Spring is here!!

Spring is here and I’m ready for some warmer weather!  I’m in the middle of the Fleet Farm turkey seminar tour and will also be mixing in a trip to Lake Winnipeg for the giant greenbacks (walleyes).  There’s still a lot of ice in our neck of the woods and some of the best pan fishing is right around the corner.  Then it won’t be long for the turkey opener!

The next few We Love It! Outdoors shows cover both fishing and hunting.  This week you will see Bruce Meinz and myself out on the Gull Lake chain in central Minnestoa.  Bruce is a guide and Gull Lake is our home water.  It’s not very often two of us get to fish together but the last time we did, Bruce was running the boat so now it’s my turn.  The late fall is a great time to be on the water: not many people, and a lot of hungry walleyes that are loading up for the hard water season.  Typically Bruce and I are jigging and rigging but we learned a new technique and will be putting that to use as we attack these Gull Lake walleyes.

The next show you will see my very first muzzleloader hunt ever and it was an awesome experience!  Bruce Hudalla, who has a beautiful piece of property in west central Minnesota, invited me out to join Todd Hess and some other friends on this little slice of white tail heaven.  I feel pretty spoiled to be able to hunt such a well-managed piece of property.  The fact that the muzzleloader was totally new to me, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but it turns out I will be doing this the rest of my life.  Some people may be intimidated by a muzzleloader, but in my opinion it’s a lot easier to operate than I thought.  And we’ve got some meat in the freezer; you’ll have to watch to see how that happens. 

Get out and enjoy this weather!  -Dan

Fun shows in February!

We are rollin!!  The youth waterfowl show will air a number of times the remainder of this week (check your listings).  We had a real blast with these kids, starting in Fergus Falls at Woody Camp and then putting them to the real life test up on Thief Lake.  Fun, smart kids with personality..and they hunt!  Wow are they going to make a good spouse to someone, someday!!  Thanks to Greg Kvale for the awesome fun, food and memories up in northwestern Minnesota.  

Last year it was Door County, this year it was South Dakota for the Eigen family vacation.  I think most of us know what can happen on a long road trip with 3 kids (ages 11, 13 and 16) in the back seat of the Ford F150.  As we headed across Minnesota things were not too bad, but they started to get a little restless as we reached hour number 6 in the truck.  But, we made it to Wall, SD and all was well.  We packed in a lot during this vacation and you are going to get to see all of it during this two part SD Eigen Family Vacation (part 1 airs February 8 and part 2 airs February 15).  


South Dakota has a lot to offer and is a lot more beautiful than a person may think, it has the awesome prairie land where I love to roam but as you get further west it really turns into a different beauty and we got to see it all!  Hunting, fishing, rock climbing, shopping, horseback riding, lots of sightseeing and more!  You will have to watch it - it’s entertaining that’s for sure.  Let us know where you think we should go on our family vacation during year number 3 (this year). 


Following this will be a pretty cool turkey show that will include a DAV hunt at Camp Ripley as well as some other birds hitting the dirt!  This show will get you amped to crack out the calls and start purring and yelping in preparation for one of the most awesome sports there is!  If you are looking to learn more about turkey hunting, don’t forget to check out the spring turkey seminars at Mills Fleet Farm (I will be at Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Oakdale and Cambridge). 

Thanks for tuning in!  It was really fun meeting a number of folks down at the Minneapolis Boat Show this past weekend that have been watching all of our episodes.  Lots of kids too, we will continue to get kids involved as we move forward..this is critical for our love of the outdoors!!  -Dan

Lots of Great Shows in 2014!

Happy New Year!  Things are exciting in the “We Love It! Outdoors” world, despite bitter cold that we have been feeling up here in the Midwest!  The new season is starting to hit the air waves and the feedback has been good.  So thank you for tuning in!!  I just returned from South Dakota on Sunday night after shooting some roosters and catching some white crappies with Chad Schilling, my brother-in-law Chris (gourmet chef) and some other friends.  The late season rooster shoot was awesome, with many long-range hits (and misses).  I was shooting a new Stoeger semi-auto 12 gauge and it did a really nice job on the ring necks.  Friday was beautiful, but the weather turned brutal again and that’s when we loaded up the Sno Bear and headed for Lake Oahe for some of the crappies.  Oh, I almost forgot about the coyotes, we got in on some of that action too.  Overall, a very fun trip as always with the Schilling family in South Dakota.

