Hunting & Heritage  |  09/03/2013

Bird Dogs, Big Walleyes and Bears at Driftwood Lodge


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Over the last few years, Pheasants Forever has been working with fishing and hunting lodges, guide services and outfitters all over the world to provide our chapters with discounted trips.  In turn, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever chapters raffle or auction these trips at banquets around the country in the hopes of raising a few more habitat bucks than they invested in the trip.

Since this trip program was created, no destination has helped raise more dollars for pheasant and quail habitat than Driftwood Lodge & Resort located on Minnesota’s Lake Kabetogama in beautiful Voyageurs National Park.  That’s quite a remarkable testimonial to the generosity of Driftwood managers Kent & Dawn Keeler.

This 24-inch walleye was one of just many angling highlights on Lake Kabetogama.

This 24-inch walleye was one of just many angling highlights on Lake Kabetogama.

This past winter, I booked my family’s summer vacation with Driftwood to experience the world-class fishing and beautiful setting for myself.  That vacation finally took place last month for my parents, my wife’s folks, Meredith, me and “Trammell,” the older of my two German shorthaired pointers (some of the cabins are dog-friendly).  Let me tell you, Driftwood lived up to the hype!

During our week’s stay, we booked two guided walleye outings and rented a second boat to handle all the tackle I brought north.  Our fishing efforts produced enough walleyes for three fish fries and plenty of frozen fillets to last till ice fishing season.  We also enjoyed battling smallmouth bass and northern pike.  In fact, one of our lodge neighbors boated a monster 46-inch pike on the first day of our stay.  As you can tell by the pictures, we enjoyed the beautiful sunsets, fishing action and family fun.

In addition to world class fishing, Driftwood lodge also provides guided bear hunting during early September.  Autumn visitors can also find abundant ruffed grouse populations in the thousands of acres of public forests within a ten-mile drive of the resort.  Think about that northwoods cast and blast action; walleye fishing in the morning and ruffed grouse hunting all afternoon.

The following Pheasants Forever chapters have already booked a Driftwood trip for their autumn fundraiser banquet:

Chapter Banquet For Tickets Call
Dakota/Thurston Chapter, Nebraska (FISHING) Sept. 12th Doyle at 712.203.0484
Linn County, Iowa (FISHING) Sept. 13th Todd at 319.551.0045
Montcalm County, Michigan (FISHING) Sept. 21st Bob at 616.824.6569
Bon Homme, South Dakota (BEAR HUNT) Sept. 21st Chad at 605.661.5439
Story County, Iowa (FISHING & BEAR HUNT) Nov. 2nd Patrick at 515.229.5076
Mitchell County, Iowa (FISHING) Nov. 9th Milt at 641.326.1240

If you are interested in scoring one of these spectacular visits to paradise, please plan to attend one of these fun banquets this fall.  Otherwise, please contact Kent or Dawn at 218.875.3841 to book your own Driftwood Lodge stay.  And please let them know you appreciate their support of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever’s wildlife habitat conservation efforts.

NOTE: If you are a Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever chapter officer interested in adding one of these affordable trips to your banquet, please contact Jim Wooley at 641.774.2238 /jwooley@pheasantsforever.org to learn more about our trip fundraisers.

The Pointer is written by Bob St.Pierre, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s Vice President of Marketing.  Follow Bob on Twitter @BobStPierre and listen to Bob and Billy Hildebrand every Saturday morning on FAN Outdoors radio on KFAN FM100.3.