My name is Joe Lodel, unlike the rest of the staff from Intrepid Outdoors, I’m not from out West. I was born and raised in Two Rivers, Wisconsin where I grew up hunting whitetail deer, eastern turkeys, and a lot of duck and goose. Growing up next to beautiful lake Michigan, I also experienced a lot of fishing for King Salmon and Trout.
My passion though, is my family. I met my beautiful wife, Sandy, in upper Michigan one year while deer hunting. Sandy was accompanied by three outstanding girls; Jordan, Sarah and Kasey. All four ladies stole my heart. Before Sandy and I were not even a year into our marriage, the girls had asked if I would adopt them. They said they had always wanted to be a complete family. I was at a loss for words. You cannot imagine the feeling that ran through me when they asked me to be their dad.
To make a long story short, what was so cool was the girls desire to hunt and fish. Not only that, but they eat the stuff faster than we can harvest it!
One day, I was watching a hunting show with my middle daughter, Sarah, when there was an offer to stay at a youth camp for a week, just the child and a parent. All that was required was a written essay. Needless to say, Sarah wrote a heck of an essay and we ended up going to the camp where we met a lot of new people who we are now still friends with, such as; Mike Schmid, Bob Lott, Jim Sessions, Dean Taylor, and Jon Bloom.
Since then my family and I have been to the Solitude Ranch where my two oldest daughters, Jordan and Sarah, shot a pair of beautiful buck antelope, and my dad and I have shot two nice Merriam turkeys.
My dreams and passions are watching my family have fun doing what we all love to do. We plan on spending a lot more time out West, but, while we are here in Wisconsin, we will be attempting to video turkey, deer, and bear hunts.
Remember, passions and dreams mean a lot more when you have those you love around to share them with. I am a very blessed man and am proud to be a member of the Intrepid Outdoors Staff. |