I hope many of you were able to see the water wolf (tip-up pike) show that we filmed up on Lake of the Woods.  If you like to fish but don’t take it too seriously, this would be a trip for you!  Tip-up fishing for giant pike is really exciting and doesn’t involve your total attention all of the time.  Although, you don’t want to get beat to the tip-up by another in your party.  Andy Walls knows this big pike game quite well and he was an awesome person to lead us!  I might have to head back up for another wrangle this March or April, we will see.

Starting up next week (premiering Jan. 11-13, with re-airs throughout the week), the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza show will re-air.  If you watch this, you will want to hurry in to your local Mills Fleet Farm and buy yourself a ticket for this year’s tourney (Saturday, January 25) on Gull Lake in Brainerd, MN.  This is an event that is fished by people from all over the world!  I have fished it more than 20 times and each year it’s a spectacle that raises money for many charities including the Confidence Learning Center.  20,000 holes and over 10,000 anglers are competing for many prizes including a new Ford F150 pickup truck!  This past year it was Broar’s turn to win, as he reeled in a pike that was just over 4 pounds!  Not bad for a local boy who works with my daughter at a local pizza place!!

Following up the Extravaganza will be a big, buck archery hunt with Jeremy Moore of Dog Bone at Bluff Bucks Outfitters in Buffalo, County Wisconsin!  This show will premier January 18-20, with re-airs throughout the week.  Trophy deer, many acres, super people, awesome food and many memories!  Fall in Buffalo County, Wisconsin is where most deer hunters would love to be!  Butch Fox and his son Mark know their whitetails and it was very interesting for me to see the system that they use to get trophies on the wall like most have never even seen before.  I have hunted whitetails for a long time and it’s one of my favorite things to do, this place is something else for the avid whitetail hunter!  Jeremy Moore is owner of Dog Bone, a training system for dogs to search out and find your deer and also help you pile up the sheds in late winter and early spring.  You will have to tune in to this one too J.

Next up (premiering January 25-27) will be a Rainy River Sturgeon fest!  Another Jeremy this time around, this time the fisherman (Jeremy Smith of Lindner Media).  Jeremy has been tangling with these behemoth’s for a long time and has gotten to know not only how to fish these big buggers, but where to find them in this awesome stretch of river.  It was fun enough for me landing 40-50 inchers, but Jeremy kept telling me to wait..you’ll see!!  And then I SAW!!  Wow, is all I can say about this amazing, prehistoric fish that grows to be really, really big.  They tend to make you forget about how awesome the walleye fishery is up there too.

The 2014 line-up is awesome and there is one show in particular that will have you AMAZED!  And a bunch of others that will keep you entertained..big time!!  You can see air times and networks on http://www.weloveitoutdoors.com/schedule/ Thank you for reading, thank you for watching and thank you for shopping Mills Fleet Farm for all your sporting goods needs and more! 

Until next time,

Dan

Season 2

We are just putting the wraps on year number two of “We Love It! Outdoors” and it has been another phenomenal year in the field!  Now it's time to put the shows on the air for everyone to see.  From the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza to hunting deer with a muzzleloader and also the most exciting thing I have ever done in the outdoors!!  I am going to keep you on the edge of your seat for that one, but I will say that you won’t want to miss it!  I am not sure when that one will air, but it will be an “eye opener”!  We mixed in some youth, another family vacation and some local walleye fishing with one of our guides (Bruce Meinz). 

There’s more too, you’ll just have to tune in and check it out!  The more I do this filming, the more fun I have.  I’m getting a lot more comfortable and best of all I get to do so many fun things that I normally wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to do.  

Please spread the word among your friends, family and acquaintances and I we will try to keep you entertained with some good stuff!!  Merry Christmas to you all and a blessed 2014!!   Dan

Fields, Forests, and Mountains

These last couple of weeks have been spent in the fields, forests and mountains!  We were in Buffalo County, Wisconsin hunting deer at Bluff Bucks Outfitters with Jeremy Moore of Dog Bone and Butch and Mark Fox the owners and operators of Bluff Bucks.  

This was a great experience for me (overall) and a chance to see what it really takes to manage and get a crack at trophy whitetail deer.  These guys have it “dialed-in”, and if you have any inclination on hunting with an outfitter in WI, I would say this would be the place.  

Everything was first class including the sleeping quarters and the awesome home cooked meals by Dawn!  Thank you so much to all of you!  If you would like more information on this first class operation, go to www.bluffbucks.net!!  

Make sure the next time you are in Mills Fleet Farm, that you inquire and check out the products available from Dog Bone.  Shed hunting and tracking deer made easier!!

We had a day off between this hunt and our flight to Idaho where I met up with my brother John (who lives in Meridian, Idaho).  

