Worth the Wait??

We took advantage of the nice weather Friday evening and caught a few bass from the pond at K&M.  We first stocked the pond in May of 2009, with 28, 6-10 inch largemouth bass and 100 hybrid bluegills.  The bass have done very well, and we finally decided to start taking some fish from the pond for consumption.  We took mainly fish in the 8-12 inch range, but the fishing was hampered a bit by the thunder and lightning that was approaching.  The rain really never came, but we did manage to keep nine fish.  We caught several others that were either too small, or too large.  Once again, Marlys caught the largest fish which was thrown back before we could snap a picture or two.  I'm guessing it was in the 18-inch range, and approximately 4-5 pounds.  

The bluegill have been more elusive, but some have reached a decent size.  Claire kissed this one goodbye before she threw him back in the water.  We have supplemented the pond with additional bluegill stockings in the past, but they seem to have trouble escaping the hungry bass.  This is isn't all bad since we really don't want a high, stunted population of bluegills.  We'll continue to tweak our put-and-take, and try to grow more and bigger bass and bluegills.  For the most part it provides a great opportunity for the kids (and the adults) to catch a lot of fish for some exciting action

Of course, the best part is eating what we caught.  It went over very well, as Kate, Claire, Kellen, and Jack all ate their share.  I'm sure we'll do it again, and if things go well maybe save a little for that Friday night feed before the opener.

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet.  Corn planting will most likely begin this week.  Some rain would be nice, but not much we can do about that.  As long as the avian and canine influenza's that have been hitting certain parts of the country stay at bay, we'll be happy.  With the dry, mild weather things are ahead of schedule, so all we need now is some timely precipitation.  I'm sure Mother Nature will provide and we'll all be singing her praises this fall... we can hope.

Spring has Sprung

The weather has definitely turned Spring-like and even more like Summer on a couple of occasions.  That has allowed me to get some early spring wheat planting done, and begin prepping for the upcoming planting season.  We could use some moisture now, but with no rain or snow in the forecast, we can only hope for those April showers.  In South Dakota that doesn't necessarily mean rain, but snow, and we'll take what we can get.  At the beginning of the month Brandon was able to participate in a coyote calling contest, and was able to call in and kill three coyotes over two days. The weather conditions were not the best, but he did manage to put a small dent in the population and secure second place in the contest.

Other than that, we've been watching a lot of wrestling.  Cordie and Marlys just returned from St. Louis after their inaugural trip to the NCAA Division I wrestling tournament.  It was a great experience, and they definitely plan on making a return trip at some point.  On the home front, Kellen managed to scrape out a third place finish at the Regional tournament in Pierre, which is good enough to earn him a spot in the State tournament in Brookings this weekend, March 28-29.  We were all very proud of his effort and performance in a tough bracket and tournament.

In Like a Lion?

March is here, but winter seems to be hanging on.  I spent a little time in the country this morning.  It was cold, nearly -10, but the sun was warming the earth quickly, and had the birds out and about enjoying the brightness.  Tomorrow, and the next several days look good, with 50-60 degrees forecasted.  We'll be looking forward to it and so will the birds I'm sure.  All in all, the winter has been fairly mild with a few minor stretches of frigid temps and blizzard like conditions, but we've had several January and February thaws.  It won't be long and these snow showers will turn into rain showers and the hens in this picture will be looking for a place to lay a few eggs.

Everything else has been nearly as quiet as the weather, at least in central South Dakota.  We've had some issues with our website lately, and have changed the domain name.  This has been quite a pain in the butt, since we had email addresses attached to it.  So, if you've sent me anything recently, I apologize if I did not respond or if you got a message that said undeliverable.  Our new domain is www.thesnakedenlodge.com.  We'll be making some minor changes, but things will be pretty much staying the same on the website.  If there's something additional that you would like to see, feel free to send me a note.  The old site is still up, so don't be surprised if you come across it.  The old one is just that- old and outdated.  Feel free to check out the new site and "like" us on Facebook if you haven't done so already.  Cordie can be reached by email at schlomer@kennebectelephone.com, and Casey at casey@thesnakedenlodge.com.

