Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club is best in the Midwest
Fantasy Hunting Seeks to Keep Hunters Involved
FANTASY HUNTING SEEKS TO KEEP HUNTERS INVOLVED
FOUR HUNTING BUDDIES FROM THE MIDWEST START ONE OF THE FIRSTFANTASY HUNTING LEAGUES.
Left photo: Andrew Rodriguez of Newton, Iowa and Jeff Renier of Otsego, Minn. Right photo: Ryan Finke of Richfield, Minn. and Justin Berg of International Falls, Minn.
By Mike Yurk
What began two years ago with four hunting buddies sitting around a pole barn one day has grown into the first fantasy hunting league in the country.
“We were talking about fantasy football,” Ryan Finke of Richfield, Minn., said. “Then we realized that there was nothing for fantasy hunting.”
With that, the four hunting buddies called family and friends who had experience designing and developing websites and within a year the Hunting League.com was born.
In addition to Ryan, the other three hunting buddies are Andrew Rodriguez of Newton, Iowa; Jeff Renier of Otsego, Minn.; and Justin Berg of International Falls. Minn. Ryan, Jeff and Andrew had grown up together and Justin joined the group as a college buddy.
The four hunting buddies still spend time hunting and camping together, according to Ryan. They were getting together the next weekend after I talked to them, to bow hunt at Camp Ripley. But with jobs and young families they realized that they would not have as much time to spend hunting together as they once had.
“Our passion is hunting,” Ryan explained. “So we wanted to develop something that kept us connected to our passion.”
“We hand selected thirty five hunters as our fantasy hunters,” Ryan explained. “They are both male and female hunters from throughout the country.”
“For right now we are focusing on whitetail deer from all over North America.” he said.
Website users may register for free to play on Hunting League.com. The fantasy hunting league season starts on the first of September and runs through the end of January.
From the first through the fifth of each month website users select three fantasy hunters as their team. The fantasy hunters are profiled on the website for users to review as they select their teams each month. Through out the month the fantasy hunters call in when they have harvested a deer and scores are posted. A doe is worth twenty five points and each buck is awarded points based upon it’s rack score.
“We wanted to promote quality deer management and not just big bucks,” Ryan stated. “So we included points for harvesting does as well as bucks.”
Points are posted as soon as a fantasy hunter calls when they have harvested a deer. Scoring can change daily and users can see the scores of their fantasy hunters by checking on the website.
Every month prizes are awarded to the website user with the highest scores. At the end of the season the monthly scores will be tabulated and the top prize will be awarded to the website user that has the greatest number of points.
Although the season is currently in full swing, Ryan wants to encourage new users to still sign up for the league.
“They can participate for December and January and are eligible for monthly prizes,” he said.
The website is more then just fantasy hunting. It also has a wide exchange of assorted hunting and outdoor information. There are pages devoted to hunting news and information with hunting stories and dates for hunters to remember. There is a recipe page, another devoted to hunting tips, a bragging journal for website users and a photo contest. The photo contest is open to kids photos, general hunting photos and trail cam photos.
There are a number of plans for future expansion of the league, according to Ryan.
“We are planning to add multiple species of big game,” he said.
As well, they are planning to add spring hunting for turkey and bear.
“We want to develop it into a league that has something all year,” Ryan stated.
“Our goal is to get people involved in their passion of hunting,” he said. “Our website allows hunters a chance to stay involved and to follow other hunters although they might not have the chance to get out into field as much as they might want to.”
“We want to keep the passion going for them,” Ryan said.
To review their website or to register in the league just check out huntingleague.com.
Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club is best in the Midwest
The club has managed their lands so they have hunting available for pheasant, chukar partridge, Hungarian partridge and bobwhite quail.
By Mike Yurk
Sitting on 600 acres of prime farming country just outside the Twin Cities is one of the finest hunting and shooting clubs in the country. The Minnesota Horse And Hunt Club in Prior Lake provides a wide variety of programs for hunters and shooters to accommodate all of their outdoor needs.
