Spoon River NAVHDA Chapter

I have been looking for a good place to train in the Decatur area and today I went to train at Big Oak just North of Lincolcn, IL.    I took my Dad along to shoot the birds and we had a great time.   They offer Pheasant, Chukar, and quail.  The prices on the website are a little high but was able to get a better deal for training when I talked to him on the phone.  This could be a good location for one of our spring training days.  Would save us Champaign and Decatur guys some drive time.    

Has anyone else tried this place out?  If so what did you think?

We are always looking for new places throughout the Chapter to hold training days. We have such a wide span of members that it will aid in people being able to get to a closer spot. And anytime a few people can meet together, it makes training more worthwhile and goals are set and accomplished more readily.

But in order for this to happen, someone has to step up. They must do the homework and make sure how much field is available for how many people. What permits are needed? How many people can attend? What birds are available at what price and who will secure them? Is there water available for water training. If no water then people will need to know, if there is water is it for duck search or just puppy retrieves?

Not alot of work but just this small amount will get people interested enough to set a date and show up.It does work. As proof Shae and Clint do this at Des Plaines area and we have had a couple of really good training days there. And people that were not able to attend Canton were able tto meet us at Des plains. Always good to meet with new people and train on new grounds!

I will try to get this information and see if we can get enough people interested for sometime this spring.

Just happened to be looking back through the posts and noticed this. I have hunted at Big Oak quite a bit. Around Lincoln it is know simply as "Conrady's" after the owners. I'm generally not impressed with the quality of birds and facilities, but it is a place to hunt that is nearby. My daughter won a PF hunt there this fall and we will head out there again.

In snow, the creek crossings are prone to ice over and are slippery. Come prepared with yak tracks or something similar. I've watched two of my friends fall. Given that one is firmly in middle age and the other in his 70's, it was pretty serious.

For what you are wanting to do, it may work out just fine.