Someone in Minnesota at this very moment -- perhaps lots of someones -- is thinking about chucking it all and buying a resort. Up north. Far from the madding crowds. And traffic. And hassle.
The Northwest Sportshow, which opens Wednesday at the Minneapolis Convention Center, is chock full of "someones" -- people who own resorts or outfitting businesses or guiding operations.
Every one of them has a story. Some might say the dream hasn't worked out quite like they planned. Others might say they've been tripped up by changes in game or fish populations or government regulations or unfortunate spells of weather.
But if they're at the Sportshow this week, they're still in business -- most of them happily so. Here are snapshot profiles of three:
Ron Shaleen
Owner, Wannafishorhunt and Ron's Taxidermy on Ash Lake, near Orr, Minn.
"I have three cabins that I rent by the day or week," Shaleen said. Ash Lake, he said, is relatively small at 875 acres. But it has all game fish except muskies. He rents pontoon boats to guests who need a boat or want to fish with their family or friends. "I've been going up to that area for 48 years," Shaleen said. "I bought the place in the 1970s. It's for people who want a remote, quiet location, with good fishing." Shaleen also guides bear, deer and grouse hunters out of his camp. Contact www.wannafishorhunt.net.
Ike Enns
Owner, with his wife, Liz, of Grass River Lodge, near Flin Flon, Manitoba
"I'm a pilot, my wife's a pilot, my son's a pilot and his wife is a pilot," Ike Enns said. "Each of us is also a certified airplane engineer." Enns and his wife live in Oklahoma but have been in the Canadian resort fly-in business since the 1960s. Grass River Lodge is a five-star American plan destination. "Last year our guests caught 248 walleyes between 28 and 43 inches," Enns said. Eight outpost camps are also operated. His son operates lodges in Saskatchewan. Contact www.grassriverlodge.com.
