IF IT IS OCTOBER...IT IS HUNTING SEASON

This should delight all of our duck hunters - our newest duck hunting blind should be a real treat to hunt out of!

Welcome to the 2010 hunting season. This week was the opening of bowhunting and what a beautiful week it is! Cool temperatures and clear skiies - truly great fall hunting weather. A real departure from the last couple of years where the hunters sweated in 80 degree weather and fought off mosquitos in droves.

First Turkey

Reid Frederking harvested this bearded hen with Donny's help as guide last weekend. Reid is from Steeleville and at age 11 this is his first turkey! Congratulations Reid.

Spring Turkey Hunting

Clyde Neely, from Houston, Texas is on a quest to shoot a turkey in 49 states! After his Illinois bird, he has 5 states to go. What a cool accomplishment that will be.

Deer at the lodge

If I had been quicker with my camera, I would have been able to show you close to 30 deer on the east lawn! I was alerted to their presence by Gemmie's howling through the glass on the deck doors - see, Ron, she is good for something!

Gone to the Dogs

Jerry McGee (trainer and handler) and his wife, Ruth are shown above at the International Brittany trial a short while ago. His dog, Rujems Touch of Bourbon, aka Chug A Lug" recently secured his place in history winning the Purina Dog of the Year Award!! Jerry brought Chug to The Hunt Club about 6 years ago, where he promptly earned the nickname "Mud Dog" because he loved to roll, and roll in the mud! Well, just look at Mud Dog now!

The Brittanies are holding a field trial this week at Pyramid and are enjoying evenings at The Hunt Club. Tonight is their Saturday night dinner at the lodge, so I thought a post was in order.

The menu: sauteed portabellos and other mushrooms and pancetta wrapped beef tenderloins. Also, a surprise Valentine's Day dessert. Perhaps the dessert will serve to jog the urge to run out and buy a Valentine??

The beef tenderloins are being served with a bleu cheese sauce instead of the ubiquitous, boring and so predictable horseradish sauce. Happy V Day to all!

2009-2010 Season Comes to An End

A PICTURE WORTH A HUNDRED WORDS

Jim Metter, Ken Saum, Trevor Moore, Larry Schaab and Jeff Rector had a long day, but a productive one. Now we can all clean off our decoys, hang up those waders and start dreaming about next year. Jill has already changed the sign to "Duck Hunter - Gone".

Snow Day

Check this out! I was trying to photograph the setting sun in the beautiful snowy landscape from the south deck when these ducks flew over close enough to catch them with my crummy camera! How great is that?

Only 1 more day until the end of the goose season, and the word is that the ducks are pouring in by the thousands all afternoon. Once again, photographed from the south deck.

These may look like snows to you, but cross my heart, they are ducks. I probably panned the camera a bit trying to keep them in the lens. If I had any kind of lens at all, we could have gotten a shot of their green heads!

What a pretty end to a perfectly great day. The morning goose hunters had limits of geese. It remains to be seen if all that artillery I heard this afternoon was actually productive. It is a good night for a big pot of -- bouillbase?