Rounding Up the Fall Season
Becky Graff
Region 1 OWSD Board Member
Custer State Park Administrative Manager

Custer State Park has wrapped up the two largest events of the year for the park, the Buffalo Roundup at the beginning of the month and the Halloween Night Hike at the end of the month, and both were very successful. This year was the 41st Annual Buffalo Roundup and we kicked it off with a record setting 11,600 people in attendance. The weather was perfect and the buffalo were very cooperative. In fact, there were about 100 head that were so anxious to get rounded up that they were in the pasture between the viewing areas a couple hours before the roundup even began. We had crew in there chasing them out because the public wanted to see the herd all brought in together.
If you are a regular to the roundup, you may have noticed in the last couple of years that the sound of the herd thundering by has quieted a bit. That would be because our current Resource Manager is also a wildlife biologist. He has worked with the Herdsman to help make the roundup less stressful for the buffalo. The public doesn’t always like this decision, but they also forget that these are wild animals, not domesticated animals. The more stress free we can make things for them, the healthier they will remain.
The Halloween Night Hike was held the last weekend of October. The weather was pleasant and the spooks were scary for the two night event. This year’s theme was “Insects that live in creepy places” and the naturalists that were playing the 6 different bugs did a great job at both educating and entertaining the visitors. Hikes left the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center every 15 minutes between 5:30 and 8:30 PM and there was close to 50 people in each group. Kids and parents alike got great Jack-o-Lantern carving ideas from the pumpkins lighting the 2-mile hike.

Now that we are through Halloween, there are just a few special events left for the year in the state parks. Here are a few dates to put on your calendars.
November:
1st – Group campsites and lodge reservations open for 2007 arrivals
11th – Christmas at the Homestead, Adams Homestead, 12pm to 4pm
18th – 41st Annual Fall Classic Buffalo Auction, Custer State Park, 10am (MT)
December:
9th – Exploring Eagles WITP, Lewis & Clark, 9am
9th – Frontier Christmas, Fort Sisseton, 1pm

For the hunters out there, here are some season start dates that you may be looking forward to. I hope you have your tags already, but if not, look into left over tags and depredation hunts.
November Start Dates:
1st – Black Hills Deer Season, Mountain Lion Season, Custer State Park Deer Season
11th – West River Deer Season
16th – Fall Turkey Season, Unit 44B
18th – East River Deer Season, Custer State Park Late Archery Elk Season
20th – Prairie Firearms Elk Season, Gregory County, Unit PRE-30A and Archery Elk in same county, Unit AEE-30A
27th – First West River Deer-unfilled tags
December Start Dates:
1st – Dec. Season for unsuccessful “antlerless” elk hunters
4th – First East River Deer-unfilled tags
9th – Second Youth Deer Season, Muzzleloader Deer Season
11th – CSP Coyote Season, Pheasant Season at Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Renziehausen Game Production area
Even though temps have cooled down, I hope you won’t let that stop you from getting out and enjoying your local state park and recreation areas. To all the hunters out there, I wish you the best of luck in filling your tags and reaching your limits.

Safety, Equipment Rules Apply to Waterfowl Hunters Who Use Boats
PIERRE , S.D. —Waterfowl hunters who use boats during their hunt must adhere to the boating safety regulations and have the necessary equipment on board.
Game, Fish and Parks Boating Safety Coordinator Curt Robertson offers some safety tips and equipment requirements to help waterfowl hunters prepare for their next hunt on the water:
· Hunters need to have a life jacket, also called a personal flotation device, on board for each person. The life jacket must be properly sized for the intended wearer, readily accessible and in good condition. Robertson suggests that hunters consider using a “float coat,” a U.S. Coast Guard-approved insulated parka that functions as a life jacket. Float coats are available in camouflage. According to the U.S. Coast Guard statistics, more hunters die from hypothermia and drowning than from accidental gunshot wounds.
· If the boat is 16 feet long or longer, a Type IV throwable flotation device is also required.
· If the boat is on the water before sunrise or after sunset, which is typical for waterfowl hunting, it will need navigation lights.
· Be careful not to overload the boat. Decoys, waders, guns, ammo and ammo boxes, dogs and heavy clothing add considerable weight to the boat. Be sure to check the vessel’s capacity plate for maximum weight.
· Once you’ve got your life jacket on, keep it on. Wear it to and from the blind, with or without waders. Even when hunting from shore without a boat, wearing a life jacket is a good idea when setting out and picking up decoys because footing can be unstable.
· Learn how to float in waders and hip boots or don't wear them.
· Stay near the shore and avoid crossing large expanses of open water, especially in bad weather.
· Before you depart, give someone your hunting plan. Your plan should include information about where you are going and when you expect to return. Then check in with that person when you get back to avoid unnecessary concern and possible search efforts.
· Make sure the boat motor is in good running condition, particularly in colder weather.
· Before you go, check the local weather forecast.
A number of South Dakota waters have boating or boat motor restrictions that will affect hunters. Those restrictions can be found on pages 27 and 28 of the 2006 S.D. Hunting and Trapping Handbook. The handbook can also be downloaded at the GFP Web site, http://www.sdgfp.info/.

 

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