3rd draw

Well, it looks like the results from the third draw are in, I assume everyone got the tags they were looking for. If anybody wants any leftovers here's whats left (10/31) and they are first come first serve:

40A19 TWO ANTLERLESS WHITETAIL
JERAULD CO 19 $25 $80

42A03 ANY ANTLERLESS
KINGSBURY CO 55 $15 $55
42A09 TWO ANTLERLESS DEER
KINGSBURY CO 8 $25 $80

Radio info reposted

Per request I am reposting radio info.

Pat and I each own two Cobra LI 6000-2 WX VP radios. I think they may have stopped making them though, even the manufacturer is out of stock and Cabela's doesn't sell them anymore. Any 2 way GMRS radio should do (Cobras would probably be the most compatible). Look at Cabela's then search the net. They usually come in pairs.

The way I see it we have four radios and this many hunters as of now that I know of:

Akkerman (R, Gary?) =1 or 2
Gronewold(C) = 1
Phillips(C)= 1
Stone (N, P, P,) = 3
Willcut(R) = 1

That puts us at 7 or 8 hunters. (If there are others that i didn't list, let me know)
Either way it'd be good to have 8 radios.

Tree Stands

Well, I am still bored, so I think I am going to build a tree stand. I found this product on the net and decided that it is far superior to drilling holes into a tree for steps.

If I make it with each step 8" wide it should be pretty usable.

Each section will be 3' long so it is packable too.

It needs a tree stand to go up to, but that is pretty simple.

What do you all think?

Post from Gary

Going to be heading up to De Smet this weekend, did you get a blog comment I send to Nelson regarding the deer blinds? I was wondering how many "houses" we should buy supplies for initially.

I ran across a really nice 4-wheeler this morning, It is an older (98?) Arctic Cat, 500, 4wd, 5 speed,. According to the speedometer, it only has 250 miles on it. It is set up really nice for hunting, it has a hard rifle "scabbard" case, on one side, zipper cameo storage pouches on both the front and rear luggage rack, and a winch on the front. They want $3000 for it, would any of the crew be interested? Would you want to go "halves"? Why don't you post this on the blog, I haven't figured out yet how to do that.

The Great Gun Controversy

Nope! I like it and that and a ladder rack will give me one "hell" of a war wagon. OK every one help me think this through. Thompson Center Fire Encore. I am thinking 50 cal black powder and then maybe a 45-70 or 308 or maybe 30-06 as a heavy caliber single shot. Here is the link to TC http://www.tcarms.com/firearms/encore.php

Is this over the top?

So we are currently mounting the show "Our Town" which is a show that is performed on a bare stage. This means that I have a full metal shop and a lot of time on my hands.

What do you think of my deer hoisting boom?

If it works, I know what everyone's getting for Christmas.

Lesson Re-learned

Last night, duck hunting... First hour: 2 mallards fly over low from behind me at mach 2, not interested in my spread. Second hour, some Canada honkers fly in low and check me out, no goose hunting in this WMA, I stay legal. Third hour, unknown ducks check it out from a distance, but have been pecked at for four weeks by jerks like me and aren't interested. Fourth hour, tired of sitting here... I'm going home. Put down the shotgun and go in the water after the dekes, get about half of them in the bag when a Ringneck comes in and says hello, shakes hands, and leaves slowly with a dance. Me swearing loudly at the marsh. Then Willcut's voice in my head: "Always take your gun... I don't care if you're going out to take a shit, take your gun...". Damn... we had pizza last night.

Important! Final deer tag drawing upcoming!

Non-residents or anyone else who does not have a tag yet. The second drawing is complete which means that its time to put in your applications! You have until October 26th, but if I were you I'd do it RIGHT NOW.
The county designators and available tags are as follows:

Kingsbury - 42A03 - 100 Licenses - 1 antlerless ($55 non-resident)
Kingsbury - 42A09 - 104 Licenses - 2 antlerless ($80 non-resident)

Communications

Last year Toph and I invested in decent radios. We bought these and had pretty satisfactory results. They cost us about $60 for a set of two.

I reccomend that someone else buy another set (giving us pretty much enough radios for every hunter to have one). This exact brand and model is not really necessary, but you need them to be FRS/GMRS band.

Technically this band requires a license which one simply purchases from the FCC. I bought one and it covers family, including inlaws. Since Toph is married to Becca and Ryan is a cousin, and CP is married to our other sister [insert name here], I guess we can all operate on my license.

I did a lot of research on these radios last year, so if anyone wants more information let me know.

I just gotta say

How 'bout them Vikings! There is a rookie in the NFL, you might have heard of him, Adrian Peterson. Yeah, he's pretty good.

Love,
Chris

Gotta Advertise

Nice meat wagon there Topher. But look at what Phil and I will be pulling up in. We won't have to look for deer, they will call us asking to be shot... I bet Catherine's customers haven't thought of it this way. :-)

Schedule

Hey I was wondering what is the schedule for the hunting season. When do you guys plan on the Kingsbury trip? And are any of you going to apply for a Jerald county application. All I know is that I am going to kill!!!! And kill some more!!!

As per request... my new meat wagon.

Anyone want to buy a '91 Honda Civic Hatchback? Maybe we paint it camo and mount a .50 BMG on top...

New deer death pills...

"Accurate. Deadly. Dependable." Now thats a corporate logo I can get behind!

Getting a Jump the Working Stiffs

So I am sitting here looking at my calendar and thinking about killing things. The school has been nice enough to cancel classes the day before Thanksgiving, and I canceled shop in the afternoon on Tuesday. Now it occurs to me that if I cancel class on Tuesday morning (just Grad students) and shop on Monday afternoon I could be hunting by sunup on Tuesday.

Now if I only had someone to guest lecture my Monday 12:30 I could actually make opener the weekend before, and have my deer hung by the time you all get there.

So, any one feel like guest lecturing? Any topic you choose. I'll even lend you my tweed jacket with the corduroy patches on the elbows.

Please?

Response to Phil's comment under "Public Land"

I think you're onto something Phil. I measured, and it's 230 yards from the closest point in the trees to the watering hole. Check out the low draw that runs along the east side of the farmstead and goes north-east. We've seen deer use low draws like this as concealed movement corridors in Jerauld. I think if you put someone in a stand or blind on the northwest corner of the shelterbelt around the house you might see some action. Both spots are pretty close to the house, but if we stay quiet in the morning we might have some luck.

Public land

I've just finished my morning procrastination, and digitized and compiled all the public land in Kingsbury County. Maps soon!

Summary statistics are as follows:

• There are approximately 17,000 acres of public hunting land in the county (some of which is underwater, much of which is mud and cattails).
• ~10,000 acres are SD GPAs (Game Production Areas)
  
• ~6500 acres is USFWS WPAs (Waterfowl Production Areas)
• There are ~44 GPAs in the county.
• There are ~33 WPAs in the county.
• This year there are NO "Walk in Areas". Throw out your old hunting atlases, for some reason many landowners have withdrawn their land from this program.

For comparison's sake, the Akkerman and Kruze land is about 960 acres combined and is all contiguous.

Like I said, there is a lot of mud, water, and cattails. There is also quite a bit of upland, shoreline, and foodplots. There should be plenty of great spots to ambush Bambi on...

New War Wagon

Tofer I think you should post a Picture of the new war wagon.