FREE SOUTH-CENTRAL INDIANA’S ADVENTURE MAGAZINE
Winter 2012
Birds Feather of a
pg. 24
Skating
10 Climbing
12 Hovercraft
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SOUTH-CENTRAL INDIANA’S OUTDOOR ADVENTURE MAGAZINE Winter 2012
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Editor’s adventure
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Color Run a rainbow of Fun
10
Cool Sports
12
An Unlikely Climb
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Building Champions
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Riders on the trail
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taking a magic carpet ride
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Birds of a feather
Publisher E. Mayer Maloney, Jr. Editors Jackie Sheckler Finch Kathryn S. Gardiner kgardiner@hoosiertimes.com 812-331-4289
Advertising Angie Blanton angie@tmnews.com 812-277-7243 Marketing Shaylan Owen sowen@hoosiertimes.com 812-349-1400 On the cover: Jerry Zike and dog Ruby at Lost River Game Farm in Orleans, Ind. Photo by Darryl Smith Design by Andrew Lehman
©2012 Schurz Communications, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY COPYRIGHT. Prices, specials and descriptions are accurate as of the time of publishing. This publication or parts thereof may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. Advertising information has been provided by advertisers. Schurz Communications, Inc. does not make any representations as to the opinions and facts contained herein. All terms and conditions are subject to change. The cover, cover design, format and layout of this publication are trademarks of Schurz Communications, Inc.
w w w. a d ve nt ur ei n d.c o m
Editor’s Adventure Marengo Cave
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bout the time I started to think too much about the tons of earth over my head, I noticed that our guide, Larry Wyman, looked as relaxed as a man sunning himself on a beach in Florida. It was hard to be too nervous after that. Larry is a third-generation explorer and guide at Marengo Cave in southern Indiana—he used to have birthday-party expeditions there as a kid—and the wealth of knowledge he carried was fascinating, impressive, and very reassuring for a cave novice like myself. Some passages are definitely a test of one’s ability to stay calm in tight spaces, but the effort pays off: Narrow bellycrawls open to amazing natural caverns with towering formations that look like waterfalls frozen in time. Eerily still pools of water contain swift-moving translucent crawfish and small bats sleep clinging to unexpected surfaces with tiny feet. We marveled even at graffiti made by the cave’s first explorers in the 1880s, imagining how it must have been to venture all that way in the dark alone with only a lantern or a torch. I felt glad to have Larry and my headlamp (which you get to keep, by the way—the headlamp, not Larry). I emerged back into the sun with a good coat of cave mud and water, and a far better appreciation for the wild, interesting Indiana landmark that is Marengo Cave. You can plan your own exploration at MarengoCave.com. They do have options if you want to stay clean and upright—but why would you want that? Now, on to the next adventure. Happy spelunking! Kathryn S. Gardiner, editor
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Editor Kathryn S. Gardiner explores Marengo Cave with guide Larry Wyman and Susan Atkins.
What should be our next adventure?
Send suggestions to adventure@hoosiertimes.com
Winter 2012
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Color Run a
Rainbow of
un F By Jackie Sheckler Finch
Photos by Darryl Smith
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earing white T-shirts, the runners and walkers took off through Bloomington’s beautiful Indiana University campus. But those shirts didn’t stay white for long. About a mile through the course, participants were showered with yellow-colored powder. Another mile or so brought a dusting of green powder. At the finish line, a mighty rainbow of colors splashed participants. “By the time it was over, everyone had color from head to foot,” Chris Geary, service director for special projects and special events for IU Campus Recreational Sports, said with a chuckle. “People were laughing and having so much fun. I’ve never seen people smile so much after a 5K race. Usually, they are just tired and leave.” The Jill Behrman 5K Run/Walk was held on Oct. 20. It was the first time the race included the “Color Me” festivities in the event’s 13-year history. The untimed 3.1-mile run or walk followed a route through the central campus, encountering two color stations. Participants could opt out of the color chaos, if they chose.
