962, 618-776-5689

GPS Coordinates: N 37° 08.977' W 89° 19.645'

Over 250,000 Canada geese winter inHorseshoe Lake Conservation Area, andbald eagles are abundant as well. dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/PARKS/R5/HORSHU.HTM

064_001.qxd 1/26/15 2:07 PM Page 1


Who says you can't catch BIG catfish in the winter in Illinois? Both these big blues were caught by

Luke Ploshay, of Princeville, at Powerton Lake in Pekin.

Thanks to Bob Park, ASO writer & friend for sharing Luke’s trophy cats!

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world and it is cool to see theircatches of strange fish we never getto see. We have pro Bass fishermenas members and pro walleye fisher-men as well. They all relate theircurrent fishing adventures.It is the best way to get up to dateinfo about Lake Shelbyville andother lakes. Once I am out guidingevery day it is filled with fish pic-tures and stories of how we caughtthem.

This site provides you with thequickest way to become a betterfisherman and not just a bettercrappie fisherman as we havemembers that fish for manyspecies.

I encourage all of you to join ourranks. It does not cost you a dimeand we will be glad to have you on-board. Just go to my website atwww.LakeShelbyvilleGuide.comand look in the top right hand cor-ner to move you to Illinois FishTalk and then follow the directionsto join.

Kentucky Lake TripsI am booking trips right now for

Kentucky Lake as well as LakeShelbyville for spring, summer andfall. Since my fishing shows havestarted the trips are flying out thedoor quickly.

Illinois Fish Talk

By Steve WelchI have added a fish forum to my

website to allow folks to post justabout anything from selling yourboat to great recipes. We have fo-rums to post your big fish photosand many other sub-forums to useas well.

We also have top notch electronicinformation unmatched anywherefrom my partner Alan Corzine. Heis a Lowrance Advanced Producttester. He gets to try out all the newequipment way before they are in-troduced. Plus he is an engineer by

trade so he can really dive into thetechnical stuff for you.

My expertise is fishing as I am afull time guide on both Lake Shel-byville and Kentucky Lake. This ismy 21st year of being a fishingguide and I like to share with all ofyou what I am doing. I post on FishTalk almost daily with fishing pat-terns and new products I am usingto keep me catching fish.

This forum has been up and run-ning for a few years now and wehave nearly 1100 members andgrowing each day. So far it has notbeen one of those forums that argu-ments and negative criticism hasnot started nor tolerated. We have astrict rule over this, no three strikesyou are just banished. I have seenthis on many other sites.

We just have a nice group of guysthat like to help each other out. Ihave members from all over the

www.LakeShelbyvilleGuide.com

I started guiding down on Ken-tucky Lake (Paris Landing) thispast year and had great success.This year we are going to start outdown there February 13th and stayon through March 3rd. I have to beback up in Illinois for my last fish-ing show or I would stay a littlelonger.

I want to be there when those re-ally big fish are bunched up on theledges and you get to catch themtwenty-feet deep or more. This iswhen those wall mount crappieshow up. We had an 18 ¼” blacklast winter and a 16” right beforethat fish.

I have my Yar-Craft 2095BTX allset up for this deep slow trollingthat we do in the winter downthere. We pull a pair of 1/4oz. DeepLedge Jigs along the deep dropsvery slowly to enhance a reactionbite of a big crappie.

I am also booking trips for thefall season down on Kentucky. Iwill be there from September 14-28and on this trip we are going to bespider rigging up on the tops of theledges concentrating on numbersand big black crappie. My boat isset up to spider rig ten rods out thefront of the boat for three of us tomanage and we can flat catch abunch of them out of the numerousstake beds that Kentucky Lake hasto offer.

My website has an open date listfor both lakes so feel free to reservea day or two by going towww.LakeShelbyvilleGuide.comor simply giving me a call at 217-762-7257 home or 217-840-1221cell.

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BOOK YOUR FISHINGTRIP WITH STEVE!

217-762-7257Cell: 217-840-1221

LakeShelbyvilleGuide.com After a full day of fishing, come to the Spillway MotelAfter a full day of fishing, come to the Spillway Motel

and relax in one of our clean, comfortable rooms.and relax in one of our clean, comfortable rooms.All rooms include a microwave, refrigerator, cable TV, A/C &heat, Wi-Fi, coffee pot, direct dial phones, clock radio & bath

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Renee & Ronald Brown holdingup 4 - 14 in. crappie caught on

Kentucky Lake 10/30/14.

Steve Welch with a whopping 15 1/2 in. crappie caught 11/02/14

on Kentucky Lake.

Randy & Rusty Milton showingoff 3 - 14 in. crappie caught on

Kentucky Lake 10/26/14.

Jessie Johnson holding! up the 14 1/2 in. crappie she caught

on Kentucky Lake on 10/22/14.

T.W. Houk with a pair

of 15 in.crappie caught

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Lyle Gingerich, son of Ivan Gingerich, showing off 2 of the 42

crappie caught on their trip! West IL Rt. 16Shelbyville, IL Ph. 217-774-5050

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Industrial Park

2218 Court St. • Pekin, IL 61554 • 309-347-8610

SOLD & INSTALLED

LOCALLY BY:GREG’S

GARAGE DOORSales & Service

Insured

SHAD RAP® NOW AVAILABLE IN 4 IKE’S CUSTOM INK COLORS

It’s tough to improve on the best crankbaits on themarket, but not impossible. Rapala® did just that withits release of the Shad Rap and Shallow Shad Rap infour Ike’s Custom Ink colors — Blue Back Herring,Caribbean Shad, Demon and Mardi Gras.

As popular as tattoos themselves these days, Ra-pala’s Ike’s Custom Ink line is the brainchild of 2003Bassmaster Classic Champion Michael “Ike” Iaconelli,a Rapala pro who for years tweaked the colors of off-the-shelf baits with out-of-the-box tweaks, like bakingthem in the sun for weeks, dousing them in pearles-cent nail polish and dusting them with glitter.

Those modifications now come right out of thepackage in Rapala’s Ike’s Custom Ink line. One of Ike'ssecrets, he says, is “using something different, some-thing unique, to catch more fish.”

The benchmark other crankbaits are measured by,the Shad Rap, closely resembles baitfish found theworld over. Constructed of premium balsa, it’s equallyeffective cast or trolled, performing from ultra-slowpresentations to super-fast without fail. Its preciseaction, detailed finish and proven fish-catching pat-terns make this a must-have bait for all anglers.

The Shallow Shad Rap, also built of premium balsa,is ideal for fishing skinny water. Cast it out, let it situntil the ripples fade away, then begin a slow, enticingretrieve. It is equally effective when twitched, cast outor trolled slowly.

Both the Shad Rap and Shallow Rap are hand-tunedand tank-tested for perfection right out of the box,and come equipped with super-sharp VMC® BlackNickel Treble Hooks. They are both now available in thesame popular Ike’s Custom Ink color patterns:

Blue Back HerringDesigned to match its namesake baitfish (and oth-

er similar-looking forage), the Blue Back Herring colorpattern features a dark blue-green back stripe fadinginto muted blue-green side panels with a silver scalepattern and a silvery-white body and belly with a yellowthroat flash.

Caribbean ShadThe Caribbean Shad color pattern features a blue-

green back stripe and side panels with a silver scalepattern, a silvery chartreuse body and belly with an or-ange throat flash.

DemonThe Demon color pattern features a black back

stripe fading into dark red-orange sides and a bellywith a craw-shell pattern on the sides.

Mardi GrasAlso carrying a craw-shell pattern on its sides, the

Mardi Gras model features a black back stripe fadinginto dark olive-green sides and a slightly lighter olive-green belly with an orange throat flash. Suggested re-tail price: $7.99

X-RAP® JOINS THE IKE’S CUSTOM INK PARTYSlashbait® action with Ike’s custom colors? Hold

on tight, the fish are going to bite!

Two models of the famed Rapala® X-Rap® —sizes 8 and 10 — are now available in four brand-newIke’s Custom Ink color patterns, the brainchild ofMichael “Ike” Iaconelli, a Rapala pro and BassmasterElite Angler.

The X-Rap is "all about the action," according to Ia-conelli. The versatility of the X-Rap allows an angler toimpart a number of fish-catching actions in a singleretrieve. What’s more, it casts like a bullet for long,accurate casts.

All baits in the X-Rap line are loaded with featuresfrom tip to tail, including a textured, translucent body,internal holographic foil, internal long cast system(XR04 excluded), 3D holographic eyes, and flash foil

teaser tails. Each is hand-tuned and tank-tested toensure top-performing action from the start. Sug-gested retail price: $9.99

RAPALA® DT® AVAILABLE IN FRESH, NEW IKE’S CUS-TOM INK COLORS

From the tattoo parlor to the bait shop, the Ra-pala® DT® series is ready to roll up a sleeve and showoff four fresh, new Ike’s Custom Ink colors — Girl-friend, Rasta, Mule and Bruise.

Designed personally by Michael “Ike” Iaconelli, theIke’s Custom Ink colors are some of Ike’s secrets, hesays “using something different, something unique,to catch more fish.” Suggested retail price: $7.99

See you at the Central IL Expo • Feb. 13-14

Otto Center • Arthur

068_001.qxd 1/26/15 3:06 PM Page 1


OUTDOOR CONNECTION

By Gerald

A. Sampen,

O.C.Salesman

Looking For Hunting,Fishing, Adventure &

Beautiful Country? Go To Idaho!

Outdoor Connection offers fish-ing, hunting and outdoor adven-tures over a large part of the world.We book virtually any size groupor party; from a single moose orbear hunter, a family fishing trip,an Alaskan yacht cruise for 10, cor-porate group trips, incentive trips,conventions and trips to help forfundraising. We pre-inspect alltrips, lodges, outfitters and resortsprior to accepting their representa-tion to our long list of quality ad-ventures.

We are often offered specialsfrom lodges and outfitters that werepresent; for various reasons. Wepass these on to our prospectiveclients as they are presented to us.

Gerald A. Sampen(Outdoor Connection Salesman)

5 Star Lodge, GourmetMeals, Exceptional Bird

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Three Rivers country lies in theheart of Idaho where the Lochsa,Selway, and Clearwater rivers havecarved their paths through a land-scape of extraordinary beauty. It'sthe classic rugged terrain of theNorthern Rockies—steep-sidedslopes blanketed with thick forests,vast brush fields and alpine mead-ows; a mosaic habitat created in theearly part of the century by cata-strophic fires.

With exclusive outfitting rightsto over 740,000 acres of the NezPerce and Clearwater NationalForests, we offer a complete biggame hunting program. Big gameadventures include hunting elk,whitetail, mule deer, black bear,turkey, moose, cougar and bobcat.Being strategically located close tothe base of the Bitterroot Wilder-ness, many of our hunting tripsoriginate from our lodge. Othersare conducted from one of ourmany backcountry campsites. This


The Country Cabin Taxidermy

Ed Estes, OwnerEast Peoria, IL

FAST TURN-AROUND!Located just outside Germantown Hills.

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F I N A N C I N GA V A I L A B L E !

is rugged country, so bring yourdesire and lots of will power; we’lladd our expertise to the pursuit ofyour coveted trophy.

To even the casual observer, thisappears to be exceptional habitatfor Idaho's prized big game ani-mals including Whitetail and MuleDeer. These herds are near historichighs on a statewide basis. RanchHunting-On the Ranch alone, theIdaho Fish and Game Dept esti-mates over 700 whitetail and muledeer roam the 4,200 acre ranch.Since we harvest no more than tenbucks per season off the ranch,these hunts sell out each year — sobook early!

We offer back country and lodgeblack bear hunts. With 2 1/2 bearsper square mile, many of our guestsenjoy multiple opportunities toharvest an American Black Bear

from the beautiful Idaho forests.Colors range from blond, cinna-mon, and reddish chocolate toblack. In the spring, you can com-bine your black bear hunt with aturkey hunt as well. These combi-nation hunts are conducted fromour lodge where you will enjoy therustic elegance of our 14,000square foot lodge and all its ameni-ties. Populations of the Merriamsubspecies—now prevalentthroughout North Central Idaho—have grown dramatically here onthe ranch and two-bird limits arenow in effect. Whether your desireis a straight turkey hunt or abear/turkey combination, our ranchis sure to satisfy.

Cougars are hunted with hounds

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Fabulous Scenery, Trail Rides,Pack Trips Etc. Great Bear,Mountain Lion, Elk, Mule Deer& Fishing (IDH1/IDF3)

Experience a family adventurevacation that accommodates all typesof outdoor enthusiasts. Find a widevariety of trips including westernhorseback riding and pack trips, fish-ing, hiking supported by pack stockand Idaho big game hunting. We area full time family run business withover 32 years of experience in adven-ture travel. This wilderness of centralIdaho has over 217,000 acres of lushgreen meadows and high, jaggedmountain peaks that are scatteredwith a large variety of wildflowersand wildlife. Pristine clear flowingstreams with spectacular waterfallssupply more than 140 high mountainlakes.

Whether you are a novice spin-caster or a seasoned fly fisherman,you will enjoy some of the finesttrout fishing in the West. The beautyof this wilderness has a variety of

O.C. … Cont’d. from previous pg.

sweeping views of Lawyer CreekCanyon and the crystal-clear north-ern Idaho sky. The lodge capturesthe pioneer spirit of the west whileproviding all the comforts of aworld-class lodge. 14,000 sq. ft.lodge with 14 luxury rooms, trophyroom, lounge and billiard room,and our sauna / jacuzzi offer scenicviews of Lawyer Creek Canyon.

Hunter Safety Certificate isrequired if you are born afterJanuary 1, 1975. Check on IdahoFish and Game regulations!

IDF1 FISHINGSteelhead fishing adventures at

our ranch, an Orvis endorsed fly-fishing lodge, happen Sept 1st -March 31st. Our ranch is strategi-cally located near the ClearwaterRiver, a nationally recognizedsteelhead fishery, and has access toover seventy miles of this pristinewater. We cater to the steelheadfisherman whose desire is the thrillof landing that 12 to 22 poundsteelhead trout with a fly. Powerand drift boats equipped with baitand spinning tackle are available.

during winter months when the bigcats may be taken by rifle, pistol orbow. Hunting begins early in theyear in the higher elevations; aswinter progresses, we follow thecats to lower elevations as theypursue a more concentrated preybase. Because populations ofmountain lion are so plentiful, eachhunter is allowed to harvest twocats throughout most of our territo-ry.

Our wing shooting adventuresinclude 3 DAY/4 NIGHT and 2DAY/3 NIGHT packages, as wellas a Cast-and-Blast package com-bining two days of wing shootingwith one day of steelhead fishing ina single great package. Uplandspecies commonly found on our

ranch are hungarian partridge,chukar, pheasant, blue and ruffedgrouse, and valley quail. Guestshunt over our German Shorthairsand English Pointers, the pride andjoy of the operation.

Guests stay in our spectacularlodge. Every detail of the guests’stay has been considered. Thelodge features private rooms withprivate baths. Common areas suchas the great room, bar and diningrooms are warm and comfortable, atribute to western elegance. Everyguestroom has patio access with

The“Cabin”

The “Cabin” Features:• Rustic Pine Millwork• Six-Panel Pine Doors• Vaulted Ceilings• EL Baseboard Heat• Tile Floor - Kitchen/Bath• Cedar Siding or Log Siding• Pine Wood Floors• Pella Dbl. Hung Windows

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Approx. 3 Days After Delivery

• Buyer Must Provide Foundation & Hook-Ups

You can own the vacation home of your dreams for less than you think!

866-937-5544 • www.csihomesonline.com

Building Top Quality Homes for Over 38 Years!CSI Manufacturing, Inc.

PO Box 138 • Cambridge, IL 61238

Alan Thompson, Agent623 E. Jackson • Macomb, IL 61455Bus.: 309-833-2400Cell: 309-333-0100www.Alansf.com

Max Thompson, Agent108 N. Orange • Havana, IL 62644

Bus.: 309-543-6248Fax: 309-543-4899

www.Maxdthompson.com

070_001.qxd 1/26/15 3:24 PM Page 1


Mel’s Sporting GoodsMel’s Sporting Goods• Custom Built Bowstrings• Pro Shop• Indoor Range

• NOW SELLING FIREARMS!520 S. Elm • Flora, IL 62839

618-662-8663618-662-8663

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Rt. 50 to Flora, Main St. South over tracks, right at 3-story Self Storage

ecosystems from the PonderosaPine forests of the Payette River toglacial sub-alpine basins that flowinto the Salmon and Boise Rivers.Comfortable back country campsoffer a variety of recreation opportu-nities - photography, fishing, hiking,wildlife viewing, or just relaxingwhile you enjoy the solitude of thisvast wilderness.

We have been guiding clients forthe past 28 years. This is our 16th yearof operation. We offer drop campopportunities for hunting Elk andDeer with the weapon of your choice.There is an early archery season forbow hunting, a general rifle hunt anda late muzzleloader season. MountainLion and Bear can be hunted withbow, rifle, muzzleloader or hand gun.With early bookings, we can guaran-tee license and tags for all species ofgame hunted. To insure a quality huntand an enjoyable experience, we takea limited number of trophy hunterseach year. Please contact us if youhave any questions or are ready tobook a hunt. We will be glad to assistyou in planning the trip that best suitsyour needs.

Elk and Deer tags for Rifle andArchery hunts are sold on a quota sys-tem. We can guarantee these tags with

early bookings. For your conven-ience, we will assist you in purchasingthese tags through our outfitter. A non-resident deer tag can be used for eitherdeer or bear. Muzzleloader elk anddeer are available through a limiteddraw which has good drawing odds.We are the exclusive licensed outfitterto hunt deer and elk in an area of over250 square miles in central Idaho.This allows us to offer hunts for thenovice first time hunter or the experi-enced trophy hunter in a wide varietyof hunting terrain.

Idaho is without question one of thepremiere hunting states with moremountain lion in the Boone andCrockett record book than any otherstate. Of the top 20 trophies, six wereharvested in Idaho. Mountain lionnumbers have increased in our areaover the past several years, givinghunters a chance to harvest a trophytom. These are strictly fair chase huntswhich we have run a high success rateon good mature cats for the past 28years. Your hunt will be scheduled forspecific dates, but because the wintermonths have varying weather andhunting conditions, we ask that you besomewhat flexible. This will ensurethat you will have the best chance toharvest a trophy mountain lion. Weuse quality, well maintained 4 wheeldrive vehicles, snowmobiles, radiosfor communication and dog trackingequipment. This allows us to make themost of your time while hunting.

We use a wide variety of bear hunt-ing techniques including baits withtree stands or the exciting hound hunt.The bear in our area come in a widevariety of color phases ranging fromblond to black. The majority of ourbear hunters prefer the spring hunt,but we do take a limited number ofhunters during the fall. Fall hunts canalso be combined with elk and deer.The bear population is high and tro-

phy quality is excellent. This outfitterhas the exclusive commercial huntingrights for an area of over 700 squaremiles for bear hunting in centralIdaho. We are avid outdoorsmen andhave grown up hunting and trappingall types of animals.

Spring hunts are conducted from adrive in base camp. Camps consist ofcamp trailers, wall tent, out house andportable shower. This allows us to bemobile and utilize the entire area asthe snow melts.

There is nothing like the peace andsolitude of a fly fishing trip into a highmountain lake. Truly a fisherman'sparadise, the wilderness supports a

large number of crystal clear lakeswith Cutthroat, Rainbow, Brook troutand Arctic Greyling. Exploring ourhigh mountain lakes is a great way tocombine hiking, horseback riding andcamping with Idaho fishing.

If you are interested in any of the adventures featured in this article orin any of the other adventures that Outdoor Connection offers give us acall. These adventures make excellent gifts for high school and college

graduations, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, fundraisers, etc. TIME TO BOOK NOW!

Your OC Salesman:Gerald Sampen, 421 Olive St. Emden, IL 62635 • 217-376-3873

Your OC Agent:Justin Montgomery • 217-871-0524

[email protected] • MontysOutdoorConnection.com

Is your pond ready for next season?We can help!

See ASO

TV Sat.,Feb. 28

(FinalSat. of

EachMonth)

at5:30pm

on WTVP,PBS

Ch. 47.See

previousepisodes

at aso

magazine.com.

Click on“VIDEOS”

071_001.qxd 1/26/15 3:23 PM Page 1


manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers have a posi-tive outlook for this year."

NSSF®, the trade association for the firearms,ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry,owns and sponsors the SHOT Show.