John took us to the mountains in search of elk.  This trip included the two of us and two camera men (Pete and Kyle).  We worked it!  The mountain climbing in Idaho puts the woods of central MN into the “easy” category!  I wasn’t in great shape, but not terrible either.  I did take Altitude Advantage (made by Wilderness Athlete) before we left and I think it may have helped me have a full blown heart attack!  Day one was a killer, day three and four were killers too!  No, not as far as hanging an elk on the meat pole, but as far as the legs, lungs and whatever else was connected.  

We had incredibly beautiful weather and camping in the mountains in a wall tent can now be checked off the list!

But, we did not take an animal.  The moon was full, the elk were not talking, we had 4 guys working our way through the wicked terrain and it sounds like the animals did not start moving until the weekend (and by that time we had pulled stakes.  I do plan on going back with my bow and arrows next September.  Thank you brother John for all of your hard work and your entertainment at camp!  “It wasn’t so much the heat, it was that gosh darn humidity” :) !!

Next up, sounds like fish!  Then maybe more deer.  Good luck and be safe all of you as we head into the most awesome stretch of time on the outdoorsmen’s/women’s calendar.  We Love It!

Dan  

Youth Waterfowl Hunt

We just returned yesterday around noon from our trip to Thief Lake in northwestern Minnesota where we opened up the duck season with 3 youth.  It was youth waterfowl day here in MN and despite warm temperatures, we had a great time.  This whole show originated back at “Woody Camp” in Fergus Falls, MN where we joined a group of 13-15 year olds who took some pretty extensive waterfowl training courses from some awesome trainers.  These kids learned a lot about this great sport and put a lot of it to use on Saturday.  Thank you Minnesota Waterfowl Association for putting on this incredible program for the future hunters of America.  

This trip was very exciting for me as well as the kids.  Greg Kvale (retired DNR) was the other “helper”, and thanks to Greg (our advanced scout) and his many years of hunting this area we had a good clue on where to set up.   I certainly can’t forget our cameramen (Ryan, Kyle and Jeremy) or the dogs (Satch and Flint).  This trip would not have had ALL the excitement without these other characters.  After loading 3 duck boats with camera equipment, decoys, guns, snacks, dogs, push poles and the “kitchen sink”, we were off through the cattails.  The motors got clogged with vegetation and after awhile, we were pulling the boats to the “spot” (with waders on).  We got to the spot and set-up.  I was with Grant and Jared and Greg was hunting with Karlie.  We had Kyle and Satch in our blind too and Ryan was filming in the other blind.  Jeremy, hard to say where he ended up…pretty sure he was rolling on the sunrise and this massive waterfowl area.  The birds were flying and the excitement was nearly uncontrollable (for me as well as the kids and dogs).  

Once the decoys were set, the shots were ringing!!  Grant dropped the first two birds (a gadwall and a wideon), Jared and Carlie were in on the action but I think they soon realized it wasn’t going to be easy.  Maybe a little more aiming and swinging needed to be done.  Carlie dropped the next bird, a blue-wing teal and the excitement of these kids was really starting to shine through now!  Their first birds.  Jared was wondering why the birds he was shooting at  weren’t dropping, and after giving him some encouragement and a few tips, he came through BIGTIME!  His first bird was a giant Canadian goose.  

This was a fantastic experience for all of us and we could not have asked for 3 more awesome kids to share the blinds with on this youth waterfowl day.  Thank you Greg, Pete (Greg’s son and all the rest of you for making this such a memorable day!  

And kids, thanks for cleaning and cooking and sharing your game with us!  And also for your awesome personalities!!  This show will be a good one, look for it sometime after the first of the year.  

Enjoy today, Dan

Bowfishing on the Illinois River

Wow!!  This pretty much explains my trip to the Illinois River last week where I joined up with Mathew Schillinger and Chad Willemssen from AMS Bowfishing.  

We were on the hunt for rough fish with our tricked out AMS bows and arrows in our totally tricked out boat.  This was a trip I will not forget.  Both Matt and Chad are super people and they knew the program.  I would have to say that the night bow fishing was the highlight as we were shooting fish, being hit by fish and having fish land in our boat.  You really have no idea until you experience it for yourself! 

 I have bow fished as a youngster in the flooded Minnesota river, but this took it to a little different level.  The bows from AMS are rigged so well that it makes this a sport that is easy for anyone to enjoy.  When you see this show, I am guessing you will want to schedule a trip. 

My whole body was so sore after a day of bow fishing, I had to put the bow down for a while.  

Thanks for checking in, Dan