It is the day before opening deer season and here is what we are up to! Dave and Joe came early and couldn't wait to shoot a duck, which they did! They are back at it this afternoon.

YOU KNOW, when Gary arrives, the fun is about to begin. Nothing has changed with Gary...he is walking around here mumbling to himself. Something about let's get a big one on the ground....

In case you were wondering what Jill was up to -- we are whipping up the italian dinner for Thursday night. Baked a couple of turkeys for sandwiches. The lodge is absolutely oooozing with anticipation and excitement for tomorrow.

OPENING WEEKEND DUCK SEASON 2009 Jeff models his finest duck hunting makeup! The weather was 60 degrees, sunny and balmy. Jeff said that although no limits were taken, they were quite encouraged by the number and variety of ducks who came into the flooded corn as they were picking up decoys. He feels quite certain we are in for a good season with a little help from the weatherman. Now today would be a good day - isn't that the way it always goes? Stay tuned.

How about these glorious sunsets? When we start seeing scenes like this we know the deer hunters will be arriving soon - oh, and also the duck hunters!! I have been seeing some deer from my second story perch in the lodge.

SIGNS OF FALL CAN MEAN ONLY ONE THING -- the time of year we all look forward to is upon us! Jill has been out and about taking some photos of this glorious time of year.

Every morning the geese pile into the pond by the lodge. We haven't seen this many since they left with their babies in July. How fun!

The gardens are great as our hunting season approaches. NO weeds and lots of color. The ducks and geese are not far behind!

YOUTH HUNTING ON THE RISE

The US Fish & Wildlife survey reports that the number of male hunters decreased in the last survey year. Interestingly, the number of female hunters increased a small percentage nationwide to 1.2 million. The really great news is that the growing segment is in the under 16 years of age group, which actually increased! Good news for the sportsman hoping that the hunting tradition will be carried on in America! Proof of this may be in today's photo .

Hailey Nagel, 9 years old, is the daughter of Jamie and Sarah Nagel. You may recognize Jamie as one of the volunteers from the Southern Illinois Buckmasters chapter who came out on September 1 to help clean birds. In the days following, Hailey came on a dove hunt with her Dad and shot her very first dove. She couldn't have been more excited if it had been a trophy buck. Congratulations, Hailey.

The fun continued well past sun-down as everyone enjoyed beef tenderloin and a real lobster bake!

UNBELIEVABLE,
given the cool weather and the slight northerly breeze the night before, no one, least of all Ron, expected that we would have a dove hunt like we had. Although there were no droves of doves, they were consistent. The help at the lodge heard shots all afternoon and at dinner it showed that everyone had a great shoot. Kudos Ron and thanks to Gary Fitzgerald of Rustic Originals for once again documenting another day of hunting at The Hunt Club.