Open Season 2020

2020

OPEN SEASON

A

PUBL I CAT I O N

O F

WOLF SPRINGS RANCH

Cohagen, Garfield County, Montana

BIDDICK RANCH

Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming

HORSE CREEK RANCH

Broadus, Powder River County, Montana

Large, 10,550± acre contiguous, well-watered cattle ranch: 9,130± deeded, 640± State lease & 780± BLM lease acres. Excellent improvements.

13,146± acres: 12,826± deeded & 320± State lease acres. 4,060± irrigated acres, Owner-rated at 650 cow/calf pairs year-round. 8 miles live water.

20,591± total acres: 10,311± deeded, 9,000± BLM lease & 1,280± state lease acres.

Contact Denver Gilbert at (406) 697-3961

Contact Clark & Associates Land Brokers at (307) 334-2025

Contact Clark & Associates Land Brokers at (307) 334-2025

WO 3M RANCH

MULESHOE LAND & CATTLE

$5,125,000

MILLS HOME RANCH

Casper, Natrona County, Wyoming

$10,950,000

Encampment, Carbon County, Wyoming

$8,500,000

25,569± total acres: 19,995± deeded, 2,085± State lease, 3,539± BLM lease acres. 506± irrigated acres. Nice set of improvements.

1,040± deeded acres of grazing and hunting ground.

Abundant wildlife.

Torrington, Goshen County, Wyoming 4,606± deeded acres. 5 center pivots irrigate 693± acres plus 3,913± acres of pasture.

Contact Clark & Associates Land Brokers at (307) 334-2025

Contact Cory Clark at (307) 334-2025 or Logan Schliinz at (307) 575-5236

Contact Cory Clark at (307) 334-2025 or Logan Schliinz at (307) 575-5236

LONETREE RANCH

N. STERLING RESERVOIR RANCH

Crawford, Sioux County, Nebraska

$11,500,000

Upton, Weston County, Wyoming

42,558± acre ranch: 31,551 deeded, 1,920 State, 3,400 USFS permit acres. Owner-rated at 1,400 head of mother cows.

$18,945,000

Contact Clark & Associates at (307) 334-2025

NICHOLS RANCH

Boulder, Sublette County, Wyoming 49,808± total acres: 3,610± deeded, 240± State and 45,958± BLM lease acres.

$8,250,000

Contact Scott Leach at (307) 331-9095

$1,850,000

Padroni, Logan County, Colorado

2,149± deeded acres with waterfront on the reservoir. Livestock grazing, hunting and fishing.

$3,900,000

Contact Ted Turano 720-616-9729

ARAPAHO RANCH

Lakeside, Sheridan County, Nebraska 10,202± total contiguous acres: 8,924± deeded, 1,278± State lease.

$7,750,000

Contact Cory Clark at (307) 334-2025 or Ryan Rochlitz (307) 286-3307

$5,000,000

RIMROCK RANCH

800± deeded acres adjacent to the historic Fort Robinson State Park. Excellent improvements.

$1,200,000

Contact Dean Nelson at (307) 340-114 or Cory Clark at (307) 334-2025

GREER RANCH

Lance Creek, Niobrara County, Wyoming

9,246± total contiguous acres: 8,566± deeded, 640± State lease, 40± BLM lease acres.

$5,100,000

Contact Cory Clark at (307) 334-2025

Miller Creek Retreat

Haven View

NEW LISTING

NEW LISTING

Sundance, WY

Hulett, WY

237 acres with live water and bordering Black Hills National Forest on two sides. Remote Bear Lodge setting with spectacular scenery and the seclusion on the North Fork of Miller Creek.

Great summer cabin or hunting property. $715,000.

Davison Meadows

Scenic 283-acre property northwest of Hulett. Timbered hills with pine, cedar and bur oak, high plateaus with long-range views, secluded draws, and privacy. Numerous building sites to choose from. Good county road access. $653,000.

River Property

Four Corners, WY

Alva, WY

Kara Valley Ranch Sundance, WY

Scenic valley setting on 165 acres which includes 97 acres of irrigated meadows. Ranch headquarters with a sprawling ranch style home designed for entertaining, 7-stall horse barn, shop and loafing sheds. Easily accessible location with inspiring views of the surrounding hills. $995,000.

Cottle Creek Ranch Sturgis, SD

PRICE REDUCTION

Picturesque rural setting in the valley south of Strawberry Mountain with incredible views. 160 acres which includes 120 acres of hay fields.

Easily accessible location just one mile to pavement. Ideal property for hay base, recreational retreat, or place for year-round living. $428,000.

Nelson Headquarters

Valley setting on 69 acres with yearround live water, beautiful vistas, and productive meadows, which makes for excellent Whitetail habitat. The Belle Fourche River flows through the property for over ¼ mile. Rolling hay meadows on each side of the river. $375,000.

Oak Creek Retreat

Newell, SD

Aladdin, WY

Farm-Ranch headquarters with 157 acres that includes 93 acres of class four soil that can be irrigated under Belle Fourche Irrigation Dist.

Headquarters includes modest 3-bedroom home with 2-car garage, Quonset and several older livestock sheds. Fronts Hwy north of Newell. $395,000. Additional land available.

Impressive 186-acre property with a one of a kind home that combines maximum efficiency with detailed elegance. The luxurious home has an open floor plan with many custom features. Also has bunkhouse, barn & 40’ x 120’ shop. North of Aladdin with live water, meadows, woods and good access. $1,387,000.

Great location for potential development or Sturgis Rally property.

260 acres with rolling terrain and rural water on two sides. A reservoir along Cottle Creek is stocked with bass and bullheads. Good headquarters with numerous outbuildings. Reduced to $3,650,000.

Lytle Creek Ranch Hulett, WY

This is one of the most picturesque and private settings in the Bear Lodge Mountains. 1,160 acres with a mountain stream and the entire eastern side bordering Black Hills National Forest.

Good set of ranch improvements.

Enjoy unobstructed views, outstanding scenery, live water, abundant wildlife, and access to public lands. $3,480,000.

Phone: 307-746-2083 Box 98, Newcastle, WY 82701 Print brochures at ArnoldRealty.com Licensed in WY, SD & MT

Sign up for email property updates at ArnoldRealty.com

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

OPEN SEASON 2020

1

Because it’s more than a deal.

View complete listings, videos and interactive maps at hewittlandcompany.com

ING NEW LIST Northstream Investments - Main Ranch Ft. Pierre, SD | 6,916 Acres $8,650,000

ING NEW LIST

Bliss Ranch | Perkins County, SD 1,962 Acres | $2,356,800

ING NEW LIST

Northstream Investments - River Pasture Ft. Pierre, SD | 1,245.09 Acres $1,995,000

Cheyenne River Ranch | Milesville, SD 1,634 Acres | $1,510,000

South Central SD Farmland Mellette & Jackson Counties, SD 1,360 Acres | $1,768,000

Hardy Ranch | Edgemont, SD 480 Acres | $864,000

K-S Ranch | Nisland, SD 280 Acres | $700,000

Bad River Hunting Retreat | Philip, SD 223 Acres | $525,000

ING T S I L W E N Casey Miller Ranch - North Unit Dupree, SD | 640 Acres | $464,000

2

Flat Top Ranch | Squaw Gap, ND 4,867 Acres | $3,400,000

ING T S I L W E N Casey Miller Ranch - South Unit Dupree, SD | 460 Acres | $394,000

JD Hewitt 605-347-1100

Tyson Hewitt 605-206-0034

Tanner Hewitt 605-490-7952

Dan Todd 605-280-9214

OPEN SEASON 2020

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

Oahe Lakefront Acreage | Pierre, SD 40 Acres | $325,000

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TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

OPEN SEASON 2020

3

2020

OPEN SEASON Contents 8

Harvesting a record trophy

30

Enabled hunting

14

Access success

34

Making it happen

22

Diggin’ up bones

38

The right rifle

28

Bob Goodall and the elk

42

Winner Sharpshooter Classic

46

Advertiser Index

4

COVER PHOTO BY BO PRIESKORN

BY DEANNA NELSON-LICKING

BY TAMARA CHOAT

BY MARIA TIBBETTS

BY DUSTIN GOODALL

OPEN SEASON 2020

BY SAVANNA SIMMONS

BY SAVANNA SIMMONS

BY RUTH WIECHMANN

BY MARIA TIBBETTS

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

Before

1501 5TH AVE., SUITE 101, BELLE FOURCHE, SD 57717 1-877-347-9100 · (605) 723-7001 · 877-347-9126 (FAX)

THE HUNT AND BEFORE THE TRIP HOME

Stop & pick up some

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

1 (877) 347-9100 Publisher: SABRINA “BREE” POPPE Cell (605) 639-0356 | Office (877) 347-9104 spoppe@tsln-fre.com GM of Sales & Marketing & Fieldman: DENNIS GINKENS Cell (406) 670-9839 | dginkens@tsln-fre.com

