With a 30:06 and a 12-gauge laying next to me I was hidden on the ground in an oak forest waiting with high hopes to fill my fall turkey permit, or possibly shoot a coyote, if one came to the dying rabbit call that I was screaming every 15 minutes or so.

I could hear the flock before I saw them. Suddenly, a good-sized jake was 30-feet away.

I put the bead of my shotgun on the top of his head, pulled the trigger and made meat.

Tuesday, Dec. 27
High 33, low 25

That turkey hunt took place yesterday, and was the lead into today's ice fishing trip with my daughter Selina and my stepsons Joey Dushek, who is 18, and Travis, who is 20.

The adventure that the four of us went us was the definition of "going for it."

We were up at 4 a.m. and headed toward Schreiner's Sport Shop in Alma soon after that. We met with my good buddies Mike Buchholz and Jay Maloney, loaded up on large shiners and headed to a Mississippi River backwater for a day of fishing, all of this before the sun had hit the eastern horizon.

Early November-like weather was keeping many fishermen off the ice, but our group of six wasted no time loading sleds and going on a long trek to our northern pike honey hole.

The real theme of this week's column is split three ways; one and most importantly, is staying involved with stepchildren after you become divorced from their biological parent. Two, is the 15 years of outdoor adventures I have shared with these boys and how good we are at it. Three, is a totally go-for-it day.

A strong northwest wind would be a huge part of this day as we put out 18 tip ups and set up two ice shacks. When it came to setting out the tip ups, the boys' experience was obvious; each of them has lived on the ice at least 60 nights of their lives and I instructed them to not only get the job done, but to be teaching their 10-year-old sister as well.

Perhaps the biggest fish of the day hit first and it was on one of Selina's tip ups. My guess is that it was a northern pike in the 12-plus pound range and Selina fought it splendidly for 10 minutes, then just like that is was no longer on the other end of her line.

On this day, the flags were going up almost nonstop. The wind was hard on ice shacks, everyone on the ice put theirs on land or next to it.

About mid morning Mike Buchholz lit up a grill and cooked five pounds of venison backstraps. We all fed like the pure carnivores that we are and later in the day, Joey and Travis returned the favor by cooking the turkey that I had shot the day before. I taught the boys to cook at a young age while camping, simply because I could not do all the work.

These days all three of them are excellent cooks.

In the middle of the day, Jay Maloney was fighting what we figured was another big gator. What a surprise for all of us when a true 21-inch largemouth bass came out of the hole in the ice. That bass was the biggest I have ever seen caught while with the person that was catching it.

When I went through my divorce back in 2008, I did not know what would happen to my relationship with the boys. What I did to try to keep it alive was stay involved with them. Travis and Joey lived with me much of the time and I stayed in touch with what was happening at school. Now Joey is a senior at Necedah High School. Travis is in the landscaping business and Kevin lives in Alaska. They all are addicted to the outdoors, can build or take down a camp in any conditions, and each of them knows how to peg out the fun meter.

Today we got back to the truck an hour after dark, were home three hours later and thanks in part to our experiences over many years in the great outdoors are always planning the next adventure. Play lots!
Sunset

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