Now That Is One Great Niece
Let’s call it a little frosting on the Christmas cake. Emma Jane Klick is officially my great niece because she is my niece’s daughter. Emma is also my great niece…because she is a GREAT niece. A box came in the mail this week addressed to Lori and me. When I opened it, there they were…just laying there like a school of fat 12-inch crappies in late April in one foot of water ready to be pounced on; chocolate chip cookies… bubble-wrapped and unbroken despite the mail….delicious…and almost as big and fat as those 12-inch crappies.
I personally believe that man needs only two cookies at Christmas time. Chocolate chip, and of course ginger bread men with lots of frosting. Emma, you are a great niece for helping me to put on seven pounds at Christmas. And just so you know, I accept ginger bread men at New Year’s…better late than never. The photo below is our Emma, baker extraordinaire….perch catcher….great niece, and no…you can’t have her.
Great Niece Emma Klick takes a perch fishing with Ellis on the Manitowish Chain.
Emma Klick, great Great Niece.
There is another tradition building at Christmas or New Years with my father-in-law, Dick Henske, who also writes an occasional column for “On Wisconsin Outdoors” that shows the reader how to hunt or fish Canada. You’ll see this retired educator’s column in the January-February issue on fishing Lake of the Woods. Because he travels to Canada at least several times a year with what I call “The-Not-So-Over-The-Hill-Gang”, the trips from Wisconsin are both comparatively inexpensive and well worth the investment. They do their homework and consistently catch fish and tag critters like bear and moose. If you’re thinking about a trip, I recommend reading the column.
Dick Henske of Manitowish Waters approaches his locked-up English Setter Lucy at the Wern valley sportsman’s Club in Waukesha the day after Christmas.
I’ve also written an OWO column on Henske to be published in an upcoming issue for our “Stay in the Field” section. This tough old bird will be 80 next year, but he survived a tree stand fall, 11 broken ribs, arm broken in two places, collapsed lung, broken leg, and hip replacement surgery all in less than 12 months. He’s still out there almost every day after a long rehab, and it’s worth writing about. If Dick is staying in the field after these injuries, don’t you even think that your hurting knees or hip is enough for you to stop hunting or fishing. We’ll help you find the medical experts to keep you out there.
Lucy shows Henske exactly where the pheasant is holding and Henske prepares to take the flushing hen.
We have a theory inside this family that it’s really not the grouse cycle that fluctuates in the Manitowish Waters area. Bird numbers were unexpectedly high last year because Dick Henske and his English Setter Lucy were on the sidelines and on the mend. The man hunts grouse every day. He can shoot and Lucy is tenacious in her pursuit of gamebirds.
Which brings us back to tradition. I go with my father-in-law annually when he’s down from northern Wisconsin for the Christmas or New Year’s visit to Wern Valley, a hunt and shooting sports property and OWO advertiser located in Waukesha. The pheasants are really bred to offer a true challenge. They’re not the true wild strain but we don’t all have access to wild pheasants. These birds hold tight or run wild and it takes a good dog to find and flush them. The experience also provides great dog work and wing shooting.
After a three hour Christmas hunt, Dick Henske and Lucy have five pheasants to clean and a dog shower waiting at the Wern Valley Sportsmen’s Club.
I brought my camera to capture the chase, and Dick brought Lucy and his over-under. After three hours, Dick had missed twice on birds busting cover far out, but he found the mark way more often and cleaned five pheasants after a three hour hunt. Lucy proved once again that she is most valuable player in fields and forest in north or south Wisconsin.
Start looking in the days ahead at Kwik Trip and Menards for your On Wisconsin Outdoors’ January-February issue. We’re off the presses, and posted too right now on this website’s homepage.
Thanks for connecting with On Wisconsin Outdoors. Shoot straight. Healthy New Year.
Dick Ellis