A Different Perspective

Thoughts from the Field:
A Different Perspective

It’s time for a different vantage point. My name is Audra Leichleiter and Trent is my older, much wiser (for the most part) brother. I had the privilege of knowing Trent when he was just a little guy with dark blonde hair (and he had a lot of hair!). Oh the stories I could tell… but we can save those for another time. I’d like to share about my experiences in the field from the outside looking in.

I consider myself a hunter but I haven’t harvested an animal in several years. Lately I’ve been able to shoot the experiences with my camera instead, and it’s given me such a different perspective but I still get the same adrenaline rush as if I was holding a firearm.

When we were young, my brothers and I were raised in a hunting/fishing/camping family with labs our entire lives – black, chocolate, and yellow, we had them all. It wasn’t until around the late 90s that my dad brought home our first GSP. His name was Spot and he had the best personality. I always viewed our dogs as my friends, but Trent understood that these dogs had an even higher purpose for their lives. As we got older, Trent started getting dog training videos and he, along with my dad, would work with our dogs to train them how to flush and retrieve. We used to go pheasant hunting in the fields around our home but I never really paid close attention to the dogs’ performance, or the relationship Trent and my dad had with them until we were older. When he was in college, Trent took some friends and family pheasant hunting and I got to go along. He had recently started training his new dogs Duece and Benelli.

I noticed that this time when went hunting, Trent was more like a guide, than a big brother. He was teaching us how to properly walk the field, showing us what to look for and he was training these dogs how to do things I never knew dogs were even capable of. Trent was in college to become an elementary teacher. He was a collegiate wrestler, and had a part-time job and he STILL found time to spend in the outdoors for himself, and for these dogs. He’s such a phenomenal trainer and teacher. It’s one of his best gifts. But I was so surprised to see how he was able to take that gift and use it with dogs and humans. This was one of the first times I realized he started treating me more as a pupil, or a peer, than as his “annoying little sister.” Up until he left for college, we had a pretty typical sibling relationship. But now, I started to see a different side of him and realized all of these gifts God had given him. I started to see Trent the way others must have been seeing him his whole life- a hard-working, passionate guy who doesn’t let any kind of circumstance or excuse get in his way. If he has a dream, he follows it. He sets goals, accomplishes them, and keeps setting more. It’s not hard to see where I get my goal-driven mindset from.

Let’s fast forward to October 2020 when I had the pleasure and opportunity to spend a day at Pheasant Bonanza with my camera. I went on some hunts and shot action shots of the dogs, people, pheasants, and Trent as a guide. This wasn’t my first experience doing this, but it was my first time in a few years. I had forgotten what it was like watching my brother in the outdoors. He was in his element, relating to people, relating to the dogs, and treasuring every minute he spent outside. Trent was born to be in the outdoors and he was determined enough to make a successful career out of it. He has so many passions and it’s been such a blessing to be able to watch him pursue his passions from such a close proximity.

If it wasn’t for the parents we were blessed to be born with, and our grandparents, we wouldn’t have been raised to love and respect the outdoors the way we have been. Someone, somewhere up in our family tree decided they were going to hunt and fish. Some (or much) of it was because it was out of necessity to feed their family, but some of it may have been for sport too. Just as much as it takes someone to decide to become an outdoorswoman or outdoorsman, it also takes someone to continue being one and teaching their family how to hunt and fish. So many people do not have access to land, the equipment needed, the knowledge, or a mentor to teach them how to become an outdoors person. It falls on all of us to keep passing down this great lifestyle. This is much of why Trent created KAMO. I am just in awe of his determination and ability to combine his passions for sporting dogs and for outdoor mentorship.

KAMO is currently taking ongoing applications for outdoor mentorship “scholarships.” Please share them with anyone you know who might be interested in these outdoor opportunities! Click here for the KAMO Outdoor Mentorship.

One last KAMO plug- if you shop on Amazon, would you take a few minutes to add KAMO to your account on Amazon Smile? It’s the easiest way to help KAMO fundraise while you shop.

Thank you for letting me share a little bit from a different perspective. It’s been such a privilege watching my brother become the man he has become, having known him before he was the Pheasant Bonanza Managing Partner you know him to be.

Here are some of the updates at PB:

1.) The next European Hunt is Saturday, November 28th. Call 402-274-1765 to register!

2.) The next GDS is December 5th! Sign up by Thursday, December 3rd.

Trent always ends his blog posts with Words of Wisdom, so here are some favorite quotes of mine:

“…you are the author of your story.” – Lisa Nichols

“Someday is not on the calendar.” -Chris Hogan

“You don’t have to be great at something to start, but you have to start to be great at something.” – Zig Ziglar

“A goal without a plan is just a dream.” – Chris Hogan

Have a great week!

Audra Leichleiter

Tips for Waterfowl Hunting

Tips & Tricks from our waterfowl Guides

We are doing something a little different this week. One of my passions is waterfowl hunting. I don’t take time to do it as much as I would like but now that my boys are pestering me to go, I am going to have to schedule more hunts. We have sold quite a few waterfowl memberships this week. Our waterfowl memberships went down to $800 for a seat and there is no daily charge. You can bring youth at no extra charge and adult guests are $75/day if you want to bring your buddy along. We have a great group of guys joining this year and I have been down at the blind working this week. Our pro staff members Jason Christiansen & Andy Dunkle have been putting a lot of time in as well and we are excited for the season.

