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Aug 19th,

Hi All,

I’m not sure where this month has gone. Seems like just last night I was shooting fireworks at the 4^th picnic. Of course folks say the mind is the first thing to go but I don’t believe that, I think it’s the knees myself.

But any before I get off on a rant about old age, the fecklessness of youth, the economy, war, politics or even worse religion. Let me update you about the birds, weather and this fall.

First, initial bird reports and numbers are out from the State. In our area the hatch / numbers of birds are looking very good and the potential winter kill of birds did not materialize. Weather wise this has been the wettest spring and summer for many, many years. Rain fall in July, June, and May equaled the total precipitation for some entire years! That combined with warm but not summer has created a explosion of vegetation / cover for the birds. Thus I feel that we are looking at another great year of hunting here at Granite Springs.

** Note – The hunting maybe harder this year during the early season due to the increase in cover and the likely hood that the corn may not get harvested until November. The fields are so wet that many farmers will have to wait until the first hard frost to get in and pick.

BIG NEWS – Gary Holkenstead will be cooking for us this fall. Gary was with us during the first two years of our operation and we really missed him last year. His Prime Rib, special soups and appetizers are so good that it’ll be hard to get me to go home at night. Imagine holiday quality foods tempting you for the entire season and then taking a break for Christmas. Brennan and I will be huge!.

Creek below the lodge has been out of it’s banks for most of the summer. Anyone who was anticipating using the new footbridge will have to wait until it’s either found downstream or we rebuild…. It was 32 feet long and about 8 ft above what we thought was flood stage.

All kids start school next week and l guess it’s a love / hate deal. While we all love our vacations and having the freedom of summer, it'll be great to get back to a routine. Plus , the kids will see their friends, maybe learn something and for mom & dad it’s great to get them out of the house !!!

Anyway,  I'd better run.   Call if you want to come out and visit / hunt we're pretty booked.

Kevin

July 3rd,

Friends, Family, and those we have not met yet.

Wow, Spring and Summer have just been flying. With family re-unions, weddings, baseball games and a few trips time just seems to have flown by.

But there have been some highlights that I’d like to share.

Noelle went to Illinois for a church mission. She went and helped a family rebuild their house. I think that’s pretty neat but have to ask myself. Why can’t I get her to work that hard around here? But I guess if I can’t do that then the best I could do would be to ask a church in Illinois to send a bunch of kids here and help me. I’d call it a mission trip…

Speaking of rebuilding, received 7 inches of rain in two days last month the resulting flooding took out most of the road below the lodge. Brennan built a pretty neat foot bridge that you can shoot carp off of if you don’t mind having your arrow hit some rocks. Of course that’s only if you miss…

Basement in our house in Mitchell is not water proof. And I found out that our floor in the basement does not slant to the drain. In fact it really doesn’t slant to anything except the most expensive furniture or easily damaged items in the basement.

As you may know we have started to carry Alumaline Kennels. I think they are a pretty neat deal and well built. But I really didn’t understand how well built they are until last week.

Here is what happened. Jen was watching Gunner and Bridger and nobody else was at the lodge. She decided to give Bridger a bath and let Gunner go outside to play. After the bath she called and looked around outside but could not find Gunner. She even took a four wheeler and drove around the property.

Okay, now she’s worried, can’t find her child. You can imagine the phone call Brennan got. So he heads home from over by Bridgwater.

Long story short – They find Gunner by hearing him talking to himself inside the kennel building. The words they heard were, “ well they’re never going to find me I really screwed myself this time”. Coming from where we are storing the Alumaline kennels. He had crawled into a double kennel and the door had latched behind him. For over 30 minutes he had tried to get out of the kennel and could not. For all of you who know Gunner I guess you’d have to say wow, that’s a tough kennel.

Everyone is always asking, “how are the pheasants looking?” Right now I’d say that in a lot of the state we are seeing hens relaying due the recent rains and flooding. There is plenty of time for that new hatch to grow before the fall but it does mean that we’ll have a wide range in bird ages and sizes this fall. Also depending on the area of the state bird numbers are going to be down due to winter kill. I’d say north of I-90 was probably the hardest hit.

We’ll I’d better get going and try to get some work done. Please call if your interested in coming out this fall the dates are getting full.

Stay Safe with the fireworks, Kevin



1 May 2010 Update - Kinda short I'll try to write more later.

Family, Friends and those we haven’t meet yet –

First – The birds and spring hatch are looking good. Winter kills did not hit our areas and the flooding has been minimal. We still have some openings for hunting in November but October is pretty much booked up. 