For a good cause About 1,800 participants were there on race day. Proceeds are used for the Jill Behrman Emerging Leader ScholContinued on page 8
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Continued From page 6
arship and to fund assault awareness and self-defense workshops. Recreation programs for IUB students also receive support from the proceeds. “It was so successful,” Geary said. “Even more than we had expected. Thirty-two percent of the people had never competed in a 5K. They just thought it would be a cool new thing to do… We plan to do it again next year and maybe add a one-mile route for families.” Organized by IU Campus Recreational Sports, the race honors the memory of Jill Behrman, the former IU student who was abducted and murdered in 2000. “We started the race the year that Jill disappeared,” Geary said. “We wanted to do something to keep Jill’s name in the media, to let her family know that people hadn’t forgotten, to be a positive force in their lives.” About 1,500 people participated in that first race. “Jill was one of our employees. We were all participating,” said Geary. “We knew it was really important and it is still important.” The Behrman family—Jill’s father Eric, mother Marilyn and brother Brian—has
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come every year to help at the race. “They are so inspirational. Their courage and grace and attitude are amazing,” Geary said. “Brian said it is a way he helps to connect his children to their aunt who they never got to meet.”
Color me To revitalize the race and add some colorful interest, JB5K officials decided this year to include the “Color Me” component. Gaining popularity nationwide, the color runs use buckets of colored cornstarch showered on runners by enthusiastic volunteers. The grand finale at the finish line lets runners celebrate by “coloring” themselves and others. “We had pre-race and post-race activities with music and dance,” Geary said. “We had a stage and a DJ, some hiphop and Zumba. The place was packed and people were dancing and laughing. It was an awesome time.” Afterwards, volunteers cleaned up the eco-friendly colored cornstarch. “It won’t hurt anything,” Geary said. “But we didn’t want it to get down into the Jordan River and turn it some strange color.”
Winter 2012
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Photos by Jodi Edwards
COOL
SPORTS By Scarlett Brooks
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n a Sunday afternoon, children are bundling up, tugging on skates and peering anxiously through the glass separating the concession/locker area from the rink at Frank Southern Ice Arena. It’s the Hockey Initiation program and the place is crowded with children ages 5 to 14. Running from Oct. 21 through Dec. 2, the program introduces children to the joys of hockey. In Bloomington, the arena is the heart of the
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hockey scene. The children’s leader, John Turnball, sports division director, climbs atop a bench in order to be seen above the squirming and heard above the chatter. He projects a no-nonsense persona as he gives everyone the rundown, topic by topic. The first is skates: “If they are new, they have to be sharpened.” Next, sticks: “They must be made of wood. No street hockey sticks because they are made of plastic.” Next, length of stick: “A hockey stick should come up to the child’s mouth when the child is standing.” Next is figuring out what hand to use: “Just because you’re righthanded does not mean that your right hand will be the dominant one for playing hockey.”
Program enjoys success Lisa Thomassen, at the rink with her son Toby, 8, said she found the program through word of mouth. “I have friends who have done it, and they absolutely loved it,” she said. Toby participated in one of Turnball’s programs last year. “It was a good experience for us, in terms of (Toby’s) learning skills and safety. Also, it wears him out,” Thomassen said. “When you have a boy, it’s great to have him worn out and enthusiastic.” “I liked it because after they taught us something, we had free time to practice it,” Toby added. Another set of parents, the Eadses, picks up on “strategic tiring” theme. As she watched her son Elijah, 6, go through the drills, mom Angela reveals that Elijah is also scheduled for a football game later in the evening. “Being a football player, he thought this was going to be a breeze,” she said, as she watched him take a tumble. In the capable hands of Turnball and his three assistants, the participants tip, slide, and occasionally glide through an autumn afternoon on the brink of winter. Located next to Bloomington High School South, the arena is open October through February for daily public skating sessions, hockey leagues and ice-skating lessons.