Below are the tips, tricks, and strategies to waterfowling from a couple of our waterfowl guides.

Jason Christiansen:

1. Weather changes/fronts: Many hunters get excited about hunting the day of the fronts or weather changes. Yes, I get it… they will move with cold, wind and snow/weather. Birds need water and fuel- if snow covers their food and freeze their water supply, they have to move. So when you get this weather north of you, everyone hunts the “hype day.” I would say the day before and the day after can be just as good. The day before, many times the birds will move ahead of the front and the day after you have trailing birds and birds that just arrived and need to feed and water after the travel. If the day after is a sunny blue bird sky, go try it.

2. Nature light and shadows- when you can use the sun light to your advantage: Just like us, waterfowl struggle to look right in to the sun, so if you can have the sun to your back, this is a double win- the birds can not see and you can hide in the shadows. If you can get a tree, bush, bale, bank, or whatever behind you to where no sun light is hitting you, you are as good as not even there!

3. Approach and landing spots: Watch birds and watch them in different winds and conditions. Think about how you want the birds to approach downwind or down current, and then think about what the birds are doing with the current weather conditions, location and how they are grouped up- small groups or larger. They need a place to land and that maybe behind or in front of your spread, set up with that in mind.

4. Call or do not call: I would say calling is your back up to your spread and your spot. If you are where the birds want to be and they are coming and making no noise, why call? Some people will call at every bird they see coming or going. Why? If you have birds coming to you from a distance and look to be set-up, let them come. Maybe, just maybe, give them a light quack or honk.

5. Hunting ice: If you have to hunt ice, look at the color of the ice and the breaks or openings. Birds want hard ice to land on and the do not like openings with jagged breaks around it.

6. Spinner placement: If I choose to use a spinner (although I have mixed feelings on these), I really struggle with having the spinner between me and the approach I have set-up for the birds. Birds will focus on the movement of the spinner and if you in the same line of sight there is a better chance they will see you. Put your landing zone and movement on either side of you or behind you.

7. Multiple callers: If there are going to be more than one person calling, do not mimic each other. It is best to have you and the others making different sounds at the same time than making the same sound at the same time.

Andy Dunkle:

1. Scouting, I would have to say, is the field or spot your hunting is one of the most important things to be mindful of. If you can, you want to be on the X. You should be under the flight of where the birds are going. Scouting can be how you make or break your hunt. Even if you’re hunting a pit blind hunting traffic birds, it still helps to scout out your birds to see how they are sitting in fields and loafing ponds. But hunting a traffic spot can be somewhat difficult.

2. The hide, in my opinion, even if your hunting the X and you’re not completely hidden. The birds will be out of there faster than you know. Natural vegetation out of the field or marsh your hunting is the best thing to hide with. The best thing to do while hiding blinds, is to over cover them. While coming in and out of blinds or layouts, you will knock your cover off and will not be hidden as well.

3. The decoys are very important to have- not only to look like a real bird, but you have to have your decoy spread look like a real flock. This comes from scouting the birds in your area and see if they are fairly spread out or packed in tight.

4. Calling, while you’re hunting where you scouted the birds out the night before. Your decoys are looking good and your blinds are hidden. You can ruin what seems to be a perfect set up by not sounding like a real flock of ducks and/or geese. This can happen by not calling quite enough or over-calling. You can learn how the birds are talking to one another by listening while you’re out scouting.

5. Calling the shot – one big thing I have learned over the years of hunting is not to second guess yourself on calling the shot. Almost 9 times out of 10, if you let them make one more pass, they usually drift off and not come into your decoys. I usually try to call the shot on the first or second pass the birds make if they are in good shooting range.

6. Your dog – having a good retriever is very crucial to most successful waterfowl hunts. Your dog will make retrieving your birds way easier and quite a bit faster than you doing the retrieving, and not to mention, you don’t get stuck out in the decoys while another flock of birds come in. You should try your best to teach your dog to be steady and not bolt when you come up to shoot. Dogs could get shot and killed or severely hurt by bolting. The other downside is that when your dog breaks before the birds are shot they will flare and make the shots harder.

7. Have a good time! You should always try to have a good time, even if the birds aren’t cooperating the way you would like. I personally enjoy every sunrise no matter what the outcome is. Another thing I love is watching mallards shine in the sun while they are swinging down into your decoys.

I really appreciate our Waterfowl Pro Staff and guide members. We didn’t get to interview all of them, but if you have any questions regarding our memberships or day hunts, please reach out. We are giving tours weekly until the season starts.

Here are some Updates at PB:

1.) Memberships are due September 1st! Click here to find out how you can become a member and what member benefits we offer including Waterfowl, Station Sponsors, and more!

2.) The Gun Dog Series is September 5th at 8am! Register by September 3rd.

