Outdoorsmen Adventures.com

Most of us know just how great it is to spend time in the outdoors hunting deer and creating memories that will be talked about around the campfire for years to come. Creating wonderful memories that will be etched in our minds and stay with us as long as we live.

What would it be like to have the desire to participate in these things, but because of disabilities, believe that it was just a dream, something that others would be able to do, but you couldn’t?

Well, in a year past that’s the way it was, but not anymore.  There are individuals and groups determined to share the opportunity to hunt with youth whom without their help wouldn’t have these opportunities.

There’s a group headed up by Dean Rasmussen in the small community of Clark, S.D. population 1,285, who are making these dreams come true for disabled youths throughout the state.

The PDR Youth Hunt is named for Payton Dean Rasmussen, grandson of Dean Rasmussen.  Payton passed away from by spinal meningitis in 1999.

It was Dean’s vision that would enable disabled youth the opportunity to be part of a true South Dakota deer hunt. He and other volunteers obtain landowner permission, locate guides, build blinds/shooting platforms, provide housing, meals and plan other activities for the guardians that accompany the kids.

He wanted this to be a real hunt, a hunt like any other deer hunt with the kids in the blinds before sun up.

Dean brought his idea to community, local school and area leaders and a board was formed, holding their first hunt in 2008 with three kids.

The small but energetic group knew what they were taking on would be a huge task. Through determination, hard work and numerous hours, their dream has become a reality.

As with any endeavor, getting the event off the ground would be the toughest part as they were starting from square one. They starting out slowly, making sure they would be doing it right. An event like this isn’t something that can be put together hastily as disabled individuals have special needs.

Obtaining land to hunt and finding volunteer guides was the easiest part as the folks around Clark supported the group whole-heartedly.

One-on-one landowner contacts improving delivery and speed of conservation
Brookings, S.D. – August 16, 2010 – Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program, which provides conservation service to landowners through one-one-one consulting, launched in South Dakota in 2003. In just seven years, the program has worked to improve soil, water and wildlife habitat quality on more than 500,000 South Dakota acres. Pheasants Forever looks to add to that total during the current Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) general sign-up.

The Farm Bill Biologist program is a partnership of Pheasants Forever, the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Since 2003, South Dakota’s seven Farm Bill Biologists have made more than 13,000 landowner contacts, working a combined 100,000 hours to evaluate 508,890 acres for conservation improvements.
Primarily, the biologists work to accelerate and enhance enrollment in CRP and other Farm Bill conservation provisions that work with farm operations. With the first CRP general sign-up in four years under way, Farm Bill Biologists continue working conservation’s front lines with more acres and landowners than ever before.

“Pheasants Forever’s Farm Bill Biologist program is especially suited for South Dakota,” says Matt Morlock, Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologist based out of Brookings, “There is lots of land and lots of landowners in need of the service we’re providing.” Two years ago, Pheasants Forever Farm Bill Biologists in South Dakota helped drive interest in the CRP’s State Acres For wildlife Enhancement program (SAFE), then a brand-new continuous CRP practice. The initial demand was so great that it helped secure an additional acreage allotment for the state; that demand continues to grow.

Hunting-access program provides $50 million in federal funds to expand recreation opportunities on private lands

Saint Paul, Minn. – July 8, 2010 – Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever today praised a decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to release $50 million in funding for the “Open Fields” Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program, a new effort to encourage owners and operators of privately held farm, ranch and forest lands to provide public access to their lands for wildlife-dependent activities such as hunting and fishing.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement this afternoon at a national press conference, at which other speakers included Howard Vincent, Pheasants Forever National President and CEO, and representatives from the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Open Fields was authorized by Congress for the first time in the 2008 Farm Bill following support from a TRCP-sponsored coalition that included Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. Open Fields provides states $50 million in federal monies to create or enhance voluntary hunter-access programs on private lands and encourages landowners who enroll their properties to employ best-management practices for wildlife. Landowners can receive a financial incentive in exchange for opening lands to the public for hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation. The Open Fields funding can now be used to enhance the 26 existing state public access programs, and establish programs in states where such programs are currently absent. There will be an application process for states to apply for funding.

