NILO Farms 70th Anniversary

NILO Farms was founded 70 years ago by John M. Olin when he bought 600 acres of mixed pasture and woodland in Brighton, Illinois. Mr. Olin, who owned among other things, Winchester Ammunition, wanted a place to hunt and train his field trial retrievers. He owned the famous field trial retriever King Buck who was the 1952 and 1953 National Field Champion.

Historically, NILO Farms was a place for Mr. Olin to take his wealthy friends and clients for a day afield. Nowadays, it has been opened to the public by reservation for hunting, trap and sporting clays shooting, training, and other events. It is still owned by Winchester which is a subsidiary of Olin Corporation.

I do wonder if my father-in-law Clarence ever had a chance to hunt or shoot here. My in-laws resided in O’Fallon, Illinois and Clarence was very active in DU and Quail Unlimited while he was alive. As for me, I’d be happy just to watch the dogs work in the field though I would not turn down a chance to hunt there.

Nilo Farms

Ducks Unlimited has produced a short film on the history of Nilo Farms which John Olin established outside of St. Louis. The film features his Labrador Retriever King Buck who not only won back to back national retriever field trial championships but was the only dog ever featured on a Federal Duck Stamp.

My first Lab was named Sam Spade after the detective and came from field trial stock. His grandfather Dude’s Double Or Nothin’ was the 1981 National Amateur Field Champion and his father was Snake Eyes Double Or Nothin’. Both are in the Retriever Hall of Fame. Sam was never field trialed but he was a damn good dog and I had him for 13 good years. I still miss him.