3.) BOOK YOUR HUNT NOW, DATES ARE FILLING UP! Call 402-374-1765 to book!

4.) August 29th is our Member-Guest/Open House at Pheasant Bonanza! See Details in the flyer!

Words of Wisdom:

“Do not listen with the intent to reply but with the intent to understand.” – Unknown

“Be a good person but don’t waste time to prove it.” – Unknown

I hope you are working at your goals and putting in the work to get to your end work. As I have said before, I am a believer in accountability and if you have a small group with goals and a plan then you will push each other and call each other out when one is not putting in the “work”. I am doing well with my August challenge of 125 push ups, 125 sit ups, and 60 pull ups every day of the month. It’s crazy how much it is doing 60 pull ups, I usually do sets of 15 or 20 but when I started I was only doing sets of 5. It’s amazing what you have time for if you schedule it daily and have an accountability group checking in on you.

Are you “On Target”? Does your road map or plan match where you are wanting to go? Think about it and make the changes… you are the only one that can make it happen.

Best Regards,

Trent Leichleiter

Pheasant Bonanza
Managing Partner

Hunting Partner Conditioning

What does it take to get your hunting partner conditioned for season?

Is your hunting companion (dog) ready for the season? If not, the good news is you still have plenty of time. Unfortunately, a few of our dogs have a heat stroke each and every year at our club. We have had a few of our club dogs go down but often it’s either a member dog or a customer dog. Why? The short answer is “lack of preparation” and this isn’t always the case but it is the most common reason. Sometimes there is a low blood sugar issue or genetic issue such as EIC (Exercise Induced Collapse Syndrome) that causes a “healthy” dog to collapse. The EIC is the most common in Labrador Retrievers, Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Curly Coated Retrievers, and Boykin Spaniels.

What does it take to prevent a dog going down due to lack of preparation or conditioning?

1.) Don’t overfeed your hunting companion. Follow the dog food’s label and if your dog looks thick and doesn’t narrow toward their back end then back off on the amount of food and/or consult your veterinarian. If you have a difficult time keeping the weight off your dog then your dog may have a thyroid or metabolism issue. Your vet can do tests to make sure all is normal. I have noticed that owners feed their dogs more when they aren’t able to give them attention. A dog that is overweight is putting too much impact on joints and it’s a lot harder for them to run through cover, water, or whatever terrain you are hunting.

2.) Don’t skip the cardio & field preparation. We “road” our dogs with a UTV or four wheeler and we will often road them through thick grass so that they experience resistance and cardio. How much? Honestly a mile a day is not enough, especially close to season. Start out with short runs/walks and try to work up to 2-3 miles per day. Playing fetch, walking in a field, running, or roading all helps build up to the 2-3 miles per day. For upland if a hunter walks 2-3 miles, we’ve had dogs with gps run 10-14 which is almost 5 times as much as the hunter walks and that is a short 2-hour hunt.

3.) Don’t run a marathon. When the season starts, start with short hunts and try not to make your dog hunt a marathon the first time out. Remember, if you did not have your dog exercise in cover, water, hills, or in other terrain that you are hunting then your dog isn’t going to last as long as he/she did in training. If you have multiple dogs, trade them out and allow them to rest. A fresh dog is going to perform better and it makes for a better experience for them and you as a handler.

4.) Don’t get stressed and upset. Be patient. There isn’t anything worse than a dog handler losing his/her cool in the field. The best handlers don’t speak a lot to their dog except for praises. If you are frustrated with your dog’s output, getting mad and upset isn’t going to fix him/her. Often times the problem is YOU, yes YOU. Did you show your dog what success looks like? Did you properly train him/her? Did you put the reps and time in? I am a firm believer that more than half of the dogs issues or bad habits is because of the handler. We do 1 on 1 handler sessions every week and if it’s something that interests you, please reach out to us.

5.) Don’t forget to dry off after taking a dip. I have witnessed dogs going down after they dip in the water. This is most common with the thick-coated breeds such as Labradors, Chessies, or Goldens. Some coats are designed to serve as insulation and if you have a very hot dog and they jump in the water and then you put him/her in the kennel with extreme hot temperatures, it will bake them. Remember dogs can’t perspire which is why they pant. If your dog walks in the water and does’t submerge, that is because they are cooling off through their paws. They release heat through their paw pads and nose to regulate their body temperature and keep cool.

Here’s a brief story from approximately 10 years ago: I was guiding a member and his boys and their dog named “Rocket” which was a fox red lab started trailing behind. He was giving us all the signs to “stop” and put him away or end the hunt. His mouth was as wide open as it could be, his tongue was practically dragging on the ground and it was a hot early Fall day. We made the decision to try to finish the round we were on and boost our bagged bird numbers. We were about a 1/2 mile from the truck and we had very little water left. We were about to the end of the field and ready to turn back toward the truck and the member’s dog started swaggering and wobbling. I turned toward him and he dropped. At this time we were out of water and I did not have my first aid kit that I always carry now with rubbing alcohol, syrup packets, and much more. I quickly dug into the ground and scooped up cold dirt/soil and packed it under his shoulders, around his chest cavity, and on the top of his paws. Thankfully I had a radio and our kennel manager was there in minutes to pick him up and take him to our grooming room where we have cold floor, water, bath tub, & fans. We saved Rocket but he was minutes from dying on us. What I and our customer learned from this experience is when your dog gives you signs, DO NOT ignore them and be prepared no matter how inconvenient it is. Carry a first aid kit, ration your water, and remember…

a few extra birds is not worth your dog’s life.

