Spring Turkey Success Rates Show Promise

by Bob Speirs on May 9, 2012

The tired southern gentlemen had taken turns driving through the night. Shawn Counce the EMT and Jay Chappelle the Medivac pilot had covered more than 1300 miles to hunt the Black Hills famous Merriam’s turkeys. Their home of Corrinth, Mississippi was nothing like the hills surrounding Spearfish. Even though they were exhausted from their trip, [...]

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South Dakota Archery Merriams

by Bob Speirs April 16, 2012

Three cold hours in a hunting blind waiting for a gobbler to walk through a shooting lane would be discouraging. To be further challenged by the limitations associated with archery tackle and then finally losing your guide to the cold would have put most hunters in retreat, but not Nate Schneider. He told Maggie, his [...]

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Wolves Are a Game Changer

by Bob Speirs March 28, 2012

On March 14th, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the removal of wolves from the federal endangered species list but it won’t protect wildlife or ranchers in western South Dakota. Montana now boasts 653 wolves, a 15% increase in a single season even with a 165 wolves taken during the hunting season. Montana had [...]

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Pine Beetle Changes to Come

by Bob Speirs March 13, 2012

I’m a tree hugger. I’ve planted hundreds of them around my home; ponderosa pine, Black Hills spruce, ash, and Russian olive. They all grow well around my home as well as rows of cedar, buffalo berry and wild plum. Three different varieties of apples and pears are growing in my small orchard. I even bought [...]

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Lawrence County is Big Cat Country

by Bob Speirs February 28, 2012

Lawrence County has had three lions harvested this season that weighed in at over 140 lbs. Meade, Custer, and Pennington counties have only harvested one lion each that size at the time of this writing. With the hunting window rapidly closing, hunters should concentrate their efforts in an area that has the highest odds of [...]

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Finally, My Lion

by Bob Speirs February 10, 2012

I imagined my lion would stalk out of the forest one day. That it would slip like fog from the timber looking for the fawn in distress that I was imitating. I never imagined that my cat would suddenly be staring down into my face from 40 feet above. Or that my rifle would be [...]

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Marks Big Buck Contest

by OOBuck February 9, 2012

This year marks the 6th annual contest for Mark and his crew, and they expect that it will also be the largest! WHEN: Saturday, February 11th 6:00-9:00PM WHERE: Spearfish Convention Center (Spearfish, SD) COST: $15 Adult Admission (Kids under 12 are FREE!) Entry includes Dinner and 6 entries into the Great Gun and Bow Giveaway! [...]

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If Cats Could Fly

by OOBuck January 30, 2012

The mature bald eagle was unimpressed. It had flown up from Crow Creek and unexpectedly found itself in the center of a middle-school science experiment. My youngest son Connor and his partner Gus were launching rockets and gathering data comparing the heights they could achieve. The flight of the eagle and the descent of their [...]

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Observations from Lion Season

by Bob Speirs January 23, 2012

I have hunted lions in bitter weather, the kind that has icicles hanging from your horses’ belly. I have hunted lions in deep snow that closed down most of the hills to only the most ardent snow shoe enthusiasts. But I must confess to enjoying hunting lions in shirts sleeve weather. I enjoyed sitting high [...]

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