STOCKDAM PHILOSOPHY

SOUTH DAKOTA

20.10

    I have lived in South Dakota since 1957. I have seen the soil bank program work and have seen what happened when it went away. I have lived through droughts and deluges. I have hunted most of the species that call our state home. We have raised our family here and watched them move away. I was with my dad the day he discovered a lump in his groin. We were duck and goose hunting. I never saw him smile again during the last 2 years of his life. I have had some fantastic hunting experiences with some very special people (one whose name is Jim: I will tell you about him sometime). This state has been good to me and while it raised me and educated me, there are some lessons I have learned. I am going to tell you some of them.

           
     I do not hunt on preserves. We have lots of private land as well as public grounds where we can hunt without supervision and certainly without paying. I have nothing against those who own preserves or those who frequent them. I just choose not to be one of either. For some farmers, it is the best use of their land and hunting is the best cash crop they can have, so more power to them. For others, it is one more business venture and it is another profit center. For them, it is part of the American way.

         
       I do not release pen-raised birds to increase the population. I have only wild stock on my farm and that is the way it will stay. There are lots of reasons pen raised birds are inferior to wild ones, and when feed and cover are scarce, I don’t want to cheat the birds who have to fight for their lives on a daily basis. Pen raised birds do not survive well in our climate. Others put them out for one reason, to shoot. My wild birds serve a purpose, the main one being part of a natural biosphere and ecology that has a balance built into it. When all conditions are right, all species do well. This includes the flora and fauna that has survived and evolved for centuries.

           
     I believe that cover is more important than feed. Now that needs explaining. What I am trying to do is improve my little plot of earth for wildlife. I am trying to restore the land to the native state that it was in before it was broke up for farming. The native grasses are being reintroduced and treated as nature treated them for years. I will burn the cover in the spring to clean up the dead clutter and in so doing let the sun help the warm season grasses develop without all of the competition from the cool season grasses. I graze part of the grass in the early spring for the same reason. I need to try and recover the balance between the warm and cool season species, so I try what nature did before me. Lightning was a natural prairie cleaner and the buffalo did their job of not overgrazing but eating as they roamed to keep the prairie in a constant state of renewal. I read all that I can on restoring native prairie and practice as much as I can. It is working, but it will be a process that will go on for as long as I own the place. It is my source of recreation and education. Now as for my earlier statement of believing that cover is more important than food. I plant food plots. Mostly corn and some sorghum. To be honest, it is the one time of the year I look forward to that makes the winters go by quicker. I love to work the soil and plant new crops. I get a real kick out of watching it grow from green sprouts to full-fledged new plants that provide food for the birds. Regrettably, the deer love it too and destroy the early plants and leave great holes in the field, but that are fun to watch so they shall maintain their place in my little kingdom. That being said, the wildlife does not need my food plots to survive. There are plenty of sources of food in the grasses and other native plants, Seeds, insects and other plant life will give all of the nutrition all species need. The food plots are dessert, not the staple fare. This is why if I do a good job of restoring native grasses, I am adding to the buffet the way nature does all of the time.

           
     I have done a little traveling, not much but enough to see the good and the bad of the places visited, I still long to come home to my state. Most cannot see the good that exists and some cannot stand our winters. For me, it is all that home should be. It provides a sense of comfort, pride and security. I can see the beauty of a landscape that others call barren. I do not like crowds of people; rather I enjoy the solitude of just being by myself. I don’t like loud music for there is a constant melody in the air everyday if you just can find the right spot. There is not a lot of neon in South Dakota and some would say there is a lack of culture. For me, culture doesn’t wear a costume or make-up. It has the smell of fresh black dirt, wet dogs and dairy barns. I can stand outside at night and see the stars, not all of them, but a lot of them. A lot more than you can see when the lights of civilization get in the way. We wear our sophistication in our hearts. We see life through our memories. If you decide to come to our state, you may not see it as I do. That is ok too. It was good enough for my mom and dad, and it is good enough for me. The land owes me nothing and I owe it everything. So I guess I will stick around a little longer and work away at my debt. Maybe that is why I have always had a dog. It gives me reason to be outdoors and see what is important to them. I don’t chase a little white ball over green grass, but I get a real thrill out of seeing a newly hatched batch of pheasants scatter ahead of me in the grasses. It is good we are not all alike. For we too, are a product of nature. We each have a place and purpose in this life. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.