CE 1ST PLA

AWARD WINNING MEATS

• JERKY • BRATS • SUMMER SAUSAGE • RING BOLOGNA

Editor: CARRIE STADHEIM (605) 622-8935 | cstadheim@tsln-fre.com Digital & Sections Editor: MARIA TIBBETTS (605) 484-4488 | mtibbetts@tsln-fre.com Digital Engagment Editor: LIZ BANMAN MUNSTERTEIGER marketing@tsln-fre.com Graphic Designer: CHRISTA VANDYKE Special Projects & Major Account Coordinator: DIANNA PALMER Northern Black Hills Territory (605) 723-7010 | dpalmer@tsln-fre.com Greeley/Fort Collins Account Manager: MARY ROBERTS (970)301-2192 | mroberts@thefencepost.com Southeastern & Western Colorado: CHRISTINE MCGEE (970)301-2191 | cmcgee@thefencepost.com Foothills-West CO Account Manager: VALERIE RODRIGUEZ 970-590-0412 | vrodriguez@thefencepost.com Nebraska Account Manager: GAYDAWN ROGERS (970) 301-2190 | grogers@tsln-fre.com

Also:

-SALAMI STICKS -SMOKED JALAPEÑO CHEESE BRATS -BREAKFAST SAUSAGE -WILD GAME BACON

Mid-Dakota Meats (605) 842-3664 • 136 W. TRIPP, WINNER, SD

Come see us at our NEW LOCATION 757 W. 2nd

Commercial Account Manager: LEAH BRENCE West River Territory SD/ND/MT/WY (406) 839-1097 | lbrence@tsln-fre.com Commercial Account Manager: TRACY L. HAUK East River SD/ND Territory (406) 951-3211 | thauk@tsln-fre.com Cattle Marketing Assistant & NE Territory Account Manager: CARISSA LEE (877) 347-9114 | clee@tsln-fre.com Director of Field Services & Ringman: SCOTT DIRK West of River ND & SD Territory (605) 380-6024 | sdirk@tsln-fre.com

Wide Selection of Brand Name Firearms & Ammunition New & Used Firearms

Field Service & Ringman: DAN PIROUTEK (605) 544-3316 | dpiroutek@tsln-fre.com Field Service & Ringman: DREW FELLER CO & NE Territory Field Service & Ringman : MATT WZNICK MT & WY Territory (406) 489-2414 | mwznick@tsln-fre.com

CLASSIFIEDS: CLASSIFIEDS@TSLN-FRE.COM COPYRIGHT 2020. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ERRORS: The Tri-State Livestock News shall be responsible for errors or omission in connection with an advertisement only to the extent of the space covered by the error.

Opinions stated in letters or signed columns do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of Tri-State News.

GUNSMITHING • GUNS •ACCESSORIES • OPTICS

Jeff Gregg Owner & Gunsmith 757 W 2nd • Winner, SD

605-842-GUNS (4867)

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

OPEN SEASON 2020

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Harvesting a record trophy

The experience of a lifetime and proof that conservation is working

Clayton Miller with his world record bighorn ram taken in the South Dakota Badlands.

(PHOTO BY DUSTIN LUTT FROM ROCKHOUSE MOTION)

6

OPEN SEASON 2020

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

BY DEANNA NELSON-LICKING

C

layton Miller of Draper, South Dakota had been applying for a bighorn sheep tag since he was 12, so in the spring of 2018 when he received a phone call from the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks he thought it was a joke.

But he had drawn the first ever bighorn sheep tag for the brand new Badlands unit in South Dakota. Having grown up sixty miles from there, Clayton and his family had been through there many times and he knew there were some nice rams. He made numerous scouting trips over the summer looking for rams.

On Oct. 27, when mature rams begin to display their dominance, felt magical for Clayton as he glassed a familiar Badlands formation and saw a huge ram. “We moved around to get a closer look. He spent the next two hours smashing heads with another big ram. It was the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed to see that impressive of an animal reared up against what would be the trophy of a lifetime in most areas. The other rams just couldn’t compare with his massive horns let alone the 50 plus pounds of body mass; he simply dominated the scene.”

Clayton lost sight of the ram as he followed a ewe away from the group and they searched unsuccessfully for him, only to find the monster near their camp after giving up the search. The ram was lying in a position that forced the hunters to get very close since Clayton was determined to use his bow. “When we reached the 20-yard

mark I came to full draw and settled my pin. The rams screamed out of their beds in a mad panic and my worst fears came to life. The wind had pushed me as I released and placed the arrow slightly forward of my aiming point. It stuck in his opposite shoulder and bounced out hanging by a thread giving me the appearance of what looked to be stuck on the shoulder facing me with not enough penetration for a lethal shot. I was sick. I’ve never nocked a second arrow so quickly in my life. From the moment of impact it was less than five seconds until my ram expired. It ended up being the quickest most ethical archery kill I have ever seen. To say that I had a sigh of relief was an understatement.

“Finally walking up and putting hands on this animal was remarkably surreal. He was absolutely massive. The ram ended up netting 209 1/8 inches making him the new all-time hunter-taken world record.”

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

OPEN SEASON 2020

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World-record brown bear taken with a bow by Chris Cammack.

(PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS CAMMACK)

8

Clayton Miller had the ram full-body mounted by Chris Cammack of Union Center, South Dakota, who also harvested a world record brown bear in the spring of 2018. Chris was invited on a spring bear hunt by some friends who were also his taxidermy clients.

They were hunting with Cole Kramer of Adventure Mountain Hunts.

should be, nearly in bow range. But then suddenly a stick snapped to our right. Cole swung his rifle in that direction and then said, “Draw!” I drew my bow as the bear rushed up out of the ravine, crashing through the brush straight at us. Then he stopped for a split second and glared at what he expected to be his competitor. ‘Shoot him now!’ Cole urged.”

Chris, Cole and friend Dan Watson stayed on to hunt after their friends had to leave after eight days of hunting.

Chris’ first morning hunting was windy and rainy; they set up overlooking a brushy valley and started glassing.

Cole spotted a huge bear, which joined a smaller female before taking a nap. The hunters crept closer to the bears and waited near an open patch of grass about 200 yards from the bears. The bears woke up and began feeding, but the boar started pushing the sow up the hill away from the hunters. They decided Cole would try to call the bear into bow range, by roaring and breaking brush.

The boar responded, and he was only 80 yards away when he stopped. “Cole and I were tucked into the only opening in the brush, with deep cover all around us. The boar continued toward us, on a mission, then suddenly disappeared into a ravine. Cole whispered, ‘This is going to happen fast, Get ready!’” Chris said. “But nothing happened. There was only dead silence. We stared into the thick brush straight ahead, where we thought the bear

Chris shot, hitting the giant bear in the chest at just 14 yards. The shock seemed to stop his forward momentum and he spun around and quickly disappeared into the thick brush. The sow immediately came running down the hill and turned in the direction of the boar. With less than an hour of daylight left and rain, they had to follow the blood trail immediately. “Cole was fairly confident in my shot, so the three of us started following the blood trail through the alders. Cole was about 10 steps ahead of me, armed with his .375 H&H rifle. I had my bow, and Dan carried another rifle. We were instructed to stop when Cole stopped, so he could be sure to hear and observe every movement unhindered,” Chris said. “Cautiously we inched our way through the sea of alders for what seemed liked forever, though we’d probably only covered about 150 yards. Then Cole stopped suddenly and slowly motioned for me to come forward quietly. As I approached, a massive form appeared, silhouetted in the brush. It was the bear, and he was still alive! I drew my bow as the huge

OPEN SEASON 2020

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

Alfred J. Martin’s Shiras’ moose, Jefferson County, Montana taken with a compound bow.

Chris Cammack with his world-record brown bear taken in May of 2018. (PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS CAMMACK)

boar swung his massive head toward me at just eight yards away. All I had was a quartering-to shot, but I took it. The boar jumped up, roaring, biting, and ripping alders out of the ground. He was an out-of-control bulldozer going off just eight steps away. I nocked another arrow and shot him again as he angrily spun around, and incredibly, within just seconds the old boar expired right in front of us.”

In the fading light the hunters cleared a 20 foot circle of brush from around the bear, all while hearing the sow crashing around in the dark. “Around 3 a.m. we were almost done.

I was leaning against a back leg to prevent the carcass from rolling over, and Cole was 11 feet away skinning the head.

Suddenly, the brush erupted and the sow appeared right behind Cole on the otherside of the brushpile we’d created. ‘The sow’s right there!’ I screamed as I fell away from the carcass.

“Cole jumped over the carcass as it rolled toward the sow and Dan tossed him the rifle. Cole took aim but the sow was spooked by the commotion and whirled off into the darkness. Evidently, she didn’t want to eat us, because she could have had Cole for sure,” Chris said.

They finished up and packed back to camp before flying into Kodiak. The next morning, they went to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game office to check in his bear. “We honestly did not know that we had a potential World Record bear until that moment, when they measured his skull.”

R. Bruce Kirkpatric’s 2018 cougar, Ravalli, County, Montana. Taken with a Winchester 1873, manufactured in 1879, the rifle belonged to his great-uncle “Doc” Zimmerman.

