Just wanting to know

I grew up on the farm we now raise deer on, which was a dairy farm at that time. Now, I own and operate a tree care company, help my dad raise and harvest some alfalfa and grass hay on our farm and some rented land, and play with the deer as well. My dad, two brothers and I are in the deer business together. More importantly, I have been married 10+ years and have three young children. My interest in deer absolutely started because of hunting, and, like 4 Seasons Mike, raising deer has changed the way I hunt. There's just something about watching bucks grow out...

I drove trains for Penn Central and Conrail for 25 years before being diagnosed with a heart problem in 1995 that placed me on disability at age 43. I needed to find something to occupy my time and bought 2 deer in 2000. I never dreamed that it would occupy so much time! My wife retired from teaching and school administration 3 years ago and we are now full time deer farmers. We are both active in the deer industry and have served/ are serving on state and national boards and attending meetings with our regulators and legislators to help the industry prosper.

I have been a mason for about 13 years now, owning the company for the last 11. We do mostly foundations for new houses, and yes the economy does stink but so far we've survived! Would love to be a full time deer farmer, but thats gotta wait.... Lets hear from some more people!

Johnny B said:

Are the knives pretty good quality Gaylen?

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Our customers seem to think so. As long as our customers are happy then we are happy. The really neat thing is all of our materials that we use to make the knives come from the good ole USA. So when we say our knives are made in the USA, we mean it. Our knives were featured in a "Made in the USA" sement by ABC and the local TV 9 station. One of our knives even made an appearance on the movie Machete cutting vegetables. Pretty neat for a small privately owned company in eastern Iowa.

Gaylan, would it be possible to get some pictures of the knives, and a price list? Thanks, Allen

allenb said:

Gaylan, would it be possible to get some pictures of the knives, and a price list? Thanks, Allen

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The website is http://radakitchenstore.com



You can view the current catalog and prices from there.

Gaylen

I worked at Rada years ago when they were still out at the Waverly airbase for a couple years, great knives and enjoyed talking with "Walt", fantastic guy, the company owner, until he unfortunately got killed in Vegas. Went to school with his daughter "Sara", is she still involved in the company?

Then I worked at a tool and die shop for 20 years until it closed, seemed like so many of the companies we made dies for moved thier manufacturing plants to mexico. Then I had a job at an ethanol plant for a couple years, my family didn't like the swing shift changes, 4 days on 4 days off, then 4 nights on and 4 off, really hard to get used to those hours. Then did a six month job at a place that made parts for john deere, stayed busy but didnt pay very well, now working in a trash and recycling company for almost 1 year now.

I also do Taxidermy and enjoy spening time watching my deer grow.

Gaylen, what a small world it is. My wife has been using the Rada Knives for a couple years now, and will continue to do so. They are a quality product. Now that she has the web address her cabinet will most likely expand. Once again thanks for a Quality product.

Rada makes killer knives! (Pardon the pun) They are great to work with on fundraising, too...