From the opening bell, the show floor hummed withtraffic. Cindy Daniel, Executive Vice President ofDaniel Defense, a major sponsor of the SHOT Show,said, "It's been a very busy show. We're optimisticthat with the good vibe we're seeing on the floor saleswill pick up again and we'll have a solid year."

Said Kort Nielson with Silencer Co., "We've beenpretty busy, and there hasn't been much down time.Increasing our booth size and design and its new posi-tion in this hall has been good for traffic, but we'realso focusing on education." Silencer Co. put on twoseminars this week for retailers on how to educatecustomers about suppressors, a fast growing salesarea.

The $8 billion industry has seen rapid growth in thelast several years, powered by newcomers to the

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public and the media are woefully misinformed aboutwho we are and all that we do about genuine gun safe-ty," said Sanetti, who pointed out to such notableNSSF programs as Project ChildSafe, Fix NICS andDon't Like for the Other Guy programs.

"Some pundits state that the shooting sports are'in retreat,'" said Sanetti. "Well, look at the facts.Last year's SHOT Show, one of the fastest growingtrade shows in the nation, had its highest attendanceand satisfaction levels ever; the number of federallylicensed firearms dealers is growing; firearm salesexperienced the second highest year ever and ammu-nition sales continue at near record levels; firearmspermit and safety classes report long waiting lists; andthe number of apprentice hunting licenses increasedto well over 1 million. If this is a 'retreat,' as those whosee no appeal in what we do have alleged, I truly won-der what an advance would look like."

At the dinner, Richard Lipsey, owner of Lipsey's,one of the nation's largest sporting goods distribu-tors, received the prestigious NSSF Ken SedleckyAward for longterm commitment to the success of theindustry and supporting NSSF's mission to promote,protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports.Mark Keefe, editor-in-chief of American RiflemanMagazine, was awarded the POMA-NSSF GritsGresham Shooting Sports Communicator Award.

Media was out in force again at the show, totaling2,500, including international press. Some of thecountry's most well-known radio personalities, includ-ing Mike Gallagher, Lars Larson and Dana Loesch,broadcasted live from the show's popular "Radio

shooting sports. More than 20 percent of firearmsowners are in this category, in that they have pur-chased their first firearm within the last five years.

Women continue to be an undeniable market force.During the show at a packed press conference, NSSFreleased a new report on "Women Gun Owners:Purchasing, Perceptions and Participation." Women,whose participation in target shooting and hunting aswell as interest in owning a firearm for personal andhome protection continues to grow rapidly, now pur-chase about 25 percent of industry products. "Thisreport will help NSSF members better understand theproducts and features women want and to continue toserve women of all skill levels," said Jim Curcuruto,NSSF Director of Industry Research and Analysis. Morethan 1,600 exhibiting companies filled the conventioncenter and rooms in the adjoining Venetian Hotel. Totalshow exhibition space was more than 640,000 netsquare feet, or 13 acres of product display, with morethan 150 new companies exhibiting.

Manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, optics,cutlery, apparel, accessories and law enforcementequipment introduced new products and services thatretailers will offer consumers during the course of theyear. On the first evening of the show, more than 2,400people attended NSSF's State of the Industry Dinner,where Steve Sanetti, NSSF President and CEO, deliv-ered a well-received speech on the industry's determi-nation to counter its detractors with facts on firearmsafety and deter efforts to burden law-abiding gunowners with unnecessary legislation. "Much of the

2015 SHOT ShowPosts Second Highest Attendance Total Ever

LAS VEGAS - The Shooting, Hunting and OutdoorTrade Show (SHOT Show) rang up its second highestattendance ever at the Sands Expo Center Jan. 20-23, giving the industry a very good indicator that astrong sales year lies ahead.

Long a bellwether for the industry's prospects, theSHOT Show brings together buyers and sellers from theUnited States and more than 100 countries. Totalattendance for the 2015 SHOT Show was nearly64,000, second only to last year's record-settingevent, where nearly 67,000 came through the turn-stiles. Lower attendance reflected strengthened pre-screening of attendees to enhance the overall experi-ence of both exhibitors and buyers.

"We know from long experience that attendance atthe SHOT Show is a reflection of the state of our indus-try," said Chris Dolnack, NSSF Senior Vice Presidentand Chief Marketing Officer. "This second highestattendance is in keeping with what we saw in the pastyear -- that our industry is in good health and that

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Row." Prior to the show, NSSF hosted a fundraising golf

tournament to benefit Honored American VeteransAfield (HAVA), an industry developed and supportedeffort to help the healing and reintegration of disabledcombat veterans back into normal American lifethough participation in outdoor events.

The SHOT Show is not just about selling and buyingproducts. The show provides educational opportuni-ties for firearms retailers at SHOT Show University,which was sold out, and at other seminars, and for lawenforcement professionals at the Law EnforcementEducation Program.

The SHOT Show is managed by Las Vegas-basedConvExx. Major sponsors of the 2015 SHOT Show inaddition to Daniel Defense were Outdoor Channel,GunBroker.com, Brownell's, Gamo Outdoor USA,Georgia Department of Economic Development, MossyOak, Trijicon, Smith & Wesson and Las VegasConvention and Visitors Authority, among others. RamTruck Brand was the official truck of the SHOT Show.Nissan was sponsor of the show's press room.

The SHOT Show, the fifth largest trade show in LasVegas, pumps nearly $90 million in non-gaming rev-enue into the Las Vegas economy. Next year's SHOTShow is scheduled for Jan. 19-22 at the Sands Expo.

About NSSF: The National Shooting SportsFoundation is the trade association for the firearmsindustry. Its mission is to promote, protect and pre-serve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 10,000manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers,shooting ranges, sportsman's organizations and pub-lications. For more information, visit nssf.org

133-year-old RifleFound Leaning Against

Tree in Great BasinNational Park

By Daniel Xu, OutdoorHub.comThe Winchester Model 1873 repeating rifle has

often been called “The Gun that Won the West.”For 133 years, one of these rifles lay hidden in plainsight propped up against a tree in Nevada’s GreatBasin National Park. Archaeologists found the riflelast November in a remote rocky outcrop hidden faraway from human eyes, but questions remainedover the history of the gun. Who left it there, andwhy? Were they in danger, or was the rifle leftbehind out of carelessness? Exposed to wind, snow,rain, and the constant beating of the sun, theweathered rifle offered a unique challenge to parkofficials, and they were eager to plumb its myster-ies.”’Model 1873′ distinctively engraved on the mech-anism identify the rifle as the Winchester Model1873 repeating rifle,” park staffers posted onFacebook after some sleuthing. “The serial numberon the lower tang corresponds in Winchesterrecords held at the Center for the West, CodyFirearms Museum in Cody, Wyoming, with a manu-facture and shipping date of 1882. Currently, thedetailed history of this rifle is unknown. Winchesterrecords do not indicate who purchased the riflefrom the warehouse or where it was shipped.”

The Winchester Model 1873 was wildly popularduring its time, and hundreds of thousands wereshipped across the United States andabroad. Manufactured between 1873 and 1919, theModel 1873 was chambered for cartridges like .44-40, .38-40, and .32-20. The Model 1873 was soldin rifle, carbine, and musket forms, and could behad for as little as $25 (the equivalent of severalhundred dollars today, accounting for inflation).

Its affordability made it commonplace among frontiersmen whoneeded a reliable repeater, and by the end of its production runWinchester sold more than 720,000 Model 1873s. The compa-ny brought back the Model 1873 in 2013, which is now manu-factured under license in Japan.

“In 1882 alone, over 25,000 were made,” stated GreatBasin researchers. “Selling for about $50 when they first cameout, the rifles reduced in price to $25 in 1882 and were acces-sible and popular as ‘everyman’s’ rifle. The Winchester businessplan included selling large lots of rifles to dealers or ‘jobbers’who would distribute the firearms to smaller sales outlets.”

Tracing the history of one particular firearm out of 720,000is no easy task. The Great Basin staff is currently searching formentions of the rifle or its owner in old local newspapers anddelving into family histories in the hope of getting someanswers. It would make a great story, and add to the deep mosa-ic of Great Basin National Park’s history. The park plans on even-tually sending the rifle to expert conservators to restore it tomuseum quality, and it will eventually be displayed as part of thepark’s 30th Birthday and the National Park Service’s Centennialcelebration.

Images courtesy Great Basin National Park

073_001.qxd 1/26/15 8:48 PM Page 1


COLD-WEATHER RETR IEVER CAREHere's how to keep your

dog healthy and safe when hunting infrigid conditions

By Gary KoehlerMost retrievers aren't afraid of cold

weather and will throw caution to the briskwind when hunting waterfowl, fetchingbirds in icy water and braving even theharshest elements. Properly conditionedduck dogs are built for the cold.

Breeds such as Labs, Goldens, andChessies have thick double coats that repelwater to help keep them warm.Nevertheless, retriever owners should rec-ognize that they must take precautions to

require ample water tostay properly hydrated.The more food he eats,the more water he needsfor his digestive system,and the rigors of huntingonly increase this demand.Always carry clean, freshwater with you on thehunt and give him a drinkat regular intervalsthroughout the day.

The importance ofmaintaining a retriever's body weight incold weather can't be overstated. If yourdog is not properly nourished, prolongedexposure to the cold, wet conditions ofwaterfowling could result in a drop in bodytemperature. This burns up available ener-gy and lowers blood sugar, which can leadto hypothermia. Signs of this serious con-dition include violent shivering, listless-ness, and apathy. If you suspect that yourdog has become hypothermic, rap him in ablanket and take him indoors. Give him awarm bath followed by a vigorous towelrub to dry his fur and skin. Hypothermiacan be deadly. If you feel that your retriev-er might be in danger, don't hesitate tocontact your veterinarian.

Frostbite is another concern in wintryweather. Pale skin is one telltale sign of thiscondition, which typically affects a dog'stoes, ears, tail, and scrotum. To avoidfrostbite, always be sure to remove any iceor caked mud from your retriever's feet.Paw pads that are severely cracked orbleeding should be examined by a veteri-narian. Prevention is important because

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protect their canine partners as the temper-ature drops. Frigid weather requires specialvigilance and care.

Proper nutrition is the key to keepingyour retriever healthy in cold conditions.The more your dog hunts, the more calo-ries he burns. Factor in extremely coldweather and his fuel consumption increas-es even further. To meet your retriever'senergy needs you must feed him larger por-tions of high-energy, nutrient-rich dogfood. This will help him retain body fat,which acts as insulation and reduces therate of heat loss from his torso. At least onestudy suggests that gun dogs may need upto 80 percent more calories per pound tomaintain a healthy weight during the hunt-ing season than what they require duringthe off-season.

This does not mean that you should stuffyour dog with a heavy meal just beforeheading to the duck blind or immediately

upon returninghome from ahunt. Feed himin the earlyevening, afterhe's had a chanceto rest and recov-er from a longday in the marsh.If the increasedrations are toomuch for him tohandle in onemeal, try feedinghim in twoi n s t a l l m e n t s ,allowing him tosleep betweenmeals. Keep inmind that yourdog will also

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frostbitten tissues are more susceptible torepeated freezing.

Neoprene dog vests have become quitepopular over the past several years. Thesevests not only provide insulation, but alsoserve to protect your dog from abrasionscaused by ice shards or tree branches.Always make sure the vest fits snugly. Aloose fit can allow moisture to get trappedbetween the vest and the dog, which is nota good thing when the thermometer bot-toms out.

Ice holds its own inherent dangers. A slipon the ice can cause your retriever to sus-tain joint and ligament damage. Worse stillis the prospect of your dog falling throughthe ice and becoming trapped beneath it.Don't take any chances.

Putting your retriever in jeopardy shouldnot be an option. There may be days whenit is best to leave him at home. Let com-mon sense prevail. And be careful outthere. For more retriever tips, visit: ducks.org/retrievers

074_001.qxd 1/26/15 9:09 PM Page 1


THE ALL-AMERICAN

CHESSIEThe Chesapeake Bay retriever

is among a handful of sporting dogs made in the USA

By Gary Koehler The legend and lore of the Chesapeake Bay retriever

percolates somewhat mysteriously from this breed'sAtlantic Flyway beginnings. Conflicting historicalanecdotes still collide occasionally, with theonly agreed-upon detail being that the Chessiebloodline can be traced to Maryland, where thisretriever has reigned as the official state dog fornearly 50 years.

Most sources acknowledge that the Chessie's storybegan in 1807, when an American ship, the Canton,came across a distressed British brig bound fromNewfoundland to England. Two lesser Newfoundlandpuppies (also described as St. John's water dogs)were found on board and subsequently purchased. Thereddish brown male pup was named Sailor and theblack female was named Canton, in honor of therescue ship.

Sailor was sold to Governor Edward Lloyd, of TalbotCounty, and became the sire of the Eastern Shorestrain of Chesapeake Bay ducking dogs. Canton wasacquired by Dr. James Stewart, of Sparrow's Point,and became integral to the development of theWestern Shore's population. According to legend, thedescendants of these two dogs ultimately becameknown as Chesapeake Bay retrievers.

Perhaps too much credit is given to Sailor andCanton, since their respective owners added otherbreeds to the mix in their mission to produce theultimate duck dog. For example, it has been writtenthat breeders looked to various hounds to improvescenting prowess, and that Irish water spaniels werealso used during the breed's development. The Carroll

mental characteristics.Chesapeake Bay retrievers come in three basic

colors: brown, which can range from light to dark;sedge, light colored with reddish undertones; anddeadgrass, which varies from yellow to tan. Theyremain proven hunters. But they require a specialhand during training. The consensus is that, if at allpossible, a Chessie should be trained by its owner. Ifyou are planning to send your pup to aprofessional, make sure beforehand that the trainerhas experience working with this breed.

The Chessie may not be a good choice if you'venever owned a sporting dog. They are not built foreveryone. These dogs are seldom small; average size is55 to 80 pounds. They eat a lot, need plentyof exercise, and require considerable socializing with

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Island Gun Club was a well-known Chessiestronghold that maintained breeding and pedigreerecords for decades.

By 1877, however, the eastern and western strainsconverged, and their likenesses were close enoughthat the distinct breed of Chesapeake Bay retrieverwas confirmed. A year later, the Chessie was thefirst individual retriever breed to be recognized by theAmerican Kennel Club. This recognition was notafforded other retriever breeds until four decadeslater.

Chessies were bred for work. Back in the day, thesedogs were called on to retrieve ducks numbering in thehundreds during a single outing. They were physicallytough, featured an oily double coat that helpedinsulate them from frigid water, and were exceptionalswimmers even in the most demanding environments.Both market gunners and sport shooters appreciatedthe Chessie's hardy constitution and no-nonsenseapproach to retrieving.

Sometimes, Chessies were given other jobs. Themost popular yarn involves market gunners whopurportedly relied on their dogs not only to retrievedowned birds but also to protect their gear whenthey weren't around. The extreme version of this storyhas Chessies sleeping in their owners' boats, guardingdecoys, guns, and other equipment. The breed'sprotective nature may have sprung from thisdouble duty.

That guard-dog protectiveness, in fact, may havealso contributed to the Chessie's reputation as amean-spirited dog. And it could be that some ownersand breeders of that time sought to perpetuatethat toughest-dog-at-the-dock mentality. But nomore. Selective breeding over the past 50 years haseliminated many more ornery dogs from the gene poolthan it has added.

Fortunately, this is one sporting breed whosenumbers have not skyrocketed over the years. Otherbreeds with sporting backgrounds, such as the cockerspaniel, have been all but ruined as hunting dogsby indiscriminate breeding. Not so the Chessie—breeders have for the most part been unwavering intheir efforts to preserve the breed's best physical and

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other dogs and people when they are young. Chessiescan be aloof, standoffish, and terribly stubborn whenthe mood hits them. And as tough as they might be onthe outside, they are much softer inside. That is, it'seasy to hurt a rough-and-tumble Chessie's feelings;heavy-handedness should never be part of the trainingequation.

In terms of loyalty, Chessies will never waiver iftreated properly. They are intelligent, independent-minded dogs that will form an extremely strong bondwith their owner or trainer. Make friends witha Chessie, and you've made a friend for life.

BREED STANDARD in 1918, the AmericanChesapeake Club was formed, adopting a nationalstandard for the breed. All other retrievers werelumped together in one group until the 1920s.

photo by Jason Jennings

075_001.qxd 1/26/15 9:18 PM Page 1


Deer-Creek American Deer-Creek American Legion Post 1276 Legion Post 1276

NewsNews && EventsEvents

An American Legion for ALL Americans…

PUBLICWELCOME!

FEB. CALENDAR OF EVENTS:FEB. CALENDAR OF EVENTS:Sun. 4th ............................... Breakfast SAL mtg @ 1pmSat. 7th ..................................................Aux meetingSat. 14th ...........................Valentine’s Day Turkey ShootSat. 21st.. Auxiliary Chicken Dinner with all the trimmings!Sat. Mar. 28th .....................Celebration of Life Benefit!

F R I D A Y S F R E E J U K E B O X !

DC Am Legion is located in the country between Peoria & Bloomington near Goodfield exit. Only 10 min from I-74, right off Rt. 150. It’s easy to find and hard to leave…

PUBLIC ALWAYS WELCOME!GRILL OPEN NIGHTLY!

Come On Out & Support YourCome On Out & Support YourLocal American Legion! Local American Legion!

31473 American Legion Dr. • Deer Creek, IL 31473 American Legion Dr. • Deer Creek, IL (309) 447-6776(309) 447-6776

Book your party at the DC Legion. Banquets, Wedding Receptions, Reunions & Meetings!

Call the Legion with questions & ask for Pam Tanner.

We lost a very dear friend & family member of Post 1276 lastmonth. Stan Kruse "Buck" losthis battle to Cancer in January.

Stan was a 16-year charter member of theSon's of the American Legion. He was very

involved in many events over the past several years. His memory will live on here with the countless stories

being shared about our friend "Buck".

The Kruse'n for Buck Committee would like to thank everyone whosupported our pit stops along our Road Trip. Thank you to our spon-sors & staff from Don's Hideaway, The River Roadhouse & Hayneson Main. A special thanks tothe members of ComatoseCatfish & Rooster PayneBands for entertaining us! andletting us dunk you in Januaryto help raise money for themedical and life expenses.!

A celebration of life Benefitis!planned for Sat.!March 28th.

Everyone had a great timedunking the band members ofComatose Catfishand then listening togreat music fromComatose with spe-cial guest Jim Payne.

Thanks for all your Help!

076_001.qxd 1/27/15 10:51 PM Page 1


Mike O’Bryan and Rocky with a few mallards shot at the club. Enjoy these

couple pages of hunting photos from Mike!

Adam Lofgren and Rocky with his firstCanada goose shot at Irish Acres.

Good shooting Adam!

John Torres of Marquette Heights & Cal, ‘The Wonder Dog’

after a nice hunt!

WATERFOWL WATERFOWL 20152015

077_001.qxd 1/26/15 11:09 PM Page 1


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Zeke Botoletto (left) and Tom Williams with some nice

late November!mallards.

Michael O'Bryan and Chuck Gabbert and their dogs Cal and Rocky with some nice Canton honkers! Thanks to ASO friend Mike O'Bryan for sharing these

great waterfowl moments! Looking for your own piece of recreational Heaven? Contact Mike at 309-635-8901 • CommercialPeoria.com

ASO friend Greg Nelson,

Red Nose duck club

member, shot this honker with

steel # 4...

“The trick is not to look

like a hunter!Better to look like a grounds

keeper on a golf course!”

078_001.qxd 1/26/15 11:08 PM Page 1


Follow this expert advice to end your waterfowl

season with a!bangBy Wade Bourne

Hope may spring eternal in the hearts of duckand goose hunters, but enthusiasm often lags dur-ing the last few weeks of the season. Waterfowlersare human, after all, and not completely imperviousto harsh weather and tough hunting conditions.Spooky birds that are reluctant to decoy aren't ex-actly easy quarry. And mental and physical exhaus-tion from so many long days in the marsh can makeit difficult to muster the gumption to hunt hard un-til the season's final bell.

Those who stay in the game, however, can be re-

warded with some of the best hunting of the year.The key is to adjust your tactics to the unique condi-tions and demands of the late season.

These seven tips from expert waterfowlers willhelp you hone your hunting strategies to ensure thatyour season ends on a high note.

