 Brian Beaman |
After high school,
Brian Beaman went to South Dakota State, studying in agriculture; after two
years, he transferred to Jacksonville State to shoot rifle for their NCAA
team as there had been no nearby archery ranges. The change in equipment
also brought upon a change in lifestyle as Beaman had to give up his
endorsements to compete in college. Before Beaman had long to adjust to that
change, it was recommended to him, right before the 2004 U.S. Olympic
Trials, that he should shoot pistol. "When I first started shooting pistol
... my goals have changed so much since then," Beaman said. His first goal,
following the 2004 Trials, was to make the U.S. National Team. He did that
after three months of shooting. His next goal was to make the travel team.
He did that. Then less than four years after first learning how to compete
in the event, Beaman set his goals toward the Olympics. "It's such a great
thrill," he said. "It's come so far so fast. But now it's like ... now I
want to win. ... We've had kind of a drought in medals (in precision
pistol). I want to help change that."
Beaman did not start his career in shooting until a late age. In fact, he has been an avid archer since the age of three -- "That was my first love and still is," he said -- when he and his family (Linda, his mom; Melissa, his sister; Dan, his father) would go shooting as a family. Brian earned endorsements as a product tester for three different companies beginning in his freshman year in high school. He would have had Olympic aspirations, Beaman said, but his event of compound bow is not competed at the Olympic Games, only FITA international competitions (recurve bow is the only bow used at Olympic competition). Beaman most recently competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and finished with fourth place. |
 Vern & Jeff Boer |
If you were to ask Vern or Jeff who is actually responsible for the creation of the television program Wild Dakota, both will stake claim! More importantly if the big man upstairs will allow it, father son team, along with a growing number of friends in the upper Midwest, will continue to show hunting and fishing at its best! Even sometimes at its worst! Both will do what they love and love what they do! That is what makes this show real. |
 David Crumrine |
David Crumrine, the
"DC" of DC Designs, has built a lifetime of experience in making western
buckles, jewelry and awards.
His parents owned a jewelry repair business in California before they were asked to design a line of western buckles for Knott’s Berry Farm in the early 1960s. The Crumrines discovered that there was tremendous interest in their original belt buckle designs, but for many retailers the price of the buckles wasn’t affordable. In order to cut costs, the Crumrines developed a process for duplicating the look of hand engraving and created a mini-revolution. By doing so, they had created the middle price point in Western buckles. In 1972, David went to work full-time at his parents’ company. By the 1980s the Western buckle side of the company had grown so fast, that the Crumrines completely deserted the fine jewelry aspect of their business. Recently Crumrine has recently branched out on his own, relocated his family and business, Renaissance III Ltd., to Monument, Colorado. DC Designs offer quality, unique western buckles as well as award products, and have recently included custom saddle trim and tack to their line. |
 Rusty Fritts |
Rusty has 16 years of bullfighting/rodeo clown experience and over 20 years of rodeo starting at an early age with steers and bareback horses. He has been a card holder in six different associations and was voted in by the cowboys in 2 finals as bullfighter and 3 times as alternate. He works as a sheet metal worker in Kansas City during the week. His hobbies are hunting, fishing, camping, NASCAR, football, baseball, and also has been known to attend a rodeo. |
 Ray Kelly |
