In an attempt to conquer his long time dreams, Tommy Ellis, recently crafted a bucket list. Tommy has every intention of checking this list off because as he recently learned, with a little help from your friends anything is possible.

Bucket lists, what a fun way to take a look at what you hope to do. I had been reading some from my friends and fellow bloggers and finally decided to do one of my own. At first it was going to be a tongue in cheek list just for fun but I thought people would want to know what my true hopes were. With each new entry I would start to see the trip, work out what it would take to make it happen and spend some time working it out on paper. A thought started to become a reality, a goal, something that with given time I could achieve.

I know many put down things that are and will be dreams which is the fun of a bucket list but I decided to keep mine within the realm possibility. I am pretty sure I won’t go into space, although that would be fun, or dive in the ocean to discover new life, so I left them out. Other things went in and luckily when some friends of mine read them they let me know that they could help make some of them happen. Here are a few of mine some of which I will check off soon:

• Reach double digits in deer one year (Tennessee has a huge limit, over 300)
• Take a 300+ lb hog with good cutters
• Take multiple hogs in one day
• Catch a sturgeon
• Catch a muskie
• Catch a pike
• Catch and release a big shark
• Make a 1000 yard shot with a muzzleloader
• Take a deer or hog with a muzzle loading pistol
• Catch a cobia
• Catch a big snook
• Catch a Giant grouper

I have a trip scheduled that hopefully will take care of the large hog and multiple hogs in one day. A friend found out about my list, so he is providing everything for me to see what we can get on a hog hunt. I also have standing invitations to several states to try for some of the other things on my list.

Maybe taking the time to write down what we hope to do is a way to start to make them happen. Someone reads it and says, “Hey, I had no idea you wanted to do that. I have a buddy that can set it up for you.” Or perhaps they might be able to do it themselves and share in your adventure which is what is happening to me. Now I will have the memories of doing what was a dream with the added bonus of a friend coming along.

A piece of paper, a pen, some time for thought and reflection can turn into amazing adventures  once they come together. The simple act of making your list can set things in motion to experience things other folks will only wish they had done. Jump from a plane, sail on the ocean, travel or catch that trout you always wanted to, make your list and then share it with others. You may be surprised to see where it takes you.

As a child, Laura Schara loved to join her father on his pheasant hunts and the memories she made on these adventures still serve as a few of her fondest ones. That’s why when presented with the opportunity to join her dad and sister on a pheasant trip to South Dakota; she couldn’t have been more excited.

My sister and I have spent many years following my dadthrough pheasant fields in South Dakota. As children, holidays meant family road trips to pheasant country, where the birds seem to flush out of the brush similar to pigeons in a New York City park. So when I got the call to put a weekend on the calendar for some pheasant hunting with my dad and sister in Chamberlain, South Dakota, it immediately was jotted down in permanent marker. This year however, was extra special, as my 8-year-old nephew, Jake, was tagging along.

Dennis Lynch was bite by the horse bug at an early age. He has never had a job that was not associated with horses – he gets to work outside, wear comfortable clothes and watch thousands of horses develop from foals to stallions. And in his opinion, there is no better life than this. In his latest post for Filson Life, Dennis looks back on a famous equine event that you won’t want to miss after reading this.

What makes runway models like Tyra Banks and Cindy Crawford so famous and sought after?  According to Google, requirements for a Runway Model include:

• At least 5’9”
• Slim Build
• Great Hair
• A magnificent complexion
• Straight White Teeth
• A Professional and Unique “Look”

Well, at the Kentucky Thoroughbred Yearling Sale on September 10, 2011, the requirements for success in terms of high selling price included:

• 15.2 hands at least
• Rocket ship body
• Hair Coat: “Slick as a Seal”
• Well Developed Muscle Condition
• Teeth- “No Parrot Mouth”
• “The Look of Eagles”

If anyone wants to experience an event more exciting, interesting and a helluva lot more fun than a fancy-schmancy fashion show in Milan, Paris or New York, come to a Thoroughbred Yearling Sale in Kentucky. It is here that you will find more than 4,300 Thoroughbred yearlings for sale.

