Heartland Heritage November- WE HAVE A WINNER!

[Mike Clifford]

The Heartland Outdoorsman is starting an exciting new series of contests to recognize those that show a willingness to promote America's Great Outdoors on the website. The name of this endeavor will be known as:
"Heartland Heritage Celebration" contests.

As this is an ongoing promotion, it is to your advantage to stay posted for new activities, as they will be announced on the website from time to time- with exciting prizes available for those participating.

The November Edition will go as follows:

We are looking for Heartland members to post regarding their most noteworthy experiences in the Great Outdoors, and the Site Staff will vote on the very best among all of the postings and award a winner at the end of the month.
It goes without saying that members of the Heartland Staff not eligible to win in these contests- but we will be calling on you to cast your votes.

Posts that will give you an advantage should include any or all of the following:

Hunting Reports with Photos
Fishing Reports with Photos
Interesting tales from the field.
Thought-provoking discussions related to site content (in other words, extended threads that draw feedback from the members).

We have many members with "forum experience" at their fingertips- so I think its safe to say "You know what to do".

I suppose now you'd like to know what you will be competing for, right?

November Edition Prize:



Kitchen Selectives 4.2-lit. Cool-Touch Stainless Steel Deep Fryer


Product Features

* 1700-watt deep fryer cooks tasty fries, fish, chicken and much more in 3 baskets (1 large square and 2 small rectangular)
* Temperature adjusts from 250–375°F
* Lid features a filter and window
* Hand wash
* 9Hx14.6Wx15.5D"
*MSRP- $60

Go ahead and start posting your best!
We're looking closely at all of them.
Good Luck!




PLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSOR- THEY MAKE ALL OF THIS POSSIBLE!

http://www.selectbrands.com/

Quote:

Select Brands, Inc. is a national sales and marketing organization for small kitchen appliances and other electric household products. We are involved in all aspects of product development from manufacturing right down to the design of the knobs and levers. At Select Brands, Inc we strive to excel in product innovation and design. We sell products under our own Kitchen SelectivesTM brand and through various private label programs. We have also differentiated our product assortment by licensing strong national brands such as Campbell's® and Fiesta®. These great Select Brands, Inc products offer the best in design and features, and many are available at your local retail stores.

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[Mike Clifford]

Our first edition of the Heartland "Outdoor Heritage" Contests came down to a dead-heat in the end and it was very difficult to come to a decisive winner.
We finally decided that the winner would need to be a member that took a great deal of time in posting some very well thought-out stories throughout the month of November.
I wish we could have given out 4 or 5 prizes in this promotion, but we had to choose just one.
In my mind, everyone that posts here is a winner regardless.

Alright.
Enough of the formalities.

The WINNER of the November contest has been chosen........
Congratulations go out to Heartland Outdoorsman member Callie!
Let's give a big round of applause, it is well deserved.


Callie- please PM me with your shipping information so that I can pass it on to our sponsor.

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[Cheech]

Congratulations Callie!

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[BirdsNest]

Congrats callie! We had some pretty good articles to sift through, and your's won out.

Hopefully next month we'll have even more to sift through!

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[slimepig]

congrats on the win

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[Al Mudhill]

Way to Go Callie!

If there was one "clincher post", maybe you guys could post it here along with the winner announcement, so those of us who may have missed it get a chance to review it without having to wade through all the winners resent posts trying to find it?
Just a thought!

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[Mike Clifford]

I just worked my butt off finalizing this one, the November Tackle Lottery (Congrats Rob!) and then starting the December contest....and you want me to keep going!

That's OK though- here are a couple of examples of Callie's work:
(Hey- bet you didn't know he actually used the Articles Database to submit an article too, huh?)

Quote:

1998 Duck Opener-The Year of the Bog Buzz and I have been fishing together for the past 15 years. The fish we’ve cleaned and the lies we have swapped have been numerous. Nevertheless, because of family and job commitments, we could never find the time to partake in our ultimate passion – opening day of duck season, at least as partners. The fall of 1998, however, was going to change this. We had, at last, found a compatible opening day. Our plan was to meet at Weber Lake flooding area, located in the northwest corner of Lower Michigan, just before dawn. As D-day approached, we kept anticipating that something probably would come up and another opening day would pass us by. Thus, it was no surprise to Buzz when I called him late the night before explaining my predicament, “Eric our young son needed to see the doctor tonight, and my wife is home with our sick daughter.” However, my wife Sue, being the understanding woman she is stated, “Why don’t you just meet him a little later in the morning? We’ll be okay. Just take the cell phone.” So, though altered, and if my son Eric was truly just in need of the “pink stuff” from the doctor, opening day with Buzz might still become a reality. We then agreed he would still arrive at sunrise, and if all went well at the doctor’s, I would be there around 8:30. He could then hunt the first wave, and we would partner it the rest of the day. OH, the best laid plans… Buzz reached the flooding area right at dawn. He launched, then packed gear and decoys, and persuaded his young Lab into the camouflaged jon boat. This specific section of the lake is extremely boggy and the water, though not deep, was dark and contained a muck-filled bottom. Propulsion in this environment is easiest with a pole, and Buzz began his trek, poling effortlessly with the heavy load. The sky was just beginning to lighten as he made his way into a stump-filled area. The dog, sensing some exciting moments ahead, moved restlessly on the bow platform. Buzz, anxious for the hunt to commence, stopped and loaded his 12-gauge. With that done, and the safety on, he laid his prize gun near the platform resting against the low gunwale. He then proceeded to pole again hoping to find a good spot by a small island made up of moss and large stumps. As he neared his location, he heard the dog move suddenly behind him, and then a second sound, this one sickening. His loaded, prized, 12-gauge pump was now laying in water and muck, tripped by an eager black Lab. After the initial shock, he needed to contemplate his next move. Retrieve his gun from three feet of water and three feet of muck by himself, or wait for his buddy, Rick, to arrive in about two hours. Buzz thought option one was best. So the first step involved actually locating the gun itself. Using the pole, this was easy to do. Step two was a little more complicated. How to lift the shotgun up without getting too wet or blowing some part of his body off accidentally? After numerous attempts with the pole, to no avail, he came up with another plan. Removing all water fowling gear right down to his skivvies, Buzz jumped into the murky depths. This option, though not desirable to him, seemed to sit well with the puppy who wagged his tail and eyed his master quizzically upon his not-so-graceful entrance into the water. After a quick squeal, Buzz managed to find the stock quickly and, with one foot, eased the shotgun up ever so gently. The first try was successful and he gingerly laid his prize into the boat. All was not well, however, because as he attempted to climb back in, he realized his left leg was shorter than right due to the muck which had consumed this leg up to his knee. Another plan needed to be devised because by now he was getting a bit chilly. Though he won’t admit it, there was some good luck on this adventure—the tree stump island offered a hand hold for him to use as leverage and within a couple of minutes he was safely out of the water and seated in his boat. This whole adventure lasted about two hours and as I waded through the cedars as noiselessly as possible toward our rendezvous point, I was greeted with an extremely nerve-rattling sight. The scene of a slimy, mud-caked man clad only in BVDs, sitting in his boat in a swamp, laughing his fool head off and his dog, lop-eared wondering why, will forever haunt me. By the way, we never did get off a shot that morning. But, we had made opening day together.

Quote:

COZUMEL EXCITEMENT ON THE ROLLING SEAS Santiago, the main character in Hemingway’s THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA, displayed pride and honor during his brutal battle with the giant Marlin he had hooked, and the sharks who eventually steal his prey. Though I first read this book over three decades ago, I now can relate to the Cuban fisherman who was in such awe of both the fish caught and those predators who ravaged it. Getting a reliable and successful deep-sea charter can sometimes be a hit or miss adventure with misses outnumbering hits in my experience. However, on a recent trip to Cozumel, Mexico, my fourteen-year-old son and me the fifty two-year-old dad along with two others were lucky enough to draw a boat and a crew who knew exactly what they were doing. Through a hospitality guide at a Cozumel resort, we connected with the Captain and his first mate Miguel for an 8:00 a.m. Friday morning departure. Since everything is laid back in this section of the world, we did not anticipate being on the ocean until at least thirty minutes later. True to form the 30-foot Jiano pulled up to the pier about 8:20. After brief introductions we headed out for our half -day excursion. Our destination was only a half-mile offshore, but a ten mile run to reach the fishing grounds near a lighthouse, was an hours ride. The seas were rolling the entire time, 10-12 footers buffeting us as if the boat was a mere toy. My thoughts were how are we going to troll in water this angry? Needless to say, Miguel began preparing the five Penn rods and trophy reels. The first hour was nondescript. Idle chatter and some lure questions of Miguel passed the time easily enough. The captain and his first mate shared tales, backed up by pictures, of yellow tails, barracuda, leopard grouper and an occasional halibut. From the rather rare sierra to ladyfish, the two-man crew of the Jiano knew the off shore and near shore waters and its inhabitants extensively. As we made a turn, Miguel suddenly ran to the stern, grabbed one of the port reels and said, “Let’s go Senor. You’ve got yourself a bull of a White Marlin to battle with!” He was right. When the rod was placed in my hands I felt an excitement about fishing that hadn’t been there for a long time, especially after feeling the pressure on the other end. Then suddenly this graceful fish flew upward and started to tail dance on the roiling waters. As I began my quest to bring it in my eyes were continually scouring the stern waiting for one last dance from this ‘Bull’. “Senor, you need to keep lifting up and reeling down. We could lose him”. Miguel kept me on task as the marlin refused to give in to the constant tension I tried to keep on him. After a twenty-minute battle, I’m not so sure, which of us had consumed more energy. With a last reel and tug I got the big fish close enough to the boat that Miguel and I could lift him carefully without a gaff. What a magnificent creature marlins are. They are sleek with markings that give them their own quality of beauty. This particular male was almost six feet in length and would weigh in at around 125-130 pounds. After a couple of high fives and some quick pictures we returned him to the sea, tired, but free to do battle another day. Within minutes Miguel was racing toward the stern again, this time lifting one of the starboard reels. It was a friend’s turn in the fighting chair this time and he soon realized he also had a fight on his hands. The rod kept dipping and Mike kept cranking till he too realized that this wasn’t like salmon fishing in Michigan. With Miguel shouting words of encouragement Mike maneuvered the fish close enough to see what it was. A Mai Mai and when we finally got it aboard we realized this was one upset Mai Mai. He thrashed around so much and so violently we made our sons move towards the bow to avoid the melee. After settling down, Mike and his son Hayden proudly displayed the second catch of the day. The fish would weigh in at forty pounds and would be on a restaurants menu that night. As if on cue the waters suddenly boiled behind us again about 100 yards out and Miguel was racing again. This time my fourteen-year-old son was in the chair and soon knew those after school weight lifting sessions were going to be beneficial. We didn’t quite know what had struck, but from the sounds of Miguel’s shouting it was something big. “Senor, tis a Wahoo. A horse of a Wahoo! You might have to help your son bring this pig of a Wahoo in. It’s huge senor!” Thus it was, a father and son tag team wrestled with a 90-100 pound, extremely angry Wahoo who did not want to see the interior of our boat. I assisted Eric with pulling the rod back up but he did all the cranking. It went on this way for about 10 minutes, when we heard the excited voice of Miguel start bellowing again. However, this time it seemed angrier then any time before. He delivered a string of expletives which might have made George Carlin blush and pointed to something off of the stern. Captain Juan idled the twin engines down and the deck hand encouraged Eric to, “reel, reel!” To my surprise, the weight on the other end seemed to diminish as he brought the fish closer to the stern by himself now. Miguel readied the gaff and then asked, “Are you ready to see what’s left of your fish Senor?” Left of… What did he mean by that? Miguel swung the gaff over the gunwale and into the massive jaw of the Wahoo we had just done battle with. As he brought the fish over the side he presented it to Eric, all 2 feet of it. Miguel’s earlier shouting had been directed at a shark, who, after seeing the hooked Wahoo thrashing about, tore up from the depths and had himself a quick and easy meal. The look on our faces after viewing what a shark can do to a5 foot Wahoo probably was classic: open-mouthed, gaping and questioning. Miguel said, “Big shark! That’s what I was yelling at. He attacked the Wahoo, that’s what made me mad. Quite the fun hey Senor?” Who could argue with that statement? By far this excursion onto the ocean was the most active trip I’ve ever encountered. The memories we captured as a father, as a son, as friends, and as crew members, will last. One day on the water can do that!

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[callie]

Mike, Al, Cheech, and all the rest-Thank You. What a great gift! I feel humbled by the attention and blessed by the kudos. If there is ever a chance that there might be a meeting for all of us who post on this great site to meet (a centralized location) I will offer to cook and supply refreshments. Can you imagine what this meeting might result in?

Anyway, I feel privileged to be a part of a site where frivolity and fact can come together in a laid back atmosphere. I appreciate the chance to relay my adventures and hope to add more in the coming days. You guys are great!!!

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[Rob_fishon]

Congrats, those were refreshing to read!
I do like exotic ocean stories.

"An Hour ride in 10 footers!?"
I'd be on the beach drinking a corona watching the waves..

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog

[wsj_outdoorsman]

Congrats Callie...........a well deserved win for sure. Thanks for sharing all of the those great memories.

wsj

______________________
Your Link Here!- $50 |Play Games Now |Weight Loss Blog