Making Memories- A Family Pheasant Hunt at Jim Edgar Panther Creek

The first hunt I ever went on was with my dad, brother and my first black lab, Bud.  It was a pheasant hunt I will never forget, Bud flushed his first bird and I was able to shoot it.  This was a huge moment for me, not just because I harvested my first pheasant, but because I trained my dog Bud all by myself.  Granted he was no grand champion, but he was my champion.

Three generations enjoying a pheasant hunt at Jim Edgar Panther Creek

This was such a memorable hunt to my dad that he wrote a story about it and sent it to Midwest Outdoors Magazine's Hunt Contest and won.  Today you'll find the prize knife and that story safe in my closet.  During that time and to this day, I've shared great moments and stories with both my dad and brother but as you grow older, life gets in the way and the idea of hunting and fishing together takes on a new meaning.  It's not just saying, let's go hunting, there's traveling involved and family obligations that seem to hinder us making more of these memories.

That's why when the Illinois Department of Natural Resources released the statement that they'll be extending the hunter quota at Jim Edgar Panther Creek, I was stoked. Knowing that they were on vacation for the holidays, I called my dad and brother and they were in.  That meant that after 20 years, we were all going on a pheasant hunt together, however, this time would be a little different, as my nephew was joining us!  Watch as we hunt Jim Edgar Panther Creek in a little video we call Making Memories 

It's not too late to plan your own pheasant hunt.  Learn more about the Increase in Hunter Quota for Jim Edgar Panther Creek Pheasant Program.