Bring your Filson Travel Vest because you’re going to need all 20 something pockets! You’ll need pens, pencils, sunglasses, reading glasses, barn lists, consignors lists, catalogues, iPads, measuring sticks and a million other things.

Some of the best pedigreed equine athletes are spread out over 44 barns of beautiful rolling Kentucky bluegrass countryside.  There are hundreds of sellers, thousands of grooms, show people, farriers, horse chiropractors and even a few “horse whisperers.”

The characters you will find in the barn and sales arena rival anything in the fertile imagination of Damon Runyon.  Names like “Snake”, “Raggedy Ass Dilger”, “Smiley Pete”, “Indian Charlie”, “One-eyed-Pat”, “The Cornbread Mafia”, “Bad Cat Sweezey”, “Baby Head”, “Snitch Jr.” and The English gentleman Sir Robert Phillip Terence Collier (a.k.a. “Cocktail Clarence”) are just a few that will wander into your sights while just sitting on a bench watching the activity.

Billionaires, Heads of State, Arab Sheikhs, captains of industry and heiresses all intermingle trying to ply each other out of insider information concerning who’s the best horse in the barn and how much money you are thinking about spending.

You can communicate with the French, Germans, Koreans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, or South Americans if you can just talk “horse.”  Probably the biggest language barrier is with our UK friends, who have been doing this horse deal for a few hundred years longer than us Yanks but refuse to update the Queen’s English and change head collar to “halter,” “box” to “stall,” “yard” to “barn area,” a “bit of give to the ground” to “yielding turf” and “kidney blankets” to whatever they are. Yet whoever they may be, horses attract the world’s most fascinating people.

I don’t care if you have been around the world and to the Arkansas State Fair twice, because if you haven’t experienced a horse sale in Kentucky, “you ain’t never been nowhere and you ain’t never done nothing.”

Let me know if you’re coming and I’ll give you the “cook’s tour” and don’t forget your Filson travel vest– you’re going to need it!

It’s so nice to see Filson friend and guest blogger, Dennis Lynch, featured in equine pubs Paulick Report and Bloodhorse.

Photo Credit: Gregory Seligman

This photograph from long time Filson fan, Gregory Seligman, is quite simply perfect. Here’s his sentiment to the Tin Cloth Wildfowl hat.

I have been wearing this Tin Cloth Wildfowl hat for over ten years of hard hunting. This particular day was in the 20s with a nonstop wind that made it much colder than that. I apparently didn’t even feel the need to ‘open it up’ and wear it with full neck, ears, and partial face protection. The inside is ensconced in heavy Mackinaw wool that keeps your head warm in some crazy cold weather. And please listen to me here folks; I am as bald as a cue ball so I know what a great hat can do for you!

Photo Credit: Don Fenton

Photo Credit: Don Fenton

Photo Credit: Amy Terai

Our own Amy Terai tells her story of finding her way around the field with expert help from good friend, Scott Linden. She ended up with a few pheasants, a new confidence and special memories that she will never forget.

Bird Hunting has always fascinated me, especially the dogs involvement in the activity. A few

months ago, the only “bird” I was comfortable shooting was a clay pigeon. But that has all

changed…

A dear friend of ours, Scott Linden, invited me out for my first pheasant hunt at Double

Barrel Ranch in Rockford, WA.  I was fortunate to be

with a great group of guys from Happy Jack and TruckVault. The morning of my first hunt, I was a little intimidated and

didn’t know if I was ready to down a rooster. Scott and Ron, the owner of Double Barrel,

briefed me on safety and made me feel at ease that there wasn’t any pressure for me to

shoot a bird. They just wanted me to experience the hunt and enjoy my time in the field!