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“It was a long 60 days drying period. The Pope and Young Club’s official measurer, Chris Lacey, scored my bear. I was told the next step was to assemble a panel of measurers to officially score my bear. They met me at my home, where they confirmed the score of 294⁄16, a new world record by just 1⁄16.”

Chris grew up on a ranch which helped instill a love for the outdoors and being close to nature. “That is why I bowhunt, it’s more exciting and for the extra challenge.”

He absolutely recommends having your trophy big game measured. “It’s good for the outfitter and guide and it would be a shame to not have that animal be part of the records. It’s very helpful to conservation and it is something to be proud of.”

Justin Spring is director of big game records at Boone and Crockett. “Record setting trophies means they are doing amazing, there’s not a negative trend, and that conservation is successful. A growing population means that we are doing great by our wildlife. The data is used to gauge conservation successes and failures, mature male species, means things are working.”

It is the mission of the Boone and Crockett Club to promote the conservation and management of wildlife, especially big game, and its habitat, to preserve and encourage hunting and to maintain the highest ethical standards of fair chase and sportsmanship in North America.

The Boone and Crockett Club official score charts are now available as on-line scoring calculators. To begin select from the list of Trophy Types and enter the measurements, a 1/4-inch wide flexible steel tape will be needed for measuring.

Their intention is to provide hunters with an easy method to “green” score their animal. If the score is close to or above the minimum score for that category and they want to enter it in Boone and Crockett’s records book, the club will provide a list of official measurers for their area. In order for a trophy to be entered in the Boone and Crockett Club Awards Program, it must be scored by one of our designated Official Measurers. All volunteer B&C Official Measurer must first attend a measurer training workshop sponsored by the Club’s Records Department, all training is taught by two people and is a 100 percent scientific data system.

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

Early on, Club members and others in the scientific community recognized that the system was an effective means of tracking the recovery of big-game populations and the success of new conservation policies. The Club utilizes the Records of North American Big Game Program to communicate the basics of conservation and Fair Chase to sportsmen. The Club’s book, Records of North American Big Game, emphasized a keen understanding of species biology and proper habitat management, which is necessary to ensure the future of all wildlife.

“Wildlife conservation is one of our country’s greatest assets and we need to make sure that it continues into the future,” Justin Spring said.

The Records Program provides an opportunity to honor each individual outstanding big game animal, for all of time. In first and foremost honoring the animal, each record book listing also recognizes a bowhunting achievement and celebrates the time and efforts involved that culminated in that moment.

The Pope & Young Club is recognized as the official repository for records on bow-harvested North American big game animals. Together with the Boone & Crockett Club, the Pope & Young Club maintains the universally-accepted scoring system and sets the standards for measuring and scoring North American big game. Obviously, the limitation of the bow compared to the gun dictated lower minimum scores for determining trophy class animals.

Information on measuring and finding an official measurer are available on their website.

Statistical data collected from the entered animals are added to the Records Program archives as part of the Club’s ever-growing file on bowhunting and North American big game species. The P&Y Records Program archives provide great insight into the past and present management, health and trends of North America’s wildlife populations and bowhunting opportunities. The Records are a testimonial to wildlife, traditional wildlife management and the importance and success of hunting as a management tool.

TOP: Timothy E. Tigges’ 2018 Elk, taken in McKenzie County, North Dakota. MIDDLE: John C. Vanko’s 2018 pronghorn, Carbon County, Wyoming. BOTTOM: Dustin D. Simpson’s 2018 typical whitetail deer, Thayer County, Nebraska.

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

OPEN SEASON 2020

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Kirk J. Anderson’s non-typical American elk taken in Powder River County, Montana with a .338 Winchester.

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OPEN SEASON 2020

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

THE WYOMING FLOOD: A YEAR LATER

Dashing

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Denfver ee b e r e h W a n d wa t e r meet

Freestyle R livestock eining, sh more at N ows and ational W estern

a Co lor ad o nc er ns at Ra nc he rs ta lk co tio n co nf er en ce cia so Ca ttl em en ’ss As

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ountry hristmas

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OPEN SEASON 2020

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Walk-in Areas in South Dakota limit vehicle traffic, but have few other customizable limitations for private landowners offering public hunting. PHOTO COURTESY SOUTH DAKOTA GAME, FISH AND PARKS.

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OPEN SEASON 2020

TRI-STATE LIVESTOCK NEWS | FARMER & RANCHER EXCHANGE

ACCESS SUCCESS

Levi Forman owns and manages the Cecil Brown Ranch, named for his grandfather, near Knowlton, Mont., along with his family. PHOTO BY TAMARA CHOAT.

BY TAMARA CHOAT

F

or hunters, it can be hard to get a shot.

Not just a trophy buck in the sights, but a chance to find a place to go hunting. Many hunters say their time-honored tradition has become more difficult to enjoy as landowners have limited casual hunter access or leased to outfitters. Conversely, many landowners feel the crunch of abundant wild game, yet are not ready to throw the gates wide open like in “the good old days” due to property destruction and liability.

Enter state government-managed private landowner access programs.

Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota and other states offer contracts between private landowners and state departments of wildlife to open access to the licensed general public. Most programs provide compensation to landowners in return for the impact of the public and their time in managing hunters. Databases of accessible lands are available for in-state and out-of-state hunters to reserve and plan their hunts. Contract details vary by program and by state, but overall, benefit landowners and hunters alike, while controlling wild game to manageable levels.

Levi Forman is a fourth-generation owner on the Cecil Brown Ranch at Knowlton, Mont., in the wildlife-abundant southeastern corner of the state. Here mule deer, whitetail deer, antelope, elk, turkey and upland game birds thrive on the private grasslands interspersed among the shelter of pine buttes and

rough draws. His family ranch has been in Montana’s Block Management program since 1993 – one of the longest in the state, but was open to hunters even before that.

“My dad let people hunt before block management existed,” says Forman. “He wasn’t a hunter but he always felt people should have places to hunt even if they didn’t have the money for an outfitter or to travel somewhere.

When Block Management came along it allowed him to still provide a place for regular folks to hunt and make a similar amount of money to what an outfitter would pay to lease hunting rights.

“Of course there are more hunters than there would be with an outfitter, but he considered that a bonus as well since he tended to feel we had more deer than we needed, especially when they were breaking into his haystacks in the winter.”

Travis Muscha is the hunting access coordinator for Montana’s Region 7 in the southeast corner of the state. His area is the largest in the state in number of acres and participating landowners both. He develops contracts between landowners, coordinates the database of participating lands, maintains signage and sign-in sites, and serves as program liaison.

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Public access, private land partnerships South Dakota South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks manages several public hunting/private land partnerships, and approximately 40 percent of hunters in the state hunt lands in one of these programs. “We couldn’t manage wildlife without partnering with private landowners,” says Mark Norton, hunting access coordinator for South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks. The Walk-in Area program opens private land to foot traffic in exchange for a small payment and immunity from non-negligent liability. The Controlled Hunting Access Program allows landowners slightly more control and offers public hunting access for only certain game species or only certain types of hunting. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is administered by the USDA Farm Service Agency, and provides additional incentive to landowners for providing undisturbed habitat for wildlife and public hunting access. Norton says their programs do not lease or limit any land management activities, however, land that contains habitat that isn’t hayed or grazed in most years does receive higher payments.

South Dakota’s CHAP program is a private land, public access program, similar to that of other states.

PHOTO COURTESY SOUTH DAKOTA GAME, FISH AND PARKS.

Wyoming Access Yes is a Wyoming Game and Fish program that works with landowners to provide free hunting and fishing opportunities on private and inaccessible public lands.

Access Yes is comprised of Hunter Management Areas (HMA), Walk-In Hunting Areas (WIHA) and Walk-In Fishing Areas (WIFA). Access Yes is supported by hunter and angler donations (strictly for access easements, not operating expenses), the sale of lifetime and annual conservation stamps, and state wildlife restitution amounts. In 2019 the program provided access to 2,649,457 acres of hunting within enrolled areas. In 2018 22 percent of antelope hunters, 17 percent of deer hunters, and 14 percent of elk hunters used either a WIHA or a HMA to hunt on, which would equate to an estimated 11,744 antelope hunters, 10,796 deer hunters and 8,684 elk hunters.

North Dakota Working together, private landowners and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department provide hunting access to many private lands via Private Land Open to Sportsmen (PLOTS) agreements. The goal of PLOTS is to provide walk-in public access for hunting on private land. PLOTS agreements do not allow activities such as horseback riding, camping, placing bait for any purpose, driving ATVs or snowmobiles, dog training and more, without written permission from the landowner. The program’s unmistakable upside down triangular yellow signs is a staple on North Dakota’s rural landscape and likely recognized by most hunters. The three-sided signs stand for the pillars of the program – landowners, sportsmen and wildlife. The number of PLOTS acres made available to hunters grew from about 730,000 acres in 2015 to 762,000 acres in 2018.

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Wyoming has 54 Walk-In Fishing Areas across the state, with access to over 4,000 lake acres and 89 stream miles. PHOTO COURTESY WYOMING GAME AND FISH.

