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Natural wonders
Sioux Falls businessmen combining passion for habitat development, sport of hunting
Lura Roti â?¢ For the Sioux Falls SD Argus Leader â?¢ April 7, 2010
Rooo-ster!
The call echoed into the air last fall as a ringneck fluttered out of milo cover and into the sky. Hunters raised shotguns and fired. In a flash, Bea was off. Within seconds, the brown and white Springer Spaniel bounded up to Jeff Scherschligt's side, proudly carrying the fallen bird.
"She has a good nose," Scherschligt said, patting her head. "To me, pheasant hunting isn't pheasant hunting without a dog. It's amazing watching them work."
Scherschligt and his dogs, Bea and Meg, were spending the day hunting near Lake Andes with Sam Assam and his black Labradors, Scout and Kate.
The Sioux Falls businessmen own neighboring property in the heart of South Dakota's pheasant country. Both men share a lifelong passion for hunting and habitat development.
During the work week, Assam spends his days focused on his law practice and managing and developing commercial real estate. When the weekend arrives, he jumps in his pickup and heads west, turning his focus to conservation - a passion he inherited from his dad, Fred.
"I was 4 when I went on my first hunt with Dad. He always said that we needed to put back more than what we take," said Assam. "I love being out in God's creation planting trees, food plots or hunting. My wife says my year-round fascination with the outdoors and creating habitat isn't normal - that I'm addicted to it. I guess I am."
Hope for habitat
As he hiked through knee-high soybean stubble and waist-high milo, Assam said the land that is home to a large population of pheasants today was sparsely populated cropland just 10 years ago.
"It's a night-and-day difference. The sheer numbers of birds that we see on this land today is amazing," said Assam of the marginal farmland he has been developing for pheasant habitat. "Food and habitat are key - if pheasants have those elements, they flock to the land, and their populations will grow."
Habitat creation takes time, added Scherschligt.
"People wouldn't call Jeff Scherschligt the most patient person in the world. To get habitat up to speed takes patience," says Scherschligt, president of Howalt-McDowell Insurance.
"I learned to enjoy the process. It took a few years. I started from scratch, and today the land is phenomenal, with beautiful trees and native grasses and 10,000 to 15,000 pheasants."
Working off a master plan he designed with Dan Limmer, a professional wildlife habitat consultant, Scherschligt has invested a significant amount of time and money in the property he began purchasing 12 years ago.
He has planted more than 25,000 trees, returned hundreds of acres to native prairie grass, ideal for nesting habitat, and planted several food plots.
"We've developed 800 habitat acres. It's my goal to harvest 800 to 1,000 wild pheasants each year," Scherschligt said.
Hunting haven
If you provide pheasants with the habitat they need, their numbers will quickly increase, says Steve Bierle, the habitat development specialist Assam works with to develop his land.
"Pheasants are no different from people. They need food, shelter and a place to raise their young," said Bierle. "If you put habitat on the ground, pheasants will respond quickly. In a year or two, you'll see positive results."
According to Bierle, ideal habitat for pheasants includes native grasses for nesting and nesting cover, water and food plots.
Each year, about 200,000 hunters venture onto public and private land in South Dakota in hopes of bagging their limit in the pheasant hunting capital of the world.
Because more than 80 percent of all land in South Dakota is privately-owned, the future of the state's pheasant population is in the hands of landowners such as Scherschligt and Assam, says Chris Hull, communications specialist for the wildlife division of South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.
"Private landowners are the end all, be all in South Dakota," Hull says. "Landowners in South Dakota have done a good job historically of maintaining the habitat. Many realize the connection between having a good pheasant population and making habitat available."
Focus on future
In recent years, about 500,000 acres of private land has been taken out of state and federal conservation programs and returned to farm ground.
But there is room for middle ground. Assam leases a portion of his land to a farmer for agriculture production, proving that landowners can manage their land for both purposes.
"It's not our philosophy to take productive ag land out of farming," Bierle said. "Our focus is to take the marginal farmland that isn't productive - like wetlands - out of production. Ironically, those are the areas that wildlife key in on."
To maintain healthy wildlife populations and encourage habitat development, Game, Fish and Parks and the Natural Resources Conservation Service provide financial incentives and cost-share programs to private landowners who convert farmland to wildlife habitat.
Scherschligt and Assam have both taken advantage of cost-share options such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) when developing their land.
"I'm a green guy. This isn't just for hunting - it's for all forms of wildlife," said Scherschligt. "I believe in setting aside valuable habitat that ultimately serve many species - pheasants, ducks, deer, song birds, bees and even butterflies.
"I'm looking beyond myself to provide wildlife habitat so my children and grandchildren can enjoy the outdoors and hunting into the future."
Sioux Falls businessmen combining passion for habitat development, sport of hunting
Lura Roti â?¢ For the Sioux Falls SD Argus Leader â?¢ April 7, 2010
Rooo-ster!
The call echoed into the air last fall as a ringneck fluttered out of milo cover and into the sky. Hunters raised shotguns and fired. In a flash, Bea was off. Within seconds, the brown and white Springer Spaniel bounded up to Jeff Scherschligt's side, proudly carrying the fallen bird.
"She has a good nose," Scherschligt said, patting her head. "To me, pheasant hunting isn't pheasant hunting without a dog. It's amazing watching them work."
Scherschligt and his dogs, Bea and Meg, were spending the day hunting near Lake Andes with Sam Assam and his black Labradors, Scout and Kate.
The Sioux Falls businessmen own neighboring property in the heart of South Dakota's pheasant country. Both men share a lifelong passion for hunting and habitat development.
During the work week, Assam spends his days focused on his law practice and managing and developing commercial real estate. When the weekend arrives, he jumps in his pickup and heads west, turning his focus to conservation - a passion he inherited from his dad, Fred.
"I was 4 when I went on my first hunt with Dad. He always said that we needed to put back more than what we take," said Assam. "I love being out in God's creation planting trees, food plots or hunting. My wife says my year-round fascination with the outdoors and creating habitat isn't normal - that I'm addicted to it. I guess I am."
Hope for habitat
As he hiked through knee-high soybean stubble and waist-high milo, Assam said the land that is home to a large population of pheasants today was sparsely populated cropland just 10 years ago.
"It's a night-and-day difference. The sheer numbers of birds that we see on this land today is amazing," said Assam of the marginal farmland he has been developing for pheasant habitat. "Food and habitat are key - if pheasants have those elements, they flock to the land, and their populations will grow."
Habitat creation takes time, added Scherschligt.
"People wouldn't call Jeff Scherschligt the most patient person in the world. To get habitat up to speed takes patience," says Scherschligt, president of Howalt-McDowell Insurance.
"I learned to enjoy the process. It took a few years. I started from scratch, and today the land is phenomenal, with beautiful trees and native grasses and 10,000 to 15,000 pheasants."
Working off a master plan he designed with Dan Limmer, a professional wildlife habitat consultant, Scherschligt has invested a significant amount of time and money in the property he began purchasing 12 years ago.
He has planted more than 25,000 trees, returned hundreds of acres to native prairie grass, ideal for nesting habitat, and planted several food plots.
"We've developed 800 habitat acres. It's my goal to harvest 800 to 1,000 wild pheasants each year," Scherschligt said.
Hunting haven
If you provide pheasants with the habitat they need, their numbers will quickly increase, says Steve Bierle, the habitat development specialist Assam works with to develop his land.
"Pheasants are no different from people. They need food, shelter and a place to raise their young," said Bierle. "If you put habitat on the ground, pheasants will respond quickly. In a year or two, you'll see positive results."
According to Bierle, ideal habitat for pheasants includes native grasses for nesting and nesting cover, water and food plots.
Each year, about 200,000 hunters venture onto public and private land in South Dakota in hopes of bagging their limit in the pheasant hunting capital of the world.
Because more than 80 percent of all land in South Dakota is privately-owned, the future of the state's pheasant population is in the hands of landowners such as Scherschligt and Assam, says Chris Hull, communications specialist for the wildlife division of South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.
"Private landowners are the end all, be all in South Dakota," Hull says. "Landowners in South Dakota have done a good job historically of maintaining the habitat. Many realize the connection between having a good pheasant population and making habitat available."
Focus on future
In recent years, about 500,000 acres of private land has been taken out of state and federal conservation programs and returned to farm ground.
But there is room for middle ground. Assam leases a portion of his land to a farmer for agriculture production, proving that landowners can manage their land for both purposes.
"It's not our philosophy to take productive ag land out of farming," Bierle said. "Our focus is to take the marginal farmland that isn't productive - like wetlands - out of production. Ironically, those are the areas that wildlife key in on."
To maintain healthy wildlife populations and encourage habitat development, Game, Fish and Parks and the Natural Resources Conservation Service provide financial incentives and cost-share programs to private landowners who convert farmland to wildlife habitat.
Scherschligt and Assam have both taken advantage of cost-share options such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) when developing their land.
"I'm a green guy. This isn't just for hunting - it's for all forms of wildlife," said Scherschligt. "I believe in setting aside valuable habitat that ultimately serve many species - pheasants, ducks, deer, song birds, bees and even butterflies.
"I'm looking beyond myself to provide wildlife habitat so my children and grandchildren can enjoy the outdoors and hunting into the future."
