Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game SD 2023 Pheasant diary

We went out for the traditional opener on Saturday. We start the 3rd Saturday at noon, no matter what the "resident opener" and 10am starting hour freak shows do or say. We're not savages. I took a M42 loaded with Federal 3" 6's and it proved to be tougher than I thought it would be to kill a rooster. I finally did so, and was glad for that. End of experiment. The company and the eats were fantastic, the dog work was enjoyable and the shooting was poor. Lots of corn left in the fields, not so many pheasants in the grass. Flash made it to his 14th opener, Im super glad for that. The Korean ribs were a huge hit.

On day 2 we went over to Harrold and found alot of crops in the fields but a few pheasants around as well. Five of us got 11. I was carrying my Magnum Twenty and in a turnaround from Saturday hit everything I shot at and killed it dead too. 3 roosters for BK using plain old #6's, imagine that. Dog work getting better. Surprisingly dry days this weekend so understandable.

Damnation, does that not look like a hoot! Well done!

We probably passed you on the roads Sunday.

Last pass of the day was fruitful with lots of good dog work for dad and I. Successful 3 day hunt, especially considering all the crops still in the field.

Cool.

Gonna try to be there before Thanksgiving

It was a great weekend and i'm hopeful for a long long season this year! Nice picture!

Nice.... How far were you trying to stretch the .410????

Old school SxS's....nice.

Like I told our friends on the hunt, double shotguns double the yield.
Mine is a 16 ga Dickinson Estate shooting homeloaded 1 1/8 oz 5s, cheesys is a new to him Model 30 Ugartechia sp? made in 1985. 20 ga shooting factory 1 oz 6s. That gun must be a pheasant magnet, by far the most pheasants got up closer to him.

While hunting the last patch of the day I looked out to the right over a large grass field and saw a flock of birds i thought were prairie chickens headed our way. I alerted the guys and waited for them to get close. Just before gun range the flock split and went on either side of me. Luckily the ones to the right were close enough to shoot and I dropped one. As I was walking to the downed bird I heard shots behind me. When I got to the bird I was surprised it wasn't a chicken. I'd never seen a sharptail before let alone shot one. Turns out a buddy behind me had dropped a chicken from the same flock. Great time out there, can't wait to go back.

BK a 3" 410 throws 11/16 of an ounce with #6 that's about 151 .11" diameter pellets . A ounce of 6's is about 223 count an ounce of #7 shot at .10" is right at 299 pellets so 11/16 oz is right at 208 pellets so moving to hard # 7 shot would increase you pellet count by a 1/3 that might give you a better bird killing ability with that 410.. More than of few folks on the fire swear by #7 shot..mb

Adult son of one of my best friends in town this week from his new home in NYC. Asked if we could go hunting, of course I said "Yes." Kind of a snotty night but one hours work produced this pile of roosters. Lola gave an A grade performance, we only lost one bird and I'll take the hit on that. I could have shot that bird alot harder and was unable to safely get another hit on it. I bagged three of the nine. Jeff shot five.

From tests done by Brister....The .410 pattern starts to fall apart much past 20 yards. 20 and in, it will be around the same size as the larger gauges.

I kind of was wondering all this Bob. I thought maybe some different shells would be interesting. I need to spend alot more time on that gun before I take it hunting again. I was keeping shots to 25 or so and less.

I am not surprised by this. My total .410 experience was doubled on Saturday. I'm not thinking of doing much more with it this fall.

I'm pretty sure I had the same eye opening experience with the 410 on grouse only it took a couple more trips and crips to come to the same conclusion. With a 1/2 oz load of 9's it's perfectly capable on the skeet range as long as YOU are on the money. And of course I was using an imp cyl briley tube in my gun, on the grouse the mod tube and 3" 6's like you used, still low pellet counts make for thin patterns. I often wondered back then that the general design usage was for pot shooting on the ground or in the tree at under 25 yds .mb

Awesome reports and pics! Keep 'em coming! I'll be in SoDak in early Dec. Green with envy until then!

