A New Tradition??

We don't get in on many waterfowl hunts, and most of them are usually field goose hunts, so when we had the opportunity to get in a pit and shoot ducks over decoys in a flooded cornfield, we jumped at it.  We were invited by Brandon and his dad, Brad through a connection from the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.  The Tribe had been working on their setup for a couple years, and when the pit came open Thanksgiving morning we hopped in.

We had a blast, and got plenty of shooting, without freezing our butts off.  That was part of the problem that it was too nice, but we managed to shoot 27 total ducks in a couple hours.  Mostly greenheads, with a few redheads, and green-winged teal mixed in.

Brandon made quick work of his share of the birds, along with his wife's and dad's.  The jerky didn't last long when he brought it to the lodge, and I'm thinking he can work his magic on mine and Cordie's also.  I've been contemplating what to do with them, but the jerky was pretty good, so hopefully I can convince him to make another batch.

Heck of a year for the whitetail deer

The boys at the Snake Den had a great year for deer.  Brandon, Cordie, John Wayne, and myself all did well filling our tags for the 2011 West River deer season.  We had been seeing a lot of good deer around, but an EHD die-off had us a little worried that some of them weren't going to make it to the season.  Our worries were put to rest and there are still plenty of good bucks around for next years crop.

Brandon scored first on opening morning, within an hour of legal shooting time.  With a little "insider trading"  he managed to secure an unknown hot-spot and made good use of it.  A well planned stalk on a bedded deer, and one well-placed shot at 80 yards, bagged him a nice, heavy 4x4.

Cordie filled his tag just a couple days later after watching several deer since the opening day.  His heavy, symmetrical 5x5 will be a nice addition to the lodge walls.  Cordie said there were bigger deer in the area, but he couldn't pass the opportunity up that this buck presented.  We'll look forward to seeing the ones he left out there next year, hopefully.

I filled my tag on Sunday of the second weekend.  After nearly giving up on the buck because I didn't get to a spot in time to cut him off, the buck headed right back to me after a brief encounter with another buck.  He obviously had something else on his mind since he made a fatal error of standing in an opening only 100 yards away.  He's no monster, and he won't win any beauty contests, but he's a mature buck with a big body.

John Wayne filled his tag last while hunting out west with his dad before Thanksgiving.  Both of them killed deer in the same draw within an hour of one another.  John's deer is very unique and his heavy-horned head will make a great addition to the lodge decor.

All the bucks were one-shot kills ranging from 80 to 380 yards, and all coming from land owned or leased by the Snake Den, with the exception of John's.  It was a great deer season, and we look forward to putting a little more meat in the freezer when we fill some leftover anterless tags.  There's plenty of deer left, so barring any unforeseen disasters, 2012 should have great potential.

Opening Week



Photo courtesy of Ben Weseman

 It's been a good week at the Snake Den, in fact, it's been the best week we've ever had.  All that talk about the bird numbers being down has proved to be mostly untrue, at least in this area.  Overall, I would say that things are less spectacular than they have been the last couple of years, but still very good.  Most areas are excellent, and the rest still beat what you'll find anywhere else in the nation.  There are still a number of fields of row crops that have yet to be harvested, but that also is moving along fine. 

The old dogs are still performing, and the young dogs are coming along nicely.  It's like most things experience generally outweighs youth, but for the most part we're all pleased with where are pups are headed.  The weather has been beautiful, a little warm for me and the dogs, but everybody else is happy.

We're looking forward to the rest of the season, and we hope those that haven't been here yet are also. 

Battling Mother Nature

As I stated in a previous post, there has been unprecedented water levels and releases up and down the Missouri River.  From Montana to Missouri, communities along the River have been affected by these levels.  The picture above was taken at the Oahe Dam Stilling Basin when they were releasing somewhere around 55,000 cubic feet per second.  On June 7th, the Corps began releasing 150,000 cfs out of the dam powerhouse and stilling basin.  Over the weekend the Corps increased those releases to 160,000 cfs due to rain that was falling in the area.  The releases are meant to keep the water from spilling over the emergency spillway, which would cause even more disastrous flooding to the cities of Pierre and Ft. Pierre.  The water level has been within inches of the top of the spillway, but the Corps is determined to keep water from going over the spillway or opening the gates for increased flows.  The maximum output of Oahe Dam is supposed to be somewhere around 165,000 cfs.  The Corps was originally hoping that they would not have to go above the 150K.  Levees were built to protect the cities at a projected elevation with flows at that level.  So far, the levees are holding, but releases are expected to stay at this level into August.

All four of the dams in South Dakota along the Missouri River are releasing at 150,000 cfs.  That's over 1 million gallons per second.  It's hard to gain a perspective on that, but there are tons of videos and pictures of the flooding and releases online.  They still don't do it justice.  Brandon, works for the Corps, at Big Bend Dam in Fort Thompson, and has been busy monitoring water levels and the damage that the flows are causing to surrounding landscapes.  Fishing and other recreation has been affected, but the long-term affects will not be know for several months, and maybe not until next year and beyond.