Here are some of the updates at PB:

1.) Memberships are due September 1st! Click here to find out how you can become a member and what member benefits we offer including Waterfowl, Station Sponsors, and more!

2.) Mark your calendars! August 29th is our Member/Guest Appreciation Day at Pheasant Bonanza!

3.) September 5th is the first Gun Dog Series at 8am!

4.) August 29th-30th is our next Registered Shoot, the Season Warm-up from 9am-3pm.

5.) Our next Open Dining is coming up September 12th!

6.) Our first European Hunt, Saturday, Sept 26th!

Words of Wisdom:

“When life looks like it’s falling apart, it may just be falling in place.” – Unknown

“When I focus on what’s good, I have a good day.” – Unknown

What is your plan and what are your goals? If you don’t have a plan or goals you aren’t pushing yourself to be the best you can be. Make a plan, set goals, and better yourself each and everyday. I am a believer in accountability and if you have a small group with goals and a plan then you will push each other and call each other out when one is not putting in the work. I finished up my July challenge and I am now challenging myself by doing 125 push ups, 125 sit ups, and 60 pull ups every day of the month. It’s amazing what you have time for if you schedule it daily and have an accountability group checking in on you.

Are you On Target? Does your road map or plan match where you are wanting to go? Think about it and make the changes… you are the only one that can make it happen.

Best Regards,

Trent Leichleiter
Pheasant Bonanza
Managing Partner

PB Guide, Andy Leichleiter hunting with his dog, Lula.

Kruze Leichleiter training her dog.

PB Guide, Jason Christiansen posing for a photo with his dog.

Member/Guest Appreciation Day:

Thank you for your continued support of Pheasant Bonanza Hunt Club and Kennel. As you know, recent events have presented proverbial “road bumps” for our members and staff. However, our members have continued to support our facility and we are quite grateful.

At Pheasant Bonanza, we truly value our members! Not only do members receive discounts on all our offerings, but they also have exclusive use of our fishing pond and are able to schedule independent hunts. As part of our gratitude, Pheasant Bonanza would like to extend an offer. For each member that refers a new member in August 2020, the referring member and the referred member each receive 1 European Hunt (scheduled between September 1, 2020 and April 15, 2021) at half price. Additionally, for all those who renew their membership by August 20, 2020, a special membership appreciation day will take place on Saturday, August 29, 2020 from 12-5. Because we want to respect the importance of our members, we ask that guests be limited to 1 per member. Please call Sheri at 402-374-1765 or text/call Mary at 402-237-2424 to reserve your spot! While you are here, enjoy lunch on us, take in a round of sporting clays, check out the gun room, tour the grounds, or reserve that puppy you always wanted (we have a litter of GSP on the way).

Once again, thank you for your ongoing support. We are nothing without our wonderful membership base!

Sincerely,

Trent Leichleiter

Managing Partner

Dog Training & Hunting on Foot

I would like to take this opportunity to ask you for topics you’d like me to write about. Please e-mail me at trent@pheasantbonanza.com and I will add your input to my “Thoughts from the field” schedule. I’ve heard from a few of you about input and also that you appreciate the weekly “Thoughts from the field”.

We are about one month away from the start of our upland and waterfowl season. We are putting the finishing touches on our waterfowl lake habitat and prepping our upland fields for opener. With the opener right around the corner make sure your hunting partner is in shape and conditioned for the field. If you have time and the resources and want to train or condition on your own, remember you can use our training grounds if you are a member. If you don’t have time and want a refresher our price is $200 for a week tune up. I personally would recommend a 2-week tune up but any amount of time is beneficial. We also have 5 spots available in August for our Fly-way program (introductory class for beginner dogs). Please reach out to us at 402-374-1765 if you are interested in any of the mentioned programs.

Now let’s change the focus and talk about the Hunter… What are you doing to stay in shape or to get prepared for the season? If you were already working on your wellness then you should be good to go but for many and myself included it was easy to pack on the pounds and skip a few workouts during this pandemic. Thankfully I have an accountability group that pushes me but I definitely “slipped” this spring. With Covid times, there is a great solution to being active, socially distancing, and enjoying the great outdoors. Join our club and come hunt with us, we will not disappoint. If you are interested in upland, waterfowl, deer or turkey please reach out and we are more than willing to explain our services. Memberships begin September 1 but if you join now, we will honor the month of August.

Here are some of the updates at PB:

1.) Stryder/Stokes SH

-Lab Litter

-DOB: 6/29/20

-Ready to go home: 8/24/20

-$750 Limited Registration

-$950 Full Registration

2.) August 29th-30th is our next Registered Shoot, the Season Warm-up from 9am-3pm.

