Green may be an overstatement

Everybody needs a little motivation now and then, and yesterday I received a reminder that I had most likely made a promise to put some pictures up of the landscape and fields around here when they were nice and green.  Well, I missed the boat this year by about two months, but here's a few snippets of some sunflowers as they leave their prime and head toward drying out and soon, harvest.  Precipitation has been nearly non-existent since the middle of June, but things have survived fairly well considering the conditions.

Temperatures throughout the spring and summer have been above normal, and precipitation has been severely below normal.  With many days in the 100s and the majority of the remainder in the 90s, it's been a scorcher to say the least.  I think the pheasants survived fairly well, since they seemed to be ahead of schedule with the hatch.  The birds were in good shape with the mild winter, and favorable spring conditions through the nesting season.  The brood counts will be released sometime in the next couple of weeks.  Those counts are the basis for nearly every prediction made on how the season will be.  I have a feeling though that the counts will not accurately reflect the actual numbers this year.  We have noticed that it has been hard to get a consistent count on birds on any given morning, and conditions for a good road count have been hard to come by.  Only time will tell and in a couple weeks we'll be stomping through the cover on the Preserve and should have a better handle on how the season will shape up.

Several other factors will shape the season, as more CRP (Conservation Reserve Program-grass) acres are hayed, and an early harvest will remove any standing row crop well before the regular season opener.  The fall crops are also marginal at best, and some may not even see the combine, but will be plowed back into the ground.  Food may be scarce come winter, along with good heavy cover.  It should make for an interesting season, but we look forward to it and hope you all do as well.

Our own March Madness



Kellen places third at Regions to advance to State.



It's been a crazy month as we attempt to cram as much fun and family activities into the time we have remaining before things get busy again.  The weather is telling us that it is time to go back to work again, but we're trying to hold out for just a bit longer.  With temperatures near 90 degrees though, things are starting to dry up and green up, and not just from St. Patrick's Day. 

Kellen managed to place third at his regional tournament a couple of weeks ago, so we will travel to Aberdeen this weekend to wrestle in the State tournament.  We're proud of what he has accomplished this year, and look forward to many more years of him and hopefully his cousins wrestling.  This weekend will be good experience, if nothing else, for him and his mom and dad.

Jamie and I just returned from Atlanta, after catching "The Boss" on his opening night of his "Wrecking Ball" Tour.  It was a great trip and we made the best of an extended weekend.  Cordie and Marlys are preparing a golf outing to Mississippi to battle his brother, Delvin for the family cup.  It should be a great end of the month and prepare us for the work ahead.

We're waiting ever so patiently for things to dry up just a little more before we drop that plow in the ground and begin to disc food plots.  It looks as though we will be able to get that done before we head out to start our concrete work for the summer.  There's plenty of that lined up also, so things should move along quite quickly as we progress to another fall.  I can't wait already.

Here we go again...

On somewhat of a whim I provided myself with another project for the winter and upcoming year.  I gave my wife short notice when I told her that I had talked with a breeder and had a chance to pick up a male chocolate lab pup.  I told her I had not made up my mind yet, but I think she knew different, and felt that her thoughts would have no bearing on the pup I was about to obtain in the matter of a few short days. 

I had talked to Thad Lambert of Round Lake Kennels on Friday and told him I was interested in getting a pup, but was not completely sure of all the details.  Thad made me a deal on the only remaining male left in the litter and told me I had the weekend to think it over.  Sunday came and I decided to go for it, and on Wednesday met Thad in Sioux Falls to pick up "Tug".  Kellen came up with the name, and Jamie and I hadn't come up with anything, so "Tug" it would be, or as Claire likes to say "Rugga-Tug" .  The paperwork will most likely read "Snake Den's Rugged Tug", which Claire shortened.

So far Tug has made it to Show-n-Tell and the Daycare, but it his time afield has been limited.  Not because of the horrible weather though.  The winter has been pretty non-existent for the most part, and I'm sure the birds are enjoying the heck out of it, as have we.  Although it has cut our mountain lion hunt to none, and less coyote calling than was planned, but we have been getting a few remodel projects done.  We should have the larger one of the two completed next week.

There is still plenty of time for winter, and getting Tug to the field.  We've also been spending most of our nights and weekends enjoying some wrestling.  Kellen has been doing well, and the high school season is nearing its end with the State tournament at the end of the month.  I may try to get some pictures of Kellen up soon if it works out.

Great endings to a great year

So maybe the family hunt wasn't as spectacular as it has been in the past, but we still managed to have plenty of opportunity and have a great time.  Over the course of three days we averaged 16 guns and nearly killed a limit each day with Friday being the best.  We claimed our limit that day with a few birds left in the end of the food plot for next year.  A good time was had by all with some great shots, some great misses, and plenty of "razzing" for everybody.

After a great pheasant hunt on  Friday a few of us slipped out to try calling coyotes.  John Wayne got  a new call for Christmas (thanks Santa), and couldn't wait to try it out.  We had time for two calls, and after coming up empty on the first call, we connected on a double as the sun set.  Dalton caught a glimpse of the pair as they disappeared about 200 hundred yards out.  We had time to resituate just before they reappeared at one hundred yards.  We decided to try for both, so on the count of three we squeezed.  I may have anticipated a little too much, but we both scored as you can see in the picture above.  That conclued another great day at the Snake Den.  One big male accompanied by a female, with several 'yotes howling in the background. 

The New Years party was a little quieter than normal, but with more kids and the rest of us getting older that should be expected.  It was a great way to end the year, and we're left with plenty to look forward to in 2012. 

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.