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I just returned from hunting 30 days in South Dakota. What a spectacular season! Guys saw and shot at LOTS of roosters. Crops were harvested at a high rate and are finishing up now.



There was snow and cold a few days around the October 23rd. I arrived the 25th to knee deep drifts and muddy roads. No matter, got right to putting birds in my vest. Washed my truck around November 5th and it stayed pretty clean for the rest of my stay. We had nice weather with no precipitation for the duration which was perfect. A few windy days but that's fine for pheasant hunting.



We shot several Sharptails this season which was a nice bonus. I saw around 60 one day killing three. Got into them a few times which was really fun. Guys were seeing them regularly.

Duxkdog, the very good pic’s reflect a great time and good shooting. I particularly like the one with the lake in the background. I love the amount of lakes in SD that are undeveloped. Also love your SxS’s.

It’s a great state for the outdoors and I love it.

Lord-willing, we are headed out to the Chamberlain area early next week. So far, the extended forecast looks mild for mid-December.

Now, I’ve done it. 🙂

Wonderful.. Love those pheasants.. Our hunt was cut short.. Not sure when I will get back into it again..

Great place for any individual who wants to have their Dog go one on one with wild Roosters....I can't wait and hope to be able to go back!!!!

Fantastic...

Yes, and don't overlook the word "at" in that sentence, either.

I just finished my month there, too. I am training a pup so I got to see a lot more roosters and sharpies than I got to shoot at, but that's okay, I seem to seem need more training than I care to admit, too.

Like a couple of days ago -- pup does a great point in the edge of some cattails. My son and I move into position on either side. I decide I just have to cross this big log in the grass and am struggling thru that when the rooster blows out like he was shot out of a cannon. Forget it. Then there was the one when the pup does a great point in grassy strip of trees and we're moving to try to get it to flush and I stupidly let myself get too close to a small tree. Sure enough, the rooster blows out, I swing my gun into the branches and, of course, can't quite get to the bird. How many years do I have to do this before I quit acting like neophyte??

Wild roosters LOVE cattails and other nasty places that are hard to walk through and that tear your dog's eyes and nose up. One night after busting through cattails all day following running roosters he could not even open his eyes. Fortunately I had brought a cone, so I walked to the pharmacy next to motel and got some saline solution to douche his eyes out with, then put salve on his torn up eyelids, lips, etc. Miraculously after sleeping in the cone he was GTG the next morning, but we tried to keep him out of cattails.

I dunno, I've always put down the guys going out in groups of 6 or more and surrounding objectives and then pass-shooting the roosters that pour out when the dogs go thru. But after this year I may change my mind. There were a lot more birds this year and in a lot of years, but still not anywhere near as many as in the peak years around 2006. With gobs of birds you will get lucky and have even some old roosters hold tight for you and easily get your limit. This year those were far and few between, with most birds running. The pup is getting better and better at stopping at first scent, and then at relocating (by tracking) once he realizes the bird has moved on him, but still most of those birds got away. These were birds that had not seen much pressure this year but they would still run and flush 30 - 50 yards in front of the pup, who was being careful. Frustrating for him and us but I don't know how else you teach a dog to hunt wild roosters one-on-one.

Maybe that's why so many guys say to heck with that and use blockers. I'm not quite ready to give up yet, though. As long as I can get one every now and then.

Congrats to all of you, glad you're having great seasons.

Interesting point Rimfire, I've never tried to teach a dog to go one on one with roosters. I don't (and won't) have pointing dogs. For us, it's generally not a one on one game. Fun when it works out that way, to be sure, but for us its about putting birds up within range, and putting them in the bag when they're dead. They can't or won't all be put up, you can't shoot them all anyway. When I'm in a field with 100, or 500 pheasants, well, that just isn't something that will work for me.

To speak to another point, pheasant hunting is a social activity. I invite people to go all the time, in fact, its one way we will build hunter numbers in this nation. And while I have and will go alone, it's more fun to go in a group. I remember well driving past a field where a single hunter was hunting with his pointing dog, years ago. My oldest, then about four or so, said, "Dad what is that guy doing?" I told her he was pheasant hunting. She said, "Poor guy, he must not have any friends." Hahaha!

In any event, I'm a huge proponent of people enjoying themselves their way, and I'm glad to hear you do, and have had a great season.

PS we don't have the hang of this "string up your birds and shotgun and have your dog sit for a picture" concept yet.