Mark your calendars for our first European Hunt, Saturday, Sept 26th! Our Gun Dog Series will be starting back up in September as well. Stay tuned for details!

3.) Memberships are due September 1st! Click here to find out how you can become a member and what member benefits we offer!

4.) We have extra sweet corn and PB Members come pick it for free! Please let us know if/when you’d like to come pick what you want/need!

5.) Coming soon: Member-Guest/Open House

Words of Wisdom:

“Do not listen with the intent to reply. But with the intent to understand.” – Unknown

“Not every day is good but there is something good in everyday.” – Unknown

What is your plan and what are your goals? If you don’t have a plan or goals you aren’t pushing yourself to be the best you can be. Make a plan, set goals and better yourself each and everyday. I am a believer in accountability and if you have a small group with goals and a plan then you will push each other and call each other out when one is not putting in the work. I am about done with my July challenge and I am going to level up for August. I have been committed to doing 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, and 50 pull ups every day of the month. It’s amazing what you have time for if you schedule it daily and have an accountability group checking in on you.

I hope you are “On Target” in all areas of your life. If you are not, what is it that you need to do to improve in a certain area? It’s okay to evaluate yourself, you’re not judging, you are constructively evaluating. We are all a working progress!

Best Regards,

Trent Leichleiter

Pheasant Bonanza’s Guides are ready to start the 2020-2021 Hunting Season!

What We Do in the Off-Season

I am very sorry I missed the email last week. My family had an unexpected issue come up that caught all of us by surprise. Many of our Kansas and Nebraska customers already know what I am talking about. My little brother, Tanner, had an amber alert go out as he took his two step-grandkids on a trip to Kansas. There are a lot of details to the story and it’s very complicated. I believe my brother’s intentions were good but the decision in how he went about it was not good. As many of you know, my brother Tanner worked for us part time for many years and came on full time in 2018-2019. In October 2019, Tanner took a different career path and is also owner and manager of the Tekamah motel in Tekamah, NE. I would like to ask that you all pray for Tanner and his wife Nora as they are both in custody.

Let’s lighten it up a little now. We get asked all the time, “Hunting season is over so what do you do now?” Our team, along with my family, celebrated the last day of the season with a little take-out and we recapped the season together. I prepped the team by telling them, “Yes, season is over but the real work now begins…” So what do we do now? Shur Shot Gamebirds and Pheasant Bonanza team up and do food plot management, waterfowl lake management, and habitat management for other customers. We will be working sun up to sun down every day it’s dry until the middle of June on projects. If we had the resources, we could keep one guy on a sprayer 10 hours a day 7 days a week just to stay ahead on spraying. It’s one of my favorite times because my boys help a lot and it allows me to bring back my farmer roots and tinker in the farming business. So far, we have burned a lot of our ground and we’ve helped quite a few land owners burn this year too. Our burn team was very busy burning over 1,500 acres. Let us know if you have any projects that you’d like us to look at. We will travel up to 1.5 hours away with our equipment but we will also travel anywhere in the world for consulting. This year we have had consulting jobs in Wyoming and Kansas and have taken our equipment as far as 15 miles south of Yutan, NE. Our partnered team also raises over 20,000 pheasants for other clubs, private stocking, or private hunts. We have 5,500 chicks in right now and the rest will be coming throughout the summer in 5 week increments.

Pheasant Bonanza offers so much in the off-season. Our lodge does not shut down and we keep our guides, trainers, chef and lodge staff on year-round. One of our focus areas in the non-peak or off-season is our open dining and lodge gatherings. Gatherings may consist of family reunions, birthday parties, bachelor parties, friend gatherings, or corporate meetings and team building events. We offer significant discounts during our non peak season. Another big part of our off-season is dog training. Our dog trainers are very busy throughout the spring and summer prepping client dogs for the fall and to be well mannered. Our guide dogs get walked by Chuck and they get to go out on birds a couple times during the week to keep them fresh. Closer to the season, we will start running them with an ATV/UTV for exercise. As I mentioned in my last email, as a member, you can train in the off-season, use our grounds, get a couple birds, and enjoy fresh air with your hunting companion. Lastly, we offer sporting clays, trap shooting, 5-stand, skeet, and this year we are going to run a short sporting clay league with a flurry integrated into the score. We didn’t do a league for quite a few years due to lack of interest but we thought with the COVID19 keeping everyone in, by the end of the summer we’d have more interest in a league. Leagues are a lot of fun and they include a free dinner to encourage camaraderie. We will be sending out reminders as we get closer.

Don’t forget we are open by appointment so if you’d like to schedule something give Sheri a call (402-374-1765). We have a lot of things we want to accomplish this year to make our services and facility better for this fall. Again, if you have any suggestions please let us know.

Here are a couple things I want to leave you with: Don’t celebrate the “busyness” and don’t compare your schedule to others. As my friend Wade Johannes always says, “Busy is NOT the end goal.”

COVID-19 has taught me that we need to step back, appreciate the important things in life, and enjoy life.

Here are some of the updates at PB:

1.) Checks will be going out to the winners of the Upland Challenge toward end of this week.