1. LET YOUR DECOYS DO THE CALLINGEd Larson, waterfowl products manager for Ca-

bela's, hunts primarily along the duck- and goose-rich Platte River corridor in southwestern Nebraskaand northeastern Colorado. Toward the end of theseason, the influx of new birds has all but ceasedand the ducks that winter in this area have settledinto obvious feeding and roosting patterns. Theseducks have been called to and shot at since Septem-ber and have become adept at avoiding hunters. Toget them to finish, Larson tones down his callingstyle.

"I'll call aggressively at first to get their atten-tion, but when I know they're listening, I'll go totallysilent and let my decoys do my calling for me," Lar-son explains. "I don't blow feeding chuckles or con-fidence calls. I'll just keep quiet and let the duckswork. If they start to fly away, I might get back onthem with the call. But as long as they're showinginterest in my spread, I'll remain quiet."

Larson also advises late-season hunters to ex-periment with different calling and decoy tacticswhen the birds become cautious. "You shouldn'tjust sit back and watch ducks reject your setupwithout trying something new," he says. "If theducks are not following the script, keep changing

things up until you find the combination that en-tices them to finish."

2. ADD REALISM AND DOWNSIZE YOUR SPREADLate in the season, most ducks are already

paired, and drakes like to settle down with hens onsecluded waters where there's little competitionfrom other males. To mimic this natural behavior,Cory Foskett of Clayton, California, sets out onlyfour decoys—two drakes and two hens deployed inseparate pairs several yards apart—on smallmarsh ponds surrounded by tules.

"By the end of the season, ducks have hadmonths of hunting pressure in the Pacific Flyway.They've seen and heard it all," Foskett says. "To getthe birds to decoy, we have to make our setup lookas realistic as possible. Less becomes more this latein the game. That goes for decoys, motion, and call-ing. We use fully flocked, extremely realistic de-coys. We rig a jerk string to provide movement andsurface disturbance. And we call sparingly."

Consistent with this minimalist approach, Fos-kett and his partners also avoid hunting fromblinds. Instead, they hunt with marsh seats in thethickest natural vegetation on the upwind or cross-wind side of the pond.

"That's all we do," Foskett says. "We just gosmall and subtle for late-season birds, picking awayat them one and two at a time."

3. KEEP YOUR RETRIEVER FOCUSEDLate-season hunting can be tough on retrievers.Professional dog trainer Tom Dokken of Oak Ridge

Kennels advises retriever owners to take precau-tions with their canines in cold weather. These in-clude giving retrievers extra food and water to keepthem properly nourished and hydrated, as well asprotecting them from cold and ice with a neoprenevest. In addition, he suggests several training drillsto help keep retrievers focused and disciplined asthe season winds down.

"It's easy to let obedience slide as the seasonwears on," Dokken explains. "To keep this fromhappening, you should do some steadying drills athome between hunts. Throw some dummies, butdon't send the dog. This will reinforce the lessonthat he's not allowed to go out unless sent."

When the hunting action is slow, Dokken tosses atraining dummy to give the dog a few retrieves. "Inextreme cold, you should give a dog some exerciseto warm him up," he says. "Younger dogs especiallycan get impatient if the ducks aren't flying. Theyneed some action. I throw a dummy every now andthen just to give a young retriever a reason to keepsitting there."

4. HUNT THE THAWTommy Akin, who hunts flooded rice fields in Mis-

souri's Bootheel region, says that several days ofsubfreezing temperatures can turn shallow-waterareas into ice rinks. When the ice starts melting,however, ducks quickly return to these places tofeed. Akin targets these returning birds, which hesays are hungry and will decoy as well as ducks dur-ing any part of the season.

7 Tips for Late-Season

Ducks


079_001.qxd 1/27/15 11:53 AM Page 1


in. Usually this involves using subtle motion. Theducks won't change; it's up to the hunter to makechanges to get the ducks to come in."

6. GIVE LARGE SPREADS A NEW LOOKWaterfowl guide Garry Mason hunts from a large

open-water blind on the Tennessee side of KentuckyLake. By mid-January, ducks can begin moving backup the flyway if the weather is mild. Mason targetsthese returning birds by changing the look of his de-coy rig. "These new birds showing up from the southseem more interested in resting than feeding," hesays. "To get them to decoy, I reset my spread tolook like a big raft of resting ducks."

Mason's floating blind is positioned about 40yards from the shoreline. He sets his spread ofabout 250 decoys close to the bank, packing themin as tightly as possible without allowing them tobump into each other. He also places a number offull-body decoys on the mud along the water's edgeand scatters several pairs of mallards in the deeperwater around the blind.

"The ducks are mostly paired up, so having a pairof decoys here and a pair there is very natural look-ing," Mason explains. "Birds flying up the lake seethe big raft of resting ducks and usually try to landin the open water between the pairs. This makes forsome great shooting from the blind."

7. SHOW YOUR SHOTGUN SOME TLCHarsh weather and extended use can make shot-

guns malfunction late in the season. Autoloaderswith gas-operated actions are especially vulnerableto breakdowns. "You have to keep the magazinetube and piston on a gas-operated shotgun as cleanas possible," says Steve Felgenhauer, a companygunsmith for Browning. "Powder residue builds up

during each hunt. If you don'tclean it off, the shotguneventually won't cycle shellsand your autoloader becomesa single-shot."

To prevent this from hap-pening, Felgenhauer recom-mends disassembling yourgun after each hunt. Use adry, oil-free rag to remove

5. EXPERIMENT WITH MOTION DECOYSSpinning-wing decoys are great attention grab-

bers, but by the late season, ducks have seenenough of these motion decoys to become guarded.Chuck Smart of Mojo Outdoors still uses spinners asthe season wanes, but tones them down so theydon't spook wary ducks. "That flash of wings willstill attract ducks from long distance," he says."But when the birds get close, you may have to relyon subtler movement. Jerk strings, swimmer de-coys, and water agitators can all help you finishducks."

Smart often starts out with two or three wing-spinners mounted on poles, but if the first couple offlights don't respond positively, he changes thingsup. "Sometimes I move my spinners 20 to 50 yardsbehind the blind," he says. "Other times I may put afloating Mojo Mallard under some buckbrush sothere's still some flash but not as much. I'll keeptrying different things until the ducks start coming

the powder buildup on the magazine tube and pis-ton. And if you use a spray cleaner on your shotgunduring a hunt, store the gun with the barrel down soloosened gunk doesn't seep into the action tube.

Another problem to look out for is water collect-ing in the gun stock and turning to sludge in the re-coil tube. "If the shotgun's bolt isn't closing, youmay have a moisture problem," Felgenhauer says."Moisture gets in from rainfall or by dipping the gunin water. This can happen to any autoloader."

To drain water from the stock, remove the trig-ger guard and stand the gun with its barrel down toallow the water to seep out. Alternatively, you canremove the recoil pad or sling swivel stud and drainwater through the screw hole. Once the gun driesout, use a high-grade, water-displacing gun oil to lu-bricate the action.

"If they treated their cars like they treat theirshotguns, most hunters would be walking," Felgen-hauer adds. "Shotguns should be cleaned regularlyand thoroughly. With proper care, most guns willshoot dependably from the first day of the season tothe last."

ADDITIONAL LATE-SEASON TIPSWhen shallow waters freeze, try float-hunting

from a kayak or canoe on free-running streams orsmall rivers. Float or paddle quietly, hug the insidesof bends, and be ready for ducks to flush from pock-ets of slow-moving water and from behind logs.

Watch the weather forecast for a sustainedwarm front with strong southerly winds. This cantrigger a "reverse migration" of ducks from southto north during the last days of the season.

Add extra camouflage to your blind. Blinds tendto get a worn look as the season progresses andtypically need rebrushing to hide hunters effective-ly in the final weeks.

Use an Ice Eater or Higdon Ice Blaster to keep icefrom forming in the decoys during a hard freeze.

On sunny days when grainfields are frozen hard,consider hunting in the middle of the day. Some-times a warming sun will thaw the top layer ofground, which frees corn kernels and soybeans thatthe ducks and geese can then eat. The birds knowthis and will come to feed in the warmest part of theday.

The key is timing the thaw just right, which re-quires watching the weather forecast for a warmingtrend when your hunting area is in a deep freeze."When the wind shifts back to the south and you'vegot bright sunshine and the temperature climbsback into the 40s, it's time to go hunting," Akinsays. "We go to our field by mid-morning and startworking to open a hole on the downwind side of ourpit. We use a four-wheeler to break the ice into lit-tle chunks so the wind can clear out a hole. The holedoesn't have to be big, just 20 to 30 yards wide—enough to get a good ripple on the water."

The open water is the main attraction, so Akinsets out a small spread consisting of a dozen floaterdecoys plus several full-body decoys on the icearound the edge of the hole. The final touch is to setout some wing-spinners. "Ducks see the flash of thewings and come looking for the hole," he says."They'll often come straight in without circling."

TIPS… Cont’d. from previous pg.

Support Ducks Unlimited Inc. They are the world's largestnon-profit organization dedicated to conserving NorthAmerica's waterfowl habitats. Guided by science and

dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl

today, tomorrow and forever. Visit www.ducks.org.

080_001.qxd 1/27/15 11:57 AM Page 1


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081_001.qxd 1/26/15 3:44 AM Page 1


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“You have toget out there.

Can’t give up.”Steve Wallace was an avid hunter he enjoyed hunting duck and deer. In May of 2014 he

was in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down and a wheel chair rider.While he was in the hospital his friend Chris Hart promised his mother that Steve’s Friendswould get him out hunting again. Steve, even though in the hospital and not knowing ifhe would be able to walk again, knew he would hunt again; it was just a matter of how toget there.

Once Steve was out of the hospital, he began his recovery. A few months after the acci-dent he started shooting again with friends to get ready for the upcoming hunting seasons.

Steve and his friends had to plan how to get Steve back into the duck blind and how tomodify the duck blind so that he was able to use it to hunt. With the help of ConnorFitzsimmons, Doug Bailey and Chris Hart, the blind that Steve hunted in was made acces-sible for him. To get to the beach where he would get on the boat, he found that he couldstill ride a four wheeler. Steve found that the Arctic Cat 450 had a hand control for thethrottle and an automatic transmission. It also had a hand brake that controlled the frontand rear break at the same time. His friends helped him on the boat once to the beach andthen helped him into the blind from the boat. To modify the blind one side was cut lowerthan the rest so he could shoot from the blind. A box was also built for him to shoot fromonce in the blind. Steve was able to get three ducks on his first hunt after his injury.

Once the duck season was over, he was able to plan for deer season. His friends again

helped with his hunt.They set up a ground blindfor him to hunt from; theyhad located an old wheelchair that could be left inthe blind for Steve and hisfriend Connor would drivehim out to the blind. Oncethere, Steve would get intothe chair and Connorwould assist him into theblind where he could hunt.Steve did not bag a deerthis year, but he still en-joyed the hunt.

Steve has maintained a great attitude throughout his journey since the accident. He hasnot allowed the fact that he is a wheelchair rider to stop him from doing the activities heloves. He told me several times that it was not a question of if he could do what he want-ed, it was a matter of how was he going to do it. While talking with Steve to do the arti-cle he said “You have got to get out there, you can’t give up. Bad days happen even with-out an injury or disability.”

I consider myself to be very lucky to not only be able to work with sports persons withdisabilities, but also to help them spread the positive stories of their lives. If you are or knowa sportsperson or outdoorsman or outdoorswoman and would like to share their story pleasecontact me at [email protected] or call at 309-338-0990.

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Moon Shine Camo Introduces 2 New Patternsby Michaelean Pike

Moon Shine Camooffers attitude-drivenlifestyle camo. Aftergetting its start with theOutshine pattern, thecompany’s lineupexpanded to include theHarvest Moon, Wildfireand wildly popularMuddy Girl camouflagepatterns. These patternsaren’t meant to blend in– they’re designed tostand out. If you want camo that you canwear around town to show off your loveof hunting and the outdoors, check outthese patterns.

And you’ll have two new Moon Shinepatterns to choose from in 2015: theToxic and the Undertow. The Toxicblends Moon Shine’s edgy pattern ofthorns and branches with bright greensand yellows. Meanwhile, the Undertowincorporates various shades of blue. InMoon Shine’s booth at the ATA Show,the new patterns made their debut onmouse pads, one of many product cate-gories in which manufacturers havelicensed Moon Shine Camo.In addition, Moon Shine now offers itsown line of swimwear, which is avail-able in a wide array of styles for bothmen and women.moonshinecamo.com

HicksTrading Station

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(left) There were thousands and thousands of white fronts andCanada geese there tonight. Tyler shot a cackler and his friend got a

giant Canada goose too. Thanks to ASO buddy Ray Marshalla forsharing a fun day hunting the Snows & Canadas.

Harry took this photo across the Illinois from Beardstown. Lots of snow geese ready to be shot! Call Rick Hamm to get a

hunt lined up with Show me your Snows Outdoors!309-635-5200 • See his ad on page 86!

Dan Brothers of St. Louis hunts some really big geese and needs something bigger

than a 10-gauge to kill them!

083_001.qxd 1/27/15 2:54 PM Page 1

Local Ducks Unlimited Project Improves Water Quality in Illinois RiverSpring Bay, IL—According to Ducks Unlimited and USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, a project

near completion in Woodford County will demonstrate how water quality in the Illinois River, and ultimately, the Gulfof Mexico can be improved by restoring wetlands on private lands.

Local contractors finished construction of an 83-acre wetland restoration project adjacent to the WoodfordCounty State Fish and Wildlife area. The project, designed by Ducks Unlimited biologists and engineers, will servedual purposes—provide habitat for migrating waterfowl, and improve water quality in the Illinois River by trappingexcess nutrients and sediment.

As part of the project, a portion of the water in Richland Creek will be diverted through the newly restored wet-land site. An excavated area in the wetland will capture and store sediment, while aquatic plants growing in the wet-land will help remove excess nitrogen from the creek water before it flows into the Illinois River. The wetland is de-signed to allow floodwater from the river to enter the wetland pool area during flood events. This water is tem-porarily stored, which helps to reduce downstream flooding and allows for filtering of nutrients. It's a win-win.

According to Eric Schenck, Manager of Conservation Programs for Ducks Unlimited, funding for the WoodfordCounty project was provided by the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) as part of the Mississippi River Basin Initia-tive (MRBI), a federal program administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. NRCS purchased thepermanent easement on the land, which means the benefits will last forever. The purpose of the program is to helpaddress concerns about excess nutrients in the Gulf of Mexico by reducing nitrogen run-off from croplands in theMississippi River Basin.

"The land where the wetland is restored is frequently flooded and was formerly farmed," Schenck said. "Fortu-nately, the farm family who owns the property is very conservation-minded. They decided to enroll a portion of theirland in WRP to reduce nitrogen coming from their farm and from other farms upstream. This project would not bepossible without the family's commitment and willingness to build it."

According to Schenck, the Woodford County project is the second wetland restoration project that Ducks Unlim-ited has constructed along the Illinois River that includes water quality improvement as a specific purpose. DucksUnlimited is actively raising funds as part of their Big Rivers Initiative for a third Illinois River project and is hopingto use this same technique to restore wetlands at other similar sites surrounding the Peoria Lakes.

"We know we can restore wetlands that will be beneficial to both wildlife and people," says Schenck. "We justneed to find more landowners who are willing to work with us, and supporters or programs willing to fund these kinds


of innovative, multi-purpose wetlands." NRCS offers many volunteer programs and financial incentives that help

landowners protect natural resources, restore wetlands and improve waterquality. According to local NRCS District Conservationist Jeremy Beck, "If youwant to do something on your land to make a difference, NRCS and helpfulpartners like Ducks Unlimited can make it happen. Just ask."

Note: NRCS' Wetland reserve Program was replaced by the AgriculturalConservation Easement Program in the new Farm Bill. The new program allows for the same benefits and incentivesusing easements for wetlands, grazing lands, and production agriculture.

Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million sup-porters across the continent. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org. Connect with us on our Face-book page at facebook.com/DucksUnlimited, follow our tweets at twitter.com/DucksUnlimited and watch DU videosat youtube.com/DucksUnlimitedInc.

RESERVE NOW!Lasting Memories Begin at Kentucky Lake!

1297 Shawnee Bay Rd. • Benton, KY 420251-800-272-4413

www.shawneebayresort.com

Congratulations to Jerry Conley!

Beautiful 12-point trophy! Field dressed 200 lbs.

Tazewell Co. Thanks to ASO Rep.

Terri Sweckard for sharing Jerry’s prize! Find Terri

at the Roadhouse in Mackinaw& stop by for a great lunch!

084_001.qxd 1/27/15 3:19 PM Page 1


WHAT'S NEW AT 25TH ANNUAL

ILLINOIS DEER & TURKEY EXPO

SPRINGFIELD IL - The 25th annual Field & Stream-Outdoor Life Illinois Deer & Turkey Expo has severalnew attractions, plus format and program improvements to make the 2015 event, set for February 20-21-22 at the Prairie Capital Convention Center (PCCC) in Springfield, a much-improved event. Plus, of course,the return of long-time popular favorites, all offered in an expanded expo building.

New attractions and new program items include: • Home defense readiness & demonstrations – Kevin Michalowski, executive editor of Concealed Carry

magazine, will be in a dedicated space for this topic and will give frequent demonstrations with all the gearyou should have ready for home defense. You might be surprised to learn that a firearm is fifth on his prior-ity list. Michalowski will show and explain all items and practices on his priority list.

• Ammunition reloading demonstrations by Dave Henderson, a long-term reloader and member of the Ex-po's 'Ask the Experts' crew. Save big money, customize your load shot more often because you can affordit.

• Wild game cooking demonstrations, with sampling afterward. • Shed-antler contest (whitetail deer only), in conjunction with the trophy deer contest. • Television outdoor program hosts Melissa Bachman of Deadly Passion and John Dudley of NockOn TV. • The seminar program will feature all new topics by locally- and regionally-known hunting experts. Sem-

inars are given all three days, with each topic presented multiple times so you have a better chance of hear-ing all topics you want. Seminars are free once you have purchased your general admission ticket.

• An expanded floor plan with 288 exhibit booth spaces. • FREE on-site parking for advance ticket buyers, plus detailed maps on the expo's website

(deerinfo.com/Illinois) and on-street signage to direct traffic to approximately 3,000 parking spaces

available within five blocks of the expo. • Detailed directions and a map to help you get to the expo via the easiest route from I-55 or I-72. • Free trophy deer contest registration and show pass to the first 25 trophy contest entrants Friday. • Incentives to attract more hunting equipment and accessory manufacturers as exhibitors. • Learn-to-shoot-a-longbow instruction session Friday night, with instruction by internationally-known

archery trick shot Byron Ferguson. • Hoverball archery -- Using a light bow and arrows tipped with foam balls to shoot at round balls hover-

ing atop vertical streams of air.

Returning favorites include: • More than 288 exhibit booths of hunting products and accessories, hunting clothes, guides and out-

fitters, hunting associations and ‘outdoor lifestyle’ products for home/cabin/den. Great bargains; this is aselling event.

• ‘Ask the Experts’ Info Center, with experts in centerfire firearms bullets and ballistics, slug guns andslugs, muzzleloaders and archery gear.

• Outdoor Life trophy whitetail deer contest. Trophies can be entered from noon Friday to 10 a.m. Sun-day. The first 25 entries Friday are free and also include a free weekend pass to the entire expo. There arefirearms, archery, black powder and crossbow divisions; typical antler and non-typical antler sections ineach. Measuring and scoring will be done by certified Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young measurers.

• Venison butchering and venison sausage-making demonstrations by Kurt Heid, who says he will showyou how to bone out a deer in eight-and-a-half minutes. Heid is a professional butcher and processes near-ly 400 deer each year. Cont’d. on next pg.

ECA PRESENTS ILLINOIS’ LARGEST HUNTING & TRADE SHOWS•••••BUY – SELL – TRADE•••••

ECA Inc. • PO Box 138 • Centralia, IL 62801 • 618-495-2572Visit us on Facebook! ISRA.org

More Details at: www.ECAHuntingandTradeShows.com

Show Times & Admission Fees:Sat.: 9:00am to 5:00pmSun.: 9:00am to 4:00pmAdmission: $5 unless otherwise noted.(Friday Set-up Time: 12-noon – 9pm, Tables $45)

FEB. 7-8Effingham, Knights of Colombus, 1501 W Fayette Ave.

FEB. 28-MAR. 1Bloomington Interstate Center, 2301 W. Market/Rte. 9

NEW SHOW! MAR. 7-8Marion, The Pavillion, 1602 Sioux Dr.