Ray Kelly is a
multi-talented artist from Tea, South Dakota. His "Eye of the Wild
Studio" is his base of operations but he spends time away taking part
in stage, screen and personal appearances for charity events. He has done color commentary for rodeos as well as been a bull and bareback rider himself. His television appearances include "The Flying Buckskins," "The Stuntmasters," "World Wide Stunts," "Outdoor Adventures," "Jaycox and Boone Outdoor Productions" as well as many stage and movie credits. His artwork has won awards ranging from the Best of Show at the 1991 Iowa State Fair to the People's Choice award at the South Dakota State Fair in 2001. He has bee the Dodge National Circuit Finals (Rodeo) Artist for the last four years as well as co-host for the South Dakota Trade Show for three years. He has also done artwork for Ducks Unlimited, McKennan Burn Center, Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund, and Casey Tibbs Museum. His hobbies include hunting, fishing, photography, and of course horseback riding. He also enjoys attending celebrity charity events. |
 Lee Leuning |
Lee Leuning, a South Dakota native, attended South Dakota State University and received a degree in Wildlife Biology in 1974. He worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service before becoming a Wildlife Officer in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. He was selected as the Wildlife Officer of the Year in 1982 and as Regional Officer of the Year six times. In 1986 and 1987 he worked as an undercover officer in the Smokey Mountains National Park region in 4 southern states, combating the poaching of Black Bears and the marketing of their gall bladders to far eastern nations. After the largest operation ever successfully conducted in the Southeastern United States, Leuning was recruited back to his home state to work as an undercover officer, investigating a large big game poaching ring in Western South Dakota. After his mission, he took assignment in Aberdeen, South Dakota as a Wildlife Officer. Lee attended evening art classes at Northern State University for 3 years and discovered a talent for sculpture. In 1990, Leuning transferred to Pierre, South Dakota as the Wildlife Officer in Hughes County. This Missouri River area has a huge wildlife resource and Leuning gained a reputation as a hard working and successful defender of South Dakota's wild resources. Leuning retired in 2002 to work full time as a bronze sculptor. |
 Robb Nelson |
A former defensive lineman and hammer thrower at the University of Texas,
Robb is a graduate of Aberdeen Central High School. He is the CEO of
Integrity First Management and also works with Cabela’s Trophy Properties.
He and his partner, Pro Football Hall of Fame member, Anthony Munoz have
represent and worked with more than 100 professional athletes &
entertainers, including Mark Schlerety, Stuart Scott, Rich Gannon, Bill
Romanowski, Jeff Garcia, Amy Van Dyken, Goldberg, Tim Wakefield, Country
Singers Garth Brooks & Craig Morgan and many others. Robb is also legal
counsel for the NFL Alumni and serves on the Agent Advisory Committee for
the NFL Players Association. Robb’s work with Cabela’s focuses on high end
trophy hunting and fishing properties. He is a member of the Mathews Bows
Pro Staff and has hunted all over the country. He has appeared on numerous
TV shows including Driven 24/7, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, The World of
Beretta, Tejas Adventures and others. Robb lives in Windsor, Colorado with
his wife Wendy and their son Brady. They are very active in “Hunter’s
Dream for a Cure” (www.huntersdream.org),
a charity named after their late son Hunter that raises money for
children with neurological diseases and programs for special needs children.
The foundation raises money through three annual events a Celebrity Hunt, a
Celebrity Golf Tournament and a Craig Morgan Concert. The foundation has
raised over $1,000,000.
