Paul Gates

Paul was born August 13th, 1989, in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Paul has played sports all his life starting with soccer, from there little league baseball (on Rapid City All star team in his 12 year old season), on to the Pony League (City champs in 14 year old season) on to the State tournaments.  Paul went on to American Legion baseball where he was the “big left handed first baseman who could hit for power and average”  Paul won some “big stick” awards on the way up.

 Paul graduated from college at Black Hills State College in 2013, and is currently selling cars (and doing very well) for Prestige Auto located in Spearfish, South Dakota

 Paul loves to hunt pheasants and fish for walleye wherever and whenever he can.

Travis Vaad

Travis Vaad grew up on a cattle ranch and worked as a professional pheasant hunting guide in central South Dakota for many years. He now lives with his wife, Jenna, and children Nissi, Judah and Josiah in Oacoma, SD, where he works for The Thunderstik Lodge as the outdoor operations manager. His life passions are music, songwriting, hunting, fishing, hiking, coffee, food, travel, his family, and his faith.

Travis became a Christian in Nashville while pursuing a career in country music and songwriting. He has performed at cowboy churches, wild game feed outreaches and music festivals. He is also passionate about working with Native American boys in South Dakota – where he takes youth fishing and camping. He has spent time with the Blackfeet, Flathead, Navajo, Crow, Cheyenne and Lakota Sioux tribes. Travis believes it is his calling to help Native Americans discover Jesus. “Helping them find Jesus is essential for the destiny of America to be fulfilled. It’s a mission field where the fields are ripe for harvest, but the workers are few,” explained Travis.

Karl Castor

Karl has been a pheasant hunter for over 50 years, and was part owner in a pheasant preserve near Newell, SD for 15 years until it started to take too much of his time.

Karl is currently the local president of the Black Hills chapter of Pheasants Forever and has held this post for 12 years. Karl is very big on spending our chapter money on habitat and is currently involved in helping GF&P build a 4,000 acre GPA for local hunters to take advantage of.

He has harvested in excess of 50 long beards (Miriam turkeys) in the Black Hills of South Dakota over the last 30 years, with probably 50 deer and antelope harvested. He is an avid archery hunter for both.

Karl is also on the board for a group called South Dakota Youth Hunting Adventures along with 10 other local business leaders. The program is a one-of-a-kind in the State

Which has between 50 and 60 mentors and mentees, going hunting, fishing, and camping. Basically bringing up the next generation of outdoor participants. The board is working with Big Brothers Big Sisters local chapter who are supplying the youth for the program.

The South Dakota Youth Hunting Adventures is in it’s 6th year, and is currently receiving inquiries from surrounding States as to how this program was set up.

Dave Einerwold

Dave was born in South Dakota, and grew up in Aberdeen where as a youngster he would get up at 4:00 AM and pedal his bike to Wylie Lake and go fishing, get home, clean fish, and get to school.  Dave moved to Pierre when he was 18 years old where he live for 4 1/2 years.  Dave was a member of the local BASS club and fished, and won many tournaments.  When he was in Pierre, he started fishing for Walleye in the Missouri River.  In 1988 he moved to Rapid City where he was exposed to fly fishing.  Once he got the taste of a trout rising and taking a dry fly off the surface, that was it, he was all in!  Dave started a fly shop in his house since the local fly shop went under, and there was no place to buy fly tackle.

Dave has taken advanced fly tying class from Chris Helm, Marvin Nolte, and Oliver Edwards; and has taught numerous fly tying classes.

Dave is married to the love of his life Kim and “the kids” are their German Shepherd and two cats.  They are grounded in their faith, and keep God in the center of their lives and marriage.  One of Dave’s favorite verses is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.  When Dave isn’t fishing, you can find him riding his Harley in the beautiful black Hills.

Lastly, Dave would like to add that having Dave Gates the “host” in the boat is good, because he brings his awesome deer jerky along fishing.  He says “man can fish a long time when you have good jerky in the boat”.

Carl Stonecipher

Carl Stonecipher, is a retired dentist from Rapid City, SD with 14 trips to Africa under his belt, and counting: game taken include bull elephant, male lion, (2) leapords, (10) cape buffalo, (4) zebras, roan, (2) sable, Red Duiker, East Africa Duiker, Common Duiker, Blue Duiker, Steenbuck.

Mule deer 27” spread, whitetail 160” total points, 15 ½ “antelope, Black hills elk, Wyoming elk, axis deer, Black Buck, Asian Water Buffalo, Water Buck.

Dave Gates

Dave was born in 1948, at Mitchell, South Dakota, and hunted and fished from the time he was 10 years old and his dad moved the family out into the country south of town.

 He worked while he was in high school at a mink ranch, doing everything that needed to be done all the way to harvesting the mink in the fall, plus he ran a trap line before going to high school in the morning trapping muskrat, and mink.

 Dave spent (3) years in the U.S. Army, which included a tour in Viet Nam running the casualty branch for the Americal Division (23rd Infantry), coming home to attend college at Dakota Wesleyan University for (1) year, before moving to Rapid City to live.

 Dave was a meat cutter, and started his own meat market (Dave’s Olde Fashioned Meat Market) in 1977, which branched into a fresh fish operation, plus a smoked meat operation making Jerky, and all smoked meats.  Dave also made smoked salmon for Governor Janklow’s annual ball for (3) years until the Governor stepped down.  Dave still dabbles in smoking deer meat once he was able to start eating it again after cleaning up after everybody on their deer.

 Dave sold these businesses and started into the telephone business specializing in hotel/motel system installation and maintenance, which branched out into an answering service to better take care of his customers.

 Dave started to think about starting an outdoor show in the summer of 2012 when he couldn’t find a pheasant show to watch.  This has branched into a show featuring physically and mentally disabled veterans on family retreats, hunting, and fishing retreats.  Dave’s PTSD came to the forefront and he wants to help other veterans in the same soup.

 Dave is married to the love of his life Marian, and he was (2) sons named Paul, and Steve.

 Dave still hunts and fishes as much as he can, and his largest walleye is 13 # 6 oz while his largest whitetail buck is a respectable 155”, 21 inch wide, 6-point buck.

 Going for bigger!