MAR. 14-15Belleville, Belle-Clair Expo, 200 S. Belt East

NEW SHOW! MAR. 21-22Champaign, Fluid Event Center, 601 N. Country Fair Dr.

FREEDRAWING!

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• Chainsaw carving demonstrations by MikeBrownfield, a Michigan deer hunter whose hobbyis…you guessed it…chainsaw carving. Hesays he has “about a dozen” chainsaws. Thedemos are done with electric chainsaws, whichare allowed to be operated inside expo halls.

• Archery trick shot Byron Ferguson will giveperformances Saturday and Sunday.

• The new products special display will show,of course, new products.

• Airgun, archery and laser shooting ranges,plus exhibitor shooting booths in the ArcheryPavilion.

• The Illinois State Turkey Calling & Owl Hoot-ing Championship, Saturday, Feb. 21.

• Two photo contests (Trail Camera and Out-door General).

• F lint-knapping demonstrations by MarkMcDaniel, creating Stone Age arrowheads,knives and spear points. Bring in stone pointsyou have collected; Mark will tell you how oldthey are, where they were made and the ancientculture group that made them.

• Dozens of Door Prizes – Drawings daily,every 2-1/2 hours, at Field & Stream–OutdoorLife booth, plus spin-and-win for prizes at theF&S-OL booth. As a bonus, a free one-year sub-scription to Field & Stream or Outdoor Life is in-cluded with your paid admission.

Modifications and expansion at the Prairie

Capital Convention Center are now complete.The results are a larger lobby, more exhibitspace on the street-level floor; more availablespace on the lower-level floor for exhibits, tro-phy deer display, and other activities, and bath-room facilities have been added on the street-level floor. There’s simply more space all the wayaround, and both floors of the expo will be filledwith activities.

With the advance ticket service available, youcan skip the ticket lines at the box of fice.

Expo hours: Friday, February 20, 2 pm-9 pm;Saturday, February 21, 9 am-7 pm; Sunday, Feb-ruary 22, 9 am-4 pm.

Visit Deerinfo.com/Illinois. The website in-cludes a downloadable $3 ticket discountcoupon (FIND PAGE COUPON ON PAGE 17!) onadult and military admission prices as well asadvance ticket-buying information, seminarschedules, special displays and activities, hotelinfo, trophy buck contest and photo contest en-try details, and more.

MORE THAN 200BIG ILLINOIS

BUCKS EXPECTED IN DEER &

TURKEY EXPOTROPHY CONTEST,

NEW SHEDANTLER CONTEST

More than 200 of the state’s finest white-tail trophy bucks are expected to be enteredin the Outdoor Life Trophy Buck Contest,and on display, at the 25th annual Field &Stream-Outdoor Life Illinois Deer &Turkey Expo. The event will be February20-22 at the Prairie Capital ConventionCenter in Springfield. There is no advanceentry for either contest; just bring your tro-phy to the expo.

The first 25 trophy contest entries Fri-day, February 20, will receive free contestentry and a weekend pass to the expo, Irecognition of the expo's 25th year. If youhave a trophy buck, this is the place toshow it off. Bring your camera, too, andcheck out all the big bucks in the contest.

A shed-antler contest is new this year. Itwill be held in conjunction with the trophy

~ Spring Snow Goose Hunting ~

Show me your Snows OutdoorsHunting in Central Illinois

Booking for February & March Hunt from Heated Pits • Over 10,000+ Decoys!

Find us on Facebook at “Rick Hamm Snow Fox” and “Show me your Snows Outdoors”

Call Rick Hamm: 309-635-5200

~ Spring Snow Goose Hunting ~

Show me your Snows OutdoorsHunting in Central Illinois

Booking for February & March Hunt from Heated Pits • Over 10,000+ Decoys!

Find us on Facebook at “Rick Hamm Snow Fox” and “Show me your Snows Outdoors”

Call Rick Hamm: 309-635-5200

EXPO… Cont’d. from previous pg.

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contest. Measur-

ers certifiedby Boone& CrockettC l u ba n d / o rPope &Y o u n gClub willdo all tro-phy meas-uring ands c o r i n g .The antlerscoring sys-tem for those two organizations is used inthe expo's contest.

• Trophy contest entries are acceptedfrom noon Friday, February 20, to 11 amSunday, February 23. Entry fee is $20;with this you get a weekend pass. The tro-phy contest has categories for whitetail deertypical and non-typical antlers, with classesfor archery, firearms, crossbow and muzzle-loader.

• Shed-antler contest entry fee is $10 persingle beam entered. A matching set ofshed antlers will be considered as two en-tries. Entry times and release time are thesame for the trophy buck contest.

• No trophies will be released betweennoon and 3 pm Sunday. To be eligible to

win ana w a r d ,contest tro-phies mustremain ondisplay un-til releaseSunday at3 pm.There willbe a $10e a r l y -c h e c k o u tcharge onany trophycontest en-

try taken out before noon Sunday; earlycheckout charge for the shed-antler contestis $5.

• Award presentations begin at 4 pmSunday for the trophy contest and shed-antler contest.

For non-contest (measure-only) bucks,you must first purchase a general admissionticket to the expo. Measuring fee is $20.There is no weekend pass. The trophy willbe measured only after all trophy contestentries have been measured. Entry timesare the same as for the trophy contest --noon Friday through 11 am Sunday.

The expo is the place to get your huntingequipment questions answered, plus hands-on product examination opportunities.

The expo will feature more than more than280 booths, many with products for sale.Exhibitors include major brand names aswell as hunting products and accessories,many of which are not available in retailstores.

PCCC modifications and expansionhave created a larger lobby, more exhibitspace on the street-level (or 2nd Level)floor; more available space on the 1st Levelfloor for exhibits, trophy deer display andother activities, plus bathroom facilitieshave been added on the street-level floor.There’s simply more space all the wayaround, and both floors of the expo will befilled with activities.

For complete expo details, please visitwww.deerinfo.com/Illinois. The expo pro-vides activities for the entire family. Thewebsite includes on-line advance ticketbuying information; a downloadable $3-offdiscount coupon (ALSO ON PAGE 17OF ASO), on adult and military admissionprices; as well as trophy deer contest andshed-antler contest entry info; 3-day semi-nar schedule; list of special displays and ac-tivities; Illinois State Turkey Calling &Owl Hooting Championship; archery trickshooting performances Saturday and Sun-day by Byron Ferguson; three indoorshooting ranges; rules for both photo con-tests (outdoor & trailer camera); hotel info,and more. DeerInfo.com

AQUATIC EXCAVATOR SERVICE Ideal for Habitat Development & Restoration

Hydraulic Brush Cutting & Dredging of Siltation in LakesThis Aquatic Excavator is

19 ft. wide x 35 ft. longwith 5 ft. x 5 ft. pontoons

for faster production

(photo shown without the 8 ft.

extension)

Providing Services for Private Customers, Municipalities, DNR, IDOT & The Army Corp of Engineers

Dependable Contractor for 40 years! CONTACT

Jack Laverdiere: 309-333-4001

Jon Thompson: 309-333-4533

Jeri Draper of Pekin with herfirst deer! !Way to go lady…

Great to see you out hunting! Thanks to Mike O'Bryan

for the photo!

Congrats to the 2014 Winners!

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WILD PIGS & ALLIGATOR HUNT

By Dan Gapen Sr.Ever been on a pig hunt? A real-

ly wild, narrow-headed pig hunt?Well, I have and it was done with-out rifles, arrows or lance.

Where, you say?It was In the Florida everglades

near the town of Okeechobee in aswamp they call Big Cypress. Itwas conducted from a pair of spe-cial swamp buggies (photo at-tached), two crossbred pit bulls,and plothound dogs and two of thegreatest swamp outlaws I’ve evermet.

Ben and Harley Short made theirliving live trapping raccoons andopossum for hunting farms in Mis-souri and Arkansas. Here the hunt-ing public was challenged, night-

the look for chapters ina current book I waswriting.

“Dan, I can set you upwith a pair of brotherswho provoke alligatorsand catch live wild pigsand possums. They’rereally good at it andlove to show off theirskills. I’m not too sureif the brothers would want you towrite it up but we can try,” repliedmy newly-acquired friend as herested a fist on a huge alligatorskull in the motel’s office.

Immediately upon meeting thebrothers I liked them. They weregood old red-neck people wholoved what they did and were will-ing to relinquish their secrets.

“How about tonight at 10? I’lltake you on an alligator catch,”came the response from olderbrother Ben soon after Dick intro-duced us.

That sounded great to me as ex-citement welled up inside.

At 10 as predicted, a beat-up

hunting these critters when theywere released back into the wild.

The brothers also made dollarsby illegally hunting Big Cypressand Everglade alligators. During aperiod when it was against the lawto kill the Florida alligator, a gatorhide brought $100 to 500 on theblack market. Ben, the thinner andolder brother, claimed to be thebest alligator hunter in Florida. Ihave no doubt that he was. Fivenights and days of hunting with thegrubby bearded pair proved this tome.

Dick Vance, a bass fishermanwho owned a motel on Lake Okee-chobee, first introduced me to theShort brothers when I inquiredabout any unusual stories I mightfind in the area. I’d been at his mo-tel, fishing the big lake, doing astory for Bass Magazine. As usual,I asked about characters and thestory they might bring; always on

A seven footer avoidsus as he sneaks into

open water.

Ford pick-up with several dogcages in it pulled up at the motel.Minutes later we transferred to asmelly rusty jonboat with a smallairboat engine mounted on itsstern.

“Dan, my brother just got out ofjail after knifing an old-timer at thelocal bar. The cops are watchinghim close and he can’t get caughtdoing anything illegal or there’ll behell to pay.” Ben informed me aswe shoved off. We would run thechannels of the swampy areas ofOkeechobee. Five minutes into ourride Ben cut the motor, took up askulling paddle and informed methere should be a gator just around

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the corner.Picking up a long cane pole with

a wire loop tied to its end, Ben con-tinued to skull the boat forward.Sure enough, as we passed a pointof rushes a pair of red eyes greetedour head lamp lights.

“This one is only a six-footer butits skin will make a great hide forwomen’s shoes. Probably worth$150 bucks or more. Slowly weapproached the red-eyed gator thatseemed to be mesmerized by thelight as we got to within 10 feet.Slowly the jonboat was turned asBen wielded the wire cable loop.With a soft thrust of the cane polethe loop slid over the gator’s head.

Next came a great dealof splashing, thrashing,weeds flying and Benyelling as he dragged theresisting beast towardsthe boat. Once there, hehanded me the pole andgrabbed the gator by itsjaws, all the time wheel-

ing a roll of black tape around thetoothy jaws.

“Ya, I know what you’re think-ing. I’ve been jawed a coupletimes by gators. Once by a 13-footer who nearly tore my bicepoff,” my teacher said while drag-ging the devil into the boat andthen pointed to a badly scarredarm.

Next he used the tape to tie upthe legs as a wildly thrashing tailattempted to break up the boat.This was stopped as he taped adirty towel over the critter’s eyes.

Tomorrow we’d go after pigs.Ben had made big money this nightand a bit of pig wrestling was in or-

der.Once back at the pick-up, after

dropping me off, Ben would deliv-er the live gator to a buyer. Iwouldn’t be privileged to such atransaction. Ben was free with hisinformation but secret enough tocover his tracks.

‘THE WILD HOG HUNT’Dick Vance would drop me off at

the end of a jungle- covered roadnear Little Cypress swamp where apair of big-wheeled swamp buggiesgreeted us. This time Harley wasthere to greet us with three of theirbuddies including the fellowHarley had knifed. I guess in thisred-neck world a littleknifing didn’t break up afriendship.

“You get up on thesmall buggy, Dan. Benwill follow us with thebig swamper,” came in-structions from brotherHarley.

On the back of each buggy was awooden dog kennel. In each was across-bred pit bull/hound huntingdog. Once loaded up we headedout through the swamp. Withinmoments we flushed our first groupof hogs. Most were a black andbrown mix in color. One was most-ly white with the black shadowspots of a domestic pig. Back inthe 1800s farmers released theirdomestic pigs to graze openlythroughout southern Florida. Itwas natural they should mix withthe narrow-nosed wild hogs whichwere native to Florida’s swamp-land. Thus you find a variety of

Ben (top)& brotherHarley on the

smaller of the swamp buggys. Dog box

on back end.

Ben demonstrates the technique ofpulling the skin on a small gator


089_001.qxd 1/27/15 6:38 PM Page 1

so of Florida’s wildhogs. One of them wasa native animal with thesmall pointed nose. Thelocals claim this breedcan suck soda pop outof a bottle.

In those days hogswere captured alive,brought back to a feedpen, have its tusksremoved and fed corn for twomonths to see the meat sweetenand the 4-inch grizzle back paddissolved.

Oh, how did the dogs get out oftheir locked kennels in the bug-gies? A rope controlled by thedriver up front lifted the kenneldoor by hand. This was a signalthat ‘hogs were ahead’. Bypulling on the rope a driver wouldrelease the dogs that were trainedto leap out as doors opened.

Please forgive the black andwhite photos. At that time I pho-tographed for a newspaper columnthat required I only shoot blackand whites for them.


sizes and coloring of hogs as youhunt.

The big 500-pound light-coloredhog was the one the dogs chose tochase. I failed to understand howthe two dogs were released.Running at 5 to 10 miles an hourwe were able to corner the hugeanimal in a swampy wallow.When we arrived the dogs heldtight to the monster’s ears, one oneither side.

Stubbornly the 100 pound dogsapplied their pitbull attitude as thebig female was dragged slowly tothe ground. Next Harley jumped

from our buggy and jumped ontothe hog. Down she went! ThenBen arrived with a lot of rope totie her feet together. This actshould have stopped the old girlfrom resisting but with one morethrash she rolled over and pinnedHarley under her weight. It tookall of us to drag her off him beforehe drowned or suffocated to death.

The hog seemed to be too oldand too fat to be good eating so itwas deemed she should bereleased.

“Everyone up on the buggies.When I release her she’ll attackanyone still on the ground.” Beninstructed as we all scurried for

protection of the bug-gies.

Sure enough, theminute the monster wascut loose she rammedthe smaller buggy asBen leaped on the largerone. In the next 3 daysI’d experience thecatching of a dozen or

I’ll never forget myalligator/hog hunt in theOkeechobee region and I knowboth brothers are gone now so Ican tell my story. Ben and Harleyclaimed they averaged over 1000gators a year plus as many coonsand opossums. Today Floridaclaims to have over a million alli-gators and as many wild hogs.Obviously the brothers poachingdidn’t hurt the populations.

Until next time, this is DanGapen, Sr. Hoping you relax,savor and enjoy our great out-doors.

Gapen.com

Alive & tied, a hybridFlorida wildhog isready for transport.

HUNT… Cont’d. from previous pg.

Hog hunting buggyscome in 2 sizes. Big & bigger.

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Services provided by this preserve will depend upon each individual and the type ofhunt they would like to have. Package prices are available upon request. Our goals areto provide a good hunting environment, and have a quality deer management program.

MACEDONIA GAME PRESERVEGuides & Outfitters 618/728-4328

Owner: Keith NealFrom Interstate 57 - get off at Benton Exit 71

Take Route 14 East - 11 miles to Macedonia sign, turn south, follow signs

w w w . m a c e d o n i a g a m e p r e s e r v e . c o mw w w . m a c e d o n i a g a m e p r e s e r v e . c o m

H U N T Q U A I L , P H E A S A N T , H U N T Q U A I L , P H E A S A N T , C H U K A R , D O V E & T U R K E Y !C H U K A R , D O V E & T U R K E Y !

Congratulations to Mike Crabtree for the fabulous harvest he had in 2014! He took two in Illinois and one in Montana. Mike said, “The 6 year old cull buck I shot with bow was on Dec. 29 at 1:00 afternoon. He was chasing does and came right to me.

Shot him from the ground at 25 yds. I had a great season and feel very blessed.”Mike owns the very nice Crabby’s Supper Club in Carlinville on the golf course. People travel for miles to have dinner at Crabby’s! (217) 854-4440.

Mike also has an auction business…THE NEXT BIG SALE is Feb. 28th! MikeCrabtreeAuctions.com

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Remember, to keep your costs lower,when you look for a long term seasonalcampsite pick one that has the amenitiesyou want without a lot of “extras” thatyou won’t use.

Steve Herrick, Stonefort Campground 1960 Knox Rd. 1700 E.

Victoria, IL 61485309-879-2682

Cell: [email protected]

StonefortCampground.com

destroy unsafe ones. Sites are de-

signed with fullhookups and cus-tomized when a newcamper comes in. Thenewer campers some-times have huge win-dows in the front,

back or side. Since we don’t know aheadof time what people have, site design mustbe flexible. People want a view of the wa-ter from their camper and most of thetime we can accommodate them.

We have a nice quiet place to enjoy na-ture and relax. We don’t allow ATV’s orother noisy vehicles, just golf carts. Withfull hookups everybody brings their ownbathroom so we don’t have a bathhouse.And we don’t have swimming with all thenoise that generates!

Offering Hunting Packages & Lodging in So. ILGuided Hunts for Whitetail Deer,

Waterfowl Hunting & Fishing

• Onsite Bait Shop• First Rate, Onsite Lodging• Home Cooked Meals• Licensed & Insured

Mike Wright, Owner Royalton, IL • 618-924-4157DucksandBucksOutfitters.com

Happy Camping!by Steve Herrick

What do you want in a seasonal camp-ground? Every amenity at your camp-ground has a cost associated with it, andyou are going to cover that cost either incampsite fees or user fees. Waterfront sitesuse limited land area that costs money.Swimming areas, whether pool or lake, areexpensive to build and maintain. Lodgeswith food service and game rooms addmore expense. If you have your own bath-room do you really want to pay for a bath-house too? Stonefort Campground pro-vides large lots in a quiet relaxed place tounwind from your busy life without allthose expensive add-ons.

In 1980 Southern Illinois Universitypublished “Illinois State Reclamation Planfor Abandoned Mined Lands” document-ing strip-mined land in the state. I used

that book to concen-trate my search forland to use for recre-ation. I wanted aplace where I couldwalk out my backdoor and go fishingwhenever I wanted.At that time I had noidea my quest would lead me to build over100 full hookup waterfront seasonalcampsites and leave me with little time todo any fishing!

Over the past 32 years I have movedover 30,000 cubic yards of dirt to buildponds and level campsites. It has been alot of work, but when you enjoy an ac-complishment it seems more like fun thanwork! And who wouldn’t want to drive aCaterpillar D8N? We now have 21 acresof stocked and aerated ponds and use au-tomatic feeders to help feed the fish.

I decided right away to put in sewerlines to every site to eliminate the need tohaul sewage in the little wagons. All oursewage systems are state approved andhandle all waste including gray water toassure a healthy environment.

Each camper is responsible for their owndocks, decks and sheds and they remainthe property of the camper. We providerules for safe construction and inspect and

February 13-14, 2015Otto Center • 2058 CR 1800 E • Arthur, IL(217) 543-3848 • ArthurOutdoorExpo.com

Campfire fun

Ken & Donna’s Camp

Caterpillar D8N

Jesse's Bass Flash

092_001.qxd 1/27/15 7:56 PM Page 1


PHEASANTS FOREVER ANNUAL REPORT: 1.4 MILLION WILDLIFE HABITAT ACRES

CONSERVED IN ‘14PF permanently protects 5,862 acres thruacquisition; keeps program efficiency high

In 2014, Pheasants Forever, Inc. completed15,190 wildlife habitat projects and improvedhabitat for pheasants, quail and other wildlife on1.4 million acres. In spending $69.2 million onwildlife habitat conservation, public awarenessand conservation education efforts - a record bythe nonprofit - Pheasants Forever, including itsquail division, Quail Forever, maintained a highlevel of efficiency, spending 90.42 cents of everydollar raised directly on its wildlife habitat conser-vation mission.

Howard Vincent, Pheasants Forever and QuailForever President and CEO, says the organiza-tion’s grassroots model continues to be the drivingforce behind these upland habitat successes.“Membership, volunteerism and chapter involve-ment continue to lay the groundwork for success-

permanently conserved by Pheasants Forever. Allthese properties have or will be turned over tostate/federal natural resource agencies andopened to outdoor recreation, including hunting.

Youth, Education & Public Awareness Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters

held 1,115 youth events in 2014, which attracted65,000 youth participants, a new organizationalrecord. Chapters hosted youth hunts, sponsoredshooting teams, helped with youth pollinator proj-ects and held family field days in their communi-ties.