Trundled over on Friday for a short hunt to get the dogs out in the field after a week in Montana. Three of us shot six, I shot one.

Back on Sunday for a really short hunt and killed one again. There's a quarter section of corn to the NE of our spot which isn't harvested yet and which is harboring birds in huge numbers. Looking for that to be cut this week and really increase our opportunities.

Out last night for a short walk. My dog forgot who she works for. Zero for the effort. Buddy shot two over his dog. Corn is out but birds still relating to it and our timing was off as a result. Some harsher weather would have been in our favor but dang it was nice out.

Hopefully conditions are prime the first week of December when we get out there. I am getting amped up and got sucked into buying a new (old) shotgun this morning just to try to shoot a rooster.

Some recent SD Pheasant pics....

George....



George and Merlot....



Myself, Kevin, George and Hygge....



Hygge....



Myself....Pulled off a double with the Model 12 16 Gauge....



Hygge....



Kevin and Merlot....




Merlot and me....




Myself, George and Hygge....




Huntz and Kevin....Huntz lives there and can smell a Rooster before the Dog has a clue

Just an excellent trip it appears to me. Bluebird weather!

Wonderful pics. Looks like everyone had a great time. My son's, step sons, and sons in law leave for Kansas Friday.

We took advantage of a beautiful late fall day with temps in the 50's and headed over to Harrold for some shooting. Four of us shot seven. We didn't have as much time as we needed or would have liked, damn the sun goes down quick. At one point in the field I thought, good, we have 30 mins left to hunt. Ten minutes later, it was damn dark out there.



As we gathered back up, I asked my friend where his dog, Pepper, was. He said "I don't know, I hoped she was with you." 'Ok, then." I took my dog back through the cover half a mile, with darkness rapidly gathering. I was thankful I'd gotten an e-collar with headlights in it. I called for Pepper repeatedly without success until we emerged on the far side of the cover, and there she was about 40 yards away. Utterly spooked by the experience, she would not come to me. If I walked toward her five steps, she kept the distance. If I walked five steps away, she walked my direction. So I maintained my location and soon enough the pickups came to get the three of us. Whew.

I think I'll go back out today. Supposed to be almost 60.

Awesome!! Hope you saved a few. I will be there next week!

Don’t fret, if it wasn’t so far I would be there again….and I wouldn’t be worrying about a lack of Birds.

Went once in January and it was fantastic.

Hope you have a great time. Most likely you will be making plans for next year. 😉

Bach on the 15th. Hope weather cooperates with us.

I went out again yesterday. Because it was nice and because I could. I had thought my e collar was in the truck. It was not and my dog work suffered as a result. Way too much hunting for herself. I had hoped for a good day, just her and I together. It was frustrating but I shot two.

I think I may be doing that already and I haven't even left!

One of the reasons I usually hunt by myself, no one can see how bad the dog and I mess up! I'll be tickled if I can scratch out a couple birds.

Hey good luck! I'm sure you'll do fine

Save me two birds for next week! I went with a buddy to SW MN to "practice" today. The birds were few and far in between and SUPER spooky but I did manage to get my first MN rooster. That was ALL we got but this pheasant hunting sure is addictive!

Noted. There are two slated for you, come on out and get them!!

I tip my hat to you Sir. Two is all it will take for the week to be a success for me. I sure do enjoy watching my partners young dogs work.

I am headed out that way on Sunday and will be hunting Sunday afternoon, Monday and Tuesday.

I have 1.5 YO lab and it'll be fun adventure for the two of us.

Hope I can find some birds and pour some gas on the fire for him.

He's been a really good birddog so far so excited to see some new country and expose him to some new stuff.

Long drive but we'll hopefully have fun and get into some birds.

Great pics by all, really nice thread.

Good hunting, Gents!

You timed it perfectly!