Winter 2012
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Amy Shacklady makes her descent during an IUOA outdoor climbing day trip. Photos by Darryl Smith
An unlikely
climb By Kyle Kerns
Y
ou wouldn’t know it even if you drove by it, but there’s a place to climb outside in Indiana. It’s even close to Bloomington, as unlikely as that seems. But maybe that’s why they call it the Unlikely Wall. Left behind after the highway department cut through the limestone between here and Bedford to make room for Highway 37, Unlikely Wall sits perhaps 60 feet above the southbound lane among a thicket of trees and rocks left behind from years ago. Finding it can be bit of a trick, though. Alex Lancaster leads first-timers there throughout the year as part of a rock climbing trip through InContinued on page 14
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diana University Outdoor Adventures, and she said that new climbers are always confused about where to go. To get there, you have to park below the underpass of 37-S after taking the exit for Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park, then scramble your way up a slippery slope along the banks of the highway and back into a trail covered by boulders and trees. “I always want to tell them, ‘I’m not taking you to kill you all, I promise,’” Lancaster joked. “Oh, it’s just right up here past the deer carcass!” Once on the trail, it’s only a few minutes before you start to notice the gleam of the silver bolts jutting out of the wall. The walls climb to just around 30 feet tall, at most, and were left perfectly vertical by the machines used to saw through the limestone. While not the 60-feet-plus walls that experienced climbers yearn for, they’re enough to satiate the thirst in a state known for its slightly rolling hills and general, well, flatness. For beginners, they’re perfect. With plenty of climbs ranked a 5.7 or 5.8 on the Yosemite Decimal System—the ranking system used by many climbers to
(Left to right) Tola Rodrick, Lauren Ellis and Alisenne Turner scale the Unlikely Wall.
ascertain the difficulty of a route—Lancaster says it’s a great place to bring novice climbers to learn what the sport is all about, and to just have some fun.
Learning the ropes Outdoor Adventures organizes day trips throughout the year wherein a group of around 13 would-be climbers travel down to Unlikely Wall. Led by three trained instructors, the group learns the ropes of sport climbing in a no-pressure environment. Climbers are introduced to the basics of knot-tying, proper movement and how to belay your climbing partner. You know, the stuff that keeps you from falling to your untimely death. It was for this reason that Outdoor Adventurer Tola Rodrick decided to take a chance on a trip late this past summer. “Part of the reason I don’t just go by myself is that I’m kind of afraid of doing something wrong, tying the knots wrong, or having rope that’s too cheap or old or
something like that,” Rodrick said. “So when somebody else is responsible for all those things I can worry less about my safety and just concentrate on having fun.” One of the best aspects of the trip, according to her and her friend, was when the OA instructors set up rappelling ropes for the climbers. It was a great outlet for those who were too tired to climb, or just didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as others. “There was no pressure for anyone to do anything that they didn’t want to,” Rodrick said. But she was definitely there to scale the walls.
The ascent Despite claims of being “not very athletically inclined,” Tola said she managed to climb over 12 routes before her hands gave out on her. There were multiple times where she fell off the rocks. “I guess my philosophy with that kind of
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thing is, I think if you don’t fall down then you’re not trying anything new, or risky or interesting; you’re just kind of doing the same old thing,” she explained. “So that’s a small comfort as I’m slipping off the rock!” Each climber can expect an orientation when they arrive on the IU campus, then they’ll be shuttled with the other adventurers to Unlikely Wall where they’ll have access to two different climbing areas. Lancaster says that each trip lasts somewhere around six hours, and each person is free to climb as little or as much as they like. Some climbers, like Rodrick, just go until they can’t. All gear is provided by OA, so prospective climbers don’t have to worry about buying their own rope or shoes. Just throw on some loose-fitting clothes that allow you to move and maybe some snacks and a drink and you’re good to go. Anyone interested in signing up can visit Outdoor Adventures on campus in Eigenmann Hall to see a list of trip dates and times or search IU Outdoor Adventures online. All trips are open to the public as well as students.