Spring is way to busy, Brennan and I are trying to get a hundred things done before the weeds take over. Besides getting in the food plots and regular farm or Bed & Breakfast work we are also trying to; build a suspension bridge across the creek, paint the guide house, create a walking path around the lodge, plant 200 trees, clean out dead trees from around the lake, fix fence and a laundry list of mundane tasks.

But in the midst of trying to keep all the various balls in the air here are some notable quotes from the kids or things I’ve overheard.

Tessa (age 10): At the supper table while eating chicken and mash potatoes. “Mom this supper is really good. It tastes just like McDonalds.”

Gunner (age 6): After driving over his own dump truck with the four wheeler turned to Brennan and said. “Guess, that’s why you want me to pick up my toys.”

Andrew (age 5): While walking with Chris out of daycare after teacher conferences. “Boy wish you hadn’t had to hear all that Dad.”

Noelle (age 15): Walking into the house after parallel parking the suburban for the first time.” Dad, you know that tree by the street that your always trying to get grass growing around? Well, I solved the problem.”

Mom (age… ): Trying to explain to Ross how / why kids get mono. “ When people who aren’t married kiss…. “
 

April 2010,

Wow, March was such a fast month. Wet weather, a couple of hunts, a few family gatherings and now it’s already past Easter.

Jeff Barker, my long time friend whom I first met in Camp Lejeune, came out and hunted with us again this year. Jeff is an avid hunter who’s enthusiasm for the hunt is matched by his companion Star. Unfortunately Jeff can not keep up with Star as her four feet can go much faster than his two. The good news is that we always manage to get the birds in the end and a good time is had by all.

Brennan and I have started making a suspension bridge to cross from the lodge side of Pierre creek to the lake about 200ft long. Yes, I know neither of us are engineers, nor have done it before. However, we did look at a picture of the Golden Gate bridge while at the bar and drew up some plans on a napkin which is more than what we’ve done for a lot of other projects. We put in the anchor supports last week and hope to have it finished by the end of April. Planning on a coin toss to see you goes across first.

Everyone is pretty healthy at this time. Larry had a cold for most the winter but now has shaken it. He has started the Whisk n Chop restaurant in Sioux Falls and is spending a lot of time there. He only shakes his head at the idea of the bridge.

Birds are doing well and we are starting working with the dogs more regular now that the weather has warmed up. Ringo and I plan on heading to Nebraska for a hunt test next week and hopefully will do well there. He’s started to pop occasionally and we’re working on that. Also, may take a new dog “Sam” and see how she does.

Well , I’d better run. Everyone stay safe and stay in touch. Kevin

March 2010,

Friends, Family and all those in between,

Laurie and I just got back from Pheasant Fest in Des Moines Iowa. What a great show and event, we really enjoyed seeing all the various vendors, exhibits and seminars. And of course Laurie went shopping part of the time at the “village” in eastern Des Moines which was an area of small shops and boutiques. I think though that the best thing she bought during the trip was a cook book just for pheasant and duck. We tried a recipe last night for Cordon Blu Pheasant and it was delicious.

Larry and Craig helped with manning the booth and I think we made quite a few contacts and hopefully some of the folks will come hunt with us next fall. Brennan could not make it to the show because Gunner was sick but perhaps next year.

Weather has warmed up and the pheasants have come thru the winter in good shape. Keep your fingers crossed and as long as we do not have a rough spring we should have a great year for numbers.

Other news – I am now the assistant youth director for the Mitchell Chapter of Pheasants Forever. Wish me luck with the kids. Plus we are starting a Pheasants Forever dog training group which will meet once a month until pheasant season.

Guess the biggest news is that we are going to be using Alumilene dog kennels and gun vaults at the lodge. I was so impressed by what I saw at Dan Schiebouts display of them at Pheasant Fest that we bought three. You really need to look at them at www.alumilene.com if your only a little considering getting a kennel.

Our first HRC Upland test of the year is happening this March 5^th, 6^th and we expect to have a fair turnout.

My friends Dan M.  and Bill H. should be gettting out of Afghanistan any day now and we are very thankful that they've done such a great job for all of US and are safe.


Anyway, I’d better get back to work. Kevin

Feb 2010
Friends, Family and those we haven’t met yet,

Here’s the current news and notes from Granite Springs.