Land Management Policies & Programs A new federal Farm Bill was finally passed in

2014, and its conservation title addressed someof Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s topwildlife habitat priorities, including a regional“Sodsaver” provision, reauthorization of theConservation Reserve Program, crop insurancelinked to conservation compliance and a newAgricultural Conservation Easement Program.

New Pheasants Forever Regional HeadquartersPheasants Forever opened its first regional

headquarters in Brookings, South Dakota, headedby Dave Nomsen, the organization’s longtime vicepresident of government affairs. The new officewill allow Pheasants Forever to better combatongoing, substantial upland habitat loss in theDakotas.

Pheasants Forever, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charita-ble organization. Pheasants Forever’s full AnnualReport will be published in the Spring 2015 issueof the Pheasants Forever Journal of UplandConservation.

About Pheasants Forever: Pheasants Forever,including its quail conservation division, QuailForever, is the nation's largest nonprofit organi-zation dedicated to upland habitat conservation.Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have morethan 140,000 members and 700 local chaptersacross the United States and Canada. Chaptersare empowered to determine how 100 percent oftheir locally raised conservation funds are spent;the only national conservation organization thatoperates through this truly grassroots structure.

ful upland habitat projects. Even as our impactgrows, we remain true to accomplishing theseprojects with as little overhead as possible.” Dueto its efficiency and effectiveness, PheasantsForever continues to be recognized as a 4-starcharity by Charity Navigator, the largest charityevaluator in the country.

Wildlife Habitat ProjectsPheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapter

projects - nesting cover, upland & wetlandrestoration, food & cover plots and land acquisi-tion projects - accounted for 436,768 acres ofimproved wildlife habitat in 2014. PheasantsForever and Quail Forever Farm Bill wildlife biolo-gists – who help landowners enroll in conservationprograms – made 31,074 landowner contacts in2014, improving more than 1 million acres forwildlife.

Land Acquisition / Permanent Wildlife HabitatProtection

Because of 41 land acquisition projects in2014, 5,862 acres of wildlife habitat have been

te

P h e a s a n t F e s t & Q u a i l C l a s s i c i s a t ra d e s h o w t h a t f o c u s e s o n w i l d l i f e

c o n s e r va t i o n , u p l a n d g a m e b i r d h u n t i n g ( p h e a s a n t a n d q u a i l ) , d o g t ra i n i n ga n d w i l d l i f e h a b i t a t m a n a g e m e n t a n d re s t o ra t i o n . I n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t h e

t ra d e s h o w , P h e a s a n t s F o re v e r w i l l h o s t s e m i n a r s o n h a b i t a t i m p r o v e m e n t ,p h e a s a n t h u n t i n g , s h o ot i n g s p o r t s , w i l d g a m e c o o k i n g , d o g t ra i n i n g ,

c o n s e r va t i o n a n d l ot s m o re ! P h e a s a n t s F o r e v e r . o r g

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A F ish Scale in my Wine

by Billy CanterburyA hop, skip and a jump was the plane ride from

Peoria to Chicago, then to Seattle. A few day staywith my wonderful Aunt Melissa in Seattle, then acouple days later off to Anchorage Alaska, then toKing Salmon for a moment until we caught our planeto Egegik. Egegik is a very remote place in the lowersouth west part of Alaska, right at the top of theAleutian Chain in Bristol Bay. Bristol Bay is still theBering Sea, for those that don’t know. During WorldWar 2 that area was heavily bombed by the Japanese.

The day before the sockeye salmon run begins, amassive gathering is held on the beach, it’s the burn-ing of the giant wooden fish. Hundreds of fishermenfrom Egegik gather to burn the fish they have allsigned. Let the season begin.

I'm thankful I completed my first season with themost motivated, ambitious, passionate, fun loving,laugh at death I want to curse awesome fishermenand boat with one of the top catches of the year inBristol Bay.

Catching over 100,000 pounds of salmon is con-sidered a high liner boat, this was the first year myskipper of 30 years had experienced his boat being ahigh liner, I believe it was the same for Benny, wecaught 130,000 pounds of salmon in 3 and a halfweeks. So it's pretty cool to experience my first yearon a hard core high liner boat, running the line andrisking it all sometimes while dodging the coastguard, state troopers and conservation. It’s anadrenaline rush but nothing like getting 5000pounds of salmon in your net that you need to get inthe boat and the net back in the water as fast as youcan.

We linked up boats every night during the seasonand ate and drankwine until the nextfishing time, espe-cially during the4th of July. It real-ly is a sight to seeprobably more soafter you'vegained a respectfor it. The 100’s ofboats anchored incalm water, as thesun is trying to setat midnight-30,then rising 3hours later, maybeto high seas, mak-

ing the boat smack every which other way, hold on tothe tea kettle!

After one of our last sets, we sit patiently tied upto the back of our tender waiting to deliver. The sea-son is nearly over, everyone is just as tired as thenext fisherman unless you were on our boat and youwere in straight up zombie go mode, in our routine wewere unstoppable.

As I sit on the front of our Wegley boat with theboat hook waiting to grab the rope and tie off for de-livery, I sit exhausted. Getting up to go to the back ofthe boat is a constant motion when you’re constantlyfilling up on wine. Continuing to sit patiently in a dos-ing mindset, I look into my cup of red wine gettingready to drink, and I noticed a fish scale in my drink.With my fatigued soul tasting the sweet end of theseason, I see the salmon scale and think of it almostas garnish for my well deserved cup of wine. With noattempt to remove it, I drank the scale in my wine asif it were a part of it. For some reason the two natu-ral fruits of life looked meant to be, and drinking it, inmy mind I made it to be a sacred rite. It was one ofthose moments that make you think, and now I’msharing it with you.

Walking the beaches anywhere in Bristol Bay,don't be too surprised to run across a Japanese corkthat popped off a net and floated from across theway. Some native people in the area probably have abucket or two if not a barrel full of them just lyingaround. These corks from what I understand aremade from used Saki bottles; it's very cool that inJapan they still use glass as corks.

I was too busy fishing and I had no time to hunt forJap corks or even get that much video for that mat-ter, but I did manage to get my hands on one greenglass cork to bring home.

Anyway, that was all very cool and a great experi-ence, it gave me a great foundation of knowledge forfuture fishing. A new focus and a new beginning in mylife is the fishing business that I’ve recently started.I’m excited about it, and for what happens next, willsee, call me crazy, my dad surely is, but so far I loveit.

The freedom of being on the water is nice, or evenjust being in the great outdoors for that matter. Withfreedom comes opportunity, and with opportunitycomes boundless potential, what else do you need tobe happy. Catch me next month, for more thoughtsfrom the Illinois River Valley.

Boats anchored on 4th of July, 2014

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by Keli Van CleavePinkOutdoors.comPinkOutdoors.com~ 50 Years ~The perfect February vacation might just be taking a horse-

drawn sleigh ride among monstrous bull elk numbering in thethousands. In Jackson Hole, Wyoming, such an adventure isavailable. It’s said that February is the best time to see this herdwith their amazing antlers.

When you climb into a horse drawn sleigh that takes you for aride next to one of the largest wintering concentrations of elkfeeding, you will find yourself in the middle of a western adven-ture unlike any other. It’s an exciting way to discover first handnew things about the Wild West’s wildlife found on the NationalElk Refuge.

“In the early 1900s, as more people settled in Jackson Hole, Wyoming homesteads, cattle,fences, and farming had encroached on traditional elk migration pathways and wintering areas.Severe winters, reduced elk forage, and decreased habitat contributed to the starvation deathsof thousands of elk in Jackson Hole. While homesteaders and other locals needed to protecttheir domestic cattle herds and haystacks, they still wanted to have large, healthy elk herds inthe valley.” (National Elk Refuge) As a result of the growing concern, the homesteaders andthe locals started to feed the elk. In 1912, the refuge was formed as they continued to feed theelk with the classic horse drawn sleighs.

With the growing knowledge of the elk through the 1900s, the sleigh rides for the generalpublic evolved. These rides initially started with the town residents climbing onto the sleighsas they headed out to feed the elk. Because of the growing popularity of the sleigh rides, the

refuge had to hire moredrivers and sleighs tohandle the people thattraveled to view the elk.In 1965, the refugecontracted out the firstsleigh rides as the resultof the increasingamount of people crav-ing to view the elkherd. This traditioncontinues today asthousands of peopletravel from all over theWorld to enjoy the elk

herd from horse drawn sleighs. This refuge is almost 25,000 acres of open

wintering range for more then just Elk. Itswater and marshlands hold over 100 species ofbirds including bald eagles, trumpeter swans,and peregrine falcons. This stunning refuge isalso known to the largest free-roaming buffa-lo herd, moose, bighorn sheep, and the presti-gious gray wolves.

Not only does this Wildlife Refuge hold keyinformation for environmental education,wildlife observation, and photography. Some families enjoy weddings and celebrations of 50years of marriage together. Not to mention, a select few who put in for specific tags can huntor fish this area during registered seasons.

If elk are not your cup of tea, Jackson Hole is a paradise for winter sports. They have threelegendary ski resorts, acres of magical powder for snowmobiling, some of the finest rivers forfly fishing, and excellent restaurants and shopping. It’s also known to be a spectacular placeto spend your 40th Birthday.

Contact Keli at:[email protected]

w w w . P i n k O u t d o o r s . c o mw w w . Ke l i Va n C l e a v e . c o m

Happy Anniversary!Jackson Hole, Wy

Happy 40th Michael!

50th Anniversary Sleigh Ride

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ONE CALL DOES IT ALL!

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Meatsaws • Grinders • Stuffers • Freezer PaperJerky & Summer Sausage Seasonings • Casings

Anything & Everything for Home Deer ProcessingWE HAVE IT IN ALL STORE LOCATIONS!

ILLINOIS: Macomb, Monmouth, Canton, Galesburg, KewaneeIOWA: West Burlington

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DILL SAUCE1/4 cup mayo1/4 cup sour cream2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill weedSalt & Seasoning to Taste

Directions:Sauté onions and celery in the oil. Mix

into pike and add all other ingredients ex-cept the cracker crumbs. Form into pattiesand coat each side with cracker crumbs likeyou would for salmon patties. Brown inbutter or margarine.

Serve with lemon wedges. Dill Sauce: Combine and serve on cakes.

Anita lives in Grand Rapids, MN andis the mother of two adult children. Shehas been a hairstylist for thirty years.Her empty nest allows time to pursue in-

terests of pho-tography, bowhunting, fish-ing, travel andfood. She is agraduate ofItasca Commu-nity Collegewith an empha-sis on wildlife,and also Quali-ty Deer Man-agements levelone steward-ship program.You can followher on Face-book andYouTube.

shine. The Wekiva river is also an angler’s par-

adise and today I seek bass. An adventure-some spirit is required to pursuit the super-sized monsters that hide up stream. If youdon’t mind wading through flats, motoringaround submerged trees, or side-steppingthe occasional, territorial alligator, thenthis is the place for you. The bass run bigand hit hard so rig your poles with heavytackle. Using dramatic acrobatics, they areknown for their signature “leap and dash”across the surface prior to running underthe boat and wrapping your line around alog. As a self proclaimed adrenaline junkie,this kind of angling is what I live for.

After an hour of motoring, we finallyreached our secret spot in the spawningflats. My husband, Skip and I sat in ourwell-worn john boat, pole-in-hand, gentlybobbing in the rivers current. Content inlistening to the water’s movement aroundus, there was no need to talk.

Nature supplied us with plenty of con-versation; gators grunted from beneath lilypads, frogs croaked in unison, and a chorusof indigenous birds serenaded us from theshoreline. It was during this serene mo-ment that I broke one of fishing’s funda-mental rules: Never leave your pole unat-tended. She struck when I least expected it.I had laid my pole down to get comfort-able, prop my feet up, and drink a bottle ofwater. I should have known better. With

Catch’em & Cook’em with Anita…

NORTHERN PIKE CAKES WITH DILL SAUCE

Ingredients1 pound cooked northern fillets, flaked1 stalk celery, chopped1/4 cup onion, chopped2 Tbsp. mayonnaise1 large egg slightly beaten1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley1 tsp. fresh lemon juiceA few drops of hot pepper sauce1/2 tsp. salt3/4 cup Ritz cracker crumbs3 Tbsp. Veg Oil

February 13-14, 2015Otto Center • 2058 CR 1800 E • Arthur, IL(217) 543-3848 • ArthurOutdoorExpo.com

By Nici HaerterIt’s been over 20 years since I first laid

eyes on the Wekiva River. Captivatingme with spring fed waters and exoticwildlife; it was love at first sight. Nestledin between urbanized neighborhoods,this winding river is truly one of centralFlorida’s best kept secrets. The sur-rounding forest hosts black bear, deer,night herons, Limpkins, coots, and wildboar just to name a few. Curious ottersfrolic along the shore, delighting boaterswith their playful antics. Alligators andturtles line the path, lounging lazily onlogs while soaking up the Florida sun-

Just Plain Lucky

096_001.qxd 1/27/15 8:22 PM Page 1

horror I watched, as if in slow motion,while my pole jerked across the bottom ofthe boat, threatening to go overboard. Iwas able to snatch the rod mid air, rescuingit before flying over the side.

The drag groaned in protest as I tight-ened my grip. That’s when I got the firstglimpse of my adversary. She broke the sur-face, taunting me with her dance across thelily pads before diving deep and zigzaggingthrough submerged debris. She was abeauty; a perfect specimen of the large-mouth bass that lie below the rivers softly

flowing current. Laden with eggs, she hadan extra stout girth and an aggressive atti-tude.

Practicing some basic tried-and-trueangling techniques, I kept the line tight,the tip up, and eventually wore her down.Before we could get her settled into our livewell for a future photo op, Skip had alreadyhooked another one. The bass were on firethat morning. Before sun up, we had man-aged to land a total of nine decent sizedlarge mouths and two super sized monsters,all released safely back into their beloved


Feb. 27-March 1 • The Boat ShowIllinois State Fairgrounds • Springfield, IL

theboatshowinspringfield.com

river.After a successful morning of angling, we

decided to motor back down the river andhead home. The morning sun was justbeginning to peek through the cypresstrees. Casting an almost mystical glow onthe bubbling current, it provided the per-fect backdrop for the awakening forest.We paused a few times to admire an elusiveriver otter, playfully darting in and out oflily pads. Gators were now brazenlystretched across logs, taking full advantageof the steamy, hot temperatures. Deep inthe canopy, we spotted a boat trolling slow-ly, bow fishing for tilapia. Another soloangler sat bobbing in a kayak, cane pole inhand. He proudly held up a stringer ofplate-sized pan fish as we motored by.

Whether its sport fishing for bass, or gro-

cery fishing for large bream, tilapia, andcatfish, the river has it all. So next time youvisit the sunshine state, I urge you to lookbeyond the concrete walls of amusementparks. Take a break from the crowds andtraffic. Explore the real Florida. TheWekiva River offers a diverse environment,appropriate for serious anglers and natureenthusiasts alike. Touted as one of themost bountiful, natural treasures CentralFlorida has to offer, you will not be disap-pointed.

Nici is a free-lance writer, pro-fessional musi-cian, and avidangler. She maybe contacted atharpbynici.com

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Sales Rep: Gerald Sampen • 217-376-3873Agent: Justin Montgomery • 217-871-0524 • [email protected]

www.MontysOutdoorConnect ion.com

Close Encounters of the Cat KindBy: Diana Storrs

When I openedthe back door,there he sat, inall his cat-ness,tail curledaround his frontpaws. He lickedhis whiskers as ifto say, “Well,what are you waiting for? Where’smy food?”

As there was nothing cat appro-priate in my kitchen, I sat downnext to him and patted his head,then scratched behind his ears. Hepurred and rubbed up against me.Now, I get along with cats, but theydo not normally seek me out. Main-ly, I only notice them in order toavoid hitting them in the street orwhen they are caterwauling at mid-night.

That afternoon I went out andbought cat food, the pricey gourmetkind they show on TV-the kind thata high breed cat with a diamondcollar will eagerly eat. A litter box,litter, cat brush and a cat toy, allwent into my shopping cart, just incase. It was several days before Mr.Cat made another appearance. I fedand brushed him. His white fur waslong and silky, and he loved beingbrushed. He purred his thanks andafter rubbing up against me in orderto leave behind the maximumamount of fur, he sauntered away.This on-again-off-again love affair

lasted for several weeks. I found myself looking forward to

his visits. He demanded little of mytime and appreciated my efforts toamuse him. He was not interestedin toys, only the brushing and thefood. I learned to be content witheven a few minutes out of his busylife. This is a small town. Wordtravels fast and I had been seenfeeding a white cat. News of our il-licit affair was out. It was not longbefore the neighbor who lived be-hind me, and with whom I had anodding acquaintance, approachedme as I was taking out my trash.

“I see you’re trying to steal mycat.” This was delivered with astony eyed stare and deadpan ex-pression. Momentarily at a loss forwords, my heart lurched. He had ahome, and it wasn’t mine.

“Oh, you mean that fluffy whitecat I’ve been feeding? I certainlydidn’t know it belonged to you andI would never steal anything, letalone a cat!”

Actually, I had lured the cat intomy kitchen one day when our ro-mance was still young. I wheedledand cajoled and he finally deignedto step across the threshold. Obvi-ously unimpressed, he looked dis-dainfully over his shoulder at mebefore he sashayed back outside. Iloved his cavalier attitude.

Now his owner uttered a har-rumph, turned on her heel, stompedacross her back yard and slammedher door behind her. I had never ac-tually heard anyone “harrumph” be-fore. Several days later, she accost-ed me again.

“I’ve taken my cat to live with my

ex-husband at his farm.” Her ex-pression conveyed the unspokensecond half of that statement, “Soyou can’t steal him!”

Sadly, I stored the cat parapherna-lia and went on with my cat-lesslife. The next week on trash day, Inoticed a black cat sleeping nearbyin the grass. Well aware of theadage of letting sleeping dogs lie,even though this was a cat, I low-ered the can’s lid quietly so as notto awaken it. After returning homelater, I saw that the same cat wasstill sleeping in the same spot. Withmy new reputation as an allegedcat-napper, I was reluctant to ap-proach, but I murmured sweet catthings, using that particular cat toneof voice people use when intoningthe standard, “Here kitty, kitty. Nicekitty.”

No response. I went closer. Ei-ther this cat was seriously hard ofhearing or seriously dead. I couldjust see the headlines now, “Cat-napping suspect is investigated forcat murder!” The best I could hopefor was a charge of manslaughter.Cat-slaughter? Not wanting to justleave it there, I wrapped it in a tow-el and gently gathered its stiff bodyinto a trash bag. I simply did not

know what to do next. Lug it toeach house on my block and ask iftheir black cat was missing? In theend, I sadly put it in my trashcanand washed my hands of the wholeaffair. Literally.

As the days passed, I found my-self thinking about its unhappy fate.What if the black cat and the exiledwhite cat were star-crossed lovers?Perhaps it had died of a brokenheart, right on the spot of their se-cret rendezvouses. How tragic; astory in the best tradition of Bronteor Shakespeare.

...To be continued in March

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F O O D P L O TF O O D P L O TD U D ED U D E

For severalyears now, myhusband and Ihave put infood plots onour 80 acres inn o r t h e r nWisconsin thatwe manage forwildlife. Nomatter howmuch I’ve readabout foodplots each year

it seems I always have new questions suchas:

Is the seed I bought in 2014 still ok toplant this spring (2015)?

Will the oak leaves that fall and covermy plot affect the pH balance of the soil?

How often should I have the pHchecked?Should I mow my clover plot?

I try to write these questions down in anote book and then when I attend a sem-inar on plots during one of our localsports shows I bring it. Sometimes thepresenter will address one of my ques-tions during the presentation.Sometimes I have to wait until the end ofthe seminar during the Q&A session toget my questions answered. This is allgood, but, often I can’t wait for thesesport show opportunities and want orneed the answers to my questions rightaway especially if I’m in the middle ofplanting my chosen seed.

My go to place for many answers is amagazine called GameKeepers, Farmingfor Wildlife. It is a quarterly magazinepublished by BioLogic out of Mississippi.The articles target landowners and howthey can become better stewards for thewildlife found in their area. Contributorswrite about designing the perfect foodplot, establishing a sanctuary for their res-ident deer, or understanding the informa-tion printed on the “seed analysis label”found on each bag of seed. All the topicsfocus on good land and resource manage-ment and include beneficial informationfor all landowners whether they own, rentor manage 40 acres or 4,000 acres.