2.) May 16-17 is the Missouri River Registered Shoot at Pheasant Bonanza! Our first of the season! (9am-3pm)

3.) Scout-Betty puppies were born Monday night and Mike was up until 4:00am helping Betty deliver the puppies. There are 9 puppies! If you didn’t get a puppy reserved from the Scout-Tikka litter this is your chance to get on our list. This will be an excellent litter for hunting, trials, or just as companions.

Words of Wisdom:

“The best way out is always through.”- Robert Frost

“Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself.”- Theodore T. Hunger

How are your goals going? My goals are not being met as planned but I am still committed I am working on Progress vs. Perfection. The pastor (Andrew Anderson) at CBC church near Blair shared this with our congregation: Set goals in the 5F area. Faith, Family, Fitness, Future and Finances.

Have a safe and healthy week!

Trent Leichleiter

Managing Partner

Pheasant Bonanza

Prepping for Next Season

Prepping for Next Season-

Season is over and preparation for next season started today! I would really like to hear from any of you if you have suggestions for us to make our services and products better. This morning one of my “appreciations” was honest and loyal customers. If you have input, I want to hear it so we can better Pheasant Bonanza.

I should be in the skid loader as I’m typing this and in the past I would have skipped this and been going sun up to sun down (or later) working. Instead I have Jager (my oldest son) in the skid loader and I am able to do more. I used to be worried about what everyone thought about me allowing my kids to operate machinery at such a young age but I don’t anymore. I was brought up operating at a very young age and I am teaching my children to do the same. I am so fortunate to be able to have my kids come to work with me and learn the trades at such a young age. I’m so blessed to be in the situation I am in and doing what I love. I challenge each and every one of you to think about the positives that come with your job. If you can’t think of anything, remember you aren’t stuck! You may feel stuck but that is your mind winning over, you can change your story and sometimes it feels like you’re jumping off of a cliff. If you “just do it” you won’t have to wonder “what if”, “I should have”, or “I would have”. Blah, Blah, Blah! If you want change, CHANGE! It really is that simple, you are the author of your story.

At Pheasant Bonanza we have been working on burns, tree/shrub management, and we have started preparing food plots. We are very excited to make our grounds better for next fall. Don’t forget we will keep some grounds set aside for dog training. You can train with chukar, pigeons, quail, or hens. (See below for NE regulations). The best thing you can do in off season is keep your bird dog crisp and putting birds under them a few times in the off season is VERY beneficial. If you have questions or need help, let us know. We are willing to help!

Dog Training Regulations:

Please be aware of the following regulations when training your dog:

For each dog involved in a session, no more than two hen pheasants and five quail may be harvested. (Chukar and pigeons have no limitations)
It is permitted on private land, provided landowner permission is obtained and dog training rules are followed.
It is unlawful for anyone to exercise, run, train, or hunt with dogs on state wildlife management areas during the period from May 1 through July 31 of each year, except on areas designated and specifically posted with “Authorized Dog Training Area” signs.
Training or exercising dogs on areas designated and posted as a “Dog Trial Area” is prohibited; such areas are restricted for field trial use only.
All game birds released for training purposes must be obtained from a captive wildlife permit holder or licensed nonresident breeder, and must be banded by the trainer or seller with official bands authorized by Game and Parks. Any person who purchases game birds from a captive wildlife permit holder or licensed nonresident breeder shall have in his or her possession a sales tag/receipt from the permit holder listing the date, species and number of birds purchased.
Game birds obtained for dog training may be kept in captivity without a captive wildlife permit for a period not to exceed 14 days following date of purchase or receipt.

Here are some of the updates at PB:

1.) The Upland Challenge Results:

1st place: Pete Schuelke’s team | Payout: $600.00

2nd place: Terry Bisgard’s team | Payout: $360.00

3rd place: Jeff Tryon’s team | Payout: $240.00

2.) May 16-17 is the Missouri River Registered Shoot! Our first of the season! (9am-3pm)

3.) Our current litters are sold out BUT we have more Upcoming litters coming soon- stay tuned for more litters.

Words of Wisdom:

“Always Do What You Are Afraid To Do” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail”- Charles Kettering

It’s not too late: How is your goal setting going? Set Goals! I personally set goals for each quarter so I am getting started on my 2nd quarter goals. The pastor (Andrew Anderson) at Country Bible Church near Blair shared this with our congregation and I really like it. Set goals in the 5F area. Faith, Family, Fitness, Future and Finances. Make sure you are making measurable goals that you measure in the end. Example: Lose weight and get healthier… That’s great but what are you going to do and what input goals do you need to put in place to accomplish that. Rather it would be better to set a goal to walk/run (cardio) for a minimum of 5 hours per week.

Sincerely,

Trent Leichleiter

Managing Partner

Dog Training

It’s been another challenging week but thankfully we have had a lot of members come to see us and use our services. We are being very careful with our common areas, practicing social distancing, and making sure we protect your health as well as our team’s health.

