When the ESPN Great Outdoor Games retriever trials get underway, a gold medal will be won in the rolling hills of Milford Hill Hunt Club. And long after the Great Outdoor Games are over the hunt club will still be serving up golden opportunities for sportsmen.

In just a few days, retrievers will be running through the same areas that sportsmen traditionally utilize to hunt pheasants, chucker, and quail, shoot sporting clays, and train their dog.

The land that Milford Hills Hunt Club sits on has been in the Mark's family for almost 40 years. The land was farmed in the past, but now the entire club is devoted to hunting, sporting clays, and corporate events.

	The five-stand set-up.

The club is a family affair with brothers, Lloyd and Dan Marks being the sole owners. Lloyd and Dan's father originally bought the land and farm from an uncle in the 1980's and the two, thirty something brothers bought out their father in 1996. This, is how the Milford Hills Hunt Club was started.

The clubs mission statement is to "provide the optimum outdoor sporting experience for the discerning sportsman ". This statement explains that the Marks' goal is to provide its members with as nice a facility as possible with top notch hunting and shooting plus many amenities other clubs just don't have. Members and guests can take advantage of the bar and grill which feature drinks, appetizers, sandwiches, and an ever changing dinner menu.

Their fully stocked Pro Shop features guns, shells, clothing, and outdoor gear for you and your dog. Milford Hills also has a locker room, gun cleaning facility, and a mudroom and dog wash area.

The 4,300 square foot clubhouse features a fieldstone fireplace, hickory floors, and a pine ceiling that give the hunt club an atmosphere all hunters and shooters will enjoy and admire. The Marks brothers decided that their niche in today's competitive market is catering to corporations and businesses. They have been working hard at making Milford Hills a year-round facility. Company picnics, weddings, banquets, and special events are what Dan and Lloyd Marks hope to base the Milford Hills Hunt Club future on.

	Lloyd Marks

In the never-ending pursuit of satisfying your members, the Mark's are always working on improving the club and having something for all their sportsmen. When I visited Milford Hills last week, they were in the process of adding a deck behind the clubhouse overlooking the beautiful Jefferson County scenery. And have added an addition to the kitchen which their mother, Carol runs while overseeing the food operation.

The club also has a fully automatic Sporting Clays Course that includes stations which encircle a pond (there are five ponds on the grounds) and four towers with a varied terrain. This course is both challenging and addicting.

For those who enjoy competition, Milford Hills has both summer and winter Sporting Clay Leagues. Shooting lessons are available for the beginner and the advanced shooter. Milford Hills Hunt Club can customize any outing to fit your needs with menu planning, bonfires, hayrides, sleigh rides, and fishing.

The Club has a stocked pond that is a great place to take your children for some fast action. The pond is over 20 feet deep and stocked with hybrid bluegills and largemouth bass. There are bass up to 5 pounds in the pond which is all catch and release.

One of the best parts of the Milford Hills Hunt Club is that it caters to the hunter who wants to hunt in as natural a setting as possible. Crops are never harvested at the Club and this gives the birds the best cover possible year-round. Switch grass, corn, and sorghum are planted and left standing in all nine 40-acre fields. Dogwood and native Wisconsin cover add to the planted crops. All the fields are all planted and maintained to give the pheasants, quail, and chuckers prime habitat and feed.

The brothers buy fully feathered flying birds from Oakridge Game Farm, that delivers birds every week during the hunting season. Last year, Milford Hills went through 20,000 pheasants and another 8,000 quail and chuckers.

Dogs (both pointers and flushers) and handlers are available at $90.00 per half day plus tip. Hunting hours are from 8 a.m. to noon and then from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. The club has over 200 members from Wisconsin and northern Illinois and is semi-private.

For more information contact Milford Hills Hunt Club at www.milfordhills.com, email at milfordhills@milfordhills.com, or call Lloyd and Dan Marks at (920) 699-2249.