South Dakota!

[Rommel]

A couple of my friends bought a farm house together in South Dakota. They pheasant hunt out there every year and decided to buy a place. I haven't been out there since '03 so decided to go out there this past week and help them set up the new hunting shack ! We were lucky enough to fit in some Prairie dog hunting and I used my friends .17 bench rifle to take 8 of the little critters and one jack rabbit at 150 yds., that little gun is on the money! We also saw lots of pheasants, partridge, sharptail grouse, 2 antelope , some mulies , some whitetails and several Merriam turkeys. Here's a picture of the house on 13 acres.

Heres some pics of the inside that we just set up this week with all the mounts that some of us in the group donated for the house.





We had a great time while there, I'm no farmer but the guy from the next farm over let me drive his hay baler! and yes they all wear cowboy hats out there so my Toby Kieth hat fit right in but the tennis shoes were no match for the cowboy boots that they wear. Check out the Millerlite in my left hand!

This is this mornings sunrise behind their house. I took this pic just as we were getting in the truck to get me to the airport.

After being shown this old tractor by one of the local guys and finding out that it might be for sale , my friends bought this 1941 International H and after sitting for almost 6 years it started right up when they turned the key. They later did a quick tune-up on it and dropped in a new battery and now it runs real sweet. We used it yesterday to drag some tree limbs and stumps out of the shelter belt.

[Hardcorehunter]

Rommel it looks like you guys had a blast. Is someone going to live there permanetly?

[Rommel]

No , No permanant resident. My buddy Marty lives in Oakland, MD near Deep Creek and our other buddy lives in Selbyville, DE. just outside Ocean city, MD. The farmer across the road keeps an eye on the place. Another farmer down the road a piece stores his combine in the barn on the property and uses the grain bins there, so there's someone always stopping by the house and checking on it. Burke, SD has a population of 656 people and everyone knows everyone out on the road. If theres a stranger in town they know it, lol. It's funny because when we went into the bank out there the teller looked at my buddy Marty and said " Your one of the guys who bought Pete Ings place aren't you?" When you drive down the road , they all wave to you even if they don't know you. Small town life, you gotta love it.

[BIG FOX]

that is awesome..

[osprey]

Since I didn't go out to North Dakota last fall I've really been missing that area lately, AND YOU AIN'T HELPING THINGS!!! Glad you had fun, it's awesome in both the Dakotas.

Good thing he's got folks keeping an eye on the place, I heard some horror stories about meth-heads squatting in distant hunting camps during the off seasons, not something you want to walk in on the night before the opener after a two day drive.

[brettgerhart]

If I had a gun I wouldn't mind walking in on them!