Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 49

Th Sioux City Journal, Sunday, April 27, 1 997 5 Turkey hunters work Mellette County Nebraska rosh opens some eyes I r- -i rushed for more yards (12 attempts for 101 yards, including a 67-yard run in the first half), Alexander seemed to steal the show before the 42,000 fans that watched the game at Memorial Stadium. "Dan Alexander continues to look like a guy who could make the tough yards," Osborne said of his new recruit from Wentzville, Mo. "He's had a tough spring, he's played both I-back and fullback. That's very tough to do." Alexander said he wouldn't mind playing either position for the Cor-nhuskers this fall. "I like both positions.

(But) if I want to play fullback, I have to work on my blocking. Fullback's a real hard position to learn," he said. Frost, the guy who would be giving Alexander 'the ball this fall. Larry Myhre LINCOLN (AP) The Red team led by senior quarterback Scott Frost's two rushing touchdowns in the first half beat the White team 34-28 in Nebraska's annual spring scrimmage Saturday. But for Coach Tom Osborne, the score didn't mean much.

"I think the good news is that we seemed to get through this thing without any more serious injuries," Osborne said. Linebacker Jay Foreman suffered a strained knee, defensive end Grant Wistrom fractured a finger and fullback Joel Makovicka sprained his ankle during the game, but Osborne said the injuries should not affect their play this fall. "I don't think that other than (fullback) Ben Kingston and (linebacker) Casey Macken that we have we had any injuries this spring that would carry over into the fall," Osborne said. Both are out with serious knee injuries. The big surprise of the scrimmage was freshman fullback Dan Alexander, who nearly led the White team to a comeback after they were down 31-7 at the half.

Alexander rushed six times for 56 yards in the second half and scored a one-yard touchdown with 1:05 left in the third quarter. "The first half, I was real nervous," Alexander said. "I was ready to leave because I was doing so bad. The second half was a lot better." Even though junior running back Ahman Green on the Red team r. i hj a4 didn't connect much in the air he completed only seven of 27 passes for 109 yards.

But he made up for it on the ground, rushing 18 times for I it i 1 62 yards. "Offensively, I've come a long way, hrost said. Frost, who connected 104 of 200 passes for, 1,440 yards and three interceptions last year, said he fi nally felt like he was moving out of WINNER, S.D. The narrow, wooded valley was still cloaked in darkness when the silence of predawn was shattered by the staccato rattle of a torn turkey's gobble. The sound never fails to send shivers down my back and increase the rapidity of my heartbeat.

We were within 100 yards of that sound, I knew, and quickly set up the hen decoy in a clearing and found a tree to rest against. The wait began. As the day lightened, the torn gobbled again and again and I finally answered with a quiet yelp on the mouth call. Within moments the big bird was standing 80 yards away, all puffed up and strutting. "I see him," I whispered to Chuck Doom, a friend and guide from Winner.

We were hunting the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in Mellette County and while I had hunted southern Todd County many times, this area was new to me. I yelped and the turkey gobbled again. This time the gobble was answered with another and soon there were two toms strutting in front of lis. They stood there competing for the hen decoy but refused to leave the security of the trees. They were did long beards and too smart to fall for this trap in spite of my best calling efforts.

Before long they melted into the woods and were gone. My hunting partner, Gary Howey, publisher of The Outdoorsmen tabloid of Hartington, was hunting the same valley a couple miles south of us. We met him at 10 o'clock and learned he had worked two groups of birds but both times other hunters walked into his set. We, too, had- encountered one of them, a Minncsotan on a four wheeler driving merrily down the creek bottom. Doom had to leave to guide another hunter at 10 a.m.

but he had shown us several areas we could try. The reservation in this area is a mixture of private, tribal and allotted lands so tribal license holders have to be careful not to wander onto private land or posted allotted lands. It was about noon when Gary and I heard our next gobble. It was nearby, but up on the rim of the small canyon cradling a creek. "They're on the other side," Gary whispered.

We decided to set up right at the creek's edge and try our luck. We yelped and clucked but the turkeys, which we could now see, would not leave the ridge top. "Let's try the fighting purrs," Gary said. I nodded and got out my slate call. We began purring and clucking like two old hens in a domestic dispute.

"Here they come," Gary whispered. Sure enough, two jakes broke off from the group and came trotting down the snowbank which was still the shadow ot lormer quarterback 1 ommie Frazier. On the special teams, the Red team took an early lead in the scrimmage when junior Shevin Turkeys abound among the creek bottom timber in the Mellette County, S.D. area. This bird was taken on the Rosebud Reservation northwest of Winner.

(Photo by Gary Howey). Wiggins returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown less than three minutes into the contest. grandly. It was a big bird, one of the biggest Merriam toms I had seen and he was clinging to the high bank on the other side. The birds quickly moved into the thick trees on the bottom.

We kept up the calling racket and the jakes walked right in. I dropped the larger of the two and tag No. 1 was filled. On the Rosebud, a turkey tag is good for two birds of either sex. Non-resident turkey licenses this year are $94.

Mellette County holds a of turkeys, but it appears unlikely i turkey country. You look across the landscape and see cattle range and wheat fields and hardly a tree anywhere. However, creeks lay in deep cuts in the land and oak and cotton-wood grow liberally along their banks. This is where the turkeys are at home. The area is better known for its superb pheasant and grouse hunting.

