Boldest in the Land

I have been working on a project near the Mitchell, SD area for a couple of months now, and I have been fortunate enough to encounter all kinds of critters along the way. I have seen countless deer, pheasants, ducks, and doves, but I have been charged by a badger,

and more recently I have had an encounter like nothing before with a wild turkey.
I was pacing off a shelterbelt when I saw a turkey at the end of another belt. I stopped, clucked a little to see if it would spook, and it puffed up and strutted on the spot. I started walking closer, trying to see how close I could get. I got to within 8 yards of this bird before he made a move. Instead of running away like expected, he came towards me. I backed off as I had just discovered their was a hen with him, and that maybe explained his un-natural aggression. I took some pics and videos and went back to my business.

The next day, we returned to this property to finish our plots for this location. We were however, stopped by the landowners wife.


"Hey when you guys pulled in this morning, I heard him gobble, so I figured I would warn you, there is a rather aggressive turkey on our property."


"Funny you should say that, I encountered him yesterday afternoon."


"Well, he attacked me the other day when I was on a walk, I had to have my husband come pick me up in the truck because he wouldn't let me get passed him." "The day before yesterday, I tried to scare him off with an airhorn, and that just pissed him off more and he tried to attack my face. I figured I would just warn you guys that he is back there."


"We appreciate the warning, hopefully there won't be too many troubles."


Upon arriving at our plot we discovered Mr. Dickhead in field next our plot about 200 yards out. Once he caught sight of us, he bee-lined right for our field corner. While my two interns were measuring trees I was not-so-subtly informed that he was right next to us. I figured, why not get some more videos today....idiot.....

I again got to about 10 yards from this bird, but today instead of standing his ground, he came at me the second I turned around. By the time I got to the trees, he was right on my tail, and to make matters worse, I dropped my stylis pen in the field, pretty much where he was standing. We could not continue our work until I got that pen back but he was not about to let me in the field. I did the only logical thing I could think of: I used an intern as bait. I sent Sarah to the edge of the woods on the point of the belt to egg him on, away from me. The bird would give me about 30 seconds of searching before he would come storming back, thus back in the timber I would go. Finally, he gave me enough distance that I was able to locate the pen, but when I looked up all I could hear was an intern bellowing through the trees. Oops....


The turkey had chased her into the next field a full 150 yards away. When she returned she was out of breath and thankfully laughing. We were finally able to get the belt measured but he kept coming back. Because we were being "loud" in the timber, it irritated the bird enough that the next time he came to the edge of the woods, I tried to shoo him away, but he came in with me instead.

Now the interns were freaked and I had had enough. A couple large sticks heaved over his head educated him that I would finish him if given the chance. Upon finishing the belt I still needed to pace the belt for length and the bird was nowhere in sight. I booked it so we could get the hell out of there. When I turned around at the end of the belt, there were two interns backing away from our only escape route, waving branches around.... We planned our escape which included the interns waving sticks and talking loudly to spook the turkey back into another belt so we could get passed. Once passed, the interns proceeded to stop and cheer while the turkey was making his return to the field with me being the nearest next target.

If that were my property or someone I even knew, I would be eating turkey for dinner tonight.










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Summer Weekend

I have just short of avoided fishing up here this summer as I spend more time being frustrated by it than enjoying the time out. The water is warm, the weeds are thick, and the wind blows; a lot. I have a difficult time controlling the small boat with these kinds of conditions so I just skip it all together.


However, Dad, Mom, and Uncle Paul came up for a visit the weekend of the 9th, and we tried our luck anyway. As usual, conditions were tough and we struggled to catch much. I couldn't get the boat on the main lake as I would have liked due to windy conditions but we had to try anyway.

Paul was the only one to catch anything of significance, and managed to catch a sizeable pike.

We called it shortly after catching that fish to get some lunch and come back for Ma. The afternoon outing proved to be a giant disappointment and frustration. Our original plan of fishing Antelope was a bust as the water was an algal cesspool. We tried plan-B and headed to Dry Lake #2 near Willow Lake. We basically got the boat on the water and already knew it was too windy. With Mom, Paul, and myself, it was just too windy for that little boat, and Mom was already uncomfortable with the situation. The drive back to shore proceeded to douse my mother in wave after wave, which I found rather hilarious (although I can about bet she did not feel the same...) but we made it back in one piece. There really was nothing I could do to stop it; if I went too slow we didn't move and got wet, if I went too fast we got REALLY wet but got it over with quicker...


That ended our day for fishing even though there were mutterings about fishing after dinner, although for fear of offending anyone it was discovered that none of us really cared to go back out...figures.


Saturday evening brought a much needed rain, and temporarily derailed our day plan of shooting some clays on a private property. The only access to the property was a small dirt road which would now be 4X4 territory and I did not wish to press it. The wind again proved too much to even attempt fishing. Mom, Dad, and I headed to Bailey's, which is a public shooting area, and shot our clays out there. It felt good to hear a gun go bang again. I am so ready for fall it hurts, and this just fueled the fire...




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Lake Maud 4th o' July

As will be the trend for the rest of our lives, our off time is dictated by Rachel's schedule. She was granted some much needed time off, and even had a three day weekend to boot! We took advantage of this time, and visited Rick, Sue, and clan on Maud for the weekend. It was already going to be a full house with Adam, Cathie, Isaac, and their friends, Andrew, and Lynnsee. Rachel and I took advantage of the closer proximity and headed up that Friday evening after work. We were greeted by Jesse and Ben, as Grace was in the twin cities, and Rick and Sue were picking up Clara from the airport after a couple week stint in Europe. We enjoyed a nice quiet evening before the roof lifted off house when the thundering hoards arrive.


