OVER AND UNDER

 This weekend I had the opportunity to get together with my family to celebrate a family tradition.it


For the Becker's  bird hunting for pheasant, quail or even grouse with friends and family has always been one of the ties that binds.

Growing up in Buchanan Co. where my father was a Game Warden for the Iowa Conservation Commission for 38 years, we hunted some of the best upland game bird territory in the upper mid-west.

 

Our calendar began with the opening day, on Halloween weekend which would coincide an Iowa football game.  Next, was Thanksgiving weekend.  Followed by hunting weekends in Independence over the Christmas and New Years break.


With the passing of my parents and the family home sold,we no longer had a reason to get together in Independence.  But, my brother Steve the current patriarch of the family, has rekindled the flame and got us together in a beautiful hunting lodge in SW Wisconsin.




The Tanglewood Ranch and Hunt Club  is one-of-a-kind piece of paradise 

 in rural southwest Wisconsin.

 Over the years the equipment has been up graded from single shot, shotguns handed down for father to son and dogs that we trained ourselves to top of the line over and under double barrels and a few well trained bird dogs that have been sent away to doggy school. 

 

 

 

After a night of reminiscing, playing euchre, cribbage and foosball  we hunted Saturday morning.

It was a beautiful morning 35* with sunshine, Ryan threw together a great breakfast of has browns with Wisconsin cheddar and goat cheese, eggs and fresh venison loin.

The dogs worked hard, the birds flew well and the hunters shot well, "Over and Under" several of the birds.



 It's no longer about how many birds you got that day but how well the dogs worked, did you make the the shots you took and the stories told that keep the family traditions alive.

Take the Tanglewood Tour: Video Tanglewood Ranch