My favorite part of the magazine is theFAQ column written by the publication’seditor Todd Amenrud. Amenrud lives inMinnesota and is very in tune to whatworks or does not work when it comes tofood plots. Here in the Midwest ourgrowing season is shorter and whether Iplant crops, trees or flowers I know thathe will suggest varieties that are hearty

by MarleneOdahlen-Hinz

enough tosurvive inzones 3 &4. Heseems toh a v etaken allthe guesswork outof anyproject Imay wantto tackleon my 80a c r e sb e c a u s ehe’s already experienced most every situa-tion while managing his own land hereand in Canada.

Amenrud is also extremely knowledge-able regarding all the products availablefor sale through their online site (game-keeperclub.com) be it seed, trees, fertiliz-ers, attractants like the BioRock andRock Topper to tools such as broadcastseeders, handheld sprayers or digital pHmeters. His answers to reader’s questionsare thorough, thoughtful and very com-plete. No wonder he’s called the “foodplot dude.”

So for those of you interested in theanswers to my beginning questions, herewe go.

• Is the Clover Plus seed I bought in2014 still okay to plant this spring(2015)?

Answer: If you look on the seed tag,there will be line that says “test date”.That will indicate the specific month andyear the seed was tested for germination.BioLogic’s clover, brassica and chicory

seeds are good for years beyond the origi-nal inoculation if they’ve been properlystored (dry and at room temperature).To test the germination rate take a papertowel, a quart size sealable plastic bag and10-20 of the seeds. Soak the towel withwater and spread out the seeds over thewet paper towel. Slide the towel with theseeds on it into the plastic bag and set iton a warm window sill. The seeds shouldgerminate in a few days. If 7 out of 10seeds germinate you have a 70% germina-tion rate.

• Will the oak leaves that fall and covermy plot affect the pH balance of the soil?

Answer: Obviously we don’t want acanopy covering and smothering theplants, so if it’s a mat of leaves thinkabout raking them off. The leaves doaffect the pH but they are deciduousleaves that break down easily and can addvaluable organic matter to the soil. Ifpossible work those leaves into the soil. Atreatment of DeltAg Soil Solution justafter working the leaves into the soil will

help toe x p e d i t ethe com-posting ofthe leavesand helpthe soilr e c o v e rm u c hmore rap-idly.

• Howo f t e nshould Ihave mypH balance

checked: Answer: When you are first starting to

establish a food plot it is recommendedthat you test the soil at least once per yearfor the first few years. After that onceevery 3 years should be sufficient unlessyou change the crop to be grown. Ifproblems develop during the growingseason it would be prudent to take a sam-ple at that time.

Whether you read the magazine, followthem on Facebook and Twitter or watchGameKeepers on television you’ll comeaway with valuable information to helpyou be a better steward of the land andwildlife. If you’d like to ask Todd a ques-tion about planting food plots or white-tail management you may contact him onemail at: [email protected]

He will also be a featured speaker at theFargo and Sioux Falls sport show in earlyMarch 2015.

So until next month, don’t forget totake your daughter, granddaughter orniece bowhunting.

SPORT CITY OF JACKSONVILE1010 N. Main • Jacksonville, IL 62650

217-242-6402www.SportCityJacksonville.com

099_001.qxd 1/27/15 8:54 PM Page 1

“Brain Church”by AK Thompson

The brain is an interestingmachine – it interprets every

minute signal sent through ournervous system, every image seenby our eyes, every sound withinearshot – without the brain wewould feel no pain, and honestly,have zero ability to enjoy our lives.In recent years I have becomeincredibly interested in brain stud-ies. It is just so powerful to under-stand that without the brain we areno more than a shell – thus the dev-astating medical jargon, “BrainDead.”

Our brains have the ability toheal our bodies – in reverse, if thebrain is injured the body no longerhas a way to recognize itself or anyvariety of mental processes. Thereason I bring this up is that I thinkit is not only our bodies that bene-fit from enjoying the outdoors –our brains do as well. So much ofhealth and wellness is tied directlyto our brains. A beautiful hike orlanding that big Bass would meannothing if we can’t process theadrenalin, senses or the sensationour bodies experience from breath-ing that fresh air.

So much of what I write about isemotional, educational or simplyobservational. Really, without themental processes we couldn’t enjoy

the outdoors – the outdoors wouldhave no effect – but I truly believethat the outdoors used as therapycan heal the brain. That is themagic.

The reason we crave and seek outspending time in the wild isbecause of what it does for ourmind – for our soul. There is no pillyou can take that matches the feel-ing of summiting a mountain, har-vesting a deer, skinning a catfish,frying up a squirrel dinner, or inmy specific case – finding a hugeshed antler after hours and days ofhiking.

In this regard I am totally blownaway when science meets reality –and then working out how it hap-pens, why it happens.

There have been days that I havebeen so full of sadness that I feellike my heart wants to claw its ownway out of my chest. Days when Ifeel like everything is too big forme and I just want my emotions togo away – when I want to checkout. On some of those days, when Icould drag myself out of the houseand hit the trail, an amazing thinghappened. With each fall of myboots, one foot in front of the other,a phenomenon occurred. Raging,burning tears would erupt from myeyes – swirling emotions wouldflash through my mind and mybody. It was as though nature was


allowing me to heal – offering avehicle for rebirth.

In actuality my brain was reset-ting itself – healing itself, reroutingneural pathways so it can processwhatever experience made me feelso frustrated and terrible in the firstplace. I really believe that the out-doors is one of the best, and per-haps only, ways this healing cantake place…and thinking about itnow, I have called this column DirtChurch for several reasons onmany different levels – this healingability of the mind, body and soulhas everything to do with it –Amen.

A.K. Thompson is a fiction writerand teacher who makes her home in southern Illinois. She holds aMaster's Degree in!Writing and

Consciousness!from the NewCollege of California, and an MFAin Creative Writing from SouthernIllinois University. She has served as an Assistant Editor for the!Crab

Orchard Review.!!Her work hasappeared in!STORY Magazine,

Surreal South -- An Anthology ofShort Fiction and Poetry, The

Smoking Poet,!and The ChironReview among others. Friend DirtChurch on Facebook! Email A.K.:

[email protected]

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Melvin & Annie Otto 1749 State Hwy 133

Arthur, IL 61911Otto’s Canvas: 217-543-3007

Conklin: 217-543-5197

“Obstacles are the things we seewhen we lose sight of our goals”

“Pity the person who can seeonly what the years take away andnot what they bring“

“God adds to the beauty of hisworld by creating true friends”

“Treat your family like yourfriends and your friends like yourfamily”

Annie Otto’s Conklin Corner

Rejoice: Winter is Here!Burr: For now it is Hot

Chocolate, Cozy Blankets, andBook Time. This is of course afteryou’ve ice skated for a while out-side and for us Golden oldies thatdoesn’t fit in our routines anymore. When you watch peoplewalk it looks like they are doingsome mini dance steps, but at leastthe snow isn’t 2 feet deep.

In the canvas shop we are stillquite busy, but I do see everyone ina little more relaxed mood and it isalways nice in the winter to havethat time to visit with a customers.Where as in the summer it seems,like we have to focus on our job; asthere are always two more waitingto be done.

Melvin and I are planning ongoing to the Sunny South, for aweek. We enjoy staying atPinecraft in Sarasota where a lot ofthe Amish and Mennonite congre-gate. We enjoy the Sun, sand, visit-ing old friends, making new onesand just simply taking time to sitdown and play a good game ofDomino’s or Rook. Not to mentionthe huge Shuffleboard Court rightoutside side our door!

Flu’s are making their rounds;fortunately we have only somecoughs and sneezes. We are luckyto have plenty of great products toward off some of those winterproblems. Our family does notenjoy going to a Doctor so theykinda depend on Doctor Mom toget them well. It helps a lot to haveConklin products on the shelf. AndI’ve been taught that taking a goodnutritional product when you’reyoung, can ward off drugs whenyou are old. Who is old?

Conklin Provides a LifetrackMulti-Vitamin and MineralSupplements. Which just makesense when you get started alsothey provide essential nutrition forthe body every day and for targetednutrition such as; Bone Support,Energy and Vitality, Heart Health,and Weight Management. You mayneed Probiotic Support, CellularEnergy, Orchard Omegas, JointSupport, Vital H F or BoneSupport.

Call Annie at 217-543-3375

Held At: Otto Center • 2058 CR 1800 E • Arthur, ILMore Info: (217) 543-3848 • www.ArthurOutdoorExpo.com

(1/2 mi. south of the 4-way stop)

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1/2c. cooked Italian Sausage 1/4tsp Italian Seasoning 1/4c. grated Parmesan cheese orShredded Mozzarella

In a large saucepan sauté mush-rooms and oil till tender add thenext ingredients except put cheesein last, garnish with mozzarellacheese.

Wilbur Yoder doesexcellent

work!Take your big game,deer, birds & fish toWildlife

Taxidermy in

Arthur,Illinois!

Pizza Soup 1 1/4 c. Sliced Mushrooms 1/2c. Chopped 1tsp Veg. Oil 2c. Water 1 can (15oz) Pizza Sauce 1c. Chopped Pepperoni’s 1c. Chopped Fresh Tomatoes (or canned)

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seems to taste better while sittingon the ice during a cold winter daywaiting for the tiny bobber tobounce, indicating a hungry fishbelow.

Reaching one of our favoritebluegill waters, no time is wasteddrilling holes. (Eventually I gradu-ated from a hand held to a gas-powered auger). A couple of holesfor each fisherman is a good start.It is an easy task to drill more holes

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bluegills and bullheads.Being intrigued as I was about

fishing through the ice, I was askedto tag along. Reluctantly, my momwrapped me up in as much clothingas she could that would still allowme to walk and sent me on my way.I caught a couple small bluegillthat day. But above all else thatday, I became an ice fisherman.

For the next few years I contin-ued to ice fish. At first I was usingan ax to chop holes and eventuallyI was given a hand held ice auger.My rod and reel combos wereupgraded every year. I felt like Iwas getting better from one winterto the next.

My life has developed over theyears. I now have children andgrandchildren to spend the day onthe ice with. My wife anxiouslywaits for the ice to be thick enoughto safely walk on. When I canfinally report back to her that theice is ready, she begins preppingfor our first trip of the season.

Of course, the reels have newline spooled, the jigs are tied onand the small bobbers are in place.

The grubs and wax worms havebeen in the frig for a few days wait-ing for this opportunity to do whatthey were born to be. Fish bait.

Snacks are packed to fight offhunger pains. One thermos is filledwith coffee and another with hotchocolate. The liquids will helpwarm our cold bodies, but the mainreason for taking them is a com-pletely different reason. A hot cupof coffee or hot chocolate just

MAKING NEW MEMORIES ON THE ICE

b y J a s o n H o u s e rFishing and

ice have bothbeen aroundfor thousandsof years. Itonly madesense thatsome die-hardfisherman would eventually make ahole in the ice and decide to gofishing. Thankfully someone did.

My first ice fishing trip cameupon me unexpectedly. A friend ofmine and his father showed up atour home during Christmas breakmany years ago when I was still inelementary school. They were thereto seek permission to go fishing onone of the farm ponds on the land.Now, this was all new to me and Ihad no idea what they were talkingabout. Up until then the only fish-ing I had done was fishing from thebank with my parents catching

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102_001.qxd 2/5/15 5:54 PM Page 1


ing the most of a winter won-derland on Mother Nature’s icerink.

Snow angels of all sizes arecreated and snowball fightseventually begin. The laughterand cheers of both the youngand younger echoes across thestillness of the short winter day.

Eventually the sun will beginto set or the cold has zapped ourlast remaining strength and wehave to call it quits. Most dayswe catch plenty of fish, keepingonly enough for a meal or two.

We know that the coldMidwest weather will be aroundfor a while longer providingmore opportunities to catchsupper, so enjoy what naturehas to offer and above all elsemaking memories that will lasta lifetime. The fresh bluegill fil-lets just make it all that muchbetter.

if we need to move to find fish. It does not take long before

one of us gets a bite. Beforelong we are both getting bitesand a pile of bluegill begins togrow on the blue ice, naturescooler. There is something spe-cial about spending a day on theice doing something you enjoywith people you love. I willadmit, some days are bettersuited to be spent in front of thefireplace and I take advantageof those days too.

When possible we like to takeour kids and grandkids with us.Our girls start the day off fish-ing, trying to get our grandchil-dren involved. But it does nottake long before the youngestgeneration loses interest.

Before you know it my wifeand I are left with the task ofcatching supper (we do notmind) while the others are mak-

Silver Dollar…One of the Peoria Area’s Oldest Watering Holes

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103_001.qxd 1/28/15 1:25 AM Page 1


ishing the hinges and knobs withNevr-Dull Wadding Polish. Paint orstain the door with a color thatstands out, yet also complements thetrim and siding. Put out a clean, newwelcome mat -- and make sure thedoorbell works.

Repair the Walkway: Snow andcold can wreak havoc on your walk-way. With warmer weather ap-proaching, take this time to patchcracks and replace loose bricks andpavers. Rent a power washer or pur-chase a chemical treatment to cleanup embedded stains in concrete,stone or asphalt.

Plant Foliage and Shrubbery:Strategically placed plants can con-ceal unattractive aspects of yourhouse or yard. Place large pots orhanging baskets around the stoop orporch. Bushes or hedges can hideair-conditioning units or propanetanks, and flower beds and windowboxes will stylize a stark facade.

Prune and Mulch: Prune deadbranches, trim back overgrownshrubbery and remove any obstruc-tive plantings. Spread mulch or barkaround trees, shrubs and flowers fora weed-free, well-kept look.

Freshen Up Furniture: Spray afresh coat of paint on furniture andreplace the cushions. Fill an empty

Real Estate ChatterBy: Mary Ann Vance

S u p e rBowl Sundayis fast ap-proaching!!!H o p e f u l l yyour team isstill in therunning butwe know thatonly two teams are left. Januarywas a lot of cold weather and snowso maybe we are on the downhillswing of winter and spring will befast approaching!!! February is ashort month which will get us onlycloser to those warmer temperaturesand no snow!!

8 WAYS TO GET YOUR HOME READY FOR SPRING

Tackle these small tasks with Big Impact to give your house

a Mini Face-Lift

Change Outdoor Bulbs: Clean alllight fixtures, and replace burnt-outbulbs with energy-saving CFLbulbs.

Give Your Door Some Love: Re-store the luster of your door by pol-

spot on the porch or stoop with amodern bench or porch swing.And get your outdoor space readyfor summer!

Keep It Clean: Sweep the side-walk and stoop, clear away cob-webs, tighten wobbly railings, andrepaint posts and supports.

Clear Gutters: This can save you alot of money on repair costs. Inspectyour downspouts and gutters just be-fore the spring rains start to be surethey’re clear of leaves, tree limbsand other debris that might causeproblems later on. Clogging usuallyoccurs at the elbow in a drainagesystem, where the downspout con-nects to the gutter. Since this elbowis relatively easy to remove, take itoff and inspect for clogging.

DID YOU KNOW???"I am." is the shortest complete

sentence in the English language.Ivory bar soap floating was a mis-

take. They had been overmixing thesoap formula causing excess airbubbles that made it float. Cus-tomers wrote and told how muchthey loved that it floated, and it hasfloated ever since.

No word in the English languagerhymes with month, orange, silver,and purple.

The state of Florida is bigger thanEngland.

I maintain a staffed office inTremont, Monday through Friday,

8:00 to 4:00. Evenings & weekends are available by appt.

And Auctions!And Auctions!And Auctions!

112 N. BROADWAY • MANITO • $45,000 112 N. BROADWAY • MANITO • $45,000 • Very inviting office

building in the heart of downtown Manito.

• Totally redone--newer electrical, 200 amp service, roof

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207 S. SAMPSON • TREMONT • $585/MO.207 S. SAMPSON • TREMONT • $585/MO.• COMMERCIAL

LEASE!!!• Upper level quiet

office space• Large natural

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occupancy

Mary Ann • (309) 925-3545 • Toll Free: (800) [email protected] • maryannvance.com

Thanks to proud dad Terry Phillips,

Smokin Gun Huntingin Mt. Sterling,

for sharing Brad’s coyote!

Congrats to Brad Phillips of West Burlington, IA. He shot his first coyote on his new 70 acres he just purchased! Way to go!

104_001.qxd 1/27/15 11:29 PM Page 1


P re pp e r s — W h o a ret h e y ? ? P a r t 1

By Jack L. Hartph. 309-888-4071 [email protected]

On Sept. 29th, my songave me his copy of theSept./Oct. issue of theBackwoodsman maga-zine. This magazine ispublished in Fulton,Texas & is a first classpublication that is dedi-cated & devoted to those

individuals, both male & female, who are in-terested in the outdoors. The magazine fea-tures articles about muzzle-loading, 19th cen-tury crafts, homesteading & how to do it,leather projects, do-it-yourself projects, fron-tier recipes, primitive camping, Indian crafts,primitive archery & survival topics.

This magazine is adored by those individu-als who want to step back in time & learnhow to make things on their own & use thosethings when camping in the wild or learninghow to live off the land. The magazine hasarticles showing the readers/subscribers howhe/she can save money by building usefulthings from throw-a-ways & live a more sus-

Unlimited Commercial

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with Lake Frontage on 40 acre lake for sale!

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tainable low-tech historical backwoodslifestyle in today’s persistent state of financialinsecurity & its editor believes that his maga-zine can be habit forming because it makesdoing more with less that much more fun &satisfying, plus it can result in great learningexperiences.

In the Sept./Oct., 2014 issue, Mr. CharlieRichie, Sr., the editor & publisher, had an ed-itorial about ‘Preppers’. As I read his editori-al, I found out that I had never heard theword Prepper before & had no idea what theword meant or if it had any significance. Inhis editorial, he explicitly told the reader thathe hated the word Prepper & failed to seewhat all the publicity (news media, websites,books, TV, etc.) was all about. He felt it wasa buzzword invented by the news media.

As I read his editorial & reread it, I felt likeI was living on another planet. Who arePreppers? What are they? What do they door did they do to acquire this title? I felt veryignorant as I asked myself these questions &I needed to do some research to get myself ed-ucated about this topic/subject. So, I, natu-rally, went to the computer & Googled theword Prepper & I was overwhelmed by theamount of information via numerous web-sites/blogs.

In brief, the Preppers are those individualsboth male & female who believe that the endof time may be just around the proverbialcorner (my words). They believe that disease,

warfare, natural disasters, economic chaos,societal collapse & electromagnetic pulse arethe primary factors that could lead to the endof life.

This belief has resulted in them trying theirbest to prepare for the end. As I read just alittle bit of the info on the internet, I foundout that I was a partial Prepper.

I did not agree at all with Mr. Richie’s ed-itorial & I promptly sat down at my comput-er & typed & mailed a letter to him. I toldhim that I was not a Prepper but I certainlycould relate to the Preppers because I hadbeen telling people for years that this countryis beyond the point of no return due to its be-coming more Socialistic than ever, in that, wehave no control over the millions of Immi-grants who have entered this country fromMexico & South America who immediatelyare put on Public Aid paid for by the tax pay-ers.

We are now involved in a war that is invis-ible & involves no foreign troops approach-ing our shores but involves an invisible armythat is attacking us now (day & night) thruCyber Warfare & that this warfare by foreigncountries could very well bring this country

to its knees thru the disabling of the nationalgrid system & the financial system creatingtotal chaos in this country. The many natu-ral disasters during the last two years & thecontinuance of the same in the near futurecould be catastrophic. A civil war in the U.S.within the next two to three decades couldmake the Civil War of 1860 pale in compar-ison. Ferguson, Missouri may be the begin-ning.

On Nov. 20th I got a letter from Mr.Richie regarding my letter to him & I shallquote: “In many ways I am still the optimist,and while I believe in being “prepared” for al-most anything, I can’t see a revolution or warbeing fought on American soil. The wordprepper is a buzzword being used by TV pro-ducers who market TV programs & it is alsothe word used by companies who are selling alot of useless equipment to Gullible people.”

For those of you, like me, that aren’tknowledgeable about Preppers this is just thebeginning of my education & yours as I domore research & write more articles on thissubject. If you are a Prepper & want to helpeducate me, please feel to contact me. Youridentity will be kept secret.

