About Us


		Forecast Radar Cameras Photos




	“My Niece and I about to hit the Water”

	Founder/Owner Michael Popham


My passion for the outdoors started for me at a young age. In fact my earliest memory of the outdoors was fishing the banks of a local lake catching Crappies with some line, a hook, some worms and minnows. I can still see my Father running back and forth helping us kids with the removing of the fish from the hooks. At such a young age I could have sworn that the number of fish swimming on that rocky bank reached into the thousands (Dad, your still the coolest).

	I was eventually granted the freedom to ride my bike down to the Rock River a couple of blocks away, with my best friends from across the street. We would collect some worms the night before and if we didn't have much luck with that, we would sneak a can of corn from Mom's cupboard for the Carp and make some peanut butter dough balls in hopes to land a Channel Cat. Who would have known that would have lead to the lure of the Lunker I feel today.

I moved to Western Wisconsin after high school in the summer of 88’ where I was introduced to deer hunting. I have never been, nor will be the same again (Ed and Scott, I can never repay you). With the help of some new friends I met along the way, I was pointed in the direction of archery. I couldn’t have imagined the sense of peacefulness one could reach while sitting in a tree stand or the sudden adrenaline rush, which I still get today, when I see a deer from afar. Whenever I hear someone say “I just don’t have the time to dedicate to bow hunting that it requires”, I think to myself, “You have no idea what you are missing and you must be that person who needs it the most”. It has definitely changed me.

Now, every free minute I get from that famous “honey-do list” is spent on the water, sitting in a tree or trying to figure out how I can be. So, I decided it was finally time to move forward with something I have been thinking about for sometime now. A place where a Outdoorsman can chat occasionally with buddies and ignore distance between them, maybe catch up on some gossip or read an article, get the inside track on some new product or even plan a hunting or fishing adventure together. “You name it”, I thought, the sky was the limit.


	Welcome to my place www.LegendsofNorthAmerica.com.

	Thank you for visiting and I’ll catch you outdoors,

	Michael Popham, Legends of North America

	MPopham@LegendsofNorthAmerica.com

	Hello, my name is Rick Vojtik. I felt very proud when I was asked to be a part of the pro-staff for Legends of North America. I think this site is going to be a great place to share your adventures. With the world becoming such a busy place, there is a need to make the most of the short amount of time we have and enjoy the outdoors. We need to be able to pass the hunting and fishing traditions down to the next generations. I feel where this site is headed, it is going to be able to help make the most of all of our time, plus find ways to pass on those traditions, and give us all another place to go when we want to get away, but just can’t.




		Pro-Staff Member Rick Vojtik

Being an avid Sportsman, I love all aspects of the outdoors. Being born and raised in Wisconsin only added to my obsession. Hearing the call of civic duty, I completed a tour with U.S. Air force. Since then everything I do is done to the extreme.

I spent many summers and countless hours tossing baits and chasing that 50 inch Musky and finally landed one totaling 54 inches. My next big quest involved man’s best friend. I started breeding and training competition hunting dogs. After reaching a prize pack to the size of 18. I was newly married with one child and another on the way. It was time to spend more time with the family. So I found homes for all, except my favorite. She was a Grand Night Champion, Grand Treeing Champion, Grand Squirrel Champion, and a Bench Champion (do to over eating with me at the table, she was never able to reach Grand Bench Champion).

It wouldn’t take long for my one true passion in life to take over. I had already shot many Pope & Young class bucks and I started talking to my wife about breeding deer. It didn’t take long before I convinced her to put up a small ½ acre pen in attempts to see just how big of a buck I could grow. Yes there would be chores, but I needed to assure her it wouldn’t take away from spending quality time with the family. I started off by buying two bred does. The following season I had to buy a breeder buck and new pens had to be put up for separation purposes. I did all of this while doing my regular job for a large manufacture. On top of that I started climbing the rungs of management.

In the spring of 2005 I started a hunting preserve operation called American Adventures Ranch, LLC. I conducted one hunt my first year, reached 20 the second year, and a little over 100 hunts in my third year. The business has grown enough to hire one full time guide and a couple of part time guides. We now have over 300 deer with and additional 200+ fawns due in the spring of 2008. Currently my ½ acre breeding pen, has grown to over 20 acres sectioned off for breeding alone and over 160 acres fenced for hunting. In 2007 we harvested 7 bucks over 200” and the largest scoring over 250”. In the fall of 2009 I will be opening my second preserve. My goal with the preserve is to be able to offer top of the line hunts at prices that most people can afford. The way I operate is to be fair and honest. I give people what they expect and don’t hide anything.

I still work full-time as a Plant Manager for that large manufacturer with about 400 workers working for me. I have worked at that facility for over 20 years now.

After all of this, I still strive to be a loving Husband and a proud Father of 5.

Thank you for reading my Bio and please take the time to visit my website and specifically the photo gallery at www.adventuresranch.com. We update the gallery daily during the regular hunting season.