In 2019 the area had 2,138,356 acres in 259 Block Management Areas. Montana as a whole had 1,200 cooperators (private landowners) opening a total of 7.2 million acres to the public. Last year hunters signed in for approximately 500,000 hunter days through the program, with success rates right at 30 percent.

“Hunting is the number one tool we have as an agency to control wildlife and avoid damage to the landscape from overpopulation,” says Muscha. “We always recommend hunting as a first control tool, and without Block Management agreements, we would have a harder time controlling populations.”

Block Management formally began in Montana in 1985, but significantly expanded in 1996. In 2020 cooperators are paid a $250 enrollment payment and an impact payment of around $13/acre, give or take slightly depending on limiting factors such as season length or species restrictions, which a landowner can choose to incorporate. If there is ever a loss of livestock due to hunters, a

Travis Muscha collecting hunter use slips from a sign in box. PHOTO

COURTESY MONTANA FISH, WILDLIFE & PARKS.

separate livestock loss reimbursement is available. Additionally, one complimentary sportsman’s license, which covers hunting most species along with fishing, is also offered to a participating cooperator, immediate family or employee.

“This payment is not in any way a lease, but it’s compensation for possibly having roads rutted up, spread of weeds, and time spent by the landowner administering the program,” says Muscha.

One of the most appreciated aspects of Block Management is the ability of landowners to set the rules. They decide which segments of their land to open, what days and times they take calls or requests, how many hunters can be on at one time, and if they allow motorized access or walk-in only.

“It’s not a cookie-cutter program where we tell them what to do – they tell us what they want and we customize a contract and access description based on their requests,” says Muscha.

Tyler Muscha, son of Travis Muscha, Montana’s Block Management Regional 7 hunting access coordinator, on a successful 2019 BMA hunt. PHOTO COURTESY TRAVIS MUSCHA.

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A rafter of wild turkey poults follow their mama on the Cecil Brown Ranch. PHOTO

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The Cecil Brown Ranch enrolls their entire ranch in the program, for all seasons. Rifle season for deer is by far their most popular sign-in, but they also get antelope, elk and turkey and upland bird hunters. They allow people to drive on established pasture roads as long as it’s not muddy, and ATVs are allowed only to retrieve game difficult to carry out. “I usually tell people if they’re leaving tracks then they need to get out and walk, and most people respect that,” says Forman.

Forman says that his number of requests has increased in the past few years, and he has had to turn more people down. “I feel bad saying no but if there are too many people on the place no one will have a good experience and that’s the situation on a lot of public land our hunters are trying to escape from.”

As they go into their 27th year in the program, the Formans have made a lot of close friends through it.

“We have some hunters who go back to when their dad was getting permission from my grandfather.

Some families have been coming long enough that the original people have passed away and their kids and grandkids are coming to hunt. It’s pretty cool to see that.”

When Forman’s dad, Mark Forman, passed away in a ranch accident in 2008, the state director of Block

Management at the time sent several work crews and materials to the Formans to fix fence and build a hay corral. “It was a real boost for us to have people willing to help those first few years while we were trying to learn how to run the ranch without Dad,” says Forman.

Forman does have a list of people who are no longer allowed to hunt – but it’s a very, very short list. One group in particular comes to his mind, as they were acting rather odd, something seemed off. “It didn’t occur to me until after they left that they were staggering drunk. And the reason it didn’t occur to me was that it was 8 in the morning!” Later his neighbor saw the group parked alongside the road and two were in the ditch having a fistfight. Outside of the rare bad apples and entertainment factor, Forman says he enjoys the contact with the hunters, and feels it helps to build a mutual respect. “The vast majority of people who come to hunt are respectful of my time and property.”

Muscha says in his experience the public really appreciates having places to hunt, especially with kids and family, and landowners are just as satisfied – surveys show 99 percent are satisfied with the program and 92 percent are satisfied with the hunters. “It’s a win-win for hunters and landowners both.”

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Diggin’ up bones

Diggin’ up bones: Dinosaur ranchers find fossils for profit, posterity

Jake Harris (center), his dad Mike (right) and their neighbor, Aaron Bollan were featured in Dino Hunters, a reality show on Discovery Channel.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DISCOVERY CHANNEL.

Jake Harris was a teacher who came back to help on his family’s ranch and now spends summers digging dinosaur bones. PHOTO COURTESY OF DISCOVERY CHANNEL.

BY MARIA TIBBETTS

T

he West is strewn with bones.

The bones of cattle that couldn’t make another winter, deer that didn’t outrun coyotes and coyotes that couldn’t outrun disease.

But as wind and weather move the soil in a cycle older than time, other bones surface. Bones of bison that once roamed the Plains. Deeper still are the bones of creatures humans have seen only in movies and museums.

The bones of animals that weighed twice as much as an elephant and were designed for ripping flesh weather out of the sagebrush draws and cutbanks in several Western states, and some ranch families are turning hunting dinosaurs into as much of a way of life as raising cattle.

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Jake Harris and his dad, Mike, run Angus cattle near Newcastle, Wyoming, but over the last 20 years they’ve become experts at identifying, excavating and preserving dinosaur fossils.

The ranch is on what’s known as the Lance Creek Formation, a geologic formation that stretches across Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Lance Creek Formation dates to the Cretaceous period, estimated to be about 66 million years old.

“I was just riding along 20 years ago, and said, ‘Hey, look at that,’” said Jake. “It didn’t look like a cow bone, and we knew we were in the Cretaceous. We probably rode over it a million times on horseback. We started digging.

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Dinosaur ranchers find fossils for profit, posterity

Clayton Phipps and his son, Luke, have been digging together since Luke was born. COURTESY PHOTO.

It turned out to be the humerus of a Edmontosaurus, or duckbill dinosaur. I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Once they’d figured out they were dealing with dinosaur fossils, they got in touch with professionals like Pete Larson at Black Hills Institute of Geologic Research to verify their finds, and Walter “Bill” Stein, who taught them how to preserve the fossils.

The Harris family built a lab on their ranch and now do their own excavating and preserving, calling in the experts only to identify unfamiliar fossils.

So far they’ve found representations of Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, Hadrosaur, Nanotyrannus, Dracorex, Troodon, Anzu, and

A Stygimoloch skull that Clayton Phipps found. The original is on display in Long Island and a replica is at the local museum in Jordan, Montana.

Pachycephalosaurus, plus gar scales, crocodile scales and teeth, and turtle fossils. “We have the fourth-most complete T. rex in in the world,” Jake said. Their collection also includes two of the top 10 Triceratops skulls in the world. They donated one of those skulls to a museum in Missouri for research.

“If you find any dinosaur over 70 percent, you’d better go buy a lottery ticket because that’s a find. You’re extremely lucky if you get over 50 percent of a skeleton,” Jake said. “We had an 80 percent complete Triceratops.

We already had it under contract. It was at our secondary prep lab and they were building stands for it, when a 100year flood washed through. We got four bones back. You can’t insure dinosaur skeletons. Talk about a bad day.”

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The gamble and the risk is familiar for the ranching family. The same weather that exposes the fossils for finding, quickly breaks them back down into gravel.

It’s the wind and water that makes dinosaur hunting an ever-changing pursuit, Jake said. A dry year, like this one has been, is good for digging bones, but doesn’t usually expose many new ones. Wind--always plentiful in Wyoming--moves the dirt from one spot, but puts it down in another, so it may be burying some bones as it’s uncovering others.

Jake said he’s not concerned about running out of dinosaurs to find. “There will still be dinosaurs here for my kids and grandkids--if I ever have any,” he said.

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Dinosaur hunting is more than just wandering around kicking at the dirt. Jake said they know where they’ll have the best luck by looking at the layers of soil and using a GPS to determine their elevation. There’s a gray tint to the shale around the dinosaur fossils, and about 80 percent of their success has been in that layer of the soil.

“I walk the same draws every year and find new sites every year,” Jake said.

Once the fossils are removed, they replace the soil they moved, and return it to the pre-dig condition, or better, Jake said. The average site he’s worked on is usually less than an acre, so reclamation of those sites isn’t too difficult.

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The dinosaurs pay rent on the place they’ve been occupying for millions of years, but finding a great skeleton doesn’t always translate to a great payday. The Harrises found a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, which they named Cowboy Rex, several years ago. It’s been sitting in their lab ever since, waiting for the buyer who has both the interest and the resources to purchase, prepare and display a specimen that’s worth millions.

The Harrises put together a website, www.wyomingdinosaurranch.com, where they sell authentic and replica specimens they’ve found on their ranch.

They also have a network of buyers, from private collectors to museums, they work with on more significant finds. The website lists authentic fossils from a Struthiomimus toe bone for $120 to a Triceratops jawbone for $4,495.

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Clayton Phipps and his son, Luke, were featured on Discovery Channel’s reality series Dino Hunters. PHOTO COURTESY OF DISCOVERY CHANNEL.

While the Harrises haven’t found a buyer for Cowboy Rex, they at least seem to have escaped the “curse” that attends the discovery of a lot of T. rex skeletons. Many of the major carnivore finds have ended up in court, eroding profits and wrecking the relationships between landowners and dinosaur hunters or ranch owners and mineral rights-holders.