LARGE MACOUPIN CO., IL LAND AUCTIONSSAT., FEB. 28 • 10AM208.19 ACRES IN 2 TRACTS:

#1: 62.43 ac. located in the SE 1/4 of Section 34 of Carlinville Twp.!#2: 145.76 ac. located in the NE 1/4 of Section 3 of Brushy Mound Twp.

SAT., MAR. 7 • 10AM320 ACRES SELLING IN 3 TRACTS

Farm & Rec. Great Turkey & Deer Hunting!

~ Crabby’s Supper Club ~18838 IL Rt. 4 • Carlinville, IL • 217-854-4440

Dining Hours: Tues.!- Sat.!4:30pm - 9pm Lounge Hours: Tues. - Sat. 4:00pm - 11:00pmFABULOUS MENU! Steaks • Seafood • Pork

Chicken • Pasta • Buck Fries: Deep fried beef tenderloin tips served with our signature butter sauceIncludes choice of soup or salad & 2 sides!

Trophy Room: Has a fantastic view of the Carlinville Country Club golf course & a great setting for up to 30

people. Order off the menu or have our chefs plan a special meal. Excellent Banquet!Room with Bar!

www.crabbyssupperclub.com

Call: 217-473-2507 • Details at: MikeCrabtreeAuctions.comAuctions held at Crabby’s Supper Club.

105_001.qxd 1/26/15 2:26 AM Page 1


have one hell of atime. Many ofthem are in cos-tume and there iseverything therefrom a duck to afew cowboys anda few bikinis aswell.

As I men-tioned I walkedaround withBruce talking topeople while hetook picture afterpicture. The peo-

ple that would take the plunge weresupported by a crowd of happy,screaming folks cheering their heroeson. Some of them were in their swim-ming suits while I had on everything

A POLARROMP

by Norman V. KellyPhotos by

Bruce BrownBruce Brown and I were off on one

of our ‘Photo Shoots’ which we havebeen doing for some time for ASO.Only this time it was New Years Day,and it was cold. I bundled up like Iwas going after Polar bears andexpected to see ice instead of frigidopen water, but there it was. Weparked in a lot with a few hundredcars and had no idea what we wereabout to witness.

It was the thirteenth Annual IcePlunge out at the East Peoria BoatClub and it was spectacular! First thehuge number of people surprised me,estimated at 1,000, and just over 300of them were actually going to run,jump, leap and boldly stroll into thatdark, frigid, scary old river and I’ll be

damned, they paid good money to doit!

I had seen pictures of these peopledoing that from around the UnitedStates and although I applauded theirreason for doing it I still just thoughtthey were all just a bit nuts. Truth isthey are all ages, all walks of life andthey do it to help local charities: infact thirteen non-profits benefit fromall this craziness. They are a funbunch of folks I can tell you that.

There is music from a happy discjockey, prizes for all kinds of things,like the largest group and the oldest‘jumper.’ They come early, theydrink, they eat, and they talk and

Sat., Feb. 7 • 9:30 a.m.Fantastic Winter Catalog Auction! Very nice

collection of over 60 antique musical instruments, military uniforms, Military items:

knives, hats & other items, Indian Artifacts, 2 sterling silver flatware sets, jewelry, Mills 25¢ Black Cherry Slot Machine,

Large Coin Collection: Almost complete set ofMorgan Peace Dollars, complete penny set,

gold & much more!

Sat., Feb. 21 • 9:30 a.m. (Special Preview Day Fri., Feb. 20, 10am-6pm)100's of local advertising pieces from LaSalle,

Putnan & Bureau Counties, Large StarvedRock Collection, Lowell Pottery,

Farm Advertising, Antiques, Primitives & much more!

ONLINE, ABSENTEE & LIVE BIDDING!

Call Matt 815-970-7077 with questions or consignment info.409 E. Stevenson Rd. • Ottawa IL

BullockAuctioneers.com • [email protected]

Farm & Construction Equipment

Consignment Auction Sat., March 14 • 9am (Rt. 9 & Baer Rd. (Old Rt. 121)

Tremont, IL Taking Consignments:

March 2-13 • 8am - 5pmAdvertisement deadline: Feb. 27 Call, Email, or Fax for advertising:

[email protected] Fax #: 309-246-5072

AuctioneersCal Kaufman Brent Schmidgall309-696-9019 309-202-8378

Farm & Construction Equipment

Consignment Auction Sat., March 14 • 9am (Rt. 9 & Baer Rd. (Old Rt. 121)

Tremont, IL Taking Consignments:

March 2-13 • 8am - 5pmAdvertisement deadline: Feb. 27 Call, Email, or Fax for advertising:

[email protected] Fax #: 309-246-5072

AuctioneersCal Kaufman Brent Schmidgall309-696-9019 309-202-8378

Plenty of onlookers, plenty ofjumpers, and lots of splashing

It's not as cold when you jump as a group

The'Plunge'featuresjumpers

of allages

106_001.qxd 1/28/15 12:24 AM Page 1


warm I could find and I was still cold. Now gathered around the jumping

off place were at least a thousand peo-ple and at 1:00 in the afternoon theplunge was on. I was impressed by thesafety features including the carefulcounting of the people as they enteredand exited the water all protected byfour divers who kept close watch overthe freezing participants.

Close to $130,000.00 has beenraised over the previous races and Ican tell you it was a wild, exciting funevent. Local groups like the SouthsideMission to the Children’s Home andmany others as well benefited from allthis fun and I hope you go out andwatch next year. Or better still; go onin…the water is (Brrrrr) fine.

LAND AUCTION • 515 +/- ACRESSat., March 21, 2015 • 1:00pm

RISLEY PROPERTIES LLC • Perry Co. • 4276 Swanwick Rice Rd. • PinckneyvilleAUCTION HELD: LIONS’ CLUB • 605 S. Douglas St. • Pinckneyville, IL

OPEN HOUSE: Sun., Feb. 22, 2015 • 11:00am - 3:00pm Starting at Tract 4 • Home Sight • Sunflower Rd.

TRACT #1: 40 +/- acres. Lake with large bass and blue gill, timber, food plots, great turkey & deer hunting. Great home site. Swanwick Rice Rd. frontage.TRACT #2: 160 +/- acres. All timber, bottom & hills. Great turkey & deer hunting. Access off Swanwick Rice Rd.TRACT #3: 30 +/- acres. Adjacent to Tract #4 on North side of Swanwick Rice Rd. Hill & bottom. Great turkey & deer hunting. TRACT #4: 30 +/- acres. Block house with newer metal roof, sheds, city water available, full electricity & septic system, has been used as a hunting lodge. Nice home as is or spot for new construction. Good deer & turkey hunting. Small pond.TRACT #5: 255 +/- acres. Enter property off of Sunflower Rd. Food plots, timber, excellent turkey & deer hunting. Large bottom with creek & two crossings.

The property will be offered by the tract, a combination of tracts or by the whole acreage. Many 140-180 class bucks & large turkeys have been killed on the land. Well maintained food plots & lots of timber.

This property is in the Timber Plan & all mineral rights are reserved & will not be sold. The property was leased by the State of Illinois as a wildlife refuge for 50 years. (1950-2000).

The property has been leased by a licensed outfitter for more than 10 years.

JUENGER-MCGRIFF AUCTION SERVICE • Pinckneyville, IllinoisFor preview or inspection prior to Open House please call:

(618) 534-7573 or (618) 318-9106Col. DeWitt S. McGriff, Auctioneer: IL License #440-000619 • Col. Randy Juenger, Auctioneer: IL License #441-001387

A 'Polar Plunge' with body surfing

37 degree water - 24 degree airtemp - a normal day at the beach

Diversready

to assistin the

37degreewater

10 gal. hats soon to be fillled with water

Heated tent

Drone in the air

Noah & Cody from Spring Bay

on hot 'cold' standby

(Right) Norm with jumperDustin-Antifreeze

at the ready

107_001.qxd 1/28/15 12:23 AM Page 1


A Simple Guide forUnderstanding

Application, Drawing& Tag Terms

By Bernie Barringer Acquiring a deer tag to hunt in a state far

from home can be a confusing process, butthis explanation of terms and definitions willhelp you navigate to the deer license you havealways been wanting.

Applying for a nonresident tag in a state farfrom home can leave you with an overwhelm-ing feeling. Game laws regarding tags are com-plicated and at times very confusing. It seemslike every state is different, and laws within astate can differ from one species to another.With that in mind, my “Glossary of TagTerms” that follows should help you navigatethe clutter by understanding what every-thing means.

Over-the-counter tags are tags that can bebought at any license vendor that sells fishingand hunting licenses.

Limited entry tags are given out based on adrawing. You must apply for a license duringan application period, then a drawing is heldon a certain day. Limited entry tags are usedwhen the number of applicants exceeds thenumber of available tags. This may take place

in a state at large or in a unitwithin a state.

With unlimited draw tags,you must apply for the tag butthere is no limit to the numberof tags. You are guaranteed atag if you apply during theapplication period, or in somecases, in time to receive itbefore your hunt.

Some states have drawingsthat are totally random. Allnames are thrown in, each withan equal chance of winning.No matter how many timesyou apply, your chances ofdrawing are the same as a per-son who is applying their first time. Somestates will offer more tags to residents thannonresidents, so you are competing againstthose in your category. Because random drawsare not seen as a fair system by many people(including me), most states have implementeda system of bonus points or preference points.

Some states use bonus or preference pointswhen the number of applicants exceeds thenumber of tags available. States use the termsdifferently, but in general, a bonus pointworks as follows. Each time you are unsuc-cessful, you are given a point that increasesyour odds of drawing next time around. Forall practical purposes, it simply puts yourname in the hat an additional time. If you

have been unsuccessful 10 times, your name isin the mix 10 times—you have 10 “points.” Ifyou are applying for your first tag, your nameis only in one time. Some states allow you tobuy more bonus points to increase your odds.

This system allows all people to have achance, but the drawbacks are that you neverreach a point where you are guaranteed a taglike you would with a preference point sys-tem.

Preference points are used in cases whereare the names are not “thrown into the hat”together. If you are unsuccessful in a drawing,you are awarded a preference point. Drawingfrom the names with the most preferencepoints takes place first, then if there are tags

left, the pool of names with one fewer pointtakes place, and so on. Iowa uses the prefer-ence point system for whitetails. For a hypo-thetical example, if you were applying for awhitetail tag in an Iowa zone, let’s say there are600 tags available and 1,500 applicants. Someof these applicants (100) have four or morepreference points. They will draw a tag whichleaves 500 more tags. There are 400 applicantswith three points, who are then awarded a tag,which leaves 100 tags. From the pool of appli-cants with two points, a random drawingawards those 100 tags. All persons who didnot draw a tag are given another preferencepoint that moves them up one tier the follow-ing year.

If you are going todrag out a big buck,

you must first gothrough the process

of getting a tag. It can be a littleoverwhelming at

first, but once youunderstand the waystags are allotted inthe various states,you’ll be drawingpremium tags in

no time.

REDUCED!$295,000

108_001.qxd 1/28/15 12:42 AM Page 1


Some states allow you to purchase onepreference point each year. This way you donot have to apply for a tag if you have nochance of drawing. Once again, using Iowa asan example, the best zones require at least twopoints to draw. If you apply for a tag, youmust send in $551 and wait to hear if youdrew. They draw interest on your money fora few months before sending it back, whilekeeping an application fee. You can avoid thisprocess by just purchasing a $50 preferencepoint until you have enough points that yourodds of drawing are good enough to justifysending in the entire fee.

Using whitetails as an example again, somestates have significantly increased the numberof nonresident deer tags available to the pointthat you can draw every year without anypoints. Illinois and Kansas are good examples.At the time of this writing, there are moretags available in Illinois than the number ofapplicants, so you can draw every year. That’salso true in nearly all zones in Kansas, but it’sclose there, so it could bump over the top at

any time. In Kansas, you would most likelydraw whenever you want to—but it’s not 100percent certain. If you want to hunt in a yearor two, you could buy one preference point tohave so when you do apply, you would beguaranteed a tag.

In some states, there are alternatives to buy-ing a tag. If all tags are not sold in a givenzone, they may be put back up for sale on acertain date, and you can purchase themwithout going through the applicationprocess. Likewise, some states require you togo through a drawing, and only if you are suc-cessful do you have to buy the tag. Somehunters apply for tags and are drawn, but donot buy the tags. Either they forget, have anemergency, or whatever else. These tags alsogo on sale on a specific date. Surplus or left-over tags often sell out very quickly. At timesthey sell out within minutes of the time theyare offered for sale.

Landowner tags are rapidly becoming athing of the past, but some states still offerthem. In this case landowners are issued tags

as a way to keep the deer population in checkon their property. At times, these tags aretransferable. If you can find a landowner witha tag or two, you might be able to buy it fromthem. Often outfitters lease land withlandowner tags included in the lease, then sellthose tags to clients.

States are divided into management areasoften referred to as zones or units, and tagscan be allocated to each unit or zone in vary-ing quantities. In many states, the termszones and units are used interchangeably.However, in some states, zones are withinunits or vice-versa. Make sure you carefullycheck the state you are applying for to seehow the terms zones and units are being usedso you do not become confused and apply forthe wrong area.

Application periods vary by state, but allare in the first half of the year and involveapplications for that year’s upcoming huntingseason. The Western states tend to be earlierin the year, many beginning January 1, andthe Midwestern states tend to be in thespring.

This article is taken from the author’s bookThe Freelance Bowhunter: DIY Strategies forthe Traveling Whitetail Hunter. FollowBernie’s bowhunting adventures on hisblog, bowhuntingroad.com.

Located on Rte. 111, 3 mi. S. of Chesterfield, or 5 mi. N. of Medora, IL

618-753-2003Sporting Clay RangeReleased Bird Hunts

Check out our Prices at: www.jokerswildsportingclays.com

Open: Wed., Thurs. & Fri. 1:30pm-Dusk

Sat. & Sun. 8:30am-Dusk

It’s always fun whenyour hard work and

research pays off andthe tags start coming

in the mail.Understanding theterms and subtle

differences betweenhow various states

allot their nonresidenttags in an important

part of the applicationprocess. Image courtesy Bernie

Barringer.

Attaching the tag to the buckyou shot a long ways from home

is the final step in the longprocess of navigating the tag

application process. Image cour-tesy Bernie Barringer.

109_001.qxd 1/28/15 12:41 AM Page 1


SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois Department of NaturalResources (IDNR) is launching a two-year pilot projectwith the Marion Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centerto offer equine therapy for armed forces veterans atGiant City State Park in Makanda. The medical centerwill refer veterans, as appropriate, living with post-traumatic stress syndrome or other mental healthissues to Giant City State Park’s Equine Therapy

IDNR Partners With Marion VAMedical Center to Provide

Equine Therapy for Veterans

Pilot Project at Giant City State Park Part of Two-Year Agreement

Program. “Our State Parks are an integral part of the

Illinois communities they serve, providing recreation-al opportunities, fostering an ethic of stewardship,and educating the public about our naturalresources,” said IDNR Director Marc Miller. “We’realso dedicated to ensuring our programs and servicesallow everyone to benefit, including veterans and per-sons with disabilities.”

“We are thankful to share this innovative programwith our community partners. The ability to offeralternative therapies, including Equine Therapy, isencouraged by VA. My expectations are high for veter-an recovery utilizing this program,” said Marion VAMedical Center Director Don Hutson.

The equine therapy program is being operated bynot-for-profit Specialized Equine Services (SES)which already provides similar services at Giant CityState Park. More than 25 horses, ponies and mules,will participate in the pilot project which began onJanuary 1st.

“Specialized Equine Services is very excited tohave the support of the Illinois Department of NaturalResources, the Illinois VA Medical Center and theIllinois Conservation Foundation,” said PatriciaNardini, President and Co-Founder of SES. “The heal-ing power of horses is so incredible and their emotion-al intelligence is beyond our imagination. It is our goalto reach more people who would benefit from workingand interacting with our horses like Tootsie, Rocky,Whisper and Snowflake.”

“We are grateful to the Illinois Department ofNatural Resources and the Marion VA Medical Centerfor their efforts to have this program begin in 2015,”said Rodrigo Garcia, Acting Director, IllinoisDepartment of Veterans' Affairs. “Programs thatdirectly benefit and serve our Illinois veterans - espe-cially those that help our veterans with tools, services,and skills they need - are always welcome. We hope eli-gible veterans will reach out and take advantage ofthis, and other programs.”

Funding for veteran therapy sessions will be pro-vided by The Marion VA Medical Center while the IDNRwill provide up to $2,000 per year to pay for SES’sannual training required to remain certified in equinetherapy. The investment in this certification willenable Specialized Equine Services to provide equinetherapy for both veterans and other individuals livingwith psychological, neurological and physical condi-tions.

“The staff at Giant City Stables is exceptional andprivacy and personal accommodations are of theutmost importance. I personally recommend to everyveteran to at least give it a shot,” said former U.S.Army Sergeant Aaron Gajowiak.

The Illinois Conservation Foundation (ICF) willprovide up to $2,000 per year to fund SES’s traveland lodging costs for associated training.

“The Illinois Conservation Foundation is proud tohelp fund this worthwhile program that provides helpfor those that fight for our freedom every day,” saidICF Executive Director Eric Schmidt.

About the Marion VA Medical Center: The VAMedical Center in Marion, Illinois, provides care to43,722 veterans annually in 27 counties in SouthernIllinois, 8 counties in Southwestern Indiana, and 17counties in Northwest Kentucky. The medical center isa general medical and surgical facility that operates55 acute care beds, a 60 bed Community LivingCenter and a 14 bed residential treatment facility. AHealth Care Center is located in Evansville, Indianathat provides outpatient primary care, behavioralmedicine, surgery, dental and other services; and tenOutpatient Clinics that provide primary care andbehavioral medicine services are located inHarrisburg; Marion; Carbondale; Effingham; and Mt.Vernon, IL; Paducah; Hanson; Owensboro; andMayfield, Kentucky; and Vincennes Indiana.

About Specialized Equine Services andTherapeutic Riding, Inc.: The mission of SpecializedEquine Services is to provide exceptional equinebased therapeutic services, through trained accredit-ed and dedicated professionals and volunteers,improving the quality of life for those in SouthernIllinois. Specialized Equine Services is a 501(c) 3non-profit corporation, helping children, adults andveterans with psychological, neurological and physicalconditions such as Down syndrome, MS, CP, Autism,Brain Injury, PTSD, Stroke and Cancer. For more infor-mation on equine services at Giant City State Parkvisit: www.SESTherapeuticRiding.com orwww.Facebook.com/specializedequineservices, callus at 618-529-4110 or visit the facility at 722 GiantCity Road, Makanda, IL 62958.

Follow the IDNR on Facebook and Twitter.

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110_001.qxd 1/28/15 12:49 AM Page 1


READYFORSPRINGPrepare Now & Get Set for the Season

By: Ray Simms with Colby Simms & Dereck DirschuweiSpring will be upon us before we know it,

and it’s funny how seasons have a way ofsneaking up. But now, as winter begins toloosen her icy grip, we must prepare for thewarming weather and opportunities for out-door sports to come. Fishing, hunting, shoot-ing, hiking, camping, boating, and other activ-ities are about to get into full swing. A little bitof preparation beforehand makes all the differ-ence in making the most of those first few tripsof spring.

*Licenses & TagsIf you haven’t already, now is the time to get

those new fishing and hunting licenses andtags. You can pick them up at your local sport-ing goods store or in many states, buy themonline and print them up at home. But,whichever option you choose, this will ensurethat you aren’t trying to fix your printer thenight before a trip, or find an open store in thewee hours or, worse yet, forgetting about thepermits altogether until the game warden con-tacts you in the field or on the water. Get themearly and forget about them for the rest of the year.

*Gear PrepWe like to pay the top notch mechanics at Harrison’s Sport Shop in Hurst, Illinois a vis-

it early in the season, with any possible boat or motor issues. Boat dealers know all too well,the disappointment that folks feel when they wait until the weather is beautiful to get theboat out for the season and realize that there is a problem. All service shops are often over-loaded with work by the time that fishing and boating peaks begin, and the wait can be long.So, it’s best to get the boat out early, and at the very least, run it in the driveway with theearmuffs, before it really warms up outside. Better yet, make an early fishing or boating trip,no matter how short, just to check everything out.