“Our mission is to be the premier outdoor sports club in the Midwest,” stated Terry Correll, General Manager of the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club. With their numerous and diverse programs and services devoted to the hunter and shooter they have become just that; the best.
The Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club has been in existence since 1985.
The club has managed their lands so they have hunting available for pheasant, chukar partridge, Hungarian partridge and bobwhite quail. Additionally they offer European-style driven pheasant hunting shoots, pigeon shoots and turkey hunting. Upland bird hunting at the Minnesota Horse And Hunt Club does not require a license.
Minnesota Horse And Hunt Club is a member of the North American Tournament Hunting and they host four hunting tournaments a year.
Waterfowl hunting is also available from birds that come through the natural sloughs that are scattered throughout the property. Mallards, wood ducks, bluebill and teal are just some of the waterfowl species that migrate through their area.
“Waterfowl are native game,” Terry pointed out, so licensing, seasons, limits and other duck hunting regulations apply.
Hunting is limited to club members and their guests, according to Terry.
However, all the rest of their programs and services are open to the public.
“Anyone can use the rest of our shooting facilities without being a member,” Terry explained.
They have an impressive list of shooting services and resources. The club offers trap, skeet, 5 stand, duck tower and sporting clays. Shotgun sports are not the only shooting programs that they have. They also provide a rifle range and a new archery course.
The club hosts a number of both youth and adult shooting and hunting clinics and camps designed to introduce more people to the shooting sports and to improve the skills for experienced hunters and shooters.
“We do a lot of stuff for kids,” Terry said. “We are always trying to introduce new people to the love of the outdoors.
Recognizing that today’s youth are the future of hunting, the club has sponsored youth hunting camps since 1986. The camp is for boys and girls from 12 to 16 years of age and lasts for six days. The young hunters get instruction and hands on experience in the use of shotguns, rifles and pistols. They also are exposed to safety and hunting practices that culminates with an actual hunt where they will not only shoot upland game but also clean and cook their birds.
The club also offer a number of clinics for adult shooters that cover upland game, waterfowl and big game hunting as well as sporting clays and tournament hunting. Regardless of ones level of experience the clinics are designed to make the participants better and help them enjoy their outdoor opportunities.
“We have excellent shooting instructors,” Terry said. One of their instructors, Bob Phitzgerald not only has over 25 years experience as a hunting instructor but also is the club’s on site gunsmith.
The Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club has almost from the very beginning been a national leader in the breeding and training of German shorthair pointers.
“We are known for our German shorthairs,” Terry said. “We have been breeding them for twenty five years.”
Their bloodlines have provided numerous champions in state and nation competitions. They can provide puppies through fully trained and experienced dogs. They maintain about thirty dogs at the club for hunting and places the dogs with hunters by their fourth year. These dogs are fully trained and have experienced thousands of birds making for a truly outstanding hunting companion.
As the name of their club implies they also provide stables for horses. They have a complete horse program that includes boarding and training facilities. They have both indoor and outdoor riding arenas as well as numerous other services for riders and horses. Riding instruction is available for all ages and skill levels.
On the grounds of the Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club they have dining and lodging facilities. Their Trigger’s Restaurant provides full service dining in an elegant atmosphere. As well, they have two lodges. One that holds a group up to eighteen and another lodge that has four suites that hold four persons each for a total of sixteen people.
The Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club reaches beyond Prior Lake through their Horse And Hunt Adventures program. It is part of the complete service that they provide to their club members by helping them find hunting and fishing adventures world wide.
“If you want to go to Africa we have someone that has been there,” Terry stated.
The hunting adventures can take you from Africa for big game to pheasant hunting in Iowa. Fishing adventures are also available from Alaska to Brazil.
For more information on all the programs and services found with Minnesota Horse and Hunt Club check out their website at www.horseandhunt.com or call them at 952-447-4800.
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