1
He was tied with big-hitting Alvaro Quiros, who had a 73. Fred Couples, the 51-year-old wonder at Augusta, somehow got into the mix, bad back and all. Couples shot a 68 and was in the group at 139 that included former PGA champion Y.E. Yang (72), 22- year-old Rickie Fowler (69) and Lee Westwood, the runner-up at Augusta last year who got back into the mix with a 67. Experience never hurts at the Masters. “I’m playing my 12th one. I don’t know how many they are playing, but I don’t think it’s that many,” Westwood said. “I’ve been in the situation before, probably more recently than anybody around this golf course. I think it’s a big advan- tage.” Then again, Colin Montgomerie said the same thing when he was paired with a 21-year-old Woods in 1997 going into the weekend. Woods blew him away with a 65 and was on his way to a 12-shot vic- tory. It doesn’t figure to be that easy for McIlroy, even as easy as he has made it look over two days. His swing looked strong as ever when he pounded a driver on the fifth hole, leaving him a wedge that he hit to 6 feet for birdie, and another big tee shot set up a sand wedge to the back pin on No. 9 to 4 feet. He bounced back from his lone bogey with a 6-iron into about 10 feet for eagle on the 13th, though he missed the putt. McIlroy never put himself under much pressure. He was having so much fun that he wasn’t even pay- ing attention to Day, one of his playing partners, who was slashing out of the pine straw and firing at flags, piling up one birdie after another. “We had a lot of fun out there,” McIlroy said. “I didn’t even realize Jason was going so good. I saw he was 6 under on the 15th and thought, ’This is going to be a decent round.’ We just fed off each other. The crowd got behind us.” McIlroy, Day and Fowler were quite the group — ages 21, 22 and 23. The more important number was 18 birdies they made. McIlroy’s only regret was not making as many putts as he would have liked. “I can’t really complain,” he said. “I’m in the lead going into the weekend at the Masters.” He’s just not in the clear. Woods made sure of that with three straight birdies around the turn — all of them inside 4 feet — a clutch par save on the 11th and three consecutive birdies starting on the 13th, again all of them from close range. “I played myself back in the tournament,” Woods said. “I’m three back, and we’ve got a long way to go. It’s going to be fun.” Phil Mickelson has far more work to do. The defending champion played more aggressively, but failed to save par too often when he missed the green. Mickelson also failed to birdie the par 5s on the back nine and had to settle for a 72 that put him eight shots behind. “There’s a lot of golf left in this tournament, and I’m going to be making a run at him and the other guys ahead of me,” Mickelson said. Asked what gives him confi- dence he can make a move, Mickelson replied, “Three green jackets.” The cut was at 1-over 145, matching the lowest ever at Augusta. Among those going home are the last three major champions — Martin Kaymer, now in danger of losing his No. 1 ranking; Louis Oosthuizen and Graeme McDowell. Woods’ 66 was his best round at Augusta since he shot 65 in the third round of 2005, which also is the last time he won the Masters. The two players in front of him have only three wins between them, none in a major. But that’s the thing with so many kids. They don’t seem to care. Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan Saturday, April 9, 2011 www.yankton.net PAGE 9 We want Send Recipes To: Press & Dakotan HerVoice Recipes Attn: Cathy Sudbeck 319 Walnut, Yankton SD 57078 or email to: [email protected] Recipes can be entrée’s, drinks, appetizers, desserts or side dishes. Please include baking/cooking times and number of people the recipe will serve. your best... Watch for upcoming HerVoice issues to see if your recipe has been selected! Share your best work by submitting your recipe to us! May HerVoice Issue...........Grilling/BBQ....Deadline April 15 Recipes Still Chilled? How about a Nice Warm Caldera Spa! 2500 S. 13th St, Norfolk, NE 402-371-8425 Leisure World, Inc. 1900 Broadway, Yankton, SD 605-665-1240 Visit with us at the 2011 Lewis & Clark Home Show at the Yankton Kiwanis 4-H Ice Center, April 9-10 Website: www.leisureworldsd.com Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Sat. 10am-5pm • Sun. 1pm-5pm MORNING COFFEE WEEKDAYS MONDAY-FRIDAY Monday 7:40 Doug Russell 8:15 Rich Wright 8:45 Deb Overseth Tuesday 7:40 Barb Clayton 8:15 JD O’Grady 8:45 Crystal Nelson Wednesday 7:40 Tammy Matuska 8:15 Hy-Vee Chef Stacey 8:45 Tracy Grottenhuis 665-5700 1-800-529-2450 BY GARY HOWEY Peering through the mesh of my laydown blind, hundreds if not thousands of Snow geese were moving in our general direction. The windsocks, laid out in front of us, danced seductively in the wind, as five Vortex spinning decoys swirled around to our front. The bois- terous electron- ic caller called out to the geese, this was just enough to turn the flock as they cruised over our decoy spread. As Snow geese always do, they made several wide circles, loosing altitude with each wing beat. With wings set and legs down, they glided into the land- ing zone, set up directly in front of us, when our guide John Neu yelled, “Take Em.” In one swift motion, the lids of our lay down blinds blew open as seven camo hunters rose to meet the incom- ing flock. The Snows backpedaled; try- ing desperately to put distance between themselves and the hunters, as they attempted to avoid the volley of incoming vol- ley of steel shot headed their way. When the smoke finally cleared, the departing flock was- n’t quite as large as it’d been a few moments before, as we’d reduced the flock