Went out again yesterday, kinda late due to the chores and such. It was a beautiful evening, mid 40's and no wind. The no wind is a real problem this time of year. Plus last day of deer season so everythings a bit riled up. I shot two.

Had a great trip to the Dakotas.

First time hunting in both N and S Dak and really enjoyed it.

Only problem is there is so much country to hunt I wish I could have stayed a week instead of a couple days.

Unfortunately work gets in the way of fun sometimes.

Pup did awesome and I ended up with 3 limits (one in N Dak and two in S Dak) in two full days of hunting.

Learned a ton and can't wait to get back next year!

CONGRATS!!!

Congrats 2….

We just got back tonight and had a blast. We saw some birds but they were very spooky. The model 23 Pigeon Grade took is\t's first bird and the Citori Lightning 16 gauge scored a double. My buddies oldest dog also claimed a rooster. We certainly didn't fill out or hurt the population but we sure had fun.

My brothers are on the way home now. They hunted Eastern SD, mostly public access and a few private pieces. They didn’t see many birds and shot only a few. Unseasonably warm weather didn’t help as birds were pretty scattered. I’ve got a few days open at years end and may or may not make a quick trip there. Some snow, but not too much, might help things a bit. 🤔

Good reports. The lack of weather and even a breeze many nights is good for the pheasants but bad for shooting them.

I didn't make it out this weekend, went to the Hills and worked on a project. MrsK had a snafu on her way home via United Airlines and I was pressed into transportation service. I'll make it up to them somehow.

I had a good trip to SD. DIdn't limit out, but was into lots of birds everyday. Better dog work (he was a bit rusty) and way better shooting on my part would have yielded more birds in the bag. I'll hopefully be back next year! Really enjoyed the area and country!

Went out again on Sunday, a beautiful day for sure, enough breeze to get in close to the birds. I caught a flock of prairie chickens napping and my trusty Magnum Twenty failed to eject, leaving me struggling while the stragglers left my vicinity. Darn that was tough to watch. We saw tons of pheasants on our parcel, they've moved in nicely for the winter. As long as the weather holds, we'll have excellent shooting. I shot three roosters. One was a real crowd pleaser, our term for high flyers busted by another person and coming over the top. There was alot of blue between him and the muzzle but down he came.

Prairie chickens, that's pretty cool. Too bad the shotgun let you down. That's awesome you are still getting them, it can get tough late season.

The key is to not go too often. Any more than once a week is too much.

We went out yesterday, a blue bird day. Fifty degrees, no wind. Five of us had fourteen and I declared we'd find one for Flash. Flash is banged up, crowding fourteen, had a banner career and well, he just needed to taste blood again. We found one single rooster in a place where he could feel secure enough not to run off, and out of the pickup we piled. The rooster held, was flushed by the old dog, I hit the bird squarely, he was found. and the victory lap was quite impressive. He wanted everyone to see him and he made sure they did. It was a glorious moment for him and a few eyes teared up for the old warrior. I shot five yesterday.

Today it was 180 degrees change in the weather. Snow, wind, cold and we went out anyway. Flash stayed home but Lola joined in and did a great job. I shot six today. A 20ga with 2-3/4" sixes is still enough to kill roosters.

Merry Christmas

Good Dog, Flash!!!!

My buddy from up there, same town you’ve mentioned at times BK, said he went 3 birds with 3 shells today with his old lab.

Terrain looks a bit different than it did 5 days ago.

That's good shooting!

Saw that your area was under a blizzard warning.

How’s it looking?

Still snowing. It took a break Sunday evening, back in earnest about 1pm yesterday and snowed through the night. I'd say 9-10" of wind whipped snow drifts, ugh. Wet and heavy, hope it melts soon. Supposed to be fairly decent and stay relatively warm. Its 34 now in fact. Some sunshine would be a big help.

Took the Commodore and friends and their dads out on Saturday. Agar didn't get as much snow as either Pierre or Gettysburg, so getting around was ok. We killed 32 birds, I shot 8.