“American sportsmen are deeply invested in the Open Fields program,” said Vincent, who praised the program on both its wildlife habitat and hunter access merits. “We appreciate the federal government’s willingness to expand public access to hunting and other recreational activities by assuring its implementation. Sportsmen now speak together in urging our nation’s decision makers to continue this record of support by retaining and funding Farm Bill conservation programs in 2012.”… Continue reading

As anyone who spends much time in the outdoors and enjoys wildlife can tell you, habitat is the key to having healthy populations.

When I talk about habitat, it isn’t something complicated and doesn’t need to be huge tracts.

Upland birds, deer, turkey and even songbirds all need some sort of cover (habitat) a place to roost, raise their young, to feed and loaf.

These places can be grassland such as CRP, pastures, ungrazed wooded draws or shelterbelts all of which serve a purpose, helping wildlife to grow and survive.

Unfortunately, with the corn, bean and land rent high, habitat for upland birds, turkey, deer and other wildlife has taken the back seat and has disappeared at an alarming rate.

CRP Fields, abandoned farmsteads, shelterbelts and sloughs, all of which once provided some cover are no longer there as they’ve been planted, removed or drained.

In some areas, the closest thing to habitat or nesting areas would be alfalfa which makes great nesting areas for pheasant and turkey as well as place for does to hide there young fawns.

Jennie Lake Enhancement will improve waterfowl habitat – Ducks Unlimited

To enhance the 316-acre lake, DU engineered and is installing a water-control structure and electric pump which will allow the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to better manage water levels and improve lake conditions.

“With the warm weather and removal of weight limits on the roads, our contractor, Duininck Brothers Inc., of Willmar, was able to begin work, and we should be able to complete the project ahead of schedule,” said Matt Olson, DU construction manager. “We’ll be working with Runestone Electric in May to run power to the site for the pump, so we should have it running later this summer.”

Additional funding for the Jennie Lake project came from a federal grant from the North American Wetlands Conservation Council, the Chippewa River Watershed Improvement Project, Viking Sportsmen and the Pioneer Heritage Conservation Trust.… Continue reading

McDonald brings experience, passion for wildlife

Lincoln, Neb. – April 27, 2010 – Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever announce Jerry McDonald of Lincoln, Nebraska, as the organization’s new Regional

Representative for eastern Nebraska. McDonald’s 25-plus years of marketing experience will help strengthen “The Habitat Organization’s” Cornhusker conservation mission.

McDonald will work to start new Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever chapters in eastern Nebraska and assist existing chapters with raising and expending funds on wildlife habitat and conservation education.
He will also work with local, state, and federal natural resource agencies on wildlife habitat initiatives. In addition to serving as a point person for local… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Outdoor Wire

A couple weeks back we touched on one of the first steps in building food plots. Once you’ve chosen a location, or locations, the next step is deciding what to plant. Recommended options often depend on intended purpose and existing conditions.

The first installment of this series (Web Tips 2/22/2010 Plotting Your Plots) discussed the basic differences between two types of food plots. In addition to shape, size and location, feeding plots and hunting plots also have different nutritional objectives. Hunting plots are designed primarily to attract deer in the fall and winter. As a result, they are typically planted with annuals that grow quickly and have a relatively narrow period of attraction and peak nutrition. Feeding plots, on the other hand, are designed either for year-round nutrition, or to fill in the gaps not met by hunting plots. More often they’re planted with perennials, or plants with a longer period of palatability.… Continue reading

Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal

It was almost daylight and the tukeys were still in the trees. Every few seconds one would gobble and this would set off the others.

Occasionally, I’d do a soft yelp and get the booming answers from the big toms.

I was so close I could hear them flying down from the tree limbs and they continued the gobbling and yelping.

But the sounds were fading as the whole bunch walked away.

More often than not, that’s how it is in today’s turkey woods. There are so many turkeys that it is a rare occasion when toms go to roost without hens.

And, come dawn, the toms go where the hens go and if you are not on that track, you will not bag a tom.

That’s why preseason scouting is so important.

We used to scout just to determine where the toms were roosting and then depend upon our calling to bring them in.

Now, however, you have to determine where those turkeys will go when they fly down and you must be set up on that track to even have a chance.

It is a fact that many of today’s turkey hunters no longer get up early to be in the woods at dawn.… Continue reading