SCOUTING REPORT | Sharpshooting lawmaker, six-figure renters, monkey capture, backyard slaughter houses, Levo's great teachers

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Attorney General Marty Jackley recently hosted his annual open house for lawmakers in Pierre, an event that also features a shooting contest. A new champion has been crowned.

The 2025 Top Gun deadeye was Rep. Terri Jorgenson, a first-term Republican from Piedmont. She is a former Air Force officer who has lived in South Dakota for more than 25 years.

She had plenty of competition for the top sharpshooter distinction. She ended up in a shoot-off with legislative intern Karlie Ten Eyck and Sen. Chris Karr, the Senate’s president pro tempore. Karr, a Sioux Falls Republican, has been a perennial force in the competition.

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But he fell a bit short on his center-mass shot placements to Jorgenson.

Jorgenson, Ten Eyck and Karr were among 50 competitors in this year’s Top Gun. They all used the same weapon – a Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolver – at a range of 5 yards.

The contest has taken place since 2011. Jorgenson is the first female to win the competition. Former lawmaker Dean Wink, another West River legislator, holds the title with five shooting victories. And that means East River lawmakers should get to the range and practice if they hope to keep up.

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