I needed to get out and enjoy the nice quiet lake, and Rachel joined me each morning for an early outing just the two of us. It is always nice having one-on-one time with the Mrs!

During the daylight hours, there was always something going on. We were able to get in on the lake parade, while the kids enjoyed the lake.

I did get this fantastic pic of my uncle carrying back his flag that we toted during the parade.

We spent an evening at Thompson's enjoying some fish Rick and I cooked up that came fresh out of the lake, as well as slow smoked wings, and ribs, followed by some monkeying around enjoying the conversations and company.

Mornings have always suited me better, but Rachel not so much...

 The second morning was much slower, but I did manage a nice largemouth at the dock.

The final afternoon, Rick and I managed to absorb in the wildlife present on the lake. A mallard and her ducklings were feet from us at the dock.

While on the far side of the lake we encountered a two year old loon that let us get plenty close.

There was also a fabled loon chick that Rachel and I discovered on one of our early morning outings, but Rick wanted visual proof and photographic evidence. It may not look like much, but that hump on the loons back is the little chick hitchin' a ride.

While Rick and Sue canoed to the new chick for better pics, I collected my things from the boat and prepared for our trek back to the prairie. I would not leave without finally landing the legendary bass that dwells from under the dock.

 A 4 pounder that frosted an already stellar weekend!

Because Ben was visiting Maud, he was in need of a ride back to Morris, and we were a great solution for all. Rachel and I made sure to send him off knowing he was family. A little ice cream and some stashed cash always goes a long way.

Upon returning home, Mocha went right to her spot and proceeded to pass out, snoring occasionally.


Apparently, vacationing is hard.

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Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Saturday morning, Again, we got up early, but this time we met Aaron's Dad Jim at the Clark airport. He flew up for the morning fish, and we headed right back down to Dry #2. We were hoping for more of the big perch today and we, (Aaron), was able to find a couple of porkers. We struggled to catch any of the decent sized walleye like the day before, but we were catching a few here and there. We fished the morning bite on Dry #2, and ended the morning with a few great perch and one decent walleye.

For the afternoon outing, we chose to give Indian Springs a shot, and tried our drifting out there. A lot of little bites without a hook-up was starting to get Aaron frustrated, but a couple of perch finally found their way into the boat. Drifting a hump we found in the middle of nowhere, Aaron was able to hook into a good pike!

It was great to see that some pike are still in there, but I had yet to hook one while fishing with Aaron (I would later amend that issue, but it was nothing I felt needed a pic).

We picked Rachel up shortly after catching the pike, and drifted some more with the Mrs. aboard. It did not take too long and Rachel boated the best walleye of the trip thus far, at 19.5". I always love taking her along!!!

It was almost a full 12 hours on the water before I managed a fish that was worthy of the livewell, and a 13" perch would satisfy anyone!
With the rest of the group making their way to Watertown, we decided to call it an evening and head back. Except for one issue..........

No gas.

Thanks to the waning winds, and a beefy trolling motor, we tooled our way back to the boat ramp, trolling our way back to no avail, but a great evening nevertheless.

Yet another fantastic day on the water! Glad the Mrs. joined us for the afternoon trip, and as Aaron put it, "Thanks Rachel, we needed a better picture fish!"

Sunday Morning I stayed home sleeping in, and taking multiple naps, while Aaron and his family slaughtered them on Dry #2 with Aaron's wife Amanda hooking a slob of a waldo towards the end of their day.

They ended their day with the best catches of their trip, and put a ton of fish in the freezer!!!

 It is always great to have friends up to visit us, and it always feels good to put them on fish when they do visit. It's trips like these that keep them coming back for more, and more often.



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Persistance Pays

Friday morning we got up earlier yet and made our way to another lake I have never fished but I have heard good things. I have not fished it because there are not big pike in there, and for the most part, that is all I am after. With the thought of putting some walleyes in the freezer, this seemed like a great option. I had little knowledge of this lake but we had hopes of catching a few walleyes and possibly a perch.
In a little under 45 minutes Aaron hit one and it was a pig of a perch!

At 13.5" we were on the board with a stout fish.
While the wind picked up, we tried drifting and were able to find a few walleyes in the process, and even one smallish pike.

We took many passes, pulling one or so every drift, until we finally filled the limit.

I managed one keepable walleye all day and it was the biggest, but at 18.5, it was not a giant, but nevertheless, we again filled a limit. We were tired from the day before, and opted for dinner at the Drive Inn and no evening fish. The wind had taken a toll on us.

Another very productive day on the water indeed! We were not catching big ones, but were were catching fish for the freezer, and it beats the daylights out of being skunked!


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Finding Waldos

I took advantage of some of my annual leave from work and spent a few days hitting the water hard with a friend from Ames that came up for the better part of a week. Aaron Steffen and I got up early on Thursday and were on the water by 6am on Swan. This was one of my new pike lakes with a few good waldos coming out of there. I managed one decent walleye all morning, and that is all we caught. I was disappointed to say the least. We decided to try Bitter and see if we could boat some fish. It had been a hot bite on the lake and we did manage to find fish not far from the ramp, but the bite wasn't quite on fire, so we moved to a secret spot, and eventually filled the rest of or walleye limit in about an hour.

After filling the waldo limit, we headed to Waubay in search of perch, crappies, or something so we could scout out the opportunities for when Aaron's wife, brother, and his wife came up during the weekend.
I forgot the bread before we headed out....

 I found a couple of walleyes, one of which would have been great to keep but we already had our limit, but the bite was limited out there. What we did find a lot of were MASSIVE carp swimming around near the timber. 25-30+ pounds each, and no shortage of them. There will be a trip in our future...

We headed home for fish cleaning, and food.

Not too bad for an entire day on the water.


We still have two more days of hard fishing ahead.



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