1. Brennan, Laurie and I will be heading to Pheasant Fest in Des Moines from Feb 25-28^th. Will have a booth set up and hopefully meet quite a few folks. This will be our first time at this show and it promises to be pretty fun. Of course anytime you get a few days break from the kids… Anyway, hope to see some of you all there.
2. Fishing Tournament went pretty well despite the weather which was overcast, wet and snowy. Caught a couple hundred pounds of fish all told. Lots of door prizes. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. Despite Brennan committing the biggest accident/sin of his alcoholic career. He lost a whole fifth of butterscotch schnapps down an ice hole. There’s various excuses but basically we can only hope that next spring when the lake ice thaws that we will be able to find it before the boy scouts or some other kids do.
3. Birds have have handled the weather well so far this year. No significant wet freezing rain which can plug their noses and usually kills them. Also, even though we’ve some good snow this year the winds have kept enough areas clear for forage.
4. Bookings are up at this time from last year. I imagine the economy plays a part and hopefully that will continue.
5. Ringo has regained weight lost from last hunting season and we’re now looking forward to participating in some HRC hunt tests this spring.

Granite Springs will be hosting a Game Fish and Parks Stepping out Event this June. Families will come and try various outdoor activities at stations set up around the lake.

Anyway,  I'd better get going and head outside.  Laurie wants me to remodle a bathroom and if I stay in the house too long then I might have to start. :)   Kevin



January 2010,

Salutations,

Brennan and I hope you had a safe holiday. We’ve been trying to keep warm during the latest sub zero temps and have achieved that with a combination of layering of clothing, staying indoors and scotch. Of course during this time we’ve been thinking already about next fall. Much better to think about that than the various tasks / work our wives want done next week etc...

The pheasants have been forced out of the low lying areas and the edges of the food plots by the heavy snow. They are hanging out in the shelter belts and fly a couple of times a day into the center of the milo or corn food plots to eat.

We are hosting our second annual Rainbow roundup ice fishing contest on January 23^rd. Last year was real fun with 10 teams attending. Of course with the recent weather we do not have to worry about the ice being thick enough. Brennan is going to be the official and will weigh the fish, determine prizes. I get to make breakfast and hand out hot and cold drinks. Hopefully I’ll be able to last the entire time it can be pretty strenuous on the ice.

Anyway, we plan on attending the Pheasants Forever sports show next Feb 24^th, 25^th in Des Moines. Haven’t been to that one and of course we will be at a couple of SCI shows.

Thanks & Stay Warm, Kevin

December 17th,

Salutations and Happy Holidays to All,

Brennan and I and the entire Granite Springs family wish you holidays that are joyful and rewarding.

As you know, this year has been financially difficult for much of the country and I’d like to say that we were the exception, but that wasn’t the case. I can say that we’ve enjoyed each day to the fullest, and that our worst day following the dogs and chasing pheasants was better than my best day in an office.

Some of the highlights and memories of the year were watching Ann Marie shoot her first pheasant. I’ll always remember the cackle of the roosters as they flushed into the Dakota sky and her shouting at her husband “did you see!” Of course, who could forget the time when everyone was gathered around following a hunt when first Captain and then Ringo lifted their legs onto a hunter who had just missed two birds while blocking. Call me twisted, but I thought it was funny. Yes, this year was another good year for the memories and friends. Brennan and I are very lucky.

But with the highs always seem to come the lows. We lost a good companion in Big Woody this year due to an accident while Ringo, Malley and Boomer all spent days recuperating from cuts. A few of our guests did not make the hunts they had reserved, thus income opportunity was lost. We also had guests who were not happy with the distance from the Covey building to the main lodge. And there were times when Brennan and I were in the field so guests had to wait for us to return. Finally, while the food and drink was great overall, there were times it was lacking in variety or for some a few brands in the lounge were missing.

It is because of these circumstances, and the financial difficulties that many of our guests have had lately that we need to adjust our rates for 2010. We want to give those guests who want more service and a higher level of comfort their wish. While at the same time we are offering a more economical hunt to those whose priorities are different. And of course, we need to make enough money so our wives will not put us to work doing something else.

Check the prices page for 2010, please understand that repeat guests/friends will receive better prices if they call before February 1st. Thank you for understanding our need to change our pricing structure. More importantly, thank you for helping build memories this year. We look forward to making many more in the years to come.

Sincerely,

Kevin & Brennan Yeo

Nov 28^th,

Hi All, Here’s the latest news in no particular order or importance.

Hunting for us has been going well. Lot of new friends made and birds shot. Dogs have been taking a beating as we’ve had to hunt a lot of the heavier cover like cane and corn. Weather these last couple weeks could not have been better. 50’s and blue skies.

