Late January and early February are difficult times for sportsmen.  The ice may not be thick enough for fishing, all game is out of season and it’s cold.  Not much to do except have a cup of coffee and surf the web looking for the next greatest lure – its WoolySpin of course.

On Friday morning,  I was having coffee with my wife when a friend, Alan Thompson – a local State Farm Agent -  approached and invited to a European Style Pheasant hunt.  I declined.  I have never been to a game preserve and when you are asked to spend money on sporting activities in the presence of a spouse, it is always best to decline the offer.  As I left the table to refill our cups, my wife not only “gave permission” for me to participate, she did it rather enthusiastically.  Apparently being locked up in a house for 5 days with me due to the recent snow storm instilled a desire for some alone time.

The hunt I was invited to attend was an annual event for the 31 other participants.  I, as a first timer, didn’t really know what to expect.  But, I was pretty sure that the group of guys would be fun, there would be plenty of birds to harvest, and I would be sure to get a couple of good meals throughout the day.

After a hearty breakfast at a local diner, we loaded up approximately $200,000 worth of equipment that would be needed for the hunt which include a Mule, a four wheeler, a trailer, guns, trucks, and who know how many boxes of steel shotshells.  Riverview Hunting Lodge in Browning, IL was our destination.

The check in process was quick and efficient and the staff was friendly. All hunters must possess a valid Illinois hunting license with a habitat stamp and a FOID card.  The owner of the preserve Milt Briney gave our crowd a thorough safety speech and covered the rules of the hunt.  After that, we were off to the field.

The European Tower hunt consists of 16 stations, each containing two hunters. Hunters starting on even numbered towers continued to rotate through even numbered stations.  We started on station 11 and rotated through the odd stations.  While our group was large, having two shooters at each station made the hunt a social event which added greatly to the good natured jabbing over missed shots.  We shot 8 braces of birds, which, for our group consisted of about 55 birds per brace.

Retrievers and their dogs were positioned between each station and did an amazing job of retrieving downed birds given that we had about 9 – 16 inches of snow on the ground.  A down bird would immediately sink beneath the snow and be lost without those dogs – kudos boys and girls.

All told, our group harvested 330 pheasants including 1 all important “black” bird.   After the hunt, I spoke with Milt about the industry.  He indicated that preserve hunting sometimes suffers from reputation issues.  “Purists” simply don’t believe they should pay for hunting privileges.  I can fully understand that perception being somewhat of a purist myself.  But after experiencing the social nature of this event and the quality of the shooting experience, I must say I plan on going back again next year.  The birds harvested were unbelievably healthy and well fed based on the amount of fat and grain I found in their gizzards.

I would have to say that this is perhaps one of the most social hunts I have ever experienced.  If you can get 20 to 30 hunters together, the experience of a European Tower Shoot is a great way to spend a couple of hours.  I highly recommend Riverview Hunting Lodge for the experience.

You can contact Riverview through their website located HERE!

Thanks Alan for inviting me!

So, the Winter is apparently getting a bit long and the guys are really getting desperate for something to do.  So bored, in fact, they decided to build a dock in one of the local subdivisions.

The blueprints for this undertaking required several months of planning.  The planning meetings were scheduled for Wednesday nights from 8:00pm until midnight.  This time frame coincidentally overlapped with the weekly card night.  Nonetheless, between 3 & 4 minutes of actual planning did take place each Wednesday.  My primary contributions to the discussions repeatedly focused on buying a pre-made floating dock.  I was roundly accused of trying to avoid "real work."  Hmmm . . .go figure?


All told, approximately 27 minutes of total discussion actually went into the planning process and the resultant plan was sketched on a recycled piece of paper towel that I believe was left over from a recent fish fry.


The ringleader, I mean . . .project leader, finally made a command decision and purchased the lumber.  He coerced, I mean . . .politely requested participation from those of us who had a vested interest in fishing the pond to show up for breakfast last Sunday morning.

This, I reasoned, was a prime time to mess around with the time lapse feature of my camera.  I was able to capture 27 frames before my battery gave out.  The results may be viewed by clicking the video link below:

I had always thought making deer salami was difficult. However, I have just learned how easy the process really is. The recipe is simple and if followed precisely, a great outcome is ensured.

Alan’s Homemade Deer Salami

Take two good ole boys, add 120 pounds of venison/pork butt, sharp knives, spicy seasonings mixed together in a converted garage.  Add just a touch of country music, several hundred dollars of processing equipment, one non-participant blogger (me) and a pot of coffee.  Mix all of the ingredients together for about two hours. . .and viola. Deer Salami.

Perhaps I missed some of the finer details in the process, but you get the idea. The one thing I have learned is that I will leave the making of deer salami to the experts. On this topic – that is not me.

For the past nine years, the team of Gooding/Gooding have had success on fishing for crappie.  Ron and his wife Connie have have had numerous top five and top ten finishes and multiple Regional and Classic Qualifications.  Recently we have been working with Ron on design modifications of the Woolyspin to better suit the needs of crappie fisherman.  While we can’t give away all of Ron’s secrets, we can say that the single hook design allows for the addition of minnows and uses much larger hook than the original WoolySpin.

At the end of the month, Ron and Connie will be armed with over 50 custom designed WooolySpin lures at the 2010 Cabela’s Crappie USA Classic (Oct. 27-30).  As a company, we wish Ron and Connie well and hope for a top 10 finish for the team using our lures.

The new addition to the WoolySpin line will be officially launched at the 2011 Let’s Go Show in Collinsville, IL.  Keep watching for show specials over the next several months and make sure to read the follow-up on Team Gooding’s success at the Classic.