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Building Champions By Pete DiPrimio
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il Fleming wasn’t messing around. The Bedford North Lawrence’s girls’ basketball team had state title potential and the Force Fitness and Performance director wanted to make sure they knew it. So the first time they showed up at his southern Monroe County facility, he pointed out the jerseys displayed prominently there. The jerseys came from all the athletes he had worked with who are now playing in college. “I told them the only jersey I don’t have is one from a state championship team,” Fleming said. “I said I want that from you at the end of the season.” The players responded just the way he’d hoped. “They had huge smiles on their faces and were clapping as I said it,” he said. “I was pumped. They were pumped. It made me know they were in it for the same reason I was—to take them to a level they haven’t been.” A lot of people say they want success. Were these girls willing to work for it in ways beyond basketball? “I had to know this was something they wanted to do,” Fleming said. “They said they’d do it. They were good buying in from day one.”
Title hopes
BNL returns almost everybody from a 23-3 team that lost to Columbus North in last season’s regional. That includes a pair of Division I prospects in 6-foot-1 Dominique
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Members of the Bedford North Lawrence girl’s basketball team train at Force Fitness in Bloomington. Photos and video by Darryl Smith
Winter 2012
comfortable moving around any weights. Now some are moving weights that would make their high school boy counterparts shy.” Fleming devised an eight-week preseason program for the girls. He also has one that will continue throughout the season. The goals are to decrease the number of injuries as well as to improve performance.
“The real palpable goal is strength and toughness,” he said. “On the court some of these girls won’t get pushed around as much. They’ll be able to finish near the basket if they get fouled. They’ll see improvements in their vertical jumps. “This is a really good group of girls to work with. Having tough, committed people makes it a lot easier.”
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McBryde (11.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 56 blocks last season) and 6-foot-3 Jenna Allen (9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds). Another double figure scorer, Brittani Rizzi (11.5 points, 47 steals) is back as is Alexa Bailey, the daughter of former BNL standout and Indiana University All-American Damon Bailey. Fleming’s BNL connection started with football players. About a dozen trained with him and contributed to the Stars’ success the previous two years. Word spread to the boys’ basketball and swim teams. One of BNL’s top swimmers, Jared Allen, also trained at Force. Allen’s sister, Jenna, followed her brother’s example and began working out with Fleming last summer. She needed to improve her explosiveness and quickness. Jenna’s impressive results—“She had a big increase in her vertical jumps in the eight weeks leading up to this,” Fleming said—encouraged BNL coach Kurt Godlevske to ask Fleming to work with the whole team, or at least as many as wanted to do it. Fleming said they work out for more than an hour twice a week. “We work on speed, strength and core strength,” he said. “Some of the girls are coming back from injury, so we work on that, as well.” The work is paying off. “From what they’ve shared with me,” Fleming said, “what we do is a big step up in effort and intensity. I’m trying to hammer on them to do lifts correctly and adding more plyometric speed.” In other words, build speed through running, jumping and bounding. “The girls are moving heavier weights,” Fleming added. “Some of them were un-
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RIDERS ON THE
TRAIL By Jackie Sheckler Finch
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or those out-of-towners who thought Indiana was all flatland and cornfields, the Brown County Breakdown for mountain bike riders is an exhilarating eye opener. “We have literally had riders from all corners of our nation and it’s really neat to see how impressed they are with the trails and with Brown County, Indiana,” said event promoter Tania Juillerat. “Folks have a blast.” The Breakdown isn’t a race. It’s a “great ride in the woods with a few hundreds of your closest friends.” Riders enjoy some of the country’s best and most technically challenging single track with scenic views, long flowing climbs and descents, log crossings, creek crossings, switchbacks, berms and more. Started in 2005 as a fundraiser for the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association, the ride gets its unusual name from a local musical legend. “‘The Brown County Breakdown’ is the name of a famous Continued on page 20
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The Travis Creek duo perform along the trail of the bluegrass-inspired Brown County Breakdown. Photos and video by Darryl Smith
Winter 2012
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bluegrass song that Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys used to play,” Juillerat said. “The song is named after Brown County, Indiana, where the annual Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival in Bean Blossom is the oldest continuously running annual bluegrass festival in the world.”
