I (Brett Kleinschmit) am from Northeast Nebraska near the small town of St. Helena, just over the river from Yankton, SD. I began going hunting and fishing with my dad when I was just 4 years old. Always being adventurous I found most of my childhood out playing near the Missouri River, the creek (Antelope Creek) near our home and in the small woodlots on my uncle’s property with my brothers and cousins. We were always exploring, building forts, fishing and hunting with our Red Ryder BB guns until we graduated into larger calibers and archery equipment. This is where my love for the outdoors began.
As I got older and hunted and fished more I found myself asking more and more questions on how to grow bigger deer, more turkeys and pheasants, what went on under that water and was there a better way to manage them to grow bigger fish, to have more fish?
All these questions and burning desires to learn more of the how and whys is why I decided to pursue a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences after my graduation from Crofton High School, in Crofton, NE, in 2007. I chose South Dakota State University as the institution to pursue my degree. During my time there I had many great experiences volunteering to help masters students and taking advantage of any field trip that presented itself. In my time there I worked on two White-tailed deer projects where we captured and radio collared deer for a study looking at summer and winter range movements. I helped with radio collaring Big Horn Sheep in the Black Hills of South Dakota. In the summer of 2010 I took a volunteer trip to Costa Rica and worked with Green Sea Turtles and Loggerhead turtles in their nesting ground on the Caribbean coast. Brian Graeb, my Advanced Fisheries Professor, set up an awesome trip for us to go to Texas and do some work with Bob Lusk of Pond Boss.
I also put in 3 years with the United State Army Corps of Engineers working as a Biological Technician during my summers. With them I did a lot of habitat sampling on the Missouri River for the Least Tern and Piping Plover. We also monitored these bird populations. During this time I worked alongside trappers with the USDA. We focused on trapping owls that were preying on the Terns and Plovers and my crew partner and I were in charge of Mink that were infamous of stealing the eggs of these Threatened and Endangered shore birds. I also worked a little time helping Nebraska Game and Parks with some Pallid Sturgeon tagging and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks sampling backwaters on the Missouri. Land management was also a big part of my job.
In May of 2012 I graduated with my Degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Minors in Animal Science, Biology and Business. Before graduation I had decided I was going to start my own business managing and developing fish and wildlife populations and habitats, and providing land management services to farmers, ranchers and other landowners. Living in an rural area and having many family and friends being farmers I saw a need for many land management practices that could help with profitability and sustainability.
As I got older and hunted and fished more I found myself asking more and more questions on how to grow bigger deer, more turkeys and pheasants, what went on under that water and was there a better way to manage them to grow bigger fish, to have more fish?
All these questions and burning desires to learn more of the how and whys is why I decided to pursue a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences after my graduation from Crofton High School, in Crofton, NE, in 2007. I chose South Dakota State University as the institution to pursue my degree. During my time there I had many great experiences volunteering to help masters students and taking advantage of any field trip that presented itself. In my time there I worked on two White-tailed deer projects where we captured and radio collared deer for a study looking at summer and winter range movements. I helped with radio collaring Big Horn Sheep in the Black Hills of South Dakota. In the summer of 2010 I took a volunteer trip to Costa Rica and worked with Green Sea Turtles and Loggerhead turtles in their nesting ground on the Caribbean coast. Brian Graeb, my Advanced Fisheries Professor, set up an awesome trip for us to go to Texas and do some work with Bob Lusk of Pond Boss.
I also put in 3 years with the United State Army Corps of Engineers working as a Biological Technician during my summers. With them I did a lot of habitat sampling on the Missouri River for the Least Tern and Piping Plover. We also monitored these bird populations. During this time I worked alongside trappers with the USDA. We focused on trapping owls that were preying on the Terns and Plovers and my crew partner and I were in charge of Mink that were infamous of stealing the eggs of these Threatened and Endangered shore birds. I also worked a little time helping Nebraska Game and Parks with some Pallid Sturgeon tagging and South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks sampling backwaters on the Missouri. Land management was also a big part of my job.
In May of 2012 I graduated with my Degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Minors in Animal Science, Biology and Business. Before graduation I had decided I was going to start my own business managing and developing fish and wildlife populations and habitats, and providing land management services to farmers, ranchers and other landowners. Living in an rural area and having many family and friends being farmers I saw a need for many land management practices that could help with profitability and sustainability.