The last time we even came close to an event like this was in the late 1990's when releases neared 80,000 cfs.  On lake Oahe, above Pierre, prey fish populations were decimated and walleye and other predatory game fish began to basically starve to death.  Time will only tell, but where access is possible the fishing has been pretty good so far.

I've noticed that although we're fighting flooding in this area, others are praying for rain all along the south to fight off drought and fires.  Along with all the other tornadoes and other weather events it's been a busy spring that has affected many of you.  Wishing everyone well, and we look forward to hearing from and seeing all of you this fall.

How about an update?

It's been a long time coming, but I'm finally getting around to getting you all up to date on what's been going on.  Rain, working around the rain, more work, and more rain.  That's about it.  I know that many of you across the U.S. have been dealing with different types of weather events, and we hope here at the Snake Den that all of you are fairing well while battling Mother Nature.

It's been a busy summer/spring with lots of concrete work getting done in a short amount of time.  We're nearly done with the spring bins that need to be ready by harvest in mid-July.  We've completed the task with only one full week of work since the beginning of May.  Rain has shortened our work week almost every week since we got started, but we've managed to keep chugging along.  We've also managed to get about 75 % of our food plots in.  They should do well once it dries out and the sun warms things up.  Once it dries out we'll get the remaining ones in which should take off with all the moisture.

We really haven't been out enough to get a good handle on how the pheasants are doing, but I'm sure they're ready for some dry weather also.  Cool and wet is better than hot and dry, and with the birds that we had left over things should be very good come fall.  We've come across several nests that have hatched out, but have yet to see any number of chicks.  By the first of July things should really start to turn around and we'll get a better handle on how the new crop of chicks is coming.  It will most likely be a late and drawn out nesting period with the cool, wet spring that we've had.  The normal peak for hatching is around the middle of June, but like last year it will most likely last well into July.



We have managed to get a little fishing in, along with some test-netting to check on our ponds that we have stocked.  Cordie and Marlys fought the rain yesterday while fishing with Brandon's dad, Brad, and managed to pull in their limit of walleye up by Fort Thompson.  The fishing has also been affected with the unprecedented water levels that we are seeing on the Missouri River.  Brandon has been busy on flood watch as his dam has been one that has surpassed record levels and releases.  I'll post more on that later.  The bass are doing well in in the stocked pond, and the bluegills and perch look like they may need a supplemental stocking to boost their numbers.  Below is a picture of the net catch I got in our bass/bluegill pond.  The bluegills are slightly outnumbered, but that has to happen for a good sized population.  Kellen snagged a pretty good bass out of Brakke Dam the other day, and we managed to bag a few walleyes shore fishing near Chamberlain.  That pretty much wraps up the fishing excursions, but it's early in the summer so there will certainly be more.

The golf course is in good shape, but we've managed to only get a few rounds in there also.  It should look good well into fall, so for those of you that have preserve hunts booked in September and early October, you may have another activity to fill the hours between hunting pheasants.  Before we know it September will be here.  Looking forward to it.

South Dakota a top destination for sportsmen...duh?

I know that many of you that read this blog are already aware of the above statement, but a recent article in Outdoor Life, named the top 200 towns to live in as a sportsman.  South Dakota managed to snag four of the top 21, and had several others scattered throughout the top 200.  Rapid City snagged the top spot coming in at number three (#1 in 2010), but Presho did not make the list, but we're not exactly heartbroken about the declaration.  In fact, anybody knows that most that live here are aware of the infinite opportunities in the outdoor world, and enjoy them on a frequent basis without much competition.  With access to big game, waterfowl, upland and small game, SD has one of the most diverse wildlife landscapes available along with the endless opportunities for fishermen.  Not nearly a day goes by that you can't find something to hunt or fish in SD.  That's obviously a great asset, but sometimes causes a conflict in which activity to choose.  Do I shoot a limit of pheasants, or grouse, or catch a limit of walleye?  Well, thankfully in many parts this can be done all in the span of a day.  Not to mention all the other opportunities for big game, including deer (mule and whitetail), elk, antelope, turkey, and even mountain lion, and very rarely bighorn sheep and mountain goat.  Every section of the state has something to offer from sage grouse and partridge to a plethora of diving and puddle ducks.  It's all here in SD, and although the Snake Den specializes in pheasants, we enjoy them all.

Obviously, we've got some drawbacks too, especially if you've been keeping track of the weather lately, but it's nothing we can't handle, and the benefits definitely outweigh the costs.  It's not for the weak, and fair-weather minded, but we'll take it as it comes.   Not that I'm trying to talk you out of living here, but we certainly enjoy having visitors, so keep on coming back.

Puppy Update!!

Just thought I'd drop a quick note on the status of the puppies available.  The chocolate pups from Jack and Lilly are all gone.  The last two were taken Wednesday, and headed for Illinois.  The other litter from Rocky were ready to head out Wednesday, and several are spoken for already.  13 puppies all together with mostly black (11) and two chocolate.  John Wayne is picking one this afternoon, a future star hopefully.  They look good, and should work well in the field with both parents coming from good hunting stock.  We're all looking forward to fall already to see how they turn out.