Clayton Phipps, a rancher and dinosaur hunter from Montana, just got a final answer on a dispute he’s been involved in for years.

Clayton got his start as a dinosaur hunter when he was cowboying on a ranch in Montana. A fossil hunter started looking around and before he left he showed Clayton some of the dinosaur fossils he’d found. Clayton had spent his childhood scanning the ground for arrowheads, so the new hobby wasn’t hard to pick up. He just kept an eye out when he was riding, and spent his free minutes looking for dinosaurs. “I started going around to museums, I wanted to learn everything about it, and it just kind of took off from there,” Clayton said.

Clayton’s family--his dad and his dad’s three brothers-ranched in Montana on three ranches. When three of the brothers died, the families split the ranches four ways.

Clayton and his brother and sister split their part of the ranch three more ways, so Clayton was left with enough to run a few cows, but not make a living.

For a while he cowboyed for extra income, but decided, after he’d been dinosaur hunting for a while, that he wanted to quit riding for hire and start supplementing the ranch with the dinosaurs. “My wife still thinks I’m crazy, but I’ve managed to scrape a living out of the country,” he said. “Quite frankly, it’s paid the bills better than ranching.”

Clayton runs some of his own cows, and some for a neighbor. Summers are mostly for dinosaur hunting, and the routine summer work of ranching, but he has to take off a few weeks to put up hay. “The equipment I have been able to afford is older than I am, and me and mechanicing don’t agree. I’d rather hunt dinosaurs.”

Clayton and his hunting partner, his 13-year-old son, Luke, have found some fossils on the ranch where his family

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Clayton Phipps and his family ranch in Montana, where Clayton got his start digging up dinosaurs. COURTESY PHOTO.

lives, but they also prospect on other landowners’ ranches.

As a rancher himself, Clayton says he has the utmost respect for the landowner and does his best to keep those relationships in good standing. It’s that partnership that led him to supporting a lengthy legal battle over the skeletons of a carnivore and herbivore that died while fighting, called “the dueling dinosaurs.” Clayton discovered the dinosaurs in 2006, but after they were removed, the owner of the mineral rights to the land where they were found challenged the landowners’ claim to them. The 9th Circuit Court ruled this summer that fossils are part of the surface rights, reaffirming the precedent the industry has been working under for more than 100 years.

In 2019 the Montana legislature passed a law stating that fossils are part of the surface rights, thanks to this court case. Clayton and his son, Luke--12 at the time-- both testified in favor of the bill. It was passed unanimously and signed by the governor.

When millions of dollars are at stake, the handshake relationships ranchers prefer are tested, and sometimes fail.

But, as Clayton points out, it’s a partnership, and without 26

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the right people finding, digging up and preserving the dinosaur fossils, they’re worthless. And if the fossil hunters don’t have a place to hunt, they don’t have a job.

“More than half the value is in preparation and how well you do your job there,” he said. “That doesn’t count the time it takes to dig it out of the ground, or the 20 years it took to find it.”

While the Harrises do their own excavation and prep, Clayton partners with fossil preppers, CK Preparations, to do the job for him. “The labwork makes a big difference. You can destroy a dinosaur getting it out of the ground. I can prep the small stuff, but when it comes to the big stuff, they do it. It takes a lot of time and knowledge and effort to make a museum quality display.”

But if you can’t find a buyer, all the time, effort and expense won’t pay off. Like Harris’s Cowboy Rex, the best Hadrosaur skeleton Clayton ever found is still sitting in storage. “It’s 18-feet long, complete with tail. There was skin with the specimen. But we can’t find a home for it.

Just because you find a dinosaur doesn’t mean you have it made, or you’ll get to the bank with a check.”

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While the larger skeletons with bigger price tags are sometimes problematic to sell, nice specimens that are well-preserved can help pay a few bills. Clayton found a Stygimoloch skull, which is on display at a museum in Long Island, New York, and a replica is at the Garfield County Museum, in Jordan, Montana. Clayton also discovered a new species of oviraptor that is still being studied at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

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There may be other ways for the dinosaur ranchers to add some value to their fossil finding. Clayton’s brother, Jason Phipps, offers paid dinosaur digs for visitors at their ranch near Jordan, Montana. Jake said they welcome visitors and may offer a similar The two families are also becoming familiar faces to 4.5 million viewers of Discovery Channel’s series, Dino Hunters. In 2019 Half Yard Productions followed Phipps and Harris, plus two other dinosaur hunters, around for several days, filming for the reality show. It was a unique experience, wearing a microphone (and the same shirt) day after day, all day, Jake said.

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“The one thing is it took a lot more time than I thought it would,” said Clayton. “We had some great Largest Tackle Wholesaler and Live Bait in South film crews. I can’t say it was the funnest thing I’ve done ackle Wholesaler and Live Bait in South Central South Dakota in my life, but it’s not something I mind.”

Open 7 Discovery Channel aired six episodes of the series, and Days a averaged more than 1.1 million viewers per week.

Week -Rapala -Berkly -Strike King -Gary Yamamota -Rat-L-Trap -War Eagle -Snack Daddy ISG -Reaction Innovation -Sweat Beaver -Northland Fishing -Tackle -Uncle Josh -Live Bait -Shiners - Chubs -Crawlers - Wax Worms -Power Bait

Follow the dinosaur ranchers online Jake and Mike Harris Facebook: @WyomingDinosaurRanch Instagram: @cretaceouscowboy Website: Wyomingdinosaurranch.com Clayton Phipps Facebook: @TheDinosaurCowboy www.cowboydinodigs.com CK Preparations www.ckpreparations.com Discovery Channel www.discovery.com/shows/dino-hunters You can stream the shows on the Discoery Go app.

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SHARED BY HIS GRANDSON, DUSTIN GOODALL

C

lyde Goodall was a stockman in southwest Colorado his whole life. He ran 500 head of ewes for a bit and later shifted to a cow-calf operation where he retired in 2011. He summered his Hereford/Angus herd in the high country near Rico, Colorado between 9,000 and 11,000 feet elevation.

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Clyde Goodall and the Elk Being on the permit everyday of the summer he knew every hole that held a monster bull or high altitude buck.

It was a seamless opening morning for him every time. He would ride up from the river bottom with two mules, kill a mature bull and have it packed out most of the time before noon. It really put a hurting on my confidence when I started hunting by myself because I though elk was easy my whole childhood.

they were more or less broke to lead. They took them to their home in Rico, where they broke the bull to ride and the cow to pack. The bull’s spike antlers had to be sawed off due to the fact that when he got irritated he’d jab them in the chest. They kept the elk for a few years. They would ride the bull and pack the cow through parades in town and up known tourist trails.

The small spike that was saddled in the pictures was an interesting story. My granddad and his best friend were getting some cows out of the high country one late fall, they had been snowed in. They noticed a spike bull and a cow in a basin just below timberline that were also snowed in. They both shook a loop out and caught both elk. By the time they hit the river bottom

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d e l b a n E DISABLED HUNTING Austin’s Story

At the age of 6, Austin Jones went into respiratory failure.

He was able to leave the hospital more than a month later, though he has been on a ventilator since.

BY SAVANNA SIMMONS

W

hen Austin Jones was a baby, his mother Stephanie knew something wasn’t quite right with her youngest child. His hands and feet didn’t develop as she knew they should have, and, at the age of nine months, he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. For several years of his life, he was able to walk with the aid of braces, however, when he was six, Austin went into respiratory failure. Since then, he has been on a ventilator and in a wheelchair.

Following the passion of his hunting father, for his sixth birthday, Austin took his birthday money of $168 and purchased a Cricket .22 rifle, an upgrade from his BB gun.

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“That was the only thing he wanted,” said Austin’s dad Jason. “He still loves to shoot guns, but he just won’t hunt with guns because he thinks they’re too easy.”

He got his first crossbow at the age of 12, and Austin and Jason took quite some time to get a system figured out for shooting. Jason places the crossbow near Austin in his track chair and directs the aim as Austin looks through the scope, telling Jason, up, down, your way, my way, and shoot. Jason pulls the trigger with his left thumb.

“We were really, really bad for quite a while. If we got a 10-inch group, we were pretty proud of it,” Jason said.

“Part of it was we didn’t have a real great crossbow, and part of it was we just sucked.”

Now, at the age of 23, Austin is an avid crossbow hunter, and roams the United States with his dad, hunting large game like white tail and pronghorn in Wyoming, black bear and Rocky Mountain elk in his home state of Michigan, American bison in Texas, coues deer in Arizona, and much more.

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He has also captured two world championship titles, one through International Bowhunters (IBO) Association and one through Archery Shooters Association (ASA) and one national title in IBO archery competitions.

Since replacing his motorized wheel chair with a track chair in 2013, Austin Jones has been able to cover a variety of country and terrain to hunt large game.

“We went to his first national shoot in August of 2015, and there he placed second at world championship. Then the following year, he really buckled down, and we practiced shooting together,” Jason said. “His second year, he competed in all the shoots that year, and he won the triple crown, which is their national championship. He won two out of the three shoots for the triple crown, then he won the world championship.”

