HUNTING

Cherry Circle Duck Club

Times Outdoors Columnist The first of November is anticipated with great hopes for the upcoming season and with fond memories of duck seasons gone by. For the past 35plus years we have gone to Cherry Circle Duck Club on the 1st weekend of November. Cherry Circle is probably the best hunting club in the state of Illinois and is located near the little town of Chandlerville. The club is 400 acres found in the confluence of the Illinois and Sanganois Rivers and is surrounded by large tracts of Illinois State public hunting lands.

The club was originally started in the 1920s and Al Capone and other Chicago mobsters were said to visit and hunt there. The house can sleep about 20 people and has several bedrooms and baths along with a big den and fireplace that is the heart of the camp. We are always the first group in the “marsh” and the hunting can be spectacular, especially later in the season when it really gets cold.

My readers know that traditions are important to me. We had to make a change this year because the old County Line tavern has closed. We switched to the Grainary in Pleasant Plains, arriving about noon in time to order a loin sandwich, which is a very large and very good meal. This kind of gets the trip off to a good start. About 1 p.m., our host and old friend Joe Hurwitz meets us and we head to camp for an afternoon hunt on Pintail Point.

This is open water shooting and when the diving ducks are abundant, it can be a fun shoot. We hunt until shooting hours are over and head for the camp house.

We always bring plenty of Southern BBQ and Colleen’ pecan pies. These Northern Boys do not have “Real BBQ” and pecans do not grow north of St. Louis. This a great meal and all eat way too much. A hunting camp is not the place to go to start a diet. Then the fireplace is going and we start to catch up on families and hunting tales. We now go back to four generations of duck hunters. They have a TV, but the attention is all on hunting stories and what we will do tomorrow. This year, Joe’s grandson and Papa Duck’s Owen were old enough to come to camp and the boys can now probably tell some tales of their own. What happens at camp, stays at camp!

Saturday morning we decide which of the blinds to shoot and who is hunting which blinds. Blind selection depends on the weather that includes the wind, rain, sunshine, and the number of hunters. Some blinds can accommodate more hunters than others.

About 10 a.m., earlier if the limits have been taken, we pick up decoys and head to camp for a BIG lunch of hamburgers and French fries. Its time to watch the football games and nap by the fire, or if the limit was not taken, some hunters will go back out to Pintail Point for the afternoon hunt.

About 6 p.m., the boys fire up the fish fryers and we enjoy a meal of Illinois catfish which are as good as what we have in Arkansas. Of course, there are French fries, cold slaw, beans, and all the other goodies that go with a fish fry. The only exception, they don’t do hushpuppies.

After supper, the fire place is working overtime, the football games are going, and the story telling really gets serious. About 10 o’clock, its time for bed and lights out. A few stay up and finish a ball game.

Sunday morning comes early, usually its time change, and it takes several big cups of coffee to get the hunters moving. Again who hunts together and which blind are decided on and its down to the lake front to the boats. Cherry Circle uses large aluminum boats with 50-60hp motors. These boats can carry several people and are safe, even in rough weather.

Blinds are swapped around and the blind with the best shooting goes to the group that did not do as well the previous hunt. About 10 a.m., the hunt is over and we motor back to camp for a big lunch that generally is made of BBQ and fish that were left over from the suppers.

It is then time to pack up the gear, load the trucks, and get ready for that long six-hour drive back home. There are a lot of hand shakes and hugs with promise of hunts for next years. We are a tight knitted group of friends that have been together for a long time. We are more than friends, we are family! You have read of the classic trip to Cherry Circle and now I will tell of this trip. Don Brawley, Tyler Ginn, David Bailey and son Jake, Dr. Keith and baby duck Owen, and Papa Duck, all from Crittenden County, loaded two trucks to the brim and took off hunting. It’s a full six-hour drive.

We arrived at the Grainary about noon and it was time for the Loin Sandwich with onion rings that was not as good as at the County Line. About 1 p.m., Joe Hurwitz arrived and drove the 20 miles to Cherry Circle.

Ralph Hurwitz is the patriarch of the family and the camp. Raphie is 95 and I was with him when he shot two limits of ducks on his 90th birthday. He is still a great shot and a man to be looked up to. Joe is his son and we go back about 40 years when I first trained his dog. We became friends and have hunted together at his place and the 101 Club.

Joe has three sons: Jake, Henry, and Michael, and all the boys hunt. The hunting clan has grown bigger with Jake’s boy, Hudson, and Henry’s boy, Charlie.

We added Owen and Jake into mix and all about the same age. The kids really enjoyed the camp and probably shot 1,000 BBs.

Hudson shot his first real bird, a coot, and Jake got a full limit of ducks, plus a goose, A hunting camp is a great place to grow up. Dr.

Keith and the Hurwitz boys are good examples.

We caught the weather just right with temps in the 20s and clear. It had snowed 2 inches the day before we arrived. We had great hunts of mallards, gadwalls, pintails, and a few divers. There were many birds in their marsh and it thundered when they lifted off the water.

Hunts are not graded on the amount of game taken, but this time the ducks cooperated.

After the traditional lunch, we loaded up all the “stuff” we had brought and headed for Arkansas. There were many hugs and good wishes and it is hard to part with great friends. I was fortunate that Dr. Keith did the driving while I napped.

Monday morning was tough to get up.

Gun deer season starts this weekend with duck season starting the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Be sure to take that young hunter with you. We do on our hunts.

Lakeside Taxidermy does a good job at a reasonable rate with fast service. We put the young hunters first and that trophy is probably going to be ready to take home by Christmas. Send pictures and stories so we can all enjoy them. Papa Duck will try to catch up on the fishing next week I was busy hunting with the Baby Duck!

Papa Duck Lakeside Taxidermy 870-732-0455 or 901482-3430 jhcriner@hotmail.com