I agree but just don't have the guts for that anymore. Too many close calls, not to mention that over half the guys who tell me they have "been hunting upland birds for decades" and that they are "super safe" don't seem to have any concept of muzzle awareness once they are in the field.

I will go with people I know from experience are safe, and few others. Wish it didn't have to be that way. Hope it all works out for you guys enjoying the social event.

Pretty much agree with you Rimfire.

My friends are hunters. Lucky me!

There are a few individual differing reasons of why one hunts Gamebirds....Some want the fellowship of a group....some want the solitude of doing it on their own....To some a Dog is a tool to put game in the air....To others they are the reason they hunt....Some need numbers...some need less, but well done....

I enjoy the pace of hunting behind a pointer and the rush of staying with a maniac flusher that’s tearing everything apart.

I definitely like to hunt with others, and especially those who can run a gauge. Watching birds fall from a good shot is cool.

Seasoned hunting dogs amaze me. The eye contact from a pointer, that’s standing out front between a row to it’s owner is saying “follow me, the birds are this way” is awesome.

Trust the dog....Amen

😎

5 pointed birds are worth 50 driven birds in my opinion.. Nothing like hunting a pup you raised and trained and killing game off his points.. I'm hoping retirement affords me the opportunity to raise and hunt another bird dog, One of life's true joys...

Pretty much exactly how I look at it. I have shot a lot of roosters in the past as "the blocker," and that is of course fun, but it just isn't what I really want to do anymore. In fact, due to some artery problems I'm not even supposed to be eating pheasants anymore. I have no desire to just kill them, I just love to watch a good dog work them.

I love seeing the dog match wits with its quarry, until one of us shoots and (hopefully!) gives the dog the victory.

Can't wait until next year!

Nicely done gents!! I'm thinking Hank needs to see SD as soon as next year...

I and friends just returned from our mid-December pheasant hunt near Chamberlain, SD. The weather was just fine with the exception of the first day, which strangely enough too warm, hitting the high 50’s. The dogs needed watering frequently as did we but..no complaints. The remaining days were high teens to low 20’s — very nice.

The pheasants were abundant and the shooting was good with our limit reached in three hours or so every day.

I took three shotguns as I love to switch up even on the same day and definitely depending on the weather — it was spitting sleet on Friday which meant I left my 16 SxS with the good wood in the truck, though I had used it previously. Mostly I alternated between two Ben UL’s, a 12 and a 20.

Switching up shotguns doesn’t exactly make for consistency but after all this is not a competition, but a place where you can follow your whims and get enough shooting with any single shotgun to make definite judgements as to how the two of you get along.

Very noticeable in the Ben 12 was the added recoil of Baschieri and Pellagri 1 1/4 oz loads at 1500 fps and Federal’s 1 3/8 oz at about 1400 fps. You can get enough shooting in a SD afternoon to feel the pounding
these shot shells deliver. Easy fix — switch to the 20 and Fiocchi 1 oz loads and carry on. In the 16 I used Fiocchi 1 1/8 oz at 1300; excellent. All were “6’s” or “5’s”.

Here’s a treat — we had a very well tutored and trained eight-year old with a shortened youth model 20 gauge, dad at side, draw feathers and then later kill a bird. I wonder what his world will look like in thirty years or so...

All in all, a great time!

Great report, how fun to see a kid in the field. I can remember my first like it was yesterday.

BK, I mentioned those P&B and Fed heavy loads as I had some but I don’t think they are helpful or needed in pheasant hunting and certainly aren’t pleasant to shoot in a lighter gun. Actually, they may tend to make one feel they can “stretch” the range which is rarely a good idea.

And there are plenty of pheasants getting up in reasonable range, so why “sky bust?” A 1 oz load at 1250 from a 20 will get one all the pheasants that get up within 35 yards if it’s pointed right..

I found REM 16 loads of 1 1/8 oz at 1200 were not lacking at all and were pleasant to shoot; the Fiocchis were just a bit faster. I have concluded — again and again — that nothing more than the standard 12 load of 1 1/4 oz at 1200-1300 is ever needed and often less is better.

And all this is with “6’s” maybe “5’s”.

totally agree with you George

Quick trip to central SD today. Beautiful weather today in the crisp ‘teens this morning and gradually warming into the thirties.

We found the birds; the shooting was good and the company even better. 16 ga Dickenson Plantation model. Fiocchi 1 1/8 oz 6’s and 5’s.