by a six geese. It was the final days of March and we were located just south of Aberdeen, S.D. where we’d trav- eled to film and hunt with guide John Neu, Neu Outdoors www.neuoutdoors.com out of Yankton, during this years spring Snow Goose season. He and his other guides had been pursuing the Snow geese since the opening of the spring season. They’d begun hunting in southeastern Missouri, worked their way northward through the state and then jumped into South Dakota, following the birds as they migrated north. Hunting with Neu and his guides were a group of 40 to 50 hunters. With each group being equipped with approximately two to three thousand decoys, lay- down blinds and electronic callers. In order to effectively draw Snow geese into range, large num- bers of decoys are needed. This is why guides such as Neu choose windsocks for their decoy spreads as they’re easy to trans- port, don’t take up much space in a trailer and add motion to the spread when the wind is blowing. Some folks believe that the wind always blows here in the upper Midwest, but on those rare occa- sions when it doesn’t, the Vortex and SOS motion decoys add enough movement to give the spread the realism needed to attract the Snows. Facing into the wind directly in front of the landing zone, the camo lay down blinds, allowed the hunters to relax as they wait- ed patiently for the next flock to be sighted. Once the birds were spotted, the two-piece doors on the blinds were flipped shut, con- cealing the hunters, still allowing us to keep an eye on the approaching birds through a mesh screen. Since spring weather can be unpredictable, the lay down blinds had to be camouflaged in order to match the field we were hunting. Prior to our arrival, there had been snow in the field, so snow/white camo was the color of the day. As the temps rose the white camo had to be removed allowing the blinds to better match the environment we were hunting. The warmer the day became, the muddier it became around the lay downs, so our blinds no longer blended in, standing out against the muddy field. This is when John muddied up the blinds by smearing each with a coating of the sticky mud from around the blinds. Despite hourly changes in the weather and the mud we had to put up with, it was a great hunt as we observed numerous species of waterfowl including; Snow geese, Blue geese, Ross geese, Specklebelly /White Front geese, Canada geese, Mallards, Pintails and Bluebills staging in the Aberdeen area as they waited for snow to receded so they could continue their northward migration. Flight after flight of Snows made their way overhead, with dozens of larger flocks coming within 80 yards. Not close enough for a shot, but close enough allowing us to pull small groups from the large flock down within range, enabling us to pull 4 or 5 out of each. Since the Snow goose popula- tion had become so large, they’ve literally destroyed the habitat in the Tundra where they mate. This is the reason for the special spring season, allowing hunters to hunt as they returned north in the spring, helping to bring the population to manageable levels. Since Snow geese migrate in such large flocks, with many of the birds being the older mature birds that have seen every decoy and decoy spread imaginable, Snow geese are the toughest of all waterfowl to decoy. Because of this, during the spring Snow goose season, there are liberal limits and hunters aren’t required to use plugged shot- guns, so extender tubes on shot- guns are quite common, allowing hunters to have as many as 7 or 8 shells in their shotgun. This along with the use of electronic calls, has given spring Snow goose hunters the opportunity to take excess birds out of the population during the spring. John, his guides and clients of Neu Outdoors are doing their best to remove those excess birds from the population. During the 2011 special season, they’ve taken over 8,000 birds. On this trip, our group did its best to help alleviate the over- population as we pulled 118 birds out of the flocks. While we were hunting with Neu, there was a mixed bag of hunters in camp from through- out the U.S. including those from Georgia, Washington, Utah, Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa as well as numerous other states. Spring Snow goose hunting is an exciting hunt, with thousands of birds in the air, giving you the opportunity to observe the waterfowl in their spring plumage. In the spring the plumage of the waterfowl is breathtaking, giving you the opportunity to enjoy some of the best that Mother Nature has to offer. If you’re looking for a Snow goose guide that does it right, give Neu Outdoors a call as they have Snow goose hunt- ing dialed in. Gary Howey, Hartington, Neb., is the president of Outdoorsmen Productions LLC and the produc- er/ host of the Outdoorsmen Adventures television series that airs on Fox affiliates throughout the upper Midwest. For more information on the outdoors or to watch the show, go to HYPER- LINK "http:/ / www.outdoorsme- nadventures.com" www.outdoors- menadventures.com. OF THE OUTDOORS The ‘Neu’ Wave Of Spring Snow Goose Hunters TROPHY SPOTLIGHT Second day hunt: John Neu (second from left) is pictured along with Howey and hunters from Georgia with the geese taken during the hunt.. Gary Howey TEAM OUTDOORSMEN ADVENTURES PHOTO PHOTO: CAPTAIN NORMʼS Nate Loecker caught this 65-pound Grass Carp on Lake Yankton earlier this spring. Brunch Ideas Thursday, April 14 • 6:30pm Sunday, April 17 • 3:00pm $10.00 Fee (must pre-register) RECIPES • TASTING Pre-register by calling Chef Staci at the Store 665-3412 or e-mail [email protected] 2100 Broadway Yankton • 665-3412 Cooking Class with Chef Staci MASTERS From Page 7

