Mardi Helm put together some great Welcome packages for hunters. Today I helped her deliver some updates to a couple of Hunting Lodges. I met some very friendly hunters from Kentucky. The 13 of them are staying at Butch & JoEllen Ehrman’s hunting lodge & home. JoEllen said they have been housing hunters for about 6 years. “We have always had very nice hunters!” In visiting with the hunters one remarked that they had “excellent hunting” this year. They had been here for 5 nights & were just loading up to leave.
I thought all the ducks in the area are of one type, but of the 10 ducks they shot Wednesday, they had mallard, teal, duffle head, pintail, shoveler, red head & canvas back.
Pictured are some of the men from Kentucky: Mike Pifer, Mike Eisenback (the decoy packer) Eric Blankenship, Brad Cantrell, Jim Seedars, Rob Allen, John Biller, Rob Sturgeon, Brian Sapp, & Cory Eisenback. They bring a lot of equipment with them. (Click on the pictures to enlarge)
Pictured is a female buffle head that Jim Seedars shot. He is the owner of Clearwater Taxidermy in Louisville, KY. He said it had a “real pretty plumage & was a good shot”. He also saved the head of a pintail for mounting.
We have 9 Hunting Lodges in the Anamoose area: Doc’s Lodge, Timblin’s Flyway Retreat & Fishing Outfillters, Wood Duck Inn, Sagehill Bed & Breakfast, Engen’s Lodge, Kamof Lodge, The Hunting Shack with room for 8 & 6, & The Whispering Moose. We also have 5 houses in Anamoose owned by hunters. Mardi Helm also puts together Welcome packages for them with extra information on Anamoose.
I visited with Scott Zigtema of Cedar Rapids, Iowa who owns the house north of Frank & Roberta Ewert. Scott is fixing up this house for his own use, but also owns 2 hunting lodges in Drake & one in Butte. He rented out to 72 people last year for hunting, weddings, etc. He comes 700 miles 3-4 times a year to work on his house. Scott is helping our communities as he pays taxes, hires someone to cut grass, to clean his houses in Drake & Butte, pays a water bill in Anamoose, & brings in hunters to the area.
As I read in the Summer Vacation Guide “There’s a reason not only North Dakota hunters, but thousands from other states, show such passion. Hunting opportunities across the state range from upland game birds to an array of big-game species to abundant waterfowl”.
