South Dakota Deer Hunt 07

Eight guys in orange entered the Black Hills of SD via three pickup trucks on Nov. 17. The first two days the temp was around 60 degrees and then it dropped/snowed/temp was 20 degrees for the rest of the week. We harvested 8 bucks; Gene shot the largest. We saw monster mule deer, herds of elk (some bulls as close as 40 yards), turkeys, coyotes and eagles. Our group had 4 mountain lion licenses and saw prints on many mornings. Roger shot 3 bucks, Gene shot 2 and his son Randy shot 3 bucks.

Deer Hunting Fall 07

Our first year deer hunting as a group away from the Marietta property saw our group invited to hunt with Roger Wiehr and Brad Edgar's group in Park Raipds. Brad and Bob, Jr. shot small 6 pointers; we saw some does and spikes but chose not to shoot them on the first day. Rich, Steve and Bob, Jr. left at noon on Sunday, while Roger, Brad E. and Tom Goodwin hunted through Tuesday morning. No additional deer.

I hunted with Roger near Hector during the second weekend (slugs); we both had all-season licenses. I rolled an eight pointer on Saturday morning....he walked away into a neighbor property. That evening I shot a larger 11 point buck following a doe. We tried for another on the following Sunday morning, but no luck.

Pheasant Team Returns to Marietta

During Fall of 07, our group once again returned to the now public Marietta area "wildlife management area" to hunt birds on opener. One of the local farmers allowed us to park the camper on an adjacent farm sight and stay Friday and Saturday night. It was quite a sight early on opener morning when we started to position ourselves along the property's East side; we saw about 9 cars in different areas and then two trucks parked on the side of the road BETWEEN our two trucks....cutting our course in half. Even the state newspapers listed this new wildlife management area as the hottest spot in the state...talk about keeping an area a secret!
All in all there were alot of birds shot...not too many by us; but, the day's weather was great. However, our group is getting older...when our youngest was 53 years old and one 11 year old dog.

Fall Hunting Stories

The Fall of 07 duck season consisted of one morning and one woodduck, again. We tried to get ready to goose hunt in the fields, but never made it. Fall walleye fishing consisted of two rainy/windy days or nights; a Friday night with jigs at the rushes. Bob, Jr. and I caught about 15 'eyes, and kept 8 - 2 large fish. The next night we caught about 12 keepers between 14-18 inches, but kept throwing them back hoping for the big fish! Never came. The next day (3)...the sun came out and we got skunked.