My enthusiasm for the outdoors came from a small cabin on the banks of New River. A tributary of the Kanawha River that runs through West Virginia and Virginia. My grandfather owned a small cabin there and I would enjoy some of the best Smallmouth fishing the state had to offer 100 yards from the front door. I watched every move my Dad, Grandfather and Uncles would make on that river. As I got older and got introduced to hunting, my passion for all things outdoors became a lifestyle.

We moved to Kansas in 1985 and when I was introduced to Duck and Goose hunting by a friend I was hooked right away. I have gone on to hunt some of the best waterfowl holes in the Central Midwest and along the South Grand River in Missouri and across the Marais Des Cygne valley in Kansas.  I co-owned Sugar Creek Duck club located in the heart of Marais Des Cygne and where I cut my teeth on wildlife management and Natural Resource Management.

The real spark to my hunting passion came the first time I heard a booming Gobble on a Spring morning.  I knew then that Turkey hunting was going to be something I would pursue for the rest of my life. It became an obsession, and what an accomplishment to successfully hunt every North American species. It took years but I was intent on not using guides or pay hunts.

This past season when I introduced my son Tyler to the outdoors it became very clear that I was about to embark on the most incredible journey of a lifetime. Introducing a young person to the outdoors can be more fulfilling that any trophy you can bring home. Watching young people work hard, watching you intently and learning from your every move is so rewarding, and then to have them execute on those lessons and find success is the biggest high you can imagine. Hes now well on his way to the addiction, you can find him practicing for the calling contest stage in the summer or in a boat or layout with me in the winter time chasing waterfowl through Kansas and Missouri. And it appears hes also well on his way to another Thunder Chicken obsession like his dad after this last Spring at the age of 6 taking his first Boss Tom in Kansas.