Newspaper for Lane, Alpena, and Wessington Springs SD
Springs Fishing Derby turns 20 years of age
The 20th annual Wessington Springs fishing derby will be held Sunday, June 12 at Ft. Thompson on the Missouri River. Participants depart from the North Shore boat launch for the tournament. The derby was changed to a Saturday last year, but Dept. of Game, Fish & Parks officials changed the date back to a Sunday, according to Dennis Mettler, of Wessington Springs. More information will be available at a later time.
The South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department will be holding a Wildlife and Fisheries Open House, December 13 at the Jerauld County Courthouse in Wessington Springs.
6:30-7:30. 
THIS GROUP OF LOCAL and area Ducks Unlimited boosters hosted the annual DU Banquet on Saturday evening, October 23, at the Prairie Lounge in Wessington Springs.
Pictured are, back row, left to right: Larry Olson, Greg Robinson, Lowell Stanley, Gene Grabin and Charlie Keller; middle row: Val Luckett, Dawn Luckett, Brock Woodin, Scott Miller, Blaine Tebay, Gary Bradley, and Olaus Lyons; front row: Josh Luckett, Ann Olson, Charlie Bergeleen, Darlene Bergeleen, Tom Mebius, Evie Bradley, Carol Grabin, Becky Keller, and Neil Kraft.
The evening included a social hour, steak supper and auction where many top quality wildlife items were sold to the highest bidder. Most of the items are donated by area businesses and individuals.
SUBMITTED PHOTOGRAPHS
A WESSINGTON SPRINGS NATIVE had the hunt of a lifetime on a ranch near Pringle, SD this fall. Rita Kolousek, Pukwana and formerly of the Wessington Springs area, was on a hunt with friends, hoping to bag her first elk. She got more than she had hoped for when, after sitting in a draw for 30 
minutes, she saw a Mt. Lion approaching them. “He was running with his ears back and I had to think fast,” Rita said, “because when I pulled up and shot he was within eleven steps from us!” The landowner’s wife told her they “could have been pork chops and apple sauce” if she had missed. Upon returning to the area after getting the landowner to comeout to the site, they spotted a herd of elk. “And that is when I shot my first elk,” she said. The cat, Rita and the nice 6X6 bull elk are all shown above. —Craig Wenzel
PHOTOGRAPHS/DUKE WENZEL - TRUE DAKOTAN
THE PHEASANTS FOREVER Banquet and Auction was held Sunday evening. The event was sponsored by the Wessington Springs chapter. Many of them are pictured above on Sunday morning as they set up the displays and tables for the event. They are: Standing, left to right: Craig Salter, Cory Minor, Lynn Ogren, Ron Ogren, Tom Hoefert, Dan Kruse, Frank McGowan, Darwin Weeldreyer, Bill Salter, Fred Krohmer, Kali Krohmer, Jay Ball, Brady Younie; Front row: Joan Hoefert, Cristin Hoefert, Jason Weber, Denny
A GROUP OF HUNTERS foreground is pictured last Saturday afternoon after completing a pass through a corn food plot several miles southwest of Wessington Springs. An old farm home is pictured in the background. After checking with a few groups after Saturday’s opener they reported filling or almost filling their limits. “But we had to work for them” was a common comment. Sunday’s hunt proved to be a mixed bag with some hunters filling and others not scoring as well. Many corn crops still in the field may give the birds a place to hang out and give the hunters less birds to shoot. --True Dakotan/Duke Wenzel
BY CRAIG WENZEL – TRUE DAKOTAN EDITOR
A young moose bull has been showing his antlers around the Jerauld County area, according to South Dakota Game,Fish & Parks Conservation Officer Michael Kavangh, of Plankinton.
“He was sighted near the SD 34/SD45 junction (20 miles west of Wessington Spring) on Saturday,” he said. “And by Tuesday he was spotted four miles west of Plankinton on Highway 16.”
He looked a little silly when he integrated with a herd of Angus cattle, according to Kavanagh. “He was pretty funny looking out there with those long legs while he was in with the cattle,” he laughed.
A Jerauld County rooster enjoys the sunshine -- True Dakotan photo/Duke Wenzel
PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Commission has proposed a statewide traditional pheasant season this year that is similar to 2009.
The traditional Pheasant Hunting Season would run from Oct. 16-Jan. 2, 2011. Sand Lake Refuge has closed at an earlier date in the past,, but under the proposed change would close at the same time as the main pheasant season.
The Commission has finalized the 2010 Youth and the Resident-Only Pheasant Hunting seasons. The Youth Season will be held October 2-6, and the Resident-Only Season will be October 9-11.
TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE
AS THE OFFICIAL first day of Spring came last week, the Jerauld County countryside did indeed look the part. Canada geese are pictured on a dam a mile northeast of Springs in the photo above. Huge flocks of geese and ducks can be seen all over the county in the air and in area fields where they feed. The snow depth is now officially down to zero inches but many of the deep drifts are still around. A week of temperatures in the 40s and 50s should help melt the drifts and also dry up the farm lots where calving is in full swing. Yup, suddenly life is very good in Wessington Springs. Today (Monday, March 30, 2010) the sun is shining and it’s around 70 degrees!!!! As our parents used to say, every spring, “Well, looks like we made it through another one.” –Craig and Duke
TRUE DAKOTAN PHOTO/DUKE WENZEL
LOTS OF DEER HAVE CONGREGATED in the Wessington Hills near the northwesst corner of town due to the long, hard winter weather. The deer — perhaps hundreds of them– graze in the hills by day and visit the SD Wheatgrowers’s corn pile on the dumpground road at night. These were photographed near the Elton and Julie Kaus home.