As I type this up, there are a couple words I am tired of hearing…. COVID 19 and SOCIAL DISTANCING. We need to be smart but I am tired of all the negativity. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very serious issue and everyone’s health is very important. I have the attitude that I am killing negativity with positivity. Each day when I wake up I appreciate five things. When you start your day off being positive I have noticed I show up better at work, with family, and when visiting with customers.

Personally, I am not going to dwell on the negative effects of this virus. My five positive appreciations today are:
1.) Family time- I have been able to spend more time with my family getting away from the “busyness” of life.
2.) We are able to still operate and provide a service that encourages “social distancing”. We aren’t able to host our larger corporate groups but we have been blessed to host a lot of our members and provide them a place to get outdoors, exercise, and enjoy Mother Nature.
3.) Accountability- I have a few accountability groups that I report to daily and being an athlete for 20 years of my life has taught me to welcome accountability in all areas of my life.
4.) I appreciate the Owner of PB Lynden Tennison- along with hundreds of thousands of other business managers, I am carrying a lot of weight and I appreciate the way Lynden is handling this trying time. Lynden could have had me shut the doors and minimize all additional expenses but instead he wants to keep operating and keep pressing forward.
5.) Our PB Staff- I appreciate my staff and my family often in my daily appreciations. Without the staff, we wouldn’t be the great place PB is. They do a lot to go above and beyond to accomplish that. Operating during this time requires a lot of extra cleanliness, off the clock hours, and extra positivity. Our staff has been very positive during this tough time and I’m very thankful for them!

I wanted to touch a little on dog training. Now is the perfect time to get your dog trained! We offer gun dog training, obedience training, and socialization. My children wanted to do a quick commercial for their socialization. See the video here.

I need to teach the kids a little more about the commands and consistency but they have truly loved being at home and they are socializing dogs daily as part of their homeschooling. If you have any interest in having our professional dog trainers, Chris and Chuck, train your companion, please reach out as soon as possible as we have just a few spots left for April-May. Training is defined as, “the action of teaching a person or animal a particular skill or type of behavior.” Repetition and consistency is very important in training. If your dog is not responding well to training, 90% of the time, it’s the trainer. Dogs learn and respond differently than humans- they don’t reason as well as humans so it’s very important that you are consistent and provide ample repetitions for a behavior or action. When training dogs, it only takes around 100 repetitions to make a fresh habit but around 800-1,000 reps to break a bad habit, so it’s important do it right the first time.

Here are some of the updates at PB:

1.) The specials are in your favor and we are doing what we can to finish our season. We are offering 30% off guided half day hunts & overnight hunt packages.

2.) The “Upland Challenge” is a perfect way to end the upland season and if you pencil it out, it’s cheaper than any hunt we offer. You don’t have to have 5 shooters- you can hunt with one or two if you desire. So far the teams that have tried it have had great experiences. I can’t give you the results but there isn’t anyone “perfect” yet. Ha ha!

3.) We are taking precautions for the spread of this virus. If you are getting stir crazy and tired of being indoors, book an outing with us. If you don’t feel comfortable coming into our office, we can do everything outside and you can have very little or no exposure to people. We can customize and we will help you have a successful outdoor outing and get a good dose of fresh air and exercise. Call Sheri at 402.374.1765 or email office@pheasantbonanza.com.

4.) Our “Social Distancing European Hunts” are April 4th, and April 11th. We will not be meeting inside for this and lunches will be “carry-out”. All paperwork can be done outside and you can still enjoy the events. These Euros are going to be large releases as we have extra birds to use up. SPECIAL: Buy 4 get 2 free if you want to bring your whole family!

5.) The finals for the GDS (Gun Dog Series) is this weekend (April 4th) and if you did not enter twice throughout regular season you can still buy into the tournament. This is the finals and there will be a CASH prize. We are looking forward to seeing who ends the season as our GDS champions! Chukar will be used for this finals tournament.

Words of Wisdom:

“If you don’t have goals, you are just coasting!”

Set Goals! I personally set goals for each quarter so I am getting started on my 2nd quarter goals. The pastor (Andrew Anderson) at Country Bible Church near Blair, NE shared this with our congregation and I really like it: Set goals in the 5F area. Faith, Family, Fitness, Future and Finances. Make sure you are making measurable goals that you measure in the end. Example: Lose weight and get healthier…. That’s a great goal but write down what are you going to do and what input goals you need to put in place to accomplish that goal. Rather it would be better to set a goal to walk/run (cardio) for a minimum of 5 hours per week.

Until next week, stay healthy and positive and we will all get through this together!

Trent Leichleiter

Managing Partner

Jager, Kruze, & Bryx pose with their dog training partners (Dallas, Bambi, & Angel).

