South Dakota Pheasants 2018

01 December 2018, 17:49

I estimate this was my 20th hunt for pheasants in South Dakota and all but a couple have been to the same location. All have been with one good friend. There have been others on the trip, but they come and go. There were just us two on this one.

It started with a snow storm in Tennessee/Missouri and transitioned to 55 degree weather 28 hours later in South Dakota. What’s up with that? Just roll with what this experience gives you.

We had two pups on this trip. One making his 13th trip and one making his first. One pup was calm and casual and one all over the place. That’s part of it and it’s fun to experience.

Mitchell, SD means we’ve almost made it. We went to Cabela’s like every year before. Picked up a hunting license and whatever else we might need for the hunt. We went to a local grocery and picked up some supplies and alcohol needed for the week. Then we headed north for the final miles of our travel.

The Red House means we have arrived. It’s were we stay on most of our hunts. We got settled in and went to town for dinner and to see all our old friends.

We spent the next 5 days hunting pheasants. The weather was perfect with highs from 15 up to 50 with steady light winds. We found birds every day and got our limit every day. I’m not sure I remember doing that in recent years. Last year I think I only shot 5 birds for the entire hunt. We saw a lot of hens too so that’s a good sign. If we can just get another good hatch things look great for next year.

The English Cocker pup did great for his first hunt. He hunted close and quickly learned that we were hunting those feathery things that smelled good and kept jumping up in front of him. I was impressed.

My lab Wes really showed some signs of slowing down this year. He’s lost his hearing which is a handicap. He needs help loading up. But, once on the ground and moving he still hunts effectively. I said on the way up that all I wanted for the trip were a couple of those special walks that you’ll always remember. Wes and I have had many of those walks in South Dakota and we had a couple on this hunt too. I’m hoping he has one more year in him. We’ll see.

I used my Merkel 2016EL for most of this hunt. I’d like to give a shout out to B&P F2 Classic 16ga #5 shells running in my Merkel. Hands down the best shells I’ve ever shot. More 1 shot DOA kills on wild pheasants than any combo I’ve ever used.

I hope you enjoy some pictures from our hunt.