Just returned from Pheasants in South Dakota. Great trip, lots of Birds. Went with Wilkeshunter from here and his friend Bruce. Along with a loooog time hunting friend and his Son. We tramped along behind Merlot and Clancy. If any are looking to test their Dog, legs and shooting against Wild Pheasants, I can highly recommend Birddog Bunkhouse for all three.

On the way, outside of Chicago thing were a little slippery.






However, the weather was about perfect for the rest of the trip.

Wilkeshunter, his Bud Bruce and Merlot.




Bruce and his first ever Wild Rooster.




Phil his Son and Clancy.




One more that Merlot pushed out for me.






As the others finished up the day trying for one more Bird, Merlot and I watched them flush a couple more, along with others flying in to roost for the night.

Great show battue, see that little 28 is still at the top of you list.. Glad you had a great trip and got home safe..

Looks like a great time, thanks for coming.

Looks like a great trip, good for you

Thanks, it was a great trip and the people of SD were friendly.

I split my 10 day license and am already trying to figure out how to use those last 5 days.

Man, did we have great trip South Dakota to hunt pheasants!

Many thanks to dukxdog. Best host ever. Despite all the walking/hunting, I believe I actually gained weight. The accommodations were perfect for our group of hunters and dogs.

Many thanks to Merlot and Clancy for working so hard to put birds up for us.

Many thanks to battue, dog handler extraordinaire, despite not having an e-collar remote part of the time.

I was honored to hunt and spend time with the fine folks that made up our group. Great memories!

I suspect all that whistle blowing gave more than one Pheasant advance warning.

Combined with that little 35minute disappearing act, when Merlot was making his own fun in the corn...."Woopie, there goes one, hey and another. Them boys should really get off their azz and move up!"

Good Stuff! Glad you all had a grand trip.

As a kid, I grew up on Wild Pheasants and this was like going back in time. They often run out from the best of Dogs, or they come up cussing that you had the gall to interrupt them. They let you see them land and then disappear. They often will test your shooting ability. They can take a pounding and still escape. On the table they are excellent.

They were introduced to this land, yet they have become a National treasure.

Awesome Battue and Company! Wish I was there with you guys. Looks and sounds like you had a great time.

Bird Dog Bunkhouse


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Very nice!! SoDak is on the short list of places to go next year.

A heads up:

For those interested in Birddog Bunkhouse, there are a couple things they need to be aware of. It is not a guided hunt operation. Essentially it provides excellent meals and a nice place to stay. The owner is a Pheasant hunter of the first order. That being said, it is best you have your own Dog or be with someone who does have a Dog. Thus the name Birddog Bunkhouse. Your Dog will stay outside in an excellent kennel facility. You will be hunting public and private access land for Wild Pheasants-there are no salted fields-and will be given some general guidelines of where to hunt. Public land is for the most part walk in areas purchased by the State. They can be excellent. Private access will be right of way sections that borders private farms. They can be excellent and there is more of it than one will be able to use during their stay.

The amount of available hunting land is immense, and we encountered perhaps 5 hunters in the field during our stay. They were on one of the walk in areas. There was absolutely no problem with us staying out of each others way.

It is best that one has some prior knowledge re hunting Pheasants. How, where and when.

Yep, well said.

A gameland map and a partial day scouting would be beneficial too. Top it off with a turbo charged English Cocker and you should have a great hunt.

I just got home from my house in South Dakota to spend Thanksgiving with my family.

I just saw this post. Battue, Wilkeshunter and their group were a real pleasure to host. Great bunch of guys with good attitudes and healthy appetites! It's always very nice to know when guys come to my Bird Dog Bunkhouse they have had an excellent overall experience.

Thanks once again for coming out. You guys had LONG drives from home and back so I'm really happy to hear you had fun. It was my pleasure and you guys are welcome back anytime.

A prop to the owner....

We are looking forward to our annual trek to S.D. in a week and a half. If any forecast that far out is dependable, it looks like we will have fair weather...

Now I’ve done it.

I wish I'd known you guys were up there. Looks like a good time

Yeah, gonna stock up for a blizzard now.

