Home

Celebrity Views
Product Reviews
Fowl Articles
Fowl Events
Fowl Links
Fowl News
How To's
Our Sponsors
Contact Us

Open to Everyone!
Free to Join!
Fowl Forum

Hogg Wear & More!
Hogg Store

About Us
Hoggonics

The Ice Eater by Power House Inc by Dallas Branch

(c)Dallas Branch, Avery Pro-Staff

I think the saying "if you don't like the weather, stay a day it'll be different tomorrow" came from the state of Oklahoma. Due to the crazy winter weather we receive in Oklahoma, I've had many hunts where we unexpectedly had to break ice, when the day before we were sweating.  I was inspired to get an Power House Inc. Ice Eater to reduce the amount of work and aesthetic of an open hole in the water.  How many times have you broken a hole and skim ice began to build up just 30 minutes later?

When it was delivered to my house, I was a little surprised with the size of the Ice Eater.  It came in 2 boxes - the ice eater and the frame comes in separate boxes.  It does require some assembly (drilling 2 - 1/4" holes in the side of the ice eater polymer body), so don't wait until the morning before you need it to assemble.  Just so you know...electrical power is required and a small generator is fully capable of running it.  The complete unit is about 3' square and weighs approximately 55 lbs. fully assembled.  It's a little awkward for one person to carry, but can be done.  The cord on the ice eater is 100' long.

The Ice Eater frame legs are fully adjustable with T screw-in and legs to step on to set the frame on the bottom.  The frame allows for the Ice Eater to rotate on its center axis so you can run it vertically or horizontal.  You don't have to place the ice eater in deep water.  I found that 3' is plenty deep.  I discovered that angling it (depending on water depth) creates more of a current and can open a wider hole faster.  I'm sure this is based on ice thickness and outdoor temperatures. 

After you open a hole you adjust the unit to act as a current on a calm day to add motion to your decoys.  I placed several butt-up decoys around the Ice Eater, which pulled any bird or goose in the area into the hole.  I was running a generator that was a bit noisy, so I added another 12 ga 100' cord to set the generator further from the water.  This didn't seem to hurt the hunting at all.

Overall I think you'll begin to see these added to a waterfowler's arsenal.  It's a little pricey when you consider $700 for the Ice Eater and at least another $300 for a generator.  But if you're like me and you only have so many days a year you can get out versus the cost to hunt with an outfitter, it's well worth it considering.  It's a tool you'll have for the rest of your lifetime.   

(c)Dallas Branch, Avery Pro Staff

For more information on The Ice Eater; visit their website by clicking the LOGO below:

Copyright � 2008 Game Hogg Hunt Club^TM. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission from the author is prohibited.