In 2017, he had hoped to shoot in the able-bodied crossbow class through IBO, though they didn’t allow it, so Jason reached out to ASA asking if Austin could compete in their regular classes, which they allowed.

“The whole second year in ASA was a series of ups and downs, just the trials and tribulations that make you who you are, and, all year long, after every shoot when we didn’t win, Austin would say, ‘That’s ok,’” Jason said. “Everything lined up at the Classic, the biggest 3D archery shoot in the world. There were well over 2,000 competitors in different classes, and that weekend Austin was the best crossbow shooter out of all of them. He wound up leading from wire to wire, from the very first arrow to the last arrow.”

While Austin has been successful in and enjoys archery tournaments, his true passion is hunting free-range game. Austin, with his dad at the wheel, has been able to hunt the remote areas he has due to the generosity of others.

For most of his life, Austin used a motorized wheelchair, but the terrain he traversed was often limited, especially in his marshy, soft-soiled home state. One weekend, Jason and Austin met Ray Brown, a man with late onset muscular dystrophy, at the Woods and Water Show in Michigan. He encouraged Austin to be part of his non-profit Wheeling Team 457 and showed them his Action Trackchair.

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For Austin Jones, hunting isn’t about the kill but rather the challenge. He uses hunting as a way to center and ground himself as well as connect with God.

“We were like, ‘Wow’, but we knew there was no way that we would be able to afford one like it,” Jason said.

“My sister started a fundraiser, which was something, at that point, I never would have even thought of doing because of my foolish pride. Since then, I’ve learned a lot.”

The fundraiser started with modest donations coming in, but one evening, Jason’s sister called crying hysterically.

“I thought the worst, but someone donated $10,000 toward his track chair, so we were able to get it in 2013,” Jason said. “Since then, it’s just been a whirlwind of adventures. We’ve been to 38 states, hunted in 13 states, and he’s taken six big game species.”

In 2014, at the Deer and Turkey Spectacular in Madison, Wisconsin, they met a group Outdoor Adventures for the Physically Challenged. They organized an antelope hunt in Wyoming, but Austin nearly declined since it was set

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up as a rifle hunt. They were able to jump through hoops at the last minute in order to allow Austin to legally hunt with his crossbow.

“It was going to be over irrigation pivots, and a relatively easy hunt for the most part because they had dealt with disabled people, but when we got there Austin had these other ideas,” Jason said. “He wanted to try to use these decoys and stalk some antelope. The one guy thought he was absolutely crazy, and the other guy believed in Austin.”

On the first day, they glassed a herd of eight does and a buck at 285 yards away, and Austin wanted to give it a go. They covered Austin and his crossbow with decoys, and over the next two hours, they stalked the herd 350 yards to the edge of the field.

Twice, they got to within 35 yards, but the buck never presented a good shot.

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“The herd got to the edge of the field to the sage brush. There was no way we could have stalked them through that, so I looked at Austin and said, ‘What do you want to do?’ He said, ‘Let’s go.’ We closed the distance a little bit—his track chair isn’t very fast—and he ranged them, 54 yards,” Jason said. “Austin adjusted his aim a little bit, then said, ‘Shoot.’ Austin said he could see his Luminok on the end of his arrow all the way through the scope, then he looked at me and said, ‘I think I heart-shot it!’”

For Austin, the joy of the hunt is less about the kill and more about the stalk and the challenge. His high standards for himself means that he waits for a clean shot with a likely kill rather than a wound. He doesn’t hunt beyond designated areas or hours, and he prefers free-range game that presents a fair hunt.

“Every time my arrow passes through an animal or we come across a dead critter at the end of a bloody trail, an overwhelming sadness comes over me, followed by joy and happiness,” Austin said. “Hunting is more than just killing, it’s about the spiritual side of things, the feeling you get from being in the woods, the love of nature and being a part of the largest conservationists this world has ever seen.”

On top of being the star of the hunting videos that frequent their Jones Boys Hunting Squad Facebook page, Austin also edits all his those videos with just his two thumbs.

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Making it happen

Cerebral palsy pushes family to find new options for outdoor activities

I

BY SAVANNA SIMMONS

n her 24 years of life thus far, Kenzi Burnside has led an adventure-filled life, from snow skiing annually the past 11 years to showing horses at the Pinto World Championships to fishing regularly with her dad and brother Thor and competing in marathons. All of this she did from her wheelchair or boosted onto a horse’s back.

muscle control. Fortunately, with Kenzi’s cerebral palsy, her mind is unaffected by her condition. Her muscles are another story.

“Kenzi was born with cerebral palsy. She is full of life,” said her dad, Mike Burnside. “I’ve always said for somebody who, in my opinion, has every right to be mad at life, she has just embraced life and loves everything about it.”

Kenzi has had several hip surgeries due to “scissoring,” in which the inside muscles of her legs cause one leg to cross in front of the other.

Throughout her life, Kenzi has undergone several major surgeries to fix tensions caused by her lack of 34

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“At some point before, during, or after childbirth, that part of the brain that controls muscles doesn’t get oxygen, and it can be to varying degrees, Mike said. “Kenzi is classified as moderate to severe. She can’t walk or do any fine motor skills.”

“That eventually pulled that hip bone out of socket, so they ended up having to go in and cut that ball socket off the end of her femur and reattach it at a different angle and put it back in the socket,” Mike said.

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At one point, Kenzi had a double hip surgery, yet another on the left hip, then another, before having to have surgery to take the hardware out of both hips. She has rods along both sides of her spine from her neck to her tailbone from developing scoliosis while in her wheelchair. The nerves that control the leg muscles have been clipped in an attempt to get them to release.

But Kenzi and her family work to make sure she gets to experience anything she thinks she’ll enjoy.

The Burnsides trek from their home near Tulsa to an adaptive snow sport center in Colorado where Kenzi can ski, and each year they travel the 45 miles to compete on a horse whose owner donates the use to a special-needs individual to compete at the Pinto World Championship Horse Show. She has ridden horses since the age of three and rides weekly.

Kenzi is part of the Tulsa chapter of Ainsley’s Angels, a group who gathers together to run races of any length from 5k to half or full marathons while pushing a special running chair with a special needs competitor.

“They see these individuals with disabilities that love the feel of running. Kenzi has a team of usually two to four runners who push them in races,” Mike said. “The longest one she was in the chair was six hours. She’s usually up to trying anything at least once, some things she says, ‘Ok, I’ve done that’ and doesn’t do it again.”

In the last several years, Kenzi has discovered a love for her dad’s sport, hunting, particularly rifle hunting. Her able-bodied brother Thor, who is a triplet with Kenzi and their late brother Hunter, could typically be found hunting with Mike in the fall.

Recently, Thor has made way for his sister.

In 2018, a contact the Burnsides met at the Pinto World Show recommended that Kenzi participate in a hunt facilitated by Holy Pursuit’s Dream Foundation, a charity dedicated to making it possible for disabled and medically fragile youth to hunt game of all sorts.

Mike promptly reached out to Holy Pursuit and filled out the necessary paperwork for her to go on a hunt. The next day or two, they replied to Mike and said they would like to take Kenzi hunting.

“Basically, whatever she wanted to hunt, they would make it happen,” Mike said. “We went through with Kenzi all the different choices and different animals. She settled on mule deer.”

This all took place in August of 2018, and Mike The North Platte River attracts a variety of knewanglers that itand wasrecreationists. fairly unlikely that Kenzi Fishermen can would now lookmule forward to hooking sauger in the get to hunt deer through athe organization stretch below the Dave Johnson Power Plant. that More fall, but he300,000 assured sauger his daughter would take than will be he stocked in the effort to reintroduce the native fish. her hunting.

PHOTO COURTESY PAUL GERRITY, WYOMING

Holy Pursuit theDEPARTMENT. Burnsides know that they weren’t GAME ANDlet FISH able to get it all organized as Mike anticipated, but the following year she would get to hunt mule deer in Wyoming.

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They practiced with a crossbow using a vacuum air system that allowed Kenzi to pull the trigger by sucking a tube before hunting Tuesday and Wednesday.

The last thirty minutes of their hunt, several does wandered into the meadow where they were set up, and Kenzi was able to shoot her first deer.

Instead, Kenzi and Mike went hunting together in Oklahoma that fall.

“She had said at one point while we were hunting, ‘When you and Bubba [her name for Thor] would go off hunting, I always wondered when was my time. This is my time.’ That hit me hard as a dad,” Mike said.

In the midst of hunting season 2018, Mike got the call that an already-organized hunt had freed up in Illinois the week of Thanksgiving. The child who was slated to hunt had gotten sick, and Holy Pursuit offered the hunt to Kenzi.

“Kenzi’s birthday was on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and she had a marathon the next day,” Mike said. “I had to talk to both Janet and Kenzi about the possibility for Thanksgiving week, and both said we can leave after the marathon and come back on Thanksgiving.”

On Sunday night, Kenzi, Janet, and Mike set off for Illinois, driving partway that day and finishing Monday.

“She was so thrilled that she was putting meat on the table for the family,” Mike said.

“Many of us who hunt take that for granted. For someone who has never been able to physically do something for the family, that is a huge milestone.”

