South Dakota Recap

[CowboyBirdDogs]

Well me and Jimmy (Spanky) left for South Dakota November 9th and hunted the 10th-14th. I got to his house at about 5am and we loaded the Ridin Birdy Rig down with our 5 dogs and gear and headed north. We stopped south of Dodge City to let the dogs run a field, stopped at Montana Mikes so Jimmy could experience his first buffalo burger and then we kept on going. Got to our hotel around 11:30pm and crashed.


The next morning we met up with 2 South Dakota residents who met on the uplandjournal.com forum. Brad, who had 2 Brittanys and a pointer pup and Bob who had 4 gordon setters. We got to our first field and split up. I went with Brad and Jimmy went with Bob. I had Abby out, my shorthair, and Brad had Peanut down, his pointer pup. We had hunted half of our side of the field when Abby got birdy, she worked into the wind and locked up for a split second before 3 sharptail flushed. Brad was about 30 yards away and made a great shot that brought one down. I had never seen a sharptail before and I was really excited that we had managed to bag one in our first field. We met up with Bob and Jimmy and started hunting back towards the truck. Abby went on point again and a covey of sharptail flushed and I shot one. First sharptail ever. Jimmy had Sarge on the ground and he locked up and more sharptail got up, these were really far out there this time. We went to the truck and everybody put a fresh dog on the ground. I put down Tipsy, my buddy's very experienced Brittany and Jimmy put down Sammie. We hunted a big field right across the road, this time me and Jimmy hunted together. We worked the field and headed back the truck when about 70 yards from it Tipsy locked up solid. I hustled over there and a covey of prairie chickens flushed. I shot 1 (should've had 2 or 3), which was my first ever prairie chicken too. We got back to the truck and Brad and Bob said it was a really nice bird, definitely a mounter. Bob had to leave so we hunted one more field with Brad. Me and Jimmy went down into a big draw and i was the on the other side of the hill when a big rooster flushed in front of Jimmy. He nailed it and it went down and apparently ran. A couple more hens flushed after that. I brought Abby in started hunting "dead bird". Abby and Jimmy's pointer Lou searched hard for it but we could never find it. Abby is a great dead bird finder and i was pretty surprised she couldnt find this one. It was shot hard and we saw where it went down, but the bottom of the draw held water and a lot of pheasant roosts so picking up any particular scent was tough. Brad left and we drove around to look at some more fields before hitting one at sundown. It was a thick walk in area and the whole time we were in there we were hearing pheasants calling from all around in other fields. We worked it and Abby locked up, looking directly towards me. Sammie had been working what we thought was runner for a while, Abby had just managed to circle in front of it and pin it between her and Sammie. I walked up and a rooster got up, i shot it and after Abby retrieved it saw that it was probably the youngest rooster I had ever shot. I was still pretty happy cause I had shot a sharptail, prairie chicken and rooster in one day. The South Dakota Trifecta. We headed back to the hotel and had some whiskey on the rocks and smoked a cigar outside the hotel while we fed the dogs and listened to all the geese flying to the river. Then we watched the Cowboys get killed.


The next moring we headed out to a few fields Brad and Bob had told us about and easily had our best day. The first one had 3 coveys of sharptail and about 100 pheasant. The sharptial flushed out of range and so did all the roosters. We could've had our limit in hens though The next field we worked Tipsy slammed on a nice point 2 sharptail get up and Jimmy shot his first ever sharpie, we found about 50 pheasant in there but the roosters flushed out of range. Our next field was a big one and we didnt find a bird til we reached a shelter belt as we headed back towards the truck. I saw a bird sitting on very top of a cedar tree. It was a sharptail. The covey flushed and Jimmy shot 2 of them. I probably could've shot one or 2 but normally you have to have a shell chambered for that to happen. The last field we hit was a field that we ended up naming Sharptail Heaven. Cause there were a bunch of them in there. Jimmy had his limit of grouse but I shot mine while were there. We found 4 coveys in there and Tipsy and Sammie were awesome. Point after point with great retrieves,we marked that field come back to.

Tuesday was probably our slowest day. We hit up some great looking fields but only managed 3 sharptail and a rooster that day. First thing we hunted was