Other than that, we've been busy wrestling.  We attended the State High School tournament this past weekend and Kellen will wrestle at his District tournament this weekend.  The top eight will move on to the Region tournament next weekend, and then the top three will wrestle at the State tournament at the end of the month.  Jack has been wrestling also, but has decided to stick to practice for the time being.  He's got plenty of time considering he'll just turn five this month.  I'll do my best to keep you updated.  In addition, Stacie and Mark announced that they'll be adding another grandchild to the mix.  Stacie is due in September, so just in time to show him/her off during the hunting season.  

Steady in Jerks

This storm ended a pretty good run in the month of May.  The month had started out slow, with nearly six inches of rain the first two weeks.  Soon enough things began to dry out and it was time to go to work.  I finally started planting corn on the 20th of May.  Last year I was done planting corn on the 14th of May for comparison.  Although the two years have started off a little different, they are beginning to look very similar.  We went right from corn into milo, and after a few hiccups the milo planting was finished Thursday evening the 29th.  Last year, I didn't get an acre of milo planted until June 5th, so we are ahead of the game so to speak. After some spraying and an attempt to finish some discing to knock out some ruts from last year's harvest, the streak of dry weather ran out.  It rained Friday night, and then off and on for the rest of the weekend.  I dumped out 2.40" of rain from the gauge near the preserve.  We had another rain day on Tuesday and then caught a pretty good shower last night again.  I'm sure we're sitting somewhere near 3.5-4 inches of precipitation depending on the location since the weekend.  We've got food plots and sunflowers left to plant, the good news is, the cover looks great, and the hens have been busy nesting and should begin hatching chicks within the next week or so. 

Although I've been busy running from tractor to tractor and swapping out the planter for the sprayer, I have had a chance to snap a few pics while being out and about.  I found this badger one morning as I headed to the planter.  I think she may have a couple young ones in this den because she's kept it pretty cleaned out, and been there for several days.  I've caught her out and about a couple times going to and from the field, but she seems fairly undisturbed unless you get too close.  A few growls and hissing was enough to send me back to my pickup after peeking into the hole.

 I happened to come across this nest as I jumped out of the tractor to check on my sprayer.  I noticed a hen sneaking away only a few feet from me, and then found the nest tucked into the laid over vegetation.  There are 13 pheasant eggs and a duck egg.  Once it dries out enough and I can get back down to where I found this I will see how she's doing.  The hen didn't go far and as soon as I moved my equipment she made her way back to the nest.  Speaking of ducks, I happened to come across two nests of theirs while planting and spraying also.  There are plenty in the country and the weather that we've had the past couple of weeks has been excellent for nesting, producing cover, and raising lots of bugs for those chicks to eat once they hatch.  We should begin to see chicks soon, but will have a better idea of how things are shaping as we near the end of June.

Cordie has finished pouring "spring" bins and is moving onto other projects.  Things will remain busy the next month or so, and then we should be able to find a little down time in July before we gear up again and begin preparing for the fall.  Hope everything is going well for all of you.  Take care.

Spring Happenings

We're finally getting our first shot of spring moisture in the form of a good soaking rain.  It started Sunday evening, and has continued throughout the day today.  Locally, I've heard of reports from 1.5 to 2.5 inches so far.  It sounds like it should continue tomorrow, and a few more chances are forecasted throughout the week.  The moisture was needed, and hopefully some warm temperatures will follow to get the crops and grass growing for some excellent pheasant habitat.

The birds are in full swing in their nesting season, but plenty of time remains for them to get after it and for young chicks to hatch.  The month of May is a critical time for the birds and June will  soon follow as chicks begin to show up, as long as Mother Nature cooperates.  Things look good so far.

We've been getting a few other outdoor activities in, as we tested out the fish ponds last weekend.  The bass seemed to be in pretty good shape, and Marlys showed us all up by catching the largest fish of the day-a good healthy 16.5 inch bass.