The minute we walked into the brush the Griffons we were hunting behind got really

birdie…tails were twisting like crazy. Twenty yards in, they went on point. I was in awe

of the natural hunting instinct of these dogs. The pheasant flushed and down went the

beautiful pheasant. I recollected my thoughts and realized I was ready to give it a

shot…literally. That day I shot a few roosters and I was completely giddy about it. After

a day in the field, the good people of Double Barrel Ranch celebrated my first kill with a

champagne toast that I will remember forever.

Photo Credit: Andy Lee

Photo Credit: Andy Lee

We’re excited to be featured in the men’s southern lifestyle guide Bearings.  In the article ”Filson in the Field,”  the gentlemen put our gear to work in the field.

There is so much new fangled hunting gear out there these days. High-tech gadgets and fancy apparel have flooded the market, and something has been lost in the shuffle. Hunting is a heritage sport, passed down from generation to generation; part of its appeal is the timeless and classic nature of it. This goes for the gear as well.

Making “tough, comfortable outdoor clothing for hunters and fishermen, engineers and explorers, mariners and miners,” the Filson company was originally formed in 1897 to serve the men of the Great Klondike Gold Rush. Because of this, founder C.C. Filson could only produce the very best – it was a matter of life and death for his customers.

As many of you know by now, Judith O’Keefe will never shy away from a fishing trip and we’re glad to hear that our products keep her adventure going, no matter how treacherous the terrain can get, much like in this following instance. Go Judith!

The water levels all over Southeastern Oregon look as if it is late spring rather than late fall. Streams and creeks, which are normally low or dry by now, are flowing at record levels. Because of the incredible water flow, it is only natural that we also have more of everything else: native and non-native plants, animals and birds. This is an incredible ecosystem, and I feel privileged to observe its cycles and seasons.  Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is one of the crown jewels of the National Wildlife Refuge System and is managed carefully to protect a vast complex of wetlands in the high desert. Common upland plants like sagebrush, greasewood and Great Basin wild rye provide forage for deer and antelope. They also offer nesting sites for duck, pheasants, thrashers and quail.

The refuge is open to upland bird hunters just a few weeks out of the season, and luckily for me, the day after Thanksgiving I was going out into this wonderland to hunt for rooster pheasants. The grey morning quickly turned into a bright and clear fall day; the air was crisp and clean, just the way we like it. The road out to “the favorite spot,” like most roads that take us to those magical places, was a combination of dirt and gravel, filled with its share of potholes and various obstructions. Getting there is half the fun, right? After opening and closing what seemed like a dozen gates, we’d finally arrived. I parked the pick-up, and as I closed the truck door a couple of hen pheasants flew off 50 yards away. I just knew this was going to be a great afternoon, but it was also clear our work was cut out for us. Water rushed through what should have been a dry creek bed, brush loomed over my head, and just one dog and three humans were here to cover all this ground.

The dog, the birds or the natural beauty all around, could easily have been the star of this show, but this time it was my Filson Women’s Shelter Cloth Brush Pants.  While I love all of my Filson clothing, to say I now have a special appreciation for my brush pants would be a gross understatement. They literally saved the day as I plowed through shoulder-high cattails, thistles and some wicked brush. I don’t want to sound like a lightweight, but without my brush pants I might have considered turning around.

So I’m going to save the rest of the story for another day. Suffice it to say, without the brush pants none of it would have happened. Thank you, Filson.

Several years ago my husband Verne and I decided to get into bird hunting. Within the first year, we quickly realized that without a dog, the birds you will find are few and far between. Now unfortunately we had a problem, Verne is allergic to dogs. Therefore, we had to find a hunting dog that didn’t shed. After some research we discovered The Irish Water Spaniel and a Seattle area breeder named Tim Ufkes who provided us with our dog Templeton comes from across the pond, but that is another story. Now that we had a dog we realized that when you have a dog, he or she can get into some pretty rough cover – so now we needed gear. We started with some oiled tin cloth chaps…and now we had a dog. We had birds, and we needed a place to put them – hence the vest…the list goes on, mackinaw coat, vest, pants. I guess we like Filson, great quality, super functional gear.