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Page 1: OF THE OUTDOORS The ‘Neu’ Wave Of Spring Snow Goose …tearsheets.yankton.net/april11/040911/ypd_040911_SecA... · 2011. 4. 11. · Snow geese are the toughest of all waterfowl

He was tied with big-hitting AlvaroQuiros, who had a 73.

Fred Couples, the 51-year-oldwonder at Augusta, somehow gotinto the mix, bad back and all.Couples shot a 68 and was in thegroup at 139 that included formerPGA champion Y.E. Yang (72), 22-year-old Rickie Fowler (69) and LeeWestwood, the runner-up atAugusta last year who got backinto the mix with a 67.

Experience never hurts at theMasters.

“I’m playing my 12th one. I don’tknow how many they are playing,but I don’t think it’s that many,”Westwood said. “I’ve been in thesituation before, probably morerecently than anybody around thisgolf course. I think it’s a big advan-tage.”

Then again, Colin Montgomeriesaid the same thing when he waspaired with a 21-year-old Woods in1997 going into the weekend.

Woods blew him away with a 65and was on his way to a 12-shot vic-tory.

It doesn’t figure to be that easyfor McIlroy, even as easy as he hasmade it look over two days.

His swing looked strong as everwhen he pounded a driver on thefifth hole, leaving him a wedge thathe hit to 6 feet for birdie, andanother big tee shot set up a sandwedge to the back pin on No. 9 to 4feet. He bounced back from hislone bogey with a 6-iron into about10 feet for eagle on the 13th,though he missed the putt.

McIlroy never put himself undermuch pressure. He was having somuch fun that he wasn’t even pay-ing attention to Day, one of hisplaying partners, who was slashingout of the pine straw and firing atflags, piling up one birdie afteranother.

“We had a lot of fun out there,”McIlroy said. “I didn’t even realizeJason was going so good. I saw hewas 6 under on the 15th andthought, ’This is going to be a

decent round.’ We just fed off eachother. The crowd got behind us.”

McIlroy, Day and Fowler werequite the group — ages 21, 22 and23. The more important numberwas 18 birdies they made. McIlroy’sonly regret was not making asmany putts as he would have liked.

“I can’t really complain,” hesaid. “I’m in the lead going into theweekend at the Masters.”

He’s just not in the clear.Woods made sure of that with

three straight birdies around theturn — all of them inside 4 feet — aclutch par save on the 11th andthree consecutive birdies startingon the 13th, again all of them fromclose range.

“I played myself back in thetournament,” Woods said. “I’mthree back, and we’ve got a longway to go. It’s going to be fun.”

Phil Mickelson has far morework to do.