Rick Vojtik, American Adventures Ranch, LLC




	Pro-Staff Member Andrew Popham

Hello, my name is Andrew Popham. I was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois which is located on the Illinois and Wisconsin boarder. I started fishing at a very young age. If I had to guess, I would say I was around the age of 10. While my parents worked, my Grandmother would take me to a small inlet off the Rock River to fish many times throughout the summer months. It involved a lot of pan fishing with a bobber and some worms, but that didn’t matter much to me at such a young age. I was more then happy just being out there fishing and made me look forward to spending more time with Grandma and the next time we would go.

As I grew in age, so did the need to land bigger and more elusive fish. Along with that, the need for knowledge grew also. I had began to fish more with my Brother-in-law who shared some tips and techniques to catching larger fish. I started to watch fishing shows, read magazines and listened to every Bait Shop owner who had something to say. You name it, I learned it, I was like a sponge. That is when fishing took off to a whole new level for me. I really started to understand how fish act and react in their habitat. All the way to what style or color of baits to use in different waters and started out fishing friends.

In my late teens, I got into Bass fishing heavily. As my brother Mike would say “The Lure of the Lunker took hold of me”. I wanted my first wall mount to be a 5 lb’er, and I did achieve that at pretty early stage. Now it is all about catch and release for me. There is just some kind of satisfaction about letting a big one go to grow even bigger. That led to the chase of Northern Pike and that ever so rare, Muskellunge or Muskie. I have caught several in my time now and have even been featured in the Rockford Register Star (a local news paper). Now today, I fish for what ever might be in the area. I don’t really have a specific fish I like to fish. I just enjoy being out there and passing on my tips and techniques on to my Nephew and I look forward to the day that I will be able to do the same with my daughter Natalie.

I have recently started a fishing web site with my best friend called Rockfordfishing.com. This is taken us to another level all together again. I have come to the conclusion that fishing to me is more then just a mere hobby. It is turning into that dream job. Well part time for now at least, but I am hopeful and who really knows, the sky is the limit. One thing I do know is that, I will never grow old of fishing!

Thanks for taking the time to read my Bio and stop by and check out my web page.

Good Luck To All In Your Fishing Adventures!

Andrew Popham, www.Rockfordfishing.com

Hello, My name is Brad Gilbert. I feel very privileged to be asked to be part of Legends of North America. I think this site is going to be a great place to share your outdoor adventures and helpful in getting some inside scoops on what ever your hunting and fishing needs might be.

I was born in Northern Minnesota in the city of Two Harbors. Shortly after birth, my parents moved the family to Wisconsin were we have resided ever since. I grew up always loving the outdoors. Even as a child, I would dream of having a cabin out in the wilderness and live off the land. I often reflect on those dreams while passing time in my tree stand waiting for that next Monarch to pass by.




		Pro-Staff Member Brad Gilbert

My Father and Uncle, who are both excellent hunters, introduced me to archery at the mere age of 10 in my Grandparents backyard. Hunting has been in the Gilbert blood for many generations, in fact my uncle held a Wisconsin State record for Black Bear that stood for sometime until recently falling. The first bow I owned was an Indian (a fiberglass recurve). Luckily my Grandparent’s back yard had a gopher problem, so I was able to hone my shooting skills by putting a garden hose in one hole and wait on the other side for the gophers to come up (some reason Grandma never seemed to mind about that). Ever since then, I have been addicted to archery. I quickly moved to rabbits and on to the elusive Whitetail Deer. I took my first doe at the age of 12 and my first bow buck just two years later. I have to say, those are my most memorable moments from my childhood.

After graduating from High School in 1981 I entered the United States Army. Where I pursued my other interest, which was diesel mechanics. After my Honorable discharge in 1984. I continued my military career with the Army National Guard until 1989. During my active duty I always took my leave during the deer gun season. I never missed a season.

My wife Jackie and I have been married for going on 18 years now and have three sons. Jacob who is 17 and a set of twins Jordan and Jonathan who are now 15. What is now turning into a Gilbert tradition, the boys have been hunting with me since they’ve turned 10 years old. I spend countless hours year round teaching my sons how to enjoy the outdoors. There is nothing more exciting in life, than passing down the pro-found knowledge I have gathered over the years to my boys. Like my father did with me so many years ago. My wife and I together use all of our spare time and nearly every weekend enjoying the outdoors and sharing it with our sons.

I am currently employed as day shift Superintendent in a large manufacturing facility in Western Wisconsin. Currently I have 11 Supervisors and about 400 employees I over see. I have worked at this facility for over 17 years now.

Over the past few years I have been documenting the deer movements during the different moon phases. I have been comparing my data every year with very similar results, which I plan to use for article for this web site. I will be going on my first out of state black bear hunt this fall and I am really looking forward in harvesting my first black bear with a bow on film.

I want to thank you for taking the time to read my Bio and I’m looking forward to being part of the Pro Staff for Legends of North America.

Brad Gilbert, Pro-Staff Member & Video Team Member




		Pro-Staff Member Jason Molis




		Pro-Staff Member Jay Motszko


	*VIDEO STAFFVIDEO STAFFVIDEO STAFFVIDEO STAFFVIDEO STAFFVIDEO STAFFVIDEO STAFF*




		Video Team Member Doug Solie




		Video Team Member Duane Dubiel




	Video Team Member Jay Middelton


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