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The Winnebago County Pheasants Forever SEED DAY

SEED DAY Seed Day which will take place on April 21st in the machine shed at Harlan Tipton’s farm at 11076 Trask Bridge Rd From 9:00 until 1:00. Once again we will have corn, sorghum, beans, wildlife mixes and sunflowers at a greatly reduced price available for food plots. We will also be there to help you with any plans that you might have to set aside land for warm season and cool season grasses. We encourage you to look at any marginal farmland that you might have that you would like to plant into habitat. We are starting a new program this year we are calling “ Small plots for Big conservation “. We are looking for home/land owners with small plots 1/2 acre and larger to dedicate to wildlife. Are you tired of sitting on that lawn tractor for hours and burning expensive fuel? Turn that plot into a native prairie , with beautiful tall grasses , cone flowers, and flowering forbs. Come out to seed day and see our new no till equipment and speak with regarding your project. Contact Dave Grass at 815-289-3219 or email davegrass@earthlink.net . If you need directions or further information regarding seed opportunities feel free to call us at 815 -399 -4610.

Small Plot Program
We are starting a new program this year in earnest that we experimented with last year. We will continue to work with landowners would like to do larger plots of native grasses, food plots, habitat and mid management of conservation reserve program acres. Our new activity will look at small plot land that landowners would like to commit to wildlife. This would be one of five acre plots that you may be mowing, corners of a crop field that are hard to reach, or marginal wetlands that are not profitable to farm. If you thought about converting this to wildlife habitat or food plots please contact us so that we can work with you to get the seed and have it available at seed day in April. We also want to put together a schedule so that we can allocate equipment and personnel to make this program worked effectively. There is no commitment to talk to us about making the portion of your property available to wildlife. This will help to conserve precious fuel by planting native prairie grasses as opposed to expensive and conservation unfriendly mowing.

We look forward to working with all of you this year to make Winnebago County a leader in wildlife, and habitat conservation.

If you would like to be on the WCPF email list and receive a quarterly e-mail newsletter please contact me at Davegrass@earthlink.net.

Thanks again for all your support and consider a more active role by joining a committee with the Winnebago County Pheasants Forever.
Torstenson Family Youth Conservation Education Center Hunt We had a great youth and women's hunt at the Torstenson Family Youth Conservation Education Center on March 10. Over twenty new hunters had a chance to experience a pheasant hunt with a dog handler and a mentor. I want to share a letter we received from a parent of one of the young hunters.

Thank You PF

It was his 1st time out

1st bird went up and he couldnt get the safety off the bird just flew away (majestically!)

He learned his lesson

2nd bird went up & he winged it, it fell to the ground and ran.

CJ found it and nabbed it

When we cleaned the bird later we found that he hit it with 3-pellets!

It was a blast!

You guys do a great job and help create confidence in a 1st time hunter!

He is hooked now!

This is what it is all about. This is why we have a youth program and how money spent at the banquet stays here to create this type of opportunities for young people.

PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS

Winnebago County PF is proud to offer the following to the community : Support for program at Severson dells, scholarships for teachers to attend the Leopold Conference's, support for this year's Conservation Camp we will be holding with our partner the Natural Land Institute and on-going cost sharing with local farmers and conservation groups for seed and equipment. We are also pleased to be working with the Illinois Conservation Foundation (ICF) who has accepted a donation of 750 acres of exceptional wildlife habitat near Pecatonica in Winnebago Co. to serve as the home of the Torstenson Family Youth Conservation Education Center. Area Youth will be able to learn outdoor skills and activities such as hunting, archery, shooting and fishing will be intermingled with classroom instruction. This is a unique opportunity for youth in our area and we will be helping providing and financial support for this to become a world class center for local youth.

Black Bear Lodge Red Lake . Ontario Black Bear Lodge is a drive in outpost fishing camp located 250 miles north of International Falls, Minnesota. It is about 20 miles west of the town of Red Lake, Ontario. Black Bear Lodge was established over 60 years ago with the idea of providing a realistically priced fishing vacation package to those interested in catching Lake Trout, Walleye, Northern Pike, and Muskie. We also offer fall bear hunts starting in mid-August. Our camp is situated on a sheltered bay at the West end of Red Lake. Black Bear is one of only two camps located at the end of this 43,680 acre lake, which means you can spend the day fishing without having to share your hot spot with other boaters. The fishing on our end of the lake gets better every year. You may also explore one of our 7 portage lakes. Most of these lakes are exclusive to Black Bear guests, providing you with an additional opportunity to boat that trophy of a lifetime.

My wife and I are not just the new owners of Black Bear Lodge, we are also long time guests as well. For the past 27 summers, Jillian and I have made more than 36 seperate trips up to Black Bear Lodge, including our honeymoon in 2004. We took over the camp in the summer of 2006 and have now made Red Lake, Ontario our summer home.

Jillian and I were born and raised in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago but have since moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan where we spent the winters fulfilling our other passion, working with children. Jillian coaches gymnastics part time while I am a full time gymnastics coach. In April of 2009 we gave birth to our daughter, Josie. Josie is no stranger to Black Bear Lodge as she was only 10 days old when she made her first trip to camp. We are definitely living our dream(s) and we feel truly blessed.

As the owners of Black Bear Lodge, our aim is to preserve the history and traditions of the camp just as they have been for over 60 years. With its breath taking scenery, abundant wildlife, and exceptional fishing and hunting, Black Bear Lodge has become a special place for many people from across the Nation. It is our commitment to continue to offer a true wilderness experience for all of our guests.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to send us an email. We also enjoy hearing stories about your trips to Black Bear Lodge

Email Address: fishblackbear@yahoo.com Winter Address: Jim & Jillian Slavich 6900 West D. Ave. Kalamazoo, MI 49009________________________________________________________