Dec. 2005

End of Year Review!

December   2005

Yes, once again, this letter brings you greetings and very best wishes for the coming year.  We have deepened the bonds of growing friendships, as many of you have been returning to Echo Valley for several years.  Others, though visiting us for the first time, have quickly found a warm place in our hearts.  Whether seasoned Echo Valley hunters, or first timers, each of you have made an impact on our lives, and we want to thank you for your companionship, trust and loyalty.  Whether you have hunted with us for years, or you have yet to come and experience what Echo Valley Ranch has to offer, to invite each of you to come for a hunt, a visit or a tour.

       Our year started out much the same as last year, with a snow-less, mostly mild winter…with the exception of a 10 day period in January which found Mike, Shanley, Ron and a friend Mark Gran in Nebraska at the National Pheasants Forever show, where we had a very striking booth… and Lynn and Mark’s wife, Kelly, with their 5 children, here at home lambing ewes at – 20.  We won’t do that again!  We had plenty of cover, and abundant feed for the birds, so they breezed through the winter and into a very wet spring.  We had a difficult time planting, and eventually mudded in most of our food plots, of which several had to be replanted in late June.  As the hatches started we witnessed broods of 14 to 16, wherever we went and were not at all surprised when the Game Fish and Parks report announced the highest bird numbers recorded since the sixties, for the second year in a row.  Although we had an extremely hot, dry summer, which was frustrating for our food plots, and other livestock, it had little impact on the tremendous pheasant crop.  September brought life back into our hills, with over 8 inches of rain, and we enjoyed gearing up for our 8^th hunting season at Echo Valley.  After having run our “name the bus” contest for the past year,  just before the season was launched, a friend of Mike’s submitted the chosen name for our bus “The Kennel”  On top of that Jay put action to his selection, and designed all the lettering for the bus.  Thanks Jay.  “The Kennel” looks much more unique with its new title, and information.

      We started the season off with a new group of hunters, as we had donated a day hunt to Farm Bureau’s effort of raising funds for Katrina victims.  We connected so well with Garry and his dedicated pointer Cookie that we invited him back as a guide, to fill in for Mike when he couldn’t be here.  Thanks, Garry, for adding so much to our team.  We enjoyed the camaraderie of both old and new friends, as each hunt had its own set of challenges and highlights.  Every group saw plenty of birds, but those wily birds always have a way of surprising us.  If we think we have them figured out, they just change strategy.  I believe Mike and Ron have learned that trying to second guess them is like playing a good game of poker, but that’s what makes hunting wild birds so much fun.

      We appreciated the availability and hospitality of our hunting leases with Doug, Merv, Todd & Terry.  Without them, we would be very limited in our hunting options, and appreciate their stewardship practices that help keep the wild pheasants thriving.  We continue to plan increased hunting areas here at Echo Valley, and plan to create more areas suited to smaller groups, and individuals, as well as the challenging habitat that takes  8 to 10 to “surround the buggers” as Ron likes to put it.                                                                                 For us, our biggest challenge presented itself Thanksgiving weekend.  We went from eating homemade pizza on the deck with our good friends from Texas, to a rain, turned to snow storm accompanied by 50+mph winds.  We lost power, along with 2/3^rd’s of South Dakota.  Luckily for us, our headquarters were only down for a day, but the lodge, and surrounding area was down for over a week.  We had over 24 inches of snow over top of an inch of ice.  This did not deter our remaining groups from Michigan and Colorado.  Although we tried to deter Rick and his group, from Michigan, they were determined to hunt, and came with their own generator.  We couldn’t get to most of our usual hunting areas, but where ever there was good cover, and a little food, the birds were there in abundance.  Challenging, yes, but I learned a lot about the resiliency of the birds, and the tenacity of individuals who love the sport.  The stories around the table in the evening were exciting, entertaining, and humbling.  Our final group, who had earned their hunt as a safety award, came to us from Waffensmith, an electrical company out of the Denver area.  When the visibility and conditions rendered a pheasant hunt unfeasible on their final day, they just changed their target, and went home with a dozen rabbits in the bag, along with their pheasant from the days before!  Talk about a great attitude, and the ability to be flexible.                                                                             I wish I could mention each group and individual by name, but you each brought us great memories, and were a blessing to all of us here.  Please email us any photos you might like to share with us, especially the spontaneous shots from the field.    We would like to take this time to wish you and yours a prosperous and healthy new year. 

 Echo Valley Ranch
Ron, Lynn, Mike, Shanley, Kaiden & Karsyn