Lyons Creek Outfitters

10/29/2024

What a wonderful morning to guide at Lyon's Creek Outfitters (an in Chapman, Kansas!

Today we hosted the "John Ball Group" out of Manhattan, Kansas. John was the highest bidder for this auctioned hunt from last month's Fort Riley Outdoorsman Group Banquet (F.R.O.G.). John is currently the Civilian Deputy Chief of Staff for the 1st Infantry Division on Fort Riley. John is getting ready to retire on 31 December after years of dedicated service to the Nation and our Soldiers. Today he brought along Pastor Lenitz, Jerry, and Drew as his plus three.

John opted for a half-day hunt vs. a full day, and I'm kind of glad he did. Conditions were less than stellar to start our day. With 20-30 mph winds and temps already at 65 degrees at 0830 hours. Which got higher as the morning progressed. Add dry conditions to it, and it makes things a bit challenging.
John was the only experienced hunter in the group, as Pastor Lenitz, Jerry, and Drew had never hunted pheasant before. They soon learned that upland bird hunting is not as easy as it looks but the group still managed to take 12 birds on the morning. The "newbies" learned a lot, got shots, took birds, and simply had a wonderful time.

Despite the warmth, wind, and dry conditions, the dogs (Private, Trooper, Max, and Daisy-girl) did another fantastic job and worked hard! They all did exceptionally, but I'll have to give the nod today to GSP Max for "Best Dog" as he had the majority of the points and retrieves. Max is coming off last year's ACL surgery and has been nailing it this year already. We're glad to see he has made a complete recovery now and is back to doing what he absolutely loves to do! Once again, a big thanks to those who helped with his surgery costs and to the skills of Dr. Mark Stenstrom at Animal Care Clinic in Junction City.
All in all, we had a great time, and it was a real pleasure guiding this group. They were an absolute joy and hope they come back and see us at Lyon's Creek Outfitters!

Pictured below from L to R: Drew, John Ball, Pastor Lenitz, Jerry, and Daisy-girl.

10/10/2023

The fall planted food plots are looking great with the moisture we have had. Winter wheat was put in since we already have milo, corn, and beans on the property. This redneck overlooking one of the plots will produce.

09/23/2023

Adding some new genetics to the herd. Ray Favero working his magic on 15 of our best cows. We introduced them to five different high producing bulls.

09/22/2023

Wow! That was much needed. Our single biggest rainfall event in the last 1.5 years. This 3.25" of rain should make our cover crops plus our upcoming fall planted food plots. A couple more chances for rain in the next couple of days as well.

09/21/2023

Started filling some of our boss buck feeders yesterday. They have always been to tall to reach from the ground to fill. In the past we have used 5 gallon buckets and a ladder (what a job), a grain cart, and have even borrowed a seed tender to fill them. This is our new feeder filler made by Outback Wildlife Feeders and it is powered by a backpack Stihl blower. Works great and puts about 2000 pounds of corn in the feeder in about 15 minutes. What a back saver!

09/06/2023

Getting some new genetics introduced to the farm. Placing CIDR's today in 15 of our best cows and will then artificial insemination around Sept 20th. Using semen from 5 different LL genotype bulls.

09/04/2023

Got our 3 man limit of dove tonight. Hot and very dry make the dove hit water hard. The MOJO decoys certainly help. I'm ready for cooler and wetter weather though and can then get some of the northern birds coming through. Wishful thinking for sure.

08/30/2023

08/28/2023

What a long day. Sometimes things don't go as planned. What we thought would be done by 10am took till about 2pm. Cut antlers off 22 bulls/spikers for their safety and ours and separated out the breeder bulls from the others. These antlers will eventually make dog chews and crafts. Three bulls became extremely agitated and aggressive and would not move through the facility. We had to give them a nap to continue. Everyone doing fine now, just a little worn out. Cows and calves up next tomorrow.

08/27/2023

These cooler nights have us dreaming about Fall and some of our favorite outdoor activities. Like chasing pheasants and quail behind some great dogs. Season starts October 1 and runs all the way through March 31. Get your group booked today!

08/27/2023

Finally upgraded my camera game. These babies came highly recommended and so far they have not disappointed. And even an old guy with limited technical abilities was able to download the app, get them programmed, and are now out getting photos. And the photos just get sent to my phone twice a day.

08/22/2023

Doing a little pre-season scouting on one of our dove ponds. The heat and lack of moisture has them looking for water. Dove just love those bare banks.