The defending championplayed more aggressively, butfailed to save par too often whenhe missed the green. Mickelson

also failed to birdie the par 5s onthe back nine and had to settle fora 72 that put him eight shotsbehind.

“There’s a lot of golf left in thistournament, and I’m going to bemaking a run at him and the otherguys ahead of me,” Mickelson said.

Asked what gives him confi-dence he can make a move,Mickelson replied, “Three greenjackets.”

The cut was at 1-over 145,matching the lowest ever atAugusta. Among those going homeare the last three major champions— Martin Kaymer, now in danger oflosing his No. 1 ranking; LouisOosthuizen and Graeme McDowell.

Woods’ 66 was his best round atAugusta since he shot 65 in thethird round of 2005, which also isthe last time he won the Masters.The two players in front of himhave only three wins betweenthem, none in a major.

But that’s the thing with somany kids. They don’t seem tocare.

Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan ■ Saturday, April 9, 2011www.yankton.net PAGE 9

We want

Send Recipes To: Press & Dakotan HerVoice Recipes Attn: Cathy Sudbeck 319 Walnut, Yankton SD 57078 or email to: [email protected]

Recipes can be entrée’s, drinks, appetizers, desserts or side dishes. Please include baking/cooking times and number of people the recipe will serve.

your best...

Watch for upcoming HerVoice issues to see if your recipe has been selected!

Share your best work by submitting your recipe to us!

May HerVoice Issue . . . . . . . . . . . Grilling/BBQ . . . . Deadline April 15

Recipes Still Chilled?

How about a Nice Warm Caldera Spa!

2500 S. 13th St, Norfolk, NE

402-371-8425

Leisure World , Inc. 1900 Broadway, Yankton, SD 605-665-1240

Visit with us at the 2011 Lewis & Clark Home Show at the

Yankton Kiwanis 4-H Ice Center,

April 9-10 Website: www.leisureworldsd.com

Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm Sat. 10am-5pm • Sun. 1pm-5pm

MORNING COFFE E WEEKDAYS

MONDAY-FRIDAY Monday

7:40 Doug Russell 8:15 Rich Wright

8:45 Deb Overseth Tuesday

7:40 Barb Clayton 8:15 JD O’Grady

8:45 Crystal Nelson Wednesday

7:40 Tammy Matuska 8:15 Hy-Vee Chef Stacey 8:45 Tracy Grottenhuis

665-5700 1-800-529-2450

BY GARY HOWEY

Peering through the mesh ofmy laydown blind, hundreds ifnot thousands of Snow geesewere moving in our generaldirection. Thewindsocks, laidout in front ofus, dancedseductively inthe wind, as fiveVortex spinningdecoys swirledaround to ourfront. The bois-terous electron-ic caller calledout to the geese,this was justenough to turnthe flock as they cruised over ourdecoy spread.

As Snow geese always do,they made several wide circles,loosing altitude with each wingbeat. With wings set and legsdown, they glided into the land-ing zone, set up directly in frontof us, when our guide John Neuyelled, “Take Em.” In one swiftmotion, the lids of our lay downblinds blew open as seven camohunters rose to meet the incom-ing flock.

The Snows backpedaled; try-ing desperately to put distancebetween themselves and thehunters, as they attempted toavoid the volley of incoming vol-ley of steel shot headed theirway. When the smoke finallycleared, the departing flock was-n’t quite as large as it’d been afew moments before, as we’dreduced the flock by a six geese.

It was the final days of Marchand we were located just south ofAberdeen, S.D. where we’d trav-eled to film and hunt with guideJohn Neu, Neu Outdoorswww.neuoutdoors.com out ofYankton, during this years springSnow Goose season.

He and his other guides hadbeen pursuing the Snow geese

since the opening of the springseason. They’d begun hunting insoutheastern Missouri, workedtheir way northward through thestate and then jumped into SouthDakota, following the birds asthey migrated north.

Hunting with Neu and hisguides were a group of 40 to 50hunters. With each group beingequipped with approximately twoto three thousand decoys, lay-down blinds and electroniccallers.

In order to effectively drawSnow geese into range, large num-bers of decoys are needed. Thisis why guides such as Neuchoose windsocks for their decoyspreads as they’re easy to trans-port, don’t take up much space ina trailer and add motion to thespread when the wind is blowing.Some folks believe that the windalways blows here in the upperMidwest, but on those rare occa-sions when it doesn’t, the Vortexand SOS motion decoys add

enough movement to give thespread the realism needed toattract the Snows.