Rachel Condon of Calpine, CA has been wearing her Filson wool cruiser for over 15 years now. This is because whether she is volunteering for her local Fire Department, horseback riding, logging, hiking or on a pack trip with her donkeys, Rachel knows that her wool cruiser won’t fail her. Thanks for sharing your experience with our gear, Rachel!

I’ve been using my Filson wool cruiser every winter for 15 years while working in the woods. It has outlasted every other piece of winter gear I own and is still in excellent condition, despite constant use in rough conditions. It still holds a great deal of warmth, has no holes or fraying, the color (red) looks good as new and by the way I do not dry clean it, I wash it! A little knowledge of how to properly wash wool is all you need- cold wash on delicate- soak if you are worried about stains, a little bit of vinegar in the rinse water, and air dry (place horizontal on a rack.) There you go no need to drive to the dry cleaners. Definitely one of the best purchases I have ever made!

Photo Credit:David McClelland

Photo credit: Kristen Monroe

For every hunter out there, nothing can relate to the excitement and the memories made during that first hunt. For Kristen Monroe, her first duck hunt was certainly no exception to this well known fact. Plus to make this hunt even more unforgettable, she got to share it with some of the guys from Ducks Unlimited.

As 2011 comes to an end, many of us give thanks and reflect on the past. For us hunters, every hunting experience is special for different reasons. There is one particular hunt that comes to mind that I am especially thankful for; my first duck hunt. Not just because of the beautiful pintail drake I took home, but for the new friends and knowledge that was gained. Mike Checkett and Chris Jennings of Ducks Unlimited hosted the 3^rd annual Women’s Media Camp at Bay Flats Lodge in Seadrift, Texas. Understanding the relationship between conservation and hunting has always been important to me. Checkett and Jennings were the perfect teachers. 12 women including myself, walked away from this camp with a better understanding of duck hunting, an appreciation for the value of wetlands, and how Ducks Unlimited works to preserve and restore them.

Diehard water fowlers live for the smell of marsh; the passion for ducks is in their eyes. I couldn’t wait to find out what made duck hunting so exceptional. My hunting group included Jennings, veteran outdoor communicator Laurie Lee Dovey, and Bay Flats lodge guide David McClelland. It was exciting to hear the ducks from afar, and the anticipation of my first shot. Dovey, Jennings, and McClelland educated me about duck identification and the significance of it. Don’t ever shoot the wrong kind of duck; you can get in a lot of trouble. Watching flock maneuvers can be helpful for identification; Pintails, mallards, and wigeon form loose groups while teals and shovelers usually fly in close bunches. Expert duck hunters are amazing; they also identify the duck by listening to their wing beat and call. Did you know not all ducks quack? Ducks also whistle, grunt, or squeal. Although Dovey has been in the outdoors industry for decades we shared the moment of shooting our first ducks together. All we had to do was combine shotgun skills, and a little tenacity. A lot of questions were answered that day sitting in the costal marsh blind.

Jennings explained the importance of the healthy wetlands, Ducks Unlimited works year round to protect. Wetlands are the key to keeping the wildlife abundant and crucial for a healthy living environment for people. They help purify the water by removing nitrogen and phosphorus along with any toxic chemicals that may exist. Marshlands are home to more than 900 wildlife species and they also help control soil erosion and subduing floods.

There is nothing comparable to hunting with likeminded individuals and swapping stories for a few days. Ducks Unlimited managed to evoke the love for waterfowl and wetlands in many women media members that didn’t already have it. In 1937, a small group of sportsman started a group with a single mission, habitat conservation. To this day 12 million acres of the most critical habitat for waterfowl has been conserved and restored. Congratulations for becoming one of the most effective conservation groups in the world Ducks Unlimited and Happy 75^th anniversary!