Professional Trainer, Chuck Bohlin

Professional Trainer, Chris Bogacz

Hosted Hunts

It’s been a challenging week to say the least. Every day is changing with the coronavirus. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the media and all the negativity. I understand its seriousness and it’s hard to see any positive out of this crisis. This has been extremely tough on our business and we are doing what we can to accommodate the customers still willing to come out. A lot of our corporate customers don’t have the option as they are on a company wide travel ban. We are offering to meet guests outside, pay over the phone, and respecting requests. Thankfully upland hunting qualifies for social distancing. Please let us know if we can book anything for you, we can hunt upland birds until April 15^th.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I wanted to discuss more about the Texas Crane & Goose hunt that we went on this past January. Click on the video link to watch the highlight film. Our video guy (Cody from Southern Beardsman) did a great job with the footage he was provided. I was only able to provide him footage from my Go Pro, Garmin Virbs, and my iPhone. We as a Pheasant Bonanza Team, are going to provide our guests with more off-site hunts and one we are featuring this fall/winter is a Texas Crane hunt with Cash Parrish. If you have not had a chance to hunt Sandhill Crane, you are in for a treat.

These hunts start in November and go into January and we’d love to host a few if we have the interest. The PB guides who went with this year were Trent Leichleiter, Troy Wakefield, Brian Frost, Paul Carrier, Brad Schavee, John Hundahl and our good customer Dennis Fenderson. I invited a few more guides and customers but work family commitments kept them home. If you have any questions or want references, any of the guys that went on the trip will be happy to tell you about their experience with the hunt and with Cash. The hunting trips are typically 4-5 days consisting of crane hunting 2 days, and lesser goose & snow goose hunting 1 day. We drove down day 1, hunted days 2, 3, and 4 and drove back after the hunt on day 4. If you flew to Texas, naturally you’d have less travel.

The hunts are not fancy but Cash knows how to put on a show. We ended up staying in Plainview, Texas but the hunts are also in Amarillo and Midland. Cash likes to make a plan but depending on where the cranes are depends on where you will end up staying and hunting. If your fortunate to hunt around Midland, you might get an opportunity to hunt blue quail on 1 afternoon. This is something I am really looking forward to in the future. Many people have asked where you stay, eat, and what do you hunt out of? You would stay at a local hotel, eat at local eateries, and hunt out of A-frame blinds. Folding chairs are used for cranes and lay down field blinds and white suits are used for the goose hunts. Is it fancy? No, but it’s worth every penny. These hunts are very reasonably priced as we just did the 3 day hunt for $1,600/person including travel expenses. We’d prefer to book groups consisting of 4-8 hunters. If you have any interest in booking one of these hunts please let me (Trent) know as soon as possible.

Here are some of the updates at PB:

1.) Our specials are in your favor and we have to do what we can to finish our season. We are offering 30% off guided half day hunts & overnight hunt packages. We are offering a Euro special for the April 4 and 11 Euro if you buy 4 at the $199 price you get 2 FREE and they are already discounted to $199/person including a carry-out boxed lunch. Last but not least, we are offering a member release promotion and if you buy 10 or more birds we will release an extra 50% FREE so if you order 10 you get 15, if you order 20 you get 30. This promotion is for Chukar and Pheasants. Membership discounts will still apply! Help us finish out our season and practice social distancing.

2.) The “Upland Challenge” is a perfect way to end the upland season and if you pencil it out, it’s cheaper than any hunt we offer. You don’t have to have 5 shooters- you can hunt with one or two if you desire. So far the teams that have tried it have had great experiences. I still can’t give you the results but there isn’t anyone “perfect” yet!

3.) The coronavirus is causing a lot of cancellations so we have plenty of openings. We are taking precautions for the spread of this virus. If you are getting stir crazy and tired of being cooped up, book an outing with us. If you don’t feel comfortable coming into our office, we can do everything outside and you can have very little or 0 exposure to people. We can customize and we will help you have a successful outdoor outing and get a good dose of fresh air and exercise. Call Sheri at 402.374.1765 or email office@pheasantbonanza.com.

4.) Our European hunts are March 28, April 4, and April 11. (We will not be meeting inside for this and lunches will be carry-out.) All paperwork can be done outside and you can still enjoy the events. These Euros are going to be large releases as we many birds to use up.

5.) The finals for the GDS (Gun Dog Series) is April 4th and if you did not enter twice throughout regular season you can buy into the tournament. This is the finals and there will be CASH prize. Looking forward to seeing who ends the season as our GDS champions! Chukar will be used for this finals tournament.

6.) For dining parties of 10 or less, we are offering Carry-Out! Call 402.374.1765 for menu and pricing!

Words of Wisdom:

“Optimism is the ability to focus on where we’re going, not where we’re coming from.” -Simon Sinek

Quick Reflection: What is your “WHY”? What is it that inspires you, gets you up every morning, and gives you the reason to do what you do? Your “WHY” may change throughout your life but just take a moment and reflect on your “WHY”. If you don’t know or don’t have one, I strongly encourage you to define it and write it down.

Trent Leichleiter

402.374.1765
trent@pheasantbonanza.com

Trent Leichleiter

Category Archives: Hunting

A Different Perspective

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Tips for Waterfowl Hunting

Tips & Tricks from our waterfowl Guides

Jason Christiansen:

Andy Dunkle:

Hunting Partner Conditioning

Dog Training & Hunting on Foot

Dog Training & Hunting on Foot

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What We Do in the Off-Season

Prepping for Next Season

Prepping for Next Season

Dog Training

Dog Training

Hosted Hunts

Hosted Hunts

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