Saturday, November 18, 2017

How Crazy Are We?


What a difference a week makes! We went from this……
To this in just a few days…..

Welcome to what is the roller coaster weather pattern of SW South Dakota. Which is exactly why we love this area. One of the things we have been missing the past few Christmas seasons is a white Christmas and with luck we will have one this year. For that to happen we need two things to align perfectly; snow (but not too much) and temps that keep the snow but not too cold (sustained low teens) to push us south.

We have been closely watching the 10 day forecast to see if there is trouble on the horizon. So far we look good through Thanksgiving.
So far so good!
It has been suggested that we are crazy for staying up here this late in the season, and maybe we are so I thought I let you decide by posting our first ever (and maybe our last) poll question. It can be found on the top of our right sidebar. Cast your vote and let us know what you think!
Crazy or not, we are taking advantage of the warmer weather and getting projects done that would have waited until the spring. The main thing we wanted to get done was prepping the foundation for our building site in case we are able to lay concrete next spring. It took over 300 tons of gravel but getting this done now and letting it settle through the winter will allow the gravel to compact and be ready in the spring. Had we not done this now we would have had to rent a compactor and compact the entire site next spring.
The shed site (where the truck and jeep are) and the house site
(to the right of rig) are all prepped for the next phase!
An unexpected project but one we had to take advantage of due to the warm weather was taking care of the prairie dog situation. Some might ask “Why take care of them at all?” Well there are a couple of answers. 1) It is the landowners responsibility to manage the population on their property and make sure it is not out of control. 2) Prairie dogs eat the roots of the grasses and vegetation around their dens leaving only dirt and noxious weeds. 3) The holes are a hazard to us and any livestock. 4) The neighbors are not happy when the colony spreads onto their property.

This particular colony covers a substantial part of our 45 acres and parts of 160 acres when you include ours and the neighbors on both sides of us. So as a group we set out to getting the population under control. In order to purchase the products required to do this I had to become a Restricted Use Applicator meaning I had to take a an online course and test to receive an Applicators License. 
When it is all said and done we will have spent the better part of 7 days, applicating over 2500 holes on our property alone! If I were to guess I would say we reduced them by 90%. Now we just need to keep up on it and let nature take its course repairing the soil. This will probably take several years.
This is the box the product came in!

The Jordan's stopped by to help. One down, 2,499 to go!
But all work and no play makes for grumpy couple so we make sure to get out for a little fun a couple times a week.  
Barb has been out bow hunting several times. Each time she returns home reporting that she saw several deer including a couple of nice bucks. We know there are a couple of monsters out there and she is holding out for one of those.
She passed on both of these deer, maybe she is crazy!
One day when it was particularly cold out she opted to stay in so I went out with just the camera. And who should come by? One of the monsters of course! He hung around the area for about 30 minutes and let me get some awesome shots of him!


I took this one out the window of the rig when a group of mule deer stopped by to check out the excavating work. 

Thursday night the Jordan’s took us out to at the Buglin' Bull in Custer for dinner and a little football. Saturday we went to breakfast at the Crazy Horse Memorial followed by a trip to Custer State Park to watch the annual Buffalo and Burro Auction!

You can view the buffalo and burro prior to the auction then you go to the auditorium at the visitors center for the actual auction.
The buffalo went for anywhere from $1,500-$5,000 each


You could get both of these for less than $100

There's Brenda at the bottom getting ready to bid!
We did not bid on anything but once we get our fence done, who knows!

30 comments:

  1. Your property is looking great from above! While the prairie dogs are such fun to watch, they would be a real problem otherwise with all those holes. You certainly filled a lot of holes! What gorgeous bucks! Just shoot with your camera:)

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    1. 100 prairie dogs are cute. A couple thousand? Not so much!

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  2. It's pretty darn easy to call you crazy because, well we know you LOL!!! And if we compare your staying up there in the frozen tundra to "our" likes at this particular time in our life you are crazier than Bat Shit Crazy. But on the other hand maybe at some other time in our life we might do the same thing which then would make you completely normal, well not completely but you know what I mean. That's what makes this life so great. Have fun you two crazies.

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    1. Well said! There are times we a questioning our sanity but overall it has been great. As soon as the long term forecast shows a run of days with the teens in it we are out of here!

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  3. Weather forecast doesn't look so bad, we are spending Thanksgiving in Massachusetts and the temps are colder and wetter here, wish we were in Custer. We spent April til Oct 2017 in Custer and will return in 2018, such amazing country all the way around. Enjoy! Great pics.

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    1. 30's and 40's are quite comfortable when we are outside working. In fact we often have to take off our jackets we are getting so hot! However, the wind and how damp the air is can make a big difference.

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  4. Your place is coming along great. It looks like you guys have put in a lot of work and it is paying off. I just want to put this out there before we come to visit. I have a bad back, poor knees, and my strongest skill set is being a supervisor.

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    1. Well, if nothing else we can prop you up in a chair with a rifle and you can do some target practice!

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    2. Hey, how come you are paying Steve and I get diddly?

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    3. I could pay you $1 per dog and Steve would still make more than you!

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    4. Little do you know that I belong to an elite unit called "The devil's Huntsmen". One shot one kill was our motto.

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    5. You got to stop hanging around the arcade!

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  5. I'm with HDider:-) But understand it's got to be pretty darn exciting for you both developing your new homestead in the midst of all that wildlife and nature. When I was a kid we stayed on my dad's cousin's farm for a couple of weeks and they would pay us 2 cents for every gopher tail. We used to sit on a stack of hay bales and pick them off with a 22. Those bucks are beauties!!! See down south soon we hope!

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    1. Tell you what, since we are such high rollers I will up that to 4 cents a tail (Canadian), you guys could make millions..thousands... hundreds….well at least a couple bucks!

      We were just mapping out our travel plans and it looks like we will be in AZ in February and will hunt you down.

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  6. Dad might not agree, but Mom and I understand completely. She loved when we spent 2 holiday seasons back East in mountainous areas. Nothing like cool, crisp temps and just enough snow to make it feel like a Courier and Ives photo! Your property and wildlife is a slice of heaven! So happy for you!

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    1. Not much prettier than snow in the pines. You guys are welcome anytime I promise to make sure the prairie dogs don't harass you!

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  7. Well, we do not think you are crazy ... you have a great piece of property, you love to hunt with your bow and your camera and for some reason both you and Barb take great pleasure in working hard and do not mind the colder weather. What a better place to do all that. If we were to suddenly change our lifestyle of "chasing the 70's" people would call us crazy though! lol

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    1. So far the poll is agreeing with you although Bat Sh#t crazy is in 2nd place. It seems like people are on one end of the spectrum or the other.

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  8. My vote is for "Not Crazy". But, I can't vote because I don't wish I was there. Instead, we are very happy on our property near Bend.
    However, we'll probably head south for a couple months in late December or early January ourselves and perhaps we will get a chance to meet then.
    Regards,
    Steve

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    1. We plan on being in Arizona in February then head up your way to Klamath Falls in March to visit our son and his family.

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    2. Hi neighbor wife and I will be in Yuma area Jan Feb back to SD end of May.

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    3. Looks like we are in Yuma January 25th for a few days.

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  9. Smart move to get all that excavation done now so it can settle over the winter. I miss fall colors and the dusting of snow but hubby not so much. Although he would've been more than willing to help out with those prairie dogs. He's gearing up for his Elk hunt in early Dec. near the Grand Canyon.

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  10. If you can pry your boots off the frozen tundra, come on down here to Florida and we will fix you a foo-foo drink. Bring your flip-flops!

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    1. We are thinking we may head that way next winter and will take you up on that if you are there!

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  11. Not Crazy because I remember waiting to leave until after Christmas to head south. Now we get out of Dodge as soon as we can.
    I now prefer hunting with just my camera.
    Save you a spot at the "Q".
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. As soon as the extended forecast show 2-3 days with the lows in the teens we are out of here. We will have to stop by for a fire if you are still in Q when we get there!

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  12. Great looking place. I like the one shot one kill idea.

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    1. Thanks Bob, is the lake froze over yet? Stop by next time you are in the area!

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