Hard to say, but at least we haven't been hit with a string of Arctic blasts this year. Might even be some harvesting going on yet to keep things stirred up.

Great pic!

I love it when you hold them to make them look the size of a turkey. Had a friend that made you hold a 14" walleye so it looked like a Proud Angler. Thank God he didn't have a wide angle lens.

Trying to get pic’s with this fine group (minus a couple) was a little like herding cats,...or dogs. The dogs that were with us (somewhere here) were labs, spaniels, and a GWP, an eclectic group of jumpers and sniffers that all fared well.

This was a mid-Dec trip, the time you’re playing roulette with the weather, but we hunted on days with empty cylinders so enjoyed our good fortune.

I’m back row, left end. This was one day’s three hour effort.

That is a serious three hour hunt....

Congrats, looks like a great time!!!!

We hit some seriously good spots of bunched birds. Besides, we were scheduled for the hot tub at 2. 😉

Edit: two of these guys are from Wisconsin and Michigan. We met them out there in SD years ago and now we time our hunts together.

That's an awesome haul!!

Haven’t been to SD in 18 years probably. Looks like a great time.

Very well done!

The hunting is over for this year, for the most part anyway. Perhaps if the snow melts a bit I'll hit a preserve or two. We got hosed the last two weekends. A blizzard the first, and the aftermath on the second. Darn.

Here we are three-quarters of year later. I bet Battue et co are are making their lists and getting twitchy. 😃

Looked at the heading, which automatically got my interest....and what do I see first....blizzards????....The hunting is over....WTH.....

Then I see what is going on....

Talked with Bobby at BirdDog Bunkhouse today....Some of you should think about giving him a future call....Talked with a Bud who is going and confirmed a leave here date.....Spent a couple hours the other day waxing the Tahoe.....and a couple today cleaning out the inside so at least we will have a clean ride on the way out....It looks like new....When we returned home last year it was covered with S.D. mud....

Next week will get most of the clothes and gear laid out and packed.....However, should get a few days of Pa Game Lands stocked Pheasants hunts in before we leave....Taking a new to me---80 some year old----16 Ga SxS and an old familiar 16Ga SxS....

The current posts by BKinSD along with others have me getting anxious....The way they are pilling them up, maybe they will have shot them out by the time we get there .....Yea, I'm more than ready.....

However, the truth is I'm not all that interested in a big bag.....A Bird or two each day is more than enough.....as long as the Merlot is getting into more than a few and ramming them out, Im good....

Old Parker will be getting the call....I've thought more than once, has it already been there in anothers hands....

“Some of you should think about giving him a future call” — I just might do that. 😉

A grand gun for a grand bird and those great little dogs.

This one has been there in anothers hands back in the 40 and 50's...Mr Bardwell owned it and made an annual trip to SD....He had reel videos of Birds in numbers that bordered on the unbelievable...He passed it on to my Father....A little off face and needs a rebuild...which I hope to have done over the winter....

Impressive Parker Bros. that begs to be carried in the bird fields again.

**** I wish I had your wood on my #2 frame.

Middle one has the wood....Parker Repro...20/16 two barrel set....It has been a fine Grouse gun....The Repros are actually better than the originals.....parts are interchangeable and better steel....

Damn that’s a beauty

Super nice shotguns there, its fun to use the classics. Especially 16's.

Lots of pheasants but we did wake up to 3" of snow today and horrible cold on the way for a few days. I'm supposed to go Saturday, Sunday and Monday and probably will but damn I wish the forecast would moderate.

Have posted this before but have not added my new 16 to this lineup yet. Nothing classic here just two Berettas and an AYA 28. But, it’s the season.

AYA 28’s are great. Friend just picked up an older Ugartecha 28. Both of those two are excellent SxS copies of British best.
The high end sidelocks can be spectacular.

Though I have a couple of SA’s too — that the English might “sniff” at 😉, this is a new Dickinson Estate 16. ‘Course they’d sniff at this also. 😀

Read an article from one of the Brit mags. They gave the Dickinson a thumbs up.

You guys sure have some beautiful shotguns. Green with envy, here.

I've seen plenty of high grade British guns that don't have lumber on them like that one. Beautiful stock.