Kellen thought we should take another one home, but I convinced him (for  a while) that we'll be fine for another year or two.

Chomping at the bit





Well, Spring is officially here, but after several days of average temperatures and sunny skies, the wintry weather has returned.  It looks as though it could stay this way through the weekend.  We're only battling a little moisture, cool temps, and wind, which is a lot better than what the NE part of the State is having to put up with.  Another several inches of new snow to go with what hasn't melted yet.  Not to mention the flooding that has already begun.

We've got plenty of work lined up, but until the weather straightens out, we'll be stuck preparing for the onslaught of jobs to be done.  It's time to start putting up the hunting equipment and pulling out the concrete tools.  Although we still have a few days to bag a few birds off the preserve.

Speaking of the birds, they seemed to winter well.  They are definitely spread out, and looking to set up their crowing territories for the ensuing spring fling.  The rest of the wildlife seems to be fairing well also, although I'm not sure that the fox above still has a den after the creek flooded.  We now have two pairs of bald eagles nesting in two different pieces of property.  They are both sitting on the nest as I write this.  I'll try to get some good photos if the sloppy ground will allow it.  I hope everyone else has wintered well, and are looking forward to spring, summer, and of course...fall.  We'll see you then.

Chocolate Gifts

I know that Valentines Day has passed, but we still have plenty of Chocolates left. In fact, these ones can't be taken home until March 10, 2011. Ten little balls of fur were born to "Lilly", who would be an offspring of "Blu" and "Misty". The father of this bunch would be "Jack", who's father was "Buck". Did you keep all of that straight? In other words these pups come from a couple of lines that have spent many a day flushing and retrieving birds for us here at the Snake Den. There are five males and five females that will be ready to go home with you on March 10. I know that a couple of them are spoken for, but still plenty left.



If you're lucky enough to snag one, they could be ready to retrieve their first bird by this fall. They could have a number of retrieves under their belt before their first birthday. I'm sure that some of them will, at least the ones that stay in house.

70 in February??

So what's a guy to do on a February afternoon when the temp hits nearly 70 degrees?  Well, this guy took the opportunity to shoot his first rooster over his new pup, Trigger.  It wasn't pretty, or perfect, but he got the job done, and most important of all, hardly batted an eye at the sound of the shotgun.  I hesitated somewhat as we sauntered across the soggy ground and the rooster flushed from my right crossing to my left.  I had previously wondered how I would shoot a bird without doing it directly over Trigger's head.  As soon as Trigger seemed thoroughly intrigued by the bird I laid down the hammer.  The bird crumpled and plopped in the snow melt.  Trigger paused briefly and gave me a glance, and then proceeded to run to the bird and investigate.  He hesitated a little since he's only been tossed dead birds in the parking lot, but soon caught scent and sight of the kicking bird.  He wasn't entirely sure about picking up the moving bird, but soon enough it held still and he fought for a hold, and brought it to hand.  With plenty of birds left, and some of the cover being uncovered, we should get to do this more before the preserve season closes at the end of March.



We, along with the pheasants and other wildlife, have been blessed this week with temps in the 50's and 60's.  This afternoon my pickup showed 70 degrees as I headed to the country.  The snow is disappearing fast, but winter is certainly not over.  We shouldn't expect that until sometime after March.  This warm up definitely helps ease the pain of winter's grasp.  The creek is running full, which I don't think I've ever seen in February.  It will make the spring transition a little easier when it finally rolls around, but harder to go back to more normal temps which are forecasted for this weekend, along with the inevitable snow which will fall sometime before we are done.

A quick update on the SD mountain lion season. As of Wednesday afternoon, two cats are needed to reach the harvest quota of 45 lions.  Brandon and I gave it our best last week as we spent two days tracking one down.  The tracks were fresh, but what seemed to be a male marking his territory was intent on covering some ground.  If it weren't for the warm weather the season would have most likely ended this past weekend.  Even with the poor conditions it would be a surprise to see it last through another weekend.  So far, 25 females and 18 males have been harvested, with the largest being a 177 pound male.

There's lions in them thar' hills...

...but we couldn't manage to find one this trip.  We headed for the Hills on Friday, and after an afternoon of scouting and an evening of serious planning, we hit the trail in hopes of coming across the elusive mountain lion.  The weather conditions were horrible at best, but we headed out anyway.  With no fresh snow, and temperatures near 40 degrees, our chances were decreased incredibly.  After two days, we cut the trip short with another day of forecasted rain and no snow. 

All of us found sign on our walk-abouts, but none of it fresh.  Just a couple of inches of fresh snow would have helped considerably, but no such luck this time.  We'll wait for better conditions and hope that the four of us (Cordie, John Wayne, Brandon, and Casey) can get back in the woods.  As of this morning, 22 cats had been harvested.  The quota is set at 45 cats or 30 females whichever comes first.  It looks like at this point that either one could happen with 13 of the cats taken being female.

The pictures posted are a couple that I took while resting on a rock outcropping during one of our journeys into the wilderness.  Some pretty country, and pretty rugged at times also.  We'll tackle it again though if given the chance.  Stay tuned.