Genesis Lamp and USA Outback mix Business with Pleasure

Whenever you get the opportunity to mix business with pleasure- it’s a good thing. Genesis Lamp VP of Sales Mark Zukowski recently traveled with USA Outback host Denny Snyder to the turkey hunting heaven of Missouri to investigate the possibilities of expanding the long list of Genesis Lamp corporate customers- and hopefully tag a couple of long beards.

After meeting at Lambert International Airport, the first stop along the way would be the Bass Pro Shops retail store in St. Charles where Mark and I had the opportunity to speak with facilities maintenance manager Darin Johnson. The sheer number of retail lighting and specialty lighting required for a facility of that size is astounding. After you start to add up all of the ceiling fluorescent lights, sodium halides, spot lights and bulbs used for displays and showcases, it really makes you wonder just how many of the lights used are in fact energy efficient lights. The energy savings alone by switching to energy efficient lighting would cover the costs of quite a few turkey hunting trips to Missouri.

A little more than a stone’s throw away from Bass Pro Shops is the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa conveniently situated just off of I-70 along the scenic Missouri river. Re-lamping a retail store would seem like child’s play compared to illuminating the Ameristar casino facilities.

Located in historic St. Charles, Mo., Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles is a short drive from downtown St. Louis. The property features a 400-suite luxury hotel, a full service day spa, an indoor-outdoor pool, 22,000 square feet of state-of-the-art conference and meeting space, seven restaurants, 12 bars, a 130,000-square-foot casino and three entertainment venues. The 130,000-square-foot casino is decorated with ornate architectural details, lighting and stained-glass skylights. With more than 3,000 slot machines, 60 table games and a 19-table live poker room, the Ameristar is a far reach from the turn of the century cabin where we would be turkey hunting.

We arrived at the cabin just before nightfall and proceeded to unload our gear from my 2008 H3 Hummer. The inside of the vehicle looked like either a Bass Pro Shop retail store or a Cabela’s warehouse had exploded and it was all contained inside the Hummer. It is amazing just how much gear you THINK you need to kill a turkey. Between the two of us, we probably had a dozen different slate and box calls, “B” mobile decoys, enough 3D Seclusion camo for ten guys, a couple dozen different Butski mouth calls, guns, and enough Winchester and Federal ammo to wipe out all things gobbling in Missouri. You would think we were going to war- and we were- with the turkeys once again.

Several weeks earlier, Mark and I had come to Missouri to help out with the early youth turkey hunt capturing the opening day festivities for my outdoor television show USA Outback. We had a successful hunt with my shooter 12 year old Rebecca taking a nice long beard at first light. This time it was all about us. Mark has hunted the area for over 14 years and pointed us in the right direction to roost birds- thus ensuring us of a successful first day's hunt.

One of the best tips I can give the beginner turkey hunter is to let nature take its course. Missouri is abundant with coyotes and owls who(get it- who who- LOL)sing in unison enough to inspire any long beard on a limb to gobble and give up his location. After listening to over a dozen birds sound off just behind our camp, we were certain for some early morning turkey hunting action.

You would think that having a good connection with a lighting company that we would have sufficient lights for our stay. NOOOooooo- we get back to the cabin and sure enough the back porch 60 watt incandescent light bulb was burned out. To add insult to injury, we walk in to the kitchen to find a replacement bulb and sure enough- the overhead Circleline fluorescent over the kitchen cabinet was burned out as well. “You have got to be kidding me” I said looking in Mark’s direction. “Do you know where a guy can get a couple of light bulbs?”- knowing full well we were in the backwoods of Missouri and wireless service for the laptop to order lightbulbs at www.genesislamp.com. would be a few days away. Replacement bulbs would have to wait until our next trip because we didn’t want even the delivery guy to know about our turkey hunting hot spot.Long story short- both Mark and I tagged out opening day on a pair of long beards all captured on camera for a future episode of USA Outback. Not only did we tag toms, we also experienced some terrific fishing for crappies on Lake of the Ozarks and spoonbill fishing on the Osage river.

I look forward to returning to Missouri and our little turkey hunting heaven. One of the landowners where we were hunting is even building a new house equipped with Genesis Lamp energy efficient compact fluorescents to light things up for his guests.

What does all of this have to do with Genesis Lamp? It does not matter whether you are gambling at the Ameristar in the city limits of Saint Louis or hunting and fishing in the backwoods of Missouri, Genesis Lamp is there for all of your lighting needs. Contact Genesis Lamp at www.genesislamp.com. or call toll free at 1-800-685-5267.

Turkeys,12 Gauges and 12 year olds

USA Outback host Denny Snyder with 12 year old Rebecca
and 2009 opening day gobbler


Indianapolis, Indiana- To me, there is nothing more exciting than hearing the ol'kettle rattling of a boss tom gobbler at daylight. One of THE best places in the USA to hear just that is the heart of Missouri.

Myself and Genesis Lamp VP of Sales Mark Zukowski recently traveled to the "show me" state of Missouri to share our skills with a sibling pair of girls- only 12 and 14 years old- for the opener of the youth turkey season. If someone had not told me any different, you would swear these two girls were twenty year veterans.

After roosting birds the night before, the stage had been set for what we all hoped would be a successful hunt. One of the hardest things in the entire world to film for an outdoor television show is a turkey hunt. In most cases, there is a shooter, a caller and a cameraman who all must be in synch to avoid detection by the 270 degree turkey radar vision. In this case, my shooter would be 12 year old Rebecca - her sister Victoria would be hunting with my hunting partner Mark Zukowski of Genesis Lamp. Mark had hunted the area for over 14 years and pointed us in the right direction to pin-pointing gobblers at first daylight- thus ensuring us of a successful first day's hunt.

At only 5:35 am, the first long beard started gobbling- and then another - and another until we counted a total of six different birds we could potentially go after. A quick survey of the land had us setting up on the north face of an open field overlooking the valley where we thought the birds would fly down to at first light. A big cedar acted as Rebecca's backstop while I would call and film from just behind her location.

It wasn't long before a lone hen appeared to investigate who the other "hen" was making the commotion in her neck of the woods. The seductive purrs and clucks I made with a Butski diaphragm call in combination with a Knight and Hale slate had every bird in the valley fired up but she was the first to appear. At only a mere 10 feet away, the hen eyed up the strange bush that consisted of Rebecca and myself. Rebecca remained steadfast as the hen tried to catch the slightest movement from this odd conglomeration sitting at a stone's throw away. More than one hunter has joined the alarm putt club by getting busted by an alert hen. The entire sequence is all captured on camera for our new season of USA Outback TV.

It wasn't long before the hen was followed by a pair of jakes- one being quite a bit larger and trying his best to strut which eventually lead to his demise. At less than fifteen yards away, the pair of jakes strolled over to the decoys to make friends only to be introduced to some not so "friendly fire". The Browning 12 gauge roared, the bird was down and another 12 year old had a severe case of "permagrin".

Turkey hunting isn't fishing by any means but I think Rebecca is now "hooked for life" to the wonderful sport of turkey hunting. A picture is worth a thousand words.