|
 Bob Petitt |
Bob is best known
for being the "Marlboro Man," which he portrayed from 1989 to 2000. He
is also a well-known actor and stuntman, starring in movies such as "Young
Guns 1," "Young Guns 2," and "The Quick and the Dead." He has also
starred in television shows including "Highwayman," "Great American Cowboy,"
and "Lonesome Dove." He has done several commercials for products such
as Marlboro, Pepsi, GMC, Budweiser and Miller. Throughout his career, Bob has been a bareback rider, champion bull rider, AMA motorcycle racer. In addition, he has been State, National and World Golden Glove Boxing Champion. Some of the stunts that Bob has done include fight specialties, boxing, car racing and crashes, motorcycles, and water skiing. Bob's hobbies include hunting, fishing, horseback riding, training bird dogs, team penning, cutting, and competing in celebrity events. |
 Sherri Treeby |
Sherri Treeby is a native of Ohio who moved to South Dakota in the early 1980's and attended Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in art education and a Master's Degree in art history, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1990. She accepted a teaching position at Aberdeen Central High School and currently teaches at the high school level. Sherri is also a professor of art at Presentation College in Aberdeen, South Dakota - teaching art history, drawing, painting, and design. Her students have been recognized through the years as some of the best in the state, winning major art contests on an annual basis. Sherri is recognized by the arts community for her many contributions to local charities and through the tutoring of upcoming young professional individual sculptures. She has also donated many thousands of dollars of art supplies from her company to the art students of Aberdeen Central and Presentation College so that they might have a better chance to develop their abilities. Sherri was VFW Teacher of the Year for South Dakota. |
 Benjamin Victor |
"A gift from God" is the way Benjamin Victor describes his natural ability to sculpture monumental size works of art. By receiving his first large commission at only 23 years old, Benjamin joined the ranks of Michelangelo, Bernini, Daniel Chester French, and Maya Lin. At age 26 he became the youngest artist ever to have a sculpture in our nation's foremost collection of figurative sculpture (the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol). Art critics and organizations (including the National Sculpture Society in New York City) continue to recognize the aesthetic and conceptual integrity of Benjamin's artwork. His incredible passion and drive show in each of his unique and profound creations. With expressive features, exquisite detail, dynamic gesture, and thought provoking content the sculpture of Benjamin Victor is sure to take its place among the great masterpieces of art history. |
 Kevin Blake Weldon |
Kevin grew up in Lufkin, Texas playing baseball, hunting, fishing and enjoying the outdoors. After a torn rotator cuff injury while pitching at Alvin Community College in Alvin, Texas ended his dreams of playing in the major leagues, Kevin began pursuing his newly discovered talent, singing and writing country music. Within 5 years Weldon landed a major recording contract with Curb Records in 1995 as one half of the duo, BLAKE&BRIAN. The duo scored 2 top 40 hits and had videos on CMT and GAC as well as several national TV appearances throughout the late 1990's. On more than one occasion when Kevin was needed in the studio, his producer found him outside of Franklin, TN bow hunting on his producer’s 50 acre farm! (He actually bagged 2 nice bucks with his bow on the property) Kevin has been in country music now for 18 years but it's his latest project, BADBOB & JIMMY, which he is most excited and proud of. The BADBOB & JIMMY project started out as a joke with good friends gathering after an Illinois bow hunt and Kevin being asked to perform. At some point throughout the evening Kevin began making up a hunting song to the tune of a Tim McGraw hit and everyone just rolled with laughter. From that accidental start the project has grown at an EXPLOSIVE rate. It is an ABSOLUTE MUST have for all hunters and non-hunters alike. It is the BEST in redneck deer hunting humor with the first release, POSTED PLACES featuring original songs and parodies such as the title cut, "I Hunt Deer in Posted Places" (Friends in Low Places), "I A'int No Member of No Huntin' Club" (I'm a Member of a Country Club), "Bucky The Bionic Buck", "Gruntin'Horn Rattlin' Fool" and many others! His latest CD, BB&J: REDNECK HUNTER features parodies of smash hits such as "Redneck Hunter" (Redneck Woman), "The Spotlight Glows" (The Thunder Rolls), "I Love This Park" (I Love This Bar), "Jimmy Went Down to Georgia" (The Devil Went Down to Georgia) and "LONGBEARD GOBBLER" (Longneck Bottle) Kevin stays extremely busy videoing hunts for an upcoming project and with personal appearances around the country entertaining and promoting BADBOB & JIMMY. When not on the road, Kevin resides in Lufkin, Texas. Kevin has two daughters, Sarah, 21(Parris Island, SC) and Ashley, 19 (Quantico, VA), serving in the United States Marine Corp. For more info on Kevin Blake Weldon and to hear clips of his serious music and order CD's visit www.kevinblakeweldon.com and for more on the BadBob & Jimmy project and to hear clips of his comedy music and order CD's visit www.badbobandjimmy.com |