Run the boat, the outboard, the trolling motor, the electronics, flip all the switches, andrun the live wells, the lights, the bilge pump, and of course, check out the trailer too. You’llbe riding down the lake and catching fish as soon as it’s pleasant outside, while others arestuck at the ramp. Now is also the time to get in a little target practice with the rifles andshotguns, and then clean and oil them up. Check line guides on fishing rods, sharpen orchange out hooks on lures, and organize tackle, prep your hunting gear, replace anythingthat’s worn out and restock what’s needed.

*Trip PlanningNow is also the time, if you haven’t already to pick and plan out trips that you’ll be tak-

ing this year, vacations in the outdoors away from home. Reading print magazine articlesand newspaper columns, doing research online and talking with other anglers and huntersyou know about top locations, and booking with guides, lodging providers, and airlinesshould be top priorities. Also, be sure to make lists of needed gear in fairly short order. Run-ning a large guided fishing charter and lodging operation ourselves, we’ve come to realizethat far too many people wait until the last minute to try and book trips. Sometimes, we cansqueeze them in, but if not, the only options are to book at off peak times when the fishingmight not be as good, or having to wait until the following year. Get trips scheduled and onthe books as soon as possible to ensure that you and your party get in during the peaks times.

Tournament circuit championship title holder & guide Ray Simms prepared

early to land this big spring bass.


111_001.qxd 1/28/15 1:11 AM Page 1


*Cast AwayPlan and prepare now for the coming seasons, to make the most of them and thoroughly

enjoy every minute that you can in the woods and on the water. There is nothing like thosefirst few trips of the season. Spring is a time of renewal, and comes with the reward of shak-ing off that case of cabin fever that afflicts so many. Warming weather, fish and game move-ment, and the beauty of nature as it comes back to life awaits us. God bless and cast away…

RAY SIMMS is a highly accomplished & internationally renowned sport fishing pro & media personal-ity, working as a TV show co-host & guest star, multi-ple champion tournament pro & championship titleholder, outdoor sports writer & photographer, and a fa-mous fishing guide. He’s Pro Staff Director at ColbySimms Outdoors, where anglers can find Americanmade lures, articles, reports, photos & more, set up me-dia work, seminars, sponsorships & public appearances,and book guided trips & fishing vacations in the United States, Canada, Mexico & Costa Rica throughCOLBY SIMMS OUTDOORS at: ColbySimmsOutdoors.com or 573-358-5948 / 618-521-0526 orcolbysimmsoutdoors@ hotmail.com and follow themat: facebook.com/ColbySimmsOutdoors

EARLY… Cont’d. from previous pg.

Internationally renowned outdoor sports pro & media

personality Colby Simms usedReal Tree Camouflage to bag

this 25lb spring gobbler!Prepped and ready for anotherspring morning at the office.

Jillian’s Great Day in the Field! “I ended up actually getting my buck around 8:15am on opening morning at

20 yards, and the doe was closer to 8:45am at 100 yards downhill. So I filledboth of my shotgun tags opening morning before 9am!! My buck weighed differ-ently at the two places I took him to for contests, but the average between themwas about 200 Lbs. She also weighed different at both, so to put it in the mid-dle my doe was about 115 Lbs. I got her in the same place as last year’s does overby Princeville area in Peoria County.” Congrats to Jillian Peterson of Maquon,Illinois! Thanks for sharing your story taking the Beautiful Trophies! Jillian metASO good buddy “Spoonbill” Greg Nelson and shared her trophy buck from last year’s season in ASO’s Feb. 2014.

112_001.qxd 1/28/15 1:10 AM Page 1


E l e c t r o n i c F i s h i n g P a r t n e r sQuestions about which is the best type of electronic device to use for ice fishing have been many.

This has all been produced because of the interest in underwater viewing devices. People want toknow which is best to purchase – camera or flasher.

The flasher views the entire column of water from top to bottom. Learning to read what is seenis not that difficult, especially if you have a color unit like is produced by Vexilar. I have used sev-eral of their models with equal success, and while my favorites have been the FL-12 and FLX-28with the Pro-View Ice Ducer, purchasing the most expensive isn’t necessary to learn how to readwhat is being seen. The lure/bait is normally seen as a light green. Bottom and heavier cover areseen in red. Fish are in green, yellow and red, with the green being smaller fish, or ones to the sideof the cone angle, and the others being larger, or directly under the transducer. Colors can bechanged with the FLX-28 and have as many as 5, but I still favor the 3 or 4 option provided inthe unit.

If fish are active, flashes will be seen moving quickly to where the lure is being seen, and manytimes will turn large and red as it covers the green and takes the bait. Inactive fish will move slow-ly, and may be seen to disappear (out of cone range), or move back down away from the bait. Thisis where the Pro-View comes into play to increase the width of the cone.

Very often when dropping the lure down to where fish are seen, flashes will be seen moving upfor an immediate strike. These are very active fish.

Using the camera is quite different. It will view only the area and depth where it is pointed, andthen the distance depends on the water clarity. Knowing which way the camera is pointed isanother factor. With a pole, such as is available for Vexilar cameras, you can point the camera inwhatever direction is needed, but the length of the pole limits the angler to use in shallower water.The other alternative is using the new DTD camera, which shows the depth, water temperatureand direction the camera is pointing on the viewing screen.

Some anglers like keeping the camera in the water, and pointed to where they can see their lure.This is often difficult to do, and in some cases can get to be a mess if a fish gets tangled in the cam-era’s cable. It is bad enough when they tangle in the flasher’s transducer cable, but that one isshort, and can be quickly removed before the fish reaches the hole, or can be kept out of the wayby drilling a “transducer hole” near the main fishing hole.

The best thing to do is drill a separate hole for the camera, after it is determined where the anglerwill be fishing. This is one reason I carry two drills – Jiffy Pro4 Lite 8-inch for power drilling a lotof larger holes, and a lightweight (10 pounds) 6-inch K-Drill with a Milwaukee M18 drill headfor punching a quick “camera hole” a little ways from the main hole, and a “transducer hole” veryclose to the main hole, or when I want to hop around and scout out other possible spots.


Saturday, February 7, 2015 • 10AM

No matter what electronics you are

using, flasher, camera or both,

they will definitelyhelp an angler

be more successful.

113_001.qxd 1/27/15 12:05 AM Page 1


In my case, I will use the Vexilar flasher and Fish-Scout camera as “fishing partners”. The flash-er is my main source of information. If I want to take a closer look at the structure, or what typeof fish may be in the area I will drop the camera to the depth where my flasher unit is indicatingfish.

There are two ways that an angler can use the two units together. They can be separate or in aDouble Vision pack, which has a flasher unit on top, and the camera’s viewing screen on the bot-tom.

The Double Vision is a special mounting case, which goes inside a storage bag that has a pouchon the outside to store the camera unit. This makes it convenient for the person that wants bothunits to be viewed at the same time. However, again, I would recommend that the camera be low-ered into a separate hole that is drilled within viewing range of the hole being fished, and the trans-ducer for the flasher unit to be used in the hole being fished, or a separate “transducer hole” men-tioned earlier.

There is also another accessory available for all Fish Scout camera units. It’s called a DVR100,which is a compact and rugged DVR recorder that fits between your camera and monitor. Usinga remote Key Fob controller, you can record what you are watching at any time with a simpletouch of a button. Video and even still images can be recorded on a micro SD card (not includ-ed). It should be noted that it works ONLY with Vexilar Fish Scout underwater camera systems.

I have been asked many times, if I had only one unit I could purchase which one would it be.The answer is simple – a flasher. As stated earlier, this unit can show everything from top to bot-tom, and when read properly can show fish activity and how they are reacting to the lure/bait pres-

entation. It can also search water quicklyto find fish and structure. Again, remem-ber to go with a color unit, as it can bevery helpful for anyone from a beginner toan expert.

The camera can come laterunless an angler wants to invest inboth.

Flashers and underwater cam-eras are the perfect electronic fish-ing partners.

For more information on someof the items mentioned visit theVexilar website atwww.vexilar.com.

If you have questions about thisor another fishing subject, contactme through the Dan’s Fish ‘N’Tales® website at www.dansfishn-tales.com. This site also provideslinks to the Dan’s Fish ‘N’ Tales®You Tube channel, AdventureSports Outdoors website andVexilar website, along with a spotto click to “like” and “follow” theDan’s Fish ‘N’ Tales® Facebookpage, to which you can go directly viawww.facebook.com/dansfishntales. There is also avideo posted on the Facebook page which has TomZenanko demonstrating the new K-Drill.

Until next time, get out on the water, and enjoy agreat day of fishing.

ELEC… Cont’d. from previous pg.

Two drills are used to help in drilling holes for using electronic partners – a Jiffy 8-inch Pro4 Lite for the main holes, and a 6-inch K-Drill for the

smaller transducer and camera holes, or for when doing some quick scouting.

The Double Vision is a mounting case and bag that

holds supports a Vexilar flasherunit on top and Fish Scout

camera on the bottom.

My Vexilar flasher unit isposition directly in the holebeing fished, while the FishScout camera is in a hole a

few feet away.

114_001.qxd 1/27/15 12:03 AM Page 1


Calling InDaytimeRaccoons

by Michael J.W. SellsThe weatherman was predicting a warm-

up, which was just what we had been wait-ing for. It was early January, and a nastysnowstorm dumped over a foot of newsnow while temperatures plummeted tobitter cold. For six days it was below zero,then it warmed to the high single digits.The next day it got to the mid-teens, andthe weatherman was predicting 30 andabove to last for several days before itdropped again.

I have been calling raccoons in the day-time for more 25 years and have learnedthat the weather is a very important factorin having success. We always have a betterresponse to our calling just before a stormor just after an extended cold spell. In myearly years of calling, I went out in allweather conditions and at both ends of thethermometer to see what the best condi-tions to get raccoons to respond to the call.I found that they will respond in almostany weather conditions, but seem torespond best in milder weather and with

the temperature near the freezing mark. Ifit’s bitter cold, they are slow to respond,and if it’s real warm, they don’t respondvery well.

We started the day with over an hour’sdrive to get to a small river that had lots oftrees on both sides for nearly a mile beforeit dumped into a larger river. When weparked off to the side of the landowner’sfield driveway, we immediately spotted twosets of fresh coon tracks coming from theroad and heading down a trail along theriver. We thought that was a sign of goodthings to come, so we quickly got our gearon and started on the trail. We followed thetracks for several hundred yards before theyled us to a den tree that the coons hadclimbed, but then descended and contin-ued on. The tracks led us to three more dentrees they had investigated but continuedon down the river.

David stayed on the tracks, but I split offto the side to try to find other trees. It was-n’t long before I found another set of coontracks to follow going in the same directionas the others. Up ahead I could see a largemaple tree that had several dens high up. Icould see David working his way to thesame tree. At the base of the tree we foundlots of fresh tracks and a well-worn trailleading to another close-by maple. The sec-ond tree also had a couple of nice-lookingholes in it. We decided we needed to set up

and call these trees.We always set the call at the base of the

tree on the opposite side of where the holeis. We want the coon to have to come allthe way out of the hole when it’s lookingfor where the sound is coming from. Atthis site it was hard to decide where toplace the call because there were so manyholes facing in different directions. We fig-ured it out, and I concealed myself behindsome brush near the river bank whileDavid went behind a smaller tree oppositeof where I was at.

As soon as the call started, I had a coonlook out of a hole high up on my side ofthe big maple. I got my crosshairs on it soI could get it as soon as it was all the wayout. Just before it was completely out, Iheard David shoot and heard the thud of acoon hitting the ground dead. My coonhesitated briefly because of David’s shot,but then it came all the way out and Idropped it with an easy shot to the head.Then I heard David shoot again but didn’thear a thud, so I quickly scanned all theholes to see what he might have beenshooting at. I didn’t see anything, and aftera couple more minutes of calling, I sawDavid get up and go over to the caller andturn it off. Turned out he had been watch-

ing another coon that showed itself fromthe same hole he had got the first one from.While he was waiting for that one to comeall the way out, another coon came outfrom another hole and was scrambling toanother hole when he took a quick shot atit and missed. We know we can’t get themall, and we were feeling pretty good aboutthese two. They were both big coons withperfectly prime coats, and we had onlybeen hunting for about half an hour so far.We always skin the coon where we shootthem so we don’t have to lug the wholecoon around. I carry bread sacks in mypack, and we place the fresh pelt in a breadsack and secure it with a twist tie. It keepseverything neat and clean in the backpackand in the freezer when we get them home.Within the next hour we made two moresetups without any luck before we finallyfound another really good tree. This treewas a blow-down with the main trunksnapped about 6 feet up from the groundbut still partially attached. We could easilysee the hollow end of the log, and therewere numerous muddy coon tracks comingand going from the tree. It was too high upfor us to see into the log, but we felt thiswould be a good tree to call.

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David placed the call back about 10 feetfrom the open end and directly under thelog, then we settled back to wait. It didn’ttake long before we had a coon peering outfrom the end of the log. It didn’t seem towant to come out until another coonforced its way out next to the first one.That also prompted the first one out, andwe got them both as they climbed to thetop of the log. We stayed in place withoutmoving, and less than a minute later, an-other coon showed itself and climbed out.It died before it got to the top of the log.Less than a minute later we got a fourthone, then a fifth one and a sixth one, allabout one minute apart. We let the call runfor another three minutes before we turnedit off. Wow! We had six coons at this setupin about 10 minutes. It took us longer toskin them than it did to harvest them. Thistime I told David that I wasn’t going tocarry them for the rest of the day, so weconcealed them and the first two undersome nearby brush and logs to pick up onour way back.

Then we were off looking for more trees.Within half an hour from that site wefound another huge maple tree with nu-merous den holes. After less than a minuteof calling, a coon responded by sticking itshead out a hole and looking around. Then

it went back down for ashort while, then lookedout again. It peeked outlike that three times be-fore I saw it again. Thelast time it looked outfrom a different hole butfinally came all the wayout. I wasn’t in a verygood position for a shotbut thought David was.Apparently he wasn’t ei-ther, because he waiteduntil the coon was al-most to the ground and a little more on hisside of the tree before he finally shot it.

About an hour and two more unsuccess-ful setups later, we reached the big riverand found another likely looking tree onthe point. This was a tall cottonwood treewith a long, deep scar running down thetrunk from a long-ago lightning strike. Theslit had rotted and made for a good den-ning site. We saw two coons when the callstarted, but only one came out far enoughfor us to get it. The other one moved upthe slit out of sight, and we never saw itagain. Now I had two coons in my back-pack and was thinking about how heavythe pack would be at the end of the day. Itold David we could hunt down the riverfor about an hour before we needed to startback.

It took us nearly anhour to work down theriver to what turned outto be our last setup. Be-fore we got there wecalled three more treeswithout seeing any morecoons. We almost passedup this tree because itdidn’t look very good.The tree was coveredwith poison ivy vines,and we had to look closeto see a couple of den

openings behind the vines. David could seea coon sleeping in a shallow, open-sidedden before we even started the call. At firstthe coon didn’t even move, and I was be-ginning to think it was already dead andfrozen in place. Then it slowly began to stirand move around. It finally looked out butdidn’t seem a bit interested. It laid backdown and appeared to go back to sleep. Af-ter another minute of calling, David turnedthe call off and switched the tape from araccoon fight sound to a coon puppiessound. When the call started again, thecoon immediately woke up and startedclimbing up to the top of the tree. We bothshot at the same time and it came crashingdown.

We made one more unsuccessful call set-up before we got back to where we had

stashed the first eight coons. David offeredto carry some of the coons, but I said Icould handle it. I should have taken him upon his offer, because I was plum wore outby the time we got back to the truck. It hadbeen a long hunt with nearly seven hours inthe woods. We had 11 coons for all our ef-fort and considered it a very good day.

A few final comments before I end thisarticle. We hunt nearly every day possible,weather permitting, between mid-Decem-ber and the end of January when our seasoncloses. If you hunt like I have described,you will be getting lots of exercise whenmost people are sitting at home gainingweight. It’s a beautiful time of the year tobe out there enjoying nature. When ourseason is over, I still continue to hunt, on-ly I leave my rifle at home. Now I carry acamera and a note pad to record the loca-tion of new den trees I find. It makes nextseason a lot easier.

Don’t expect to get all the coons that yousee or assume there will be coons at everysetup. On this hunt we called at 12 differ-ent sites and harvested coons at five ofthose sites. We also passed up a lot of treesthat to us didn’t look too good. Without allour past experience, we probably wouldhave called most of the trees we saw. Expe-rience is the best teacher, so get out thereand start gaining that experience. Goodluck!

COONS… Cont’d. from previous pg.

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The Illinois State Rifle Association Academy is pleased to announce the 2015 educational opportunities for those interested in improving their shooting knowledge & skills.

The number of classes offered will be expanded during the year. All classes & updates will be on our website. Please visit the education & the calendar sections at www.isra.org.

Women on Target classes are among our most popular. These women only classes are designed for those with little or no experience:February 7, 2015 .............Pistol Class....................................................................................Chillicothe / IndoorMarch 7, 2015 ..................Pistol Class....................................................................................Chillicothe / IndoorJuly 25, 2015....................Pistol Class....................................................................................Bonfield / OutdoorOctober 3, 2015...............Shotgun Class...............................................................................Bonfield / Outdoor

Our Firearms Maintenance classes have been very popular. These classes do not require shooting but include assembly and dis-assembly, operation and cleaning. These classes include AR15, AK47, SKS & Mosin–Nagant.

AR15 Classes:January 24, 2015.............Chatsworth / IndoorFebruary 21, 2015 ...........Bonfield / IndoorMarch 21, 2015 ................Bonfield / Indoor

David Diller will be holding several classes as well:April 16 & 17, 2015..........Tactical Rifle 1 ...............................................................................BonfieldApril 23 & 24, 2015..........Defensive Pistol 1 .........................................................................BonfieldJune 4 & 5, 2015..............Tactical Rifle 1 ...............................................................................BonfieldAugust 22 & 23, 2015......Defensive Handgun 2 ...................................................................BonfieldAugust 8 & 9, 2015..........Tactical Rifle 2 ...............................................................................BonfieldSeptember 26, 2015 ........Defensive Shotgun........................................................................Bonfield

The ISRA Academy is pleased to have several guest instructors teaching at our facility in Bonfield, they include:

Massad Ayoob:June 10 – 14, 2015 ..........MAG 80 (Prerequisites Apply) .....................................................Bonfield / Indoor & OutdoorOctober 1 – 4, 2015.........MAG 40...........................................................................................Bonfield / Indoor & Outdoor

The Midwest Training Group, Andy Kemp and Bob Houzenga will have several classes:May 16, 2015....................Defensive Pistol ............................................................................Bonfield / Indoor & OutdoorMay 17, 2015....................Mastering the Revolver ................................................................Bonfield / Indoor & OutdoorJuly 11 – 12, 2015............Advanced Handgun Skills............................................................Bonfield / Indoor & Outdoor

David Kenik, well known author and instructor will be teaching his Armed Response Classes:May 2, 2015......................Armed Response Pistol................................................................Bonfield / Indoor & OutdoorMay 9, 2015......................Armed Response Rifle Seminar ..................................................Bonfield / Indoor & Outdoor

Other Classes:January 31, 2015.............NRA Range Safety Officer Class .................................................Bonfield / IndoorApril 18, 2015...................New Shooter High Power Rifle Competition Clinic ...................Bonfield / Outdoor

Spartan Tactical Training Group:March 15, 2015 ................Emergency Medical Response for Firearms Instructors ..........Bonfield / IndoorMarch 29, 2015 ................Emergency Medical Response for Firearms Instructors ..........Bonfield / Indoor

Illinois State Rifle Association members will receive discounts on most classes. Women on Target Classes are already at or below cost in some cases so there are no discounts on those classes.

ILLINOIS STATERIFLE ASSOCIATIONSince 1903 • Dedicated to Education, Safety Training & Support of Illinois Firearm Owners

AK47, SKS & Mosin-Nagant:January 17, 2015.............Chatsworth / IndoorFebruary 28, 2015 ...........Bonfield / Indoor

IL GUN OWNERS LOBBY DAY 2015

WED. MARCH 18SPRINGFIELD, IL

Prairie Capital Convention CenterDoors Open: 10:00amBe Seated: 10:30am

Program Begins: 10:45am

The fight continues to protect your 2nd Amendment Rights! Join thousands to make your voice heard while marching together on the Illinois State

Capitol! Do whatever you have todo to be there that Wednesday!

JOIN THE ISRA TODAY!www.isra.org815-635-3198

igold.isra.orgigold.isra.orgigold.isra.org


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