Holy Pursuit quickly coordinated the processing of Kenzi’s doe, and, by the next morning, the meat was in an ice chest awaiting the return to Oklahoma. They arrived home late evening on Thanksgiving, and, for dinner the next day, the Burnsides had spaghetti with Kenzi’s deer meat.

“Hunting means dad and I get to go together, I get to meet new people, and I get to provide meat for the freezer,” Kenzi said.

Upon returning home, Kenzi went back to hunting with her dad, though he didn’t push her, allowing her to hunt when she wanted to and rest when she didn’t.

“We hunted various days,” Mike said. “It came down to next-to-last day of the season, and she said ‘This is it, my last hunt.’ As luck would have it, a young buck came

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out, an eight-point whitetail buck, and guess who was just overjoyed and excited.”

Kenzi shot the buck with her dad by placing her hand on the butt stock of the rifle. For the 2019 season, the Burnsides purchased an air actuator system, which requires two people to assist Kenzi. One person aims the firearm and the other helps Kenzi with the safety and tube.

Kenzi had another exciting hunting season last year, the fall of 2019. In September, Kenzi and her dad traveled to hunt aoudad in the Texas panhandle. She also harvested a red deer hind, which is the female to the red stag.

Her long-awaited mule deer hunt followed in October.

“On that mule deer hunt, the group that the Muley Fanatic Foundation hosted ended up being 11 children and young adults,” Mike said. “It’s the hunt of a lifetime; they cover all costs, travel, meals, lodging, everything is taken care of. The downside is that since October, two

of those 11 have passed away.

For some, it really is a hunt of a lifetime.”

That makes Mike and his family realize how fortunate they are to be able to support Kenzi’s experiences and to make these memories together.

“These kids like Kenzi have gone through a whole lot,” Mike said. “When she’s hunting, she’s doing something she knows is beyond her capabilities without help. As a dad, it makes me extremely proud for her determination, her spirit to stick with it, go against all odds, and pull it off. Most of the time, people on the hunt realize how much it took for her to do that, and there are usually a lot of moist eyes in the area.”

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Del Newman teaching his granddaughter about safe firearm handling and helping her with target practice to improve her accuracy.

The Right Rifle

Selecting the Gun and Ammunition You Need

BY RUTH WIECHMANN

A

re you heading out to put some venison on the table, or into the backcountry on your dream elk hunt?

Helping a youth hunter or a spouse on a first hunt? Here are some suggestions to help you prepare.

Del Newman, Lemmon, South Dakota, has a lifetime of hunting experience and over three decades of Hunt Safe instruction under his belt. If it’s firearm-related he can help get you started in the right direction.

RULES AND REGULATIONS Each state has its own set of regulations for what rifle caliber is legal to harvest certain game. Are you hunting deer? Antelope? Elk? Moose? Bear? Sheep?

Dig into the Game and Fish proclamations for the state you plan to hunt in and educate yourself.

“It’s the hunter’s responsibility to research the state rules and regulations before planning a hunt,” Newman said. “Some states specifically say you must hunt certain animals with a certain caliber rifle. For instance, South Dakota big game regulations specify that it is illegal to use a firearm that produces less than 1700 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle or has a diameter smaller than the .243.”

THE RIGHT LOAD “The number one rule is to match your ammunition to your game,” Newman said. “Bullet and caliber selection is very critical. Everyone has an opinion about caliber and ballistics but there are some pretty sound guidelines to follow while making sure you’re compliant with the state regulations.”

Newman said that North American big game can be split into roughly three categories as far as body size and corresponding caliber needed to make a good harvest but there is some overlap. Deer and antelope would be in the first category along with sheep, then elk and moose and finally bears. To be legal in South Dakota a shoulder-held firearm producing a minimum of 1,000 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle is required for deer, antelope and mountain lions. A variety of calibers will meet these requirements. Sheep are a similar sized animal to deer but require a rifle accurate at much longer range. In the second category, elk or moose require a larger caliber with sufficient foot pounds of energy. For example, a 7mm magnum or .300 magnum would be something to consider. In the third category, although black bear are smaller than grizzly bears, they are still a predator and can attack. A firearm similar to one used for elk would probably also work well for a black bear. If one were after a grizzly bear, a good starting point would be the .338

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magnum or other larger magnum calibers. You need ammunition with a larger diameter bullet capable of penetrating such a tough animal.

“If you’re hunting a grizzly bear you need the largest caliber you can shoot,” Newman laughed. “Even for elk and moose you need the largest caliber you can handle. If you’re not accurate with the gun don’t go out; you don’t want to wound an animal, especially dangerous game.”

In general, the larger the animal you’re after, the larger the caliber you should be using. Also research the powder capacity of your ammunition, because not all loads are created equal. The amount of powder affects the bullet’s travel and impact. Ballistic charts are readily available for all

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calibers and bullet weights, so do your homework.

“Pick your ammunition carefully,” Newman said. “There are differences in velocity and grain weight, differences in powder charges and every gun handles a load differently. There is plenty of information out there to make an informed choice.”

Today’s hunters have an advantage with controlled-expansion copper bullets that fold back and mushroom out on impact and also retain their weight when they hit the animal, such as Hornady GSX, Barnes TSX, and Nosler Partition, a controlled-expansion copper/lead premium bullet, to name a few.

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SAFETY AND ACCURACY “Safety FIRST is the number one rule of handling firearms,” Newman said. “A HuntSafe course is a must for anyone handling firearms. This cannot be overstressed.”

The best firearm and ammunition won’t do much good unless the gun is correctly sighted in and you can shoot accurately.

g

“The

terminal energy and the shock they produce inside the animal is amazing,” Newman said. “I shot an elk with my .30-06 using a 165 grain bullet that was travelling about 3,000 feet per second. The bullet caused the heart and lungs to literally explode. It looked like a grenade went off in there. These bullets are designed so that when they get inside they expand and that’s when they deliver the punch. There’s a lot of energy in those shock waves and an animal can be quickly dispatched.”

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Then, practice.

A newly purchased firearm is usually bore sighted before it leaves the gun shop, but it is easily done at home as well by keeping the gun steady while shining a light down the barrel and adjusting the scope so that the crosshairs of the scope line up with the light. Next, you’ll need a target.

Newman makes 24” square paper targets with 1” orange dots on them for target practice.

“Start with it out at twenty-five yards,” he suggested. “If your scope is off a lot and you start at 100 yards it might miss the target entirely. Use the ammunition you will hunt with for practicing. If

you hand load your own ammunition you can improve your accuracy by adjusting the powder charge slightly. Each gun will handle a different load a little differently. When target shooting, aim at the 1-inch dot. The points of impact need to be consistently in the area of the dot.

The tighter the group, the better.”

Once you’re accurate at twenty-five yards, move your target out to 100 yards, then 150, 200 and 300 yards, etc. Adjust your scope accordingly so that you know exactly where that bullet is going to hit at each distance.

Practice shooting off the bench first so that everything is perfectly steady, then practice keeping the gun steady while in different positions and also practice with shooting aids such as shooting sticks or bipods. Try to duplicate your hunting situations.

“Practicing at the range is important for improving your accuracy and getting comfortable with your firearm,” Newman said. “A person needs to practice breath control, practice

squeezing the trigger and get used to the feel of the gun going off.”

Using a .22 for practice is good because the ammunition is cheap and you can get a feel for these things and gain in proficiency. How much practice is needed depends on the individual, and every hunter will have an off day from time to time no matter their level of expertise. But it’s vital to make sure you can handle the firearm of your choice safely; if you can’t take the recoil or keep it steady enough to aim accurately you shouldn’t hunt with it.

“It’s also important to have a chance to shoot at a live animal,” Newman recommended. “Gophers or prairie dogs are a great place to start. Shooting at paper is fine but when you’re shooting at a live animal it’s different. You need to be very deliberate when you pull that trigger.

Buck fever is a reality. I’ve seen people lose their composure when they get a deer in their sights. Once that bullet is gone you can’t take it back.

Safety can’t be overstressed.

“Plan your hunt and hunt your plan. Respectfully ask permission to hunt private land well in advance of the season. Respect all property; no trash, drive only where designated, leave all gates as you find them, be fire conscious, if you see a fence down, report it to the landowner.

Use our great outdoors to relax and enjoy creation with others. Focus on enjoying the whole experience and doing it safely. Bringing home meat for the table or a trophy animal is the icing on the cake.”

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Winner Sharpshooter

Bird and Clay Classic

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BY MARIA TIBBETTS

S

ix shooters. Fifty shotgun shells.

Twenty-one prize shotguns. Two days in Winner, South Dakota.

That’s the crux of the Winner Sharpshooter Bird and Clay Classic, an annual hunting and shooting competition that draws shooters from all over the country and right next door, said Mike Scott, executive director of the Winner Chamber of Commerce.

The competition is planned for Dec. 11 and 12 this year, after the pheasant hunting traffic has slowed, but the hunting is still good.

Each team of six hunters has four hours and one box of 25 shotgun shells between them to shoot as many pheasants as they can on private hunting ground.