South Dakota will probably raise the daily limit of birds from 3 to 5 for the rest of the season. This will be done because of the low success rate of hunters during the first half of the season. Main reason for the low success was the huge amounts of unpicked corn that the birds had for cover. And of course that they did not hunt with us at Granite Springs.:) We still have some openings for hunters during December so call if you want to take advantage of the change.

Brennan, Jen, Gunner and Bridger have been suffering from the effects of various flu’s and colds. But seem to have recovered in time for the holidays. Bridger is a Brennan’s little mini-me. Looks just like him.

We spent Thanksgiving at home in Mitchell. My daughter, Kat, came home from college in Chicago for the occasion. We also had family from Sioux Falls visit us including my mom, sisters Diane and Darla, brother-in-law Ron, niece, Jenny, and her husband, Steve. We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving dinner prepared by Laurie. The highlights of the evening were definitely playing Apples to Apples and Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? In which no one succeeded to be. The evening was cut short to allow Darla and Jenny to get at least a few hours of sleep in before hitting the Black Friday sales at 3am.

I plan on coming out with a news letter at the end of the season. It’ll cover the gear we used and saw that we liked and disliked. Our prices for next year, couple different options for hunting with us to include a self guided hunting option. Anyway, I’d better run. Thanksgiving is about over and we are starting hunting tomorrow. Kevin

Oct 28th,

Hunting has been going well but harder.  The corn and bean harvest has really been delayed due to rain.  This has caused the birds to remain in the corn fields and it's been a harder than normal hunt these last few days.  I'd expect that come mid Nov it's going to be very spectacular hunting as the birds will then be pushed to the CRP ground. 

For those who have hunted with us and remember seeing Big Woody chase pheasants.  Bad news,  Big Woody broke his leg while hunting and due to the nature of the break had to be put down.  He will be fondly remembered as one of our best and first dogs.  Good companion and great with our children he will be missed...


Oct 12th,

Snow is on the ground but should be gone prior to opening day.  Group called and cancelled due to most of the kids in the group have made it to the state finals in football.  Not real happy about this as they probably knew 2-3 weeks ago what was going to happen.  If anybody wants a deal on opener call me.  Kevin 

Oct 8th,

Salutations to All,

October is shaping up to be a terrific month of hunting. Weather has cooled down dramatically and we’re looking at highs in the 50’s. The dogs love this weather and will be full of energy which is good because there are a lot of birds that need to be flushed and retrieved. Bird numbers are looking good, a pretty mixed bag of old and young birds because of the variance in the hatches this year. Way to wet and cold in some areas this springs. But over all the numbers are good to great all over the state.

Brennan and I have been busy with prepping for the opening day of the public season and doing a few preserve hunts. Hunted last couple days in the rain with some sports who didn’t mind the cold / wet weather. Pheasant held very close and we had great shooting even though the winds were hitting 30mph at times.

Bought a new shotgun for the season an Remington 887. I’ve had such good luck with my 870 that I really didn’t feel the need for a new gun. But then figured I should do my part to help stimulate the economy in a way that President Obama would approve of. So I bought a few cases of shells for the lodge and some guns. Anyway, long story short, the 887 hasn’t proven to be very reliable and I’ve had to take it into the gunsmith twice. Fails to extract and / or cycle easily. Ask me about it when you get here and I’ll tell you about the frustrations of trying to shoot doubles with a single shot pump…

On a serious note I want to remind everyone that while at Granite Springs: --

NO SHOOTING BIRDS ON THE GROUND – “ I like Ringo and that shot was way to close for comfort “

KNOW YOUR TARGET and WHAT’s BEHIND IT.

“ I like Brennan almost as much as Ringo and that shot was very close. “

KEEP YOUR SHOTGUN on SAFE and FINGER OFF the TRIGGER while WALKING. “ Gun didn’t go off but I realized once again how big that bore of a 12ga is.. and I will do better at staying behind the clients “

Mike has been making some fantastic suppers and I know everyone is going to be very pleased at meal times. Mike while having had schooling in the fine art of cooking had never had to actually clean any wild game. So Brennan and I gave him a crash course in pheasant cleaning with 50 birds. Mike has it down now pretty well. We’ve been serving a smoked pheasant pasta dish that’s really good.

Anyway, I have to get back to work. Looking forward to seeing everyone this fall. Please call with any questions or concerns about your hunt. Any concerns or comments about politics, guns, trucks or the evils of women please wait until you’re here.

Kevin