The perch pond was not as active, but the signs of life were there with numerous egg masses spotted hanging from submerged vegetation.  We'll continue to test the waters and keep you updated.

In other happenings around Presho, there was a fire in one of the large grain bins at the elevator near the lodge.  One of the bins, holding nearly 190,000 bushel of milo began smoldering last weekend.  As smoke billowed out the top, the fire department was called and a plan was made.  The elevator has been continuously drying grain since harvest this past fall, with grain constantly being hauled in and out.  They soon began spilling the grain out the side of the grain bin to find the smoldering grain.  This continued for several hours as the County helped by pushing grain into a pile as it poured out and the firefighters sprayed it down to eliminate any hotspots.  Approximately 70,000 bushel was dumped on the ground before they figured they had removed all of the burning grain.  The milo will most likely be sold at a reduced price for cattle feed.    

They're Alive!!

It's been a somewhat long and drawn-out winter, but the pheasants seem to be holding up just fine.  We've come out of another polar vortex and as the temperatures climbed above zero this morning, I ventured out to see how our feathered friends were getting along.  Finding birds has been real hit or miss in the last couple of months.  Cordie and I have ventured out in the past and had trouble finding any sign of the birds.  We really haven't received a ton of snow, but enough to keep the ground white.  The temperatures have been the rough part, with many days below zero, and long stretches of cold, windy weather.  We've been hoping the birds are hanging in there.  Our theory has been that with the amount of food and cover that was available this year, that the birds should have entered the winter in the best shape that we could hope for.

It is March and we're not out of the woods yet, but things should begin to turn around here.  It was good to see as I pulled into one of the properties this morning that I could see the birds scrambling about in and amongst the trees.  Many birds of prey had the birds utilizing some dense brushy cover as they waited for any number of them to make a mistake and leave their protection.  The birds weren't in any hurry to bound into the open, but eventually began frantically scurrying and flying about.  Lots of hens and just enough roosters to hopefully provide for a successful hatch this spring.

Many birds stayed tucked in as I began to drive between the rows.  Some even held underneath the cedars and russian olives until I drove past.  The rooster below had no intentions of leaving his hidey-hole.

Like I said, we've got  a ways to go yet, but things look good so far.  It won't be long now, and March will be going out like a lamb, and April rain showers will cleanse the ground of any sign of winter.  As things begin to green-up, those hens will be dispersing and picking their nesting spots.  Soon enough we'll be whining about how hot it is, and looking for chicks and wishing it was October again.  Soon enough.

End of Year Wrap-up!!

Yes, I know it's been a while, but I've been busy (for the most part).  I'll try to continue to update everyone on a few things as they happen, but I thought I would do a little recap on how the year went.  With the introduction of our deer hunts, I thought I would start there.  We had a successful year, with five clients with buck tags, and all of them filled.  Below are a few of those pictures along with those of us at the Lodge that filled our tags.  Abby killed her first deer, which was a nice 4 x 4.  Cordie was able to fill his tag with Kellen in the blind next to him, and both Brandon and I took nice deer off of some ground that we pheasant hunt from.  The two racks that you see on the tailgate are what were left of the deer from two of our clients after they had taken them to the taxidermist to be caped.  Very respectable deer, with most in the 130-150 inch class.  We'll continue to work towards improvement on this end of the business, and expect the deer numbers to hold steady or increase due to mild weather conditions and habitat improvement in our area.

We did have a very good year, even though it started out a little rough.  It did finally quit raining and harvest was eventually completed and it led to some pretty decent hunting.  The pheasants should be in good shape entering the spring, but we have plenty of time for a disastrous storm.  We'll keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best for a good spring hatch.

I hope everyone is staying sane and healthy with the wacky winter weather that has bombarded parts of the country that are not used to it.  We're wishing you well and hope to see everyone for a happy return in the fall of 2014.  I'll do my best to keep everyone updated on the happenings at the Snake Den.