This year they added a new element-- once they get back to the gun club with their birds, the teams pick five of their six members to shoot

trap on the clay target range. They again get one box of shells between all five shooters.

The team with the highest score, plus the landowner who hosted them, each receive a high-end shotgun.

Second and third place teams also get shotguns, but the price tag on the gun gets smaller with each placing.

The event started about eight years ago, and Mike Scott was part of the organizing committee.

“We were looking for a way to take what we do well in the community--quality hunting–to try to get more people to come back to hunt, and draw some out-of-towners. What ended up happening was we get our out-of-town hunters, but it’s turned into a local favorite event. It was a

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The Winner Sharpshooter and Clay Classic features two nice dinners, including an awards banquet, where they award 21 shotguns to the top three hunting teams.

lot more popular on the local level than I thought it would be.”

Barry Tideman has been involved with the Classic since it started. He has hosted teams on his place, where he raises wheat, milo, corn and soybeans, and he has hunted on a team.

“I sure enjoyed having different guys come out and hunt. Most of them I kinda knew, but a few were out-of-staters. It’s a chance to make some new friends,” he said.

“It’s a well-run event. Part of it’s the camaraderie. Everybody looks forward to that. As far as the success of the hunt, its kinda the luck of the draw. If you get some good places to hunt, you might do real good. You might get a good place and not be able to hit anything. If you have two or three misses you might be out of the running.”

The competition starts Friday night, with a dinner and draw for hunting ground. All the ground is private, and a few of the places are preserves.

“It’s a positive for landowners,” Tideman said. “You get to show your friends your hunting operation. Out of state hunters get to see your hunting operation. We always save some land that hasn’t been hunted for a while. Nobody has been disappointed here.”

The landowners can walk with the hunters and show them where to hunt, and can take a dog to retrieve down birds.

But when Tideman is hunting on a team, he can’t hunt his own land.

There is a good deal of strategy in the competition, Tideman says. “You’re really cautious and half scared about shooting. When our pay hunters are out there, they might shoot two or three times at

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each bird. But in the Sharpshooters you really have to think about your shot. Pretty soon you think about it too much and then you do miss. Typically, everybody takes four shells and one guy takes five. As you hunt, if somebody is really on, you pass your shells to that guy.”

There is a judge with each team, who walks and brings the birds in at the end of the competition.

Each bird and each clay pigeon have a point value and the team with the most points at the end of the day is declared the winner.

in the running for pretty nice shotguns. “It’s

The Winner Sharpshooter Classic draws hunters from all over the country, plus locals who may not ordinarily get to hunt the land that’s offered up for the contest.

pretty reasonable if you break it down,” said Scott. “We try to make it a nice event. We have prime rib and that type of thing. For first place, all six shooters and the landowner get probably $1,300 to $1,400 guns. Second and third place guns are slightly less expensive, but still good quality.”

While the pheasant opener in October is typically one of the busiest of the season, this type of late-season hunt may be one of

The winners are recognized at a banquet on Saturday night, and additional prizes and raffles are awarded.

the best-kept secrets. “It’s a great hunt,” said

The fee to enter the competition is $1,800 per team, which includes meals both Friday and Saturday, shotgun shells, the bird cleaning and four hours of hunting on private property, said Scott. Plus it puts competitors

that’s the best time to go. There may be fewer

Scott. “In December it’s cold and the birds are bunching. If you don’t mind a little cold, people hunting then, but they come back because the hunting is good.”

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- See Veteran on Page

TEACHING OF THE HORSES

UW equine program seek s to expand opportunities

HORSE

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OUTSIDE CIRCLE

SAMPLE OF OUR TSLN SPECIAL EDITIONS:

Sad news come s as Wyoming horse breeder passes away D2

2019 S ALLION SHOWCASE | BLACK HILLS S OCK SHOW® HORSE SALE & S ALLION ROW

5 • 1:00 pm 15 01 February 12,• 20 6056459569

By Carrie Stadh eim Editor

S WEEK

Think smar t, not more work

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Veteran Salute: Richard Palczewski

The only one of four brothe “see action” rs to in ard Palczewski,World War II, Richbackground gave91, said his ranch in the U.S. Navy. him an advantage “I got to run and I only had this landing craft ucation.” Palczean eighth grade edwski said whenhe menti oned his limited education to one of his superi ors, the respo nse was “I know, but you have common sense.”

Palczewski One brother, Carl, also served the second Worldin the Navy during left home soil, War but he never chanic station working as a meed in Palczewski spent Florida. his young helping his family on the years ranch west of Haley, North farmin the extrem Dakot e southwest corner a the state. of At the age of to herd sheep twelve, he was hired for of Ralph, South a big outfit south Dakota.

“I was suppo sed ling ewes away to keep the yearfrom the lambi ewes. I didn’t ng have a horse or a dog, just my feet.” lar per day plusThe job paid a dolMeals, Palcze “room and board.” wski said, consis ted

INSIDE THI

BEEF TALK

JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 4, 2018

BLACK HILLS Stock Show&Rodeo

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ber 7, 2015

A bumper co rn crop creat es opporrtunities cr for feeders

S WEEK

INSIDE THI PASTOR IN E THE PASTUR

ock News

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By Maria Tussin Assistant Editor the South Unit Ranchers in are National Park of Badlands . Their sigh of relief a hing by breat be replaced cattle will not buffalo anytime ed tribally-own l soon.

Lako ta Triba The Oglal a June 11, 2013, Council voted ance 13-21, that to adopt Ordin 1,000 head of uce the would introd South Unit of of the to lo buffa

By Amanda al park, part Radke Badlands nation Indian Reserfor Tri-State Livest A quick snapsh ock News oc ot of current the Pine Ridge Unit is manScott says 400 pound steers prices at press time, the vation. The South cwt; 500 pound are bringing ership with lose to aged in partnService (NPS). o 3 3,500 calves pound steers are steers are $220-240/cwt; $260-275/ and 600 $205-220, respec move National Park ed d thr “We are just through the tively. directed the That ordinance Affairs to nosale at the sale barn,getting started on our fall ring at Herr n calf and our peak eid and Decem Bureau of India held the grazwill be in Novemrun Live estoc stock Auct ber,” he said. who ber ers “Things are pretty (HLA) on Octo ion the cow-calf guy tify ranch

Assoc Programs with dent of Beef

ROUNDUP IN THE SKY

Tri-State Livest

Saturday, Novem

rs Tribal ranche regain South Unit leases on Badlands

. might havoc on “Open!” unced open little more oftenis. the mostWhen prono ultrasound doing it a bull, that It is perhaps -lett er or Blaming the is by the vet him, dedrea ded four age of technician, often the cowShe Or maybe thanking dual. was thin. ng on the indivi word in the langu blamed. “She g. Maybe pendifact Genex recently decalvin le In troub am ranching. t up had and she didn’t veloped a research progr much Ran king righ sale she’s racist mine just how bull bull like that bull.” were bred to deter t the there with blame or credi ing day, When cows day and shipp er preg- using artificial inseminad take. le al- shoul ex is pleas ed to the day a ranchcan be tion, the list of possib “Gen r. the first es even longe h PregCheck, becom launc in nancy tests ibis ’s most was bad that sire fertility evaluation “The weather on one of the year said Brad she slipped beef industry,” day. I think was loud the on, the company’s Beef stressful. e profit ice. The help Johns A ranch’s entir on the the spooked the cattle. I Product Development Mans and of potential relie cows to think we got a bad batchwas ager. put a lot of “Genex has ability of the raise a semen. The techn” ician The list last 12 to 18 erienced... effort in the prod uce and r fertility back inexp be endless. hs to gathe could calf, then come times do mont get pregBut how many ty of the into heat and a short fertili in we blame the nant again . on Page A2 bull?

Genex Presi - See iate Vice period of time any e but It seems simplof the varitell rancher can

Enjoy us onli ne: www.tsln

Saturday, Novem .com and www ber 7, 2015 .facebook.com /tsln.fre

aude Hamilton-M

By Heather ock News for Tri-State Livest cers, states produ ® For western Stock Show the Black Hills e to compare chanc new (BHSS) is a bly buy a chute s, possi and price bulls. g ranch geldin that typically It’s a social eventess transaction includes a busin for those on the ver, Howe or two. the vendor table, other side of show stick, it is or saddle horn to engage with an opportunity while community one the ranching competing in in attending or ier stock shows of the prem is the country. ing customer ranch “The and of the BHSS, the foundation I’m involved in it’s the only deal that kind of meet r where I can horse traine customer,” said mers custo “The r. evJamie Stove your rancher, at BHSS are types who have y eryday cowbo they breed each 10 or so mares horse pick a stud year. If they mares, it’s to to use on those a really nice elves raise thems will

tion to give es new evalua bulls Genex launch on fertility of ta da s er uc prod or Stadheim, Edit

By Carrie

$1.50

FALL 2018

2018

ROUNDUP

2019

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STALLION ROW TRUCK DEFENDER

Pride

HORSE SALE CATALOG INSIDE!

FRIDAY SALE

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HORSE SALE

January 25 & 26 - 2 p.m.

2018

A PUBLICATION OF

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