The Nisland Hunt Safe Instructor Team has been named South Dakota’s Region 1 Hunt Safe Instructor Team of the Year.
Hunt Safe is the state’s hunting and firearms safety program with instructors certified under S.D. Game, Fish and Parks to teach and certify youth hunters for state licenses and adult hunters as required by many other states and nations.
The Nisland team is the second in Butte County to receive the recognition. The Belle Fourche team receive similar honors. The two programs are usually staggered on the calendar. While generally the Nisland team serves the eastern part of the county and Belle Fourche the west, students from all of Butte County and elsewhere in the state are eligible for either program.
On the Nisland team are Michael Keolker, Randy Vallery, Ed Culver, Fred Lamphere and Fred Wells.
In making the nomination, Butte County-based Wildlife Conservation Officer Bill Eastman said, “They have been serving our community in molding our future hunters/firearms handlers for many years now. As the local Wildlife Conservation Officer I cannot thank them enough for all they do and the dedication they have. I am proud to work with them and proud to call them friends.”
In his nomination letter, Eastman wrote, “This instructor team consists of four individuals that offer a variety of personalized talents.”
“Randy Vallery comes from an agricultural background. He is a fourth generation rancher who has included a successful pheasant shooting preserve operation to his home property,” Eastman wrote.
Randy and his wife, Rhonda, open their hunting lodge to host all the HuntSafe classes. Several Archery Certification courses have been held in the lodge as well, offering a unique atmosphere for the HuntSafe experience. Randys is a member of many wildlife organizations and is a supporter of the Center of the Nations Sportsman’s Club in Belle Fourche.
Randy spends much of his limited free time serving as the fire chief for the Nisland volunteer Fire Department.
Eastman wrote, “Randy and Fred Wells also tag team together to cover the muzzle loading, survival, wildlife ID and wildlife management portions of the class. Randy has been instructing HuntSafe for nearly three decades.”
Wells is a retired B52 pilot and who retired from the US Air Force in 2002. He and his wife, Sherry, own and operate a farm near Vale where they often open their property to youth hunters. Fred is a member of many wildlife organizations and a great supporter of the CON Sportsman’s Club. His talents have no end – with hand made knife and hand made muzzle loader crafting as two of many. Fred also donates much of his limited time to assisting the Butte County and State Emergency Management program.
Fred is the main technology expert for each class. He and Randy group teach the muzzle loading, survival, wildlife ID and wildlife management portion of the class.
Ed Culver is now retired from the SD Department of Transportation. He has taught HuntSafe classes in the Newell and at Nisland for many years, to include a couple generations of students. Ed brings a lifetime of hunting experience to each class and has always served as the bookkeeper. He provides visual aids to each class that get the attention of the students. In his personal collection he has cutaway actions, firearm barrels and handguns that he shares with the students. His instruction expertise is his passion for handguns.
Fred Lamphere is Butte County Sheriff. Fred is an avid hunter and hunting guide who has been featured on the Outdoor Channel. He also is a member of the CON Sportsman’s Club, and donates a guided youth big game hunt at the yearly CNSC banquet.
Fred’s career choice is the perfect HuntSafe instructor to teach the ethics and alcohol/drugs portions of the class. His hunting and broad firearms experience also qualifies him to be the perfect instructor to lead the long gun instruction portion of the class.
Eastman said that each of the four are outstanding individuals, but, “Together, they make up the perfect HuntSafe instructor team.”
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