Facing into the wind directlyin front of the landing zone, thecamo lay down blinds, allowedthe hunters to relax as they wait-ed patiently for the next flock tobe sighted. Once the birds werespotted, the two-piece doors onthe blinds were flipped shut, con-cealing the hunters, still allowingus to keep an eye on theapproaching birds through amesh screen.

Since spring weather can beunpredictable, the lay downblinds had to be camouflaged inorder to match the field we werehunting. Prior to our arrival,there had been snow in the field,so snow/white camo was thecolor of the day. As the tempsrose the white camo had to beremoved allowing the blinds tobetter match the environment wewere hunting. The warmer theday became, the muddier it

became around the lay downs, soour blinds no longer blended in,standing out against the muddyfield. This is when John muddiedup the blinds by smearing eachwith a coating of the sticky mudfrom around the blinds.

Despite hourly changes in theweather and the mud we had toput up with, it was a great huntas we observed numerousspecies of waterfowl including;Snow geese, Blue geese, Rossgeese, Specklebelly /White Frontgeese, Canada geese, Mallards,Pintails and Bluebills staging inthe Aberdeen area as they waitedfor snow to receded so theycould continue their northwardmigration.

Flight after flight of Snowsmade their way overhead, withdozens of larger flocks comingwithin 80 yards. Not close enoughfor a shot, but close enoughallowing us to pull small groupsfrom the large flock down withinrange, enabling us to pull 4 or 5

out of each.Since the Snow goose popula-

tion had become so large, they’veliterally destroyed the habitat inthe Tundra where they mate. Thisis the reason for the specialspring season, allowing huntersto hunt as they returned north inthe spring, helping to bring thepopulation to manageable levels.

Since Snow geese migrate insuch large flocks, with many ofthe birds being the older maturebirds that have seen every decoyand decoy spread imaginable,Snow geese are the toughest ofall waterfowl to decoy. Becauseof this, during the spring Snowgoose season, there are liberallimits and hunters aren’trequired to use plugged shot-guns, so extender tubes on shot-guns are quite common, allowinghunters to have as many as 7 or8 shells in their shotgun. Thisalong with the use of electroniccalls, has given spring Snowgoose hunters the opportunityto take excess birds out of thepopulation during the spring.

John, his guides and clients ofNeu Outdoors are doing theirbest to remove those excessbirds from the population.During the 2011 special season,they’ve taken over 8,000 birds.On this trip, our group did itsbest to help alleviate the over-

population as we pulled 118birds out of the flocks.

While we were hunting withNeu, there was a mixed bag ofhunters in camp from through-out the U.S. including those fromGeorgia, Washington, Utah,Nebraska, South Dakota andIowa as well as numerous otherstates.

Spring Snow goose hunting isan exciting hunt, with thousandsof birds in the air, giving you theopportunity to observe thewaterfowl in their springplumage. In the spring theplumage of the waterfowl isbreathtaking, giving you theopportunity to enjoy some of thebest that Mother Nature has tooffer. If you’re looking for aSnow goose guide that does itright, give Neu Outdoors a callas they have Snow goose hunt-ing dialed in.

Gary Howey, Hartington, Neb.,is the president of OutdoorsmenProductions LLC and the produc-er/host of the OutdoorsmenAdventures television series thatairs on Fox affiliates throughoutthe upper Midwest. For moreinformation on the outdoors or towatch the show, go to HYPER-LINK "http:/ /www.outdoorsme-nadventures.com" www.outdoors-menadventures.com.

OF THE OUTDOORS

The ‘Neu’ Wave Of Spring Snow Goose Hunters

T R O P H Y S P O T L I G H T

Second day hunt: John Neu (second from left) is pictured along with Howey and hunters from Georgiawith the geese taken during the hunt..

GaryHowey

TEAM OUTDOORSMEN ADVENTURES PHOTO

PHOTO: CAPTAIN NORMʼSNate Loecker caught this 65-pound Grass Carp on Lake Yanktonearlier this spring.

Brunch Ideas Thursday, April 14 • 6:30pm Sunday, April 17 • 3:00pm

$10.00 Fee (must pre-register)

RECIPES • TASTING Pre-register by calling Chef Staci at the Store 665-3412

or e-mail [email protected]

2100 Broadway Yankton • 665-3412

Cooking Class with Chef Staci

MASTERSFrom Page 7