More than just a ride Although the ride takes place on only one day, the event itself stretches out over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “Friday and Saturday, people just hang out and listen to music, sample complimentary local beer and get to see one of the largest bike man-
ufacturing demos in the Midwest,” Juillerat said. “We had about nine manufacturers this year that brought the upcoming lines of bikes for people to test drive.” On Sunday, riders choose routes of 20 to 100 miles to be completed in one day. “Each participant can choose to ride a shorter or longer distance on the day of the event,” Juillerat said. “Most people do between 40 and 80 miles which takes about four to six hours. . . It’s a really fun ride.” Live bluegrass music greets the riders along the trail. “We hide bluegrass musicians along the route so you might come to a hill and there’s a guy standing there pick-
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ing a banjo,” she said. “It’s really neat how it’s all intertwined.” The Hoosier Mountain Bike Association works with private landowners, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the National Park Service to connect Brown County State Park with trails in the Hoosier National Forest for the special one-day event. This year the HMBA was given special permission to use a small section of Yellowwood State Forest, which opened the doors to mountain bikers for the first time ever. “The Breakdown gives all of the paid
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participants a unique chance to ride trails that are normally not connected,” Juillerat said. Held on Sunday, Oct. 14, this year’s ride drew 475 participants and raised more than $20,000 for trail building in Indiana. “This is the second year in a row that the ride raised over $20,000,” Juillerat said. “We have raised well over $90,000 since we started seven years ago.”
David Wood of Louisville, Ky. rides his unicycle on the pine loop at Brown County State Park.
Bringing people together The Breakdown also has great personal importance to Juillerat and her husband Jonathan. “It was Jonathan who came up for the idea of the ride,” she recalled. “I had only been mountain biking for a couple of months and a friend asked me to come to a board meeting for the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association. The organization was having some website problems and I’m kind of a computer person so I thought I could help out.” When Juillerat saw Jonathan, she became even more interested in mountain biking and the organization. “I thought he was very cute.” The two married in 2007 and have two children—Ian and Isabel. The family is already working on the 2013 ride, which will take place Sept. 27-29. “I love mountain biking because it gets me out in nature,” Juillerat concluded. “The people I have met through mountain biking are phenomenal. “
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itting in the powerful SUV of Lawrence County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Stafford, on our way to a local boat club, I need an icebreaker to begin my interview. “Umm, Steve,” I offer, “you seem to own a hovercraft. Why is that, precisely?” It’s a fair question, given that on the trailer behind the SUV is a lime-green vehicle that looks like it would be at home parked in front of Luke Skywalker’s place on Tatooine. Part of the interview, I’m told, involves a ride in the craft, but I’m playing it cool externally. Inside, of course, I’m bouncing around like. . . well, like somebody who gets to take a ride in a hovercraft in a few minutes. Steve gives a little laugh. “That’s a good question,” he says. “Because it’s unique, it’s different than what most people have, and it allows me to go places where most people can’t go.” He uses the vehicle, affectionately named “Kermit” because of its color, for personal and professional use. “I’ve used it for search-andrescue operations, evidence recovery, finding clues to a case, assisting the FBI, flood evacuation, ice rescue. We have a team of volunteers who operate under a group called Project HERO, which stands for Hovercraft Emergency Response Operations.” But Kermit’s personal uses are where Steve really has fun. “I love cruising,” he says, smiling broadly. “You can go up and down the rivers, no matter how shallow they are, go up creeks that you would normally not take a traditional boat on.”
The power behind the carpet
Magic Carpet Ride TAKING A
By Joel Pierson
Photos and video by Shannon Pridemore
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He’s owned four hovercrafts in the past 19 years, Kermit being his for the past four years. They’re made in Terre Haute, by a company called Neoteric Hovercraft, and when he’s not enforcing the law, Steve works part time for them, along with his wife Heather, making the skirts on which the vehicles glide on a cushion of air. He also helps the company by training hovercraft pilots. Unlike an airboat, the fan at the back of a hovercraft splits the air it pushes. The lower third is ducted back through the craft into the skirt, which forces the craft to hover nine inches above the surface. The upper two-thirds provide thrust, and the two-stroke 65-horsepower engine propels the vehicle at speeds of up to 60 mph. And where can it go? Steve answers, “Anywhere you can maintain a cushion of air. You can go on land, water, ice, mud, snow, and sand. It’s great for ice rescue.”
O G N E R MA cave Steve Stafford cruises Indiana waters in his hovercraft with wife heather.
There’s one place you can’t go, though: the roads. The vehicles must be registered as watercraft, and they’re not “just-above-thestreet legal.” Running on regular unleaded gas, it burns about two gallons an hour. No special license is needed to pilot one, but Steve cautions, “I recommend training, because you are flying on a cushion of air. It doesn’t handle like a four-wheeler or a Jet Ski or anything you’ve ever handled before. It operates more like a helicopter in ground effect.”
On the open air We arrive at a boat dock on the shore of the East Fork of the White River in Bedford. I patiently watch as Steve unhitches Kermit from the trailer and puts it gently on the pavement. “Want to go for a ride?” he asks. I say “yes,” believing that “Duh!” would be an impolite answer. Life vests on, we climb in, and Steve fires it up. With the craft’s voice somewhere between a Honda Civic and a Honda lawnmower, we need aviation headsets to communicate. Power to the throttle, and up we go. And oh. . . my. . . heavens. The sensation is like nothing I’ve ever experienced, like rid-
Winter 2012
ing in the love child of a Jet Ski and a helicopter. Just nine inches over the surface of the river, we are unfettered from its constraints. Kermit can turn 360 degrees on a dime, zip across the water, the sandbars, over protruding logs. You truly get the sensation of flying—with one foot on the ground. As we zip past people in canoes and kayaks, they offer fascinated and bewildered looks. That’s right, you only wish your toys were this cool. On we cruise at 40 mph, passing herons and eagles, as we fly without wings. Forty-five incredible minutes later, we return to the dock, hover up on land, over a grassy field, and set down on the pavement. As he hitches Kermit back to the trailer, I have one more question: “How much, how much?”—expecting an answer in the gazillions. “They start at about $15,000 and go up to $60,000,” he answers, igniting dreams of a little hovercraft to call my own. And that, dear readers, is the story of the coolest ride I’ve ever taken. I can’t sum up the experience better than Steve did, when he offered the following analogy: “It’s like riding on a magic carpet.” Magic, indeed. For more information, visit www.neoterichovercraft.com.
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Birds of a feather By Jackie Sheckler Finch
Three generations of Welsh men— Michael, Brian and Ian—and their guide Bobby Whitaker hunt pheasants at Lost River Game Farm in Orleans, Ind. Photos by Darryl Smith
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hen autumn leaves have left the trees and winter’s chill creeps in, Bob Hudelson knows that many folks will be heading to his Lost River Game Farm. For most of them, the quest is to put tasty quail, chukar or pheasant on the holiday dining table. “They are all good eating, depending on who is doing the cooking,” Hudelson said with a chuckle. “There are many different ways you can fix it, about any way that you can fix chicken.” One of the wild birds will most likely be part of the family feast at his Orleans home. “Anything that is hunted here is eaten,” he said. “That’s the way it is.” Back in 1978 when Hudelson and his wife Laura bought the farm, they had no idea it would become a popular hunting preserve. “I’ve always been a hunter and this is a very good place to hunt,” he said. “We still
farm it and we raise livestock, grow a little bit of grain to feed the livestock.” Along with cattle, sheep, donkeys, fennec fox, coatimundis, porcupines, skunks and goats, Hudelson raises camels. “People rent them for Easter pageants and for living nativity scenes at Christmas,” he said.
A place to put your feet up But it didn’t take long for hunters to realize that Lost River Game Farm is a great place to hunt. Over the years, Hudelson and his son Chris have equipped the more than 500-acre farm with amenities such as hunting towers, restrooms, trap shooting range, skeet shooting range, gas grills and a lodge complete with a kitchen and large fireplace. “The lodge is not for staying all night. It’s just for day uses,” Hudelson said. “It’s a good place to rest after a hunt and cook a meal. . . We clean about 95 percent of the birds for our hunters and some people cook them right here.”
The thrill of the hunt Lost River Game Farm offers hunts from Sept. 1 to May 1. “December is our biggest month by far,” Hudelson said. “Then next would be February and March. It needs to be cool for the bird dogs to hunt.” The way it works is that a hunter Continued on page 26
Lost River Game Farm • Hunt Quality Pheasant, Chukar & Quail (hunting dogs available)
• Also “Animal Shows” available, We come to you! Check out our website for details!
Tri-State Gun & Knife Show Seymour, IN - National Guard Armory
Dec. 1st & 2nd Jan. 26th & 27th Feb. 23rd & 24th
DEER SHOPPE Custom Deer Processing • After Hours Drop Available We accept donated deer, at no cost to the hunter, to be donated to local food banks.
Salem, IN- National Guard Armory
Feb. 9th & 10th
Sat. 8:30a-4p & Sun. 9a-3p Admission $6. For more info:
812-521-9367 tri-stategunshows.com 812-865-3021 • 778 W. Heise Rd. 400N Orleans, IN
www.lostrivergamefarm.com
Winter 2012
BUY, SELL & TRADE
Quality Service for over 25 years
812-849-5223
1361 Porter Burton Rd. Mitchell, IN 47446
Location- First house south of Spice Valley Baptist Church
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Continued From page 25
will buy so many birds (about $75 for four pheasants, $75 for six chukars, $75 for 10 quail), and choose a place in the field where the birds will be released. Lost River offers six different hunting fields for bird hunting. “The birds scatter pretty fast,” Hudelson said. “Pheasants will usually fly out of sight. That’s why you need a bird dog to flush them out. You can’t find them without a bird dog.” About 70 percent of the birds that are
released are successfully hunted and most hunts last about half a day. “The rest of the birds go off and many times those are caught by coyotes and housecats.” Hudelson said he raises about 4,000 to 6,000 birds a year. “We also buy some depending on how many we raise and how many people want to buy,” he said. For hunters who don’t have bird dogs, Lost River Game Farm rents dogs and guides for $50. “We have eight dogs that have been trained. They find the bird and
H U N T I N G P R E S E RV E
HEADQUARTERS M O S T A F F O R DA B L E P R I C E S
• Over 2,000 sq. ft. dedicated to Carhartt clothing • Thousands of Jeans • Shirts, Coats, & Long Underwear • Socks, Caps, Gloves • 5 types of lined Bibs • Carhartt for Men, Women, & Children • Sizes: Itty Bitty, 2T to Big Daddy 54 MON-SAT 7:30-7:00; SUN 10:00-4:00
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For more information: Contact Lost River Game Farm at (812) 865-3021, www.lostrivergamefarm.com.
SUGAR CREEK
YOUR
HUGE CARHARTT SELECTION AT THE
point. That is their instinct. It has been bred in them for years. It is what they want to do.” Once the hunter shoots the bird, the dog will retrieve it and bring it back to the hunter. “All of our dogs are good but the two we use the most are Penny and Louie,” Hudelson said. “I really enjoy watching the dogs work. They are something to see.”
WE CARRY CHAINSAWS, BLOWERS & TRIMMERS, PLUS ALL ACCESSORIES AND A SERVICE CENTER.
• European Style Pheasant Hunts • Quality Hunting for Pheasant, Chukar & Quail • Clay Target Shooting for Skeet, Trap, 5 Stand & Sporting Clays 910 Scenic Hills Camp Rd. Mitchell, Indiana
SALT CREEK PLAZA NASHVILLE, IN 812-988-8888 WWW.BEARHARDWARE.COM
812-849-5020 Lodge 812-849-2296 Residential
www.indianahuntingpreserve.com
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1. Photo courtesy Eric Black.; 2. Photo courtesy Holly Mummert; 3. Photo courtesy Richard Nourie; 4. Photo courtesy Tina Sunier; 5. Photo courtesy Deb Murzyn; 6. Photo courtesy Dana Trimmer
Share your photos with us at adventure@hoosiertimes.com Winter 2012
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