We saw hundreds of pheasants and grouse and literally dozens of deer on our three-day hunt. Literally every pothole, no matter how small, held at least one pair of mallard ducks. In one field the grouse were strutting and every time we passed we saw 80 to 100 of them conducting their mating dance. We headquartered at the Buffalo Trails Motel in Winner and only had to drive about 25 miles to reach our hunting areas. Wake-up was 4:45 each morning and we still had time to grab a cup of coffee and roll for breakfast before listening for gobbles in pre-dawn darkness.

My second bird was taken on Saturday and the hunt was conducted in the classic manner. We had watched a group of turkeys, including several nice toms, enter a creek bottom the evening before and it was late enough that we knew they would roost there. Sure enough, the next morning it took only one attempt on the owl call and we were answered by what sounded like a gobblers' convention. We eased through the trees in pre-dawn darkness, edging closer to the roosting birds which were now gobbling at will. "They are on the other side of the creek," Gary exclaimed.

That was a problem. It meant we Bad BraEtes We can fix them! 71B OT.ES would have to get close. "We'll have to move in right across from I whispered. We eased in, set up the decoys and sat against trees and waited. As the sky lightened we could see the birds in a large Cottonwood tree only 30 yards away.

Their forms looked like big round garbage bags sitting on the limbs. In another tree, closer still, three hens looked right at us. A third tree held more birds to our right. We muttered soft tree calls and continued to wait, motionless. Then they began to fly down.

They came in groups of three and four in a clatter of beating wings and fly down calls. In less than three minutes 25 birds were on the ground. The birds to our right were still in the trees. We yelped but the now alert turkeys were walking away from us. Obviously, they knew something was wrong.

Suddenly I heard one of the birds to our right fly to the ground. I raised walking right in. My heart started to pound. I yelped softly. Still strutting the torn walked to the edge of the creek and I fired.

Down he went. My hunt was over. We didn't weigh the bird, but his beard was 10 inches long and his spurs were long and pointed. He had to be at least four years old. Gary had one tag to fill this trip and we failed to get his bird.

We were close a couple of times, but turkey hunting is far from a sure thing. He had bagged a nice torn on an earlier trip and has another planned. For me, it will be another year before I haunt the turkey creeks in this area. In the meantime I'll have the memories of this hunt and many others to the Winner area. Of course in the fall I plan to be back for 2620 Gordon Dr.

Sioux City, IA 258-7500 800-756-7575 few, pheasants and grouse, but right now I my gauge semi-auto. A J-incn just can i mime mucn oeyona uiricey magnum with a 2 ounce load of cop- hunting season, per-plated, buffered No. 6s nestled in the chamber. He gobbled and walked around a Larry Myhre is editor of The Jour- deadfall all puffed up and displaying nal. MORNINGSIDE Howard leads North to two SIC wins, Heelan falls twice USA-ABF Senior Junior Boxing Event Sat, May 3rd, 1997 7:30 PM Athletic Scholarship Golf Tournament 4 -Man Best Shot All Reserved Seats $10.00 General Admission $8.00 Tickets Available at Door! Sr1 MONDAY, MAY 5 Sioux City Country Club 1 p.m.

Shotgun Start No. 6. North dominated O'Gorman 8-1, losing just one singles match. Howard defeated Ben Barnes 6-2, 6-0 in the No. 1 singles and teamed up with Timmons for another doubles win.

Heelan had a tougher go of it, losing 9-0 decisions to O'Gorman and Lincoln. The Crusaders defaulted a singles and doubles match in both duals. Lincoln was the South Dakota large-school state champion. Jason Kiner, Lincoln's No. 1 singles player and an individual state champion, downed Matt Rinker of Heelan 6-0, 6-1.

SIOUX FALLS North swept a pair of matches at the Sioux Interstate Conference high school boys tennis duals here Saturday. Heelan, meanwhile, was swept twice. No reports were received from the East or West teams. North improved its dual record to 6-0 with wins over Sioux Falls Washington and Sioux Falls O'Gor-man. The Stars edged Washington 6-3 by winning all three doubles matches after the teams split the six singles events.

Singles winners for North were Chris Howard in the No. 1 slot, John Timmons at No. 3 and Tim Ratino at $125 per person Includes Supper, Program and Frizes ABU BEKR Auditorium 9th Nebraska St. Sioux City, IA CALL 274-5192 nr For more information or tickets call: ABU BEKR Auditorium 712-255-7991 or Bill Engel 402-494-4653 or 494-1730 Young Heelan tennis team finishes ninth in Fremont Invitational meet CORPORATE SPONSOR first flight. That accounted for 10 of the Crusaders' 17 team points.

Sophomore Katie Wolpert was ninth in the first singles flight, while the freshman tandem of Anne Lohr and Joan Williams was also ninth in the second doubles flight. Erin Sherman, a sophomore, finished 10th in the second singles flight. Lincoln Southeast won the team title, while Omaha Burke was second and Fremont third. FREMONT, Neb. Heelan finished ninth out of 10 teams in the Fremont Invitational girls tennis tournament here Saturday The Crusaders totaled 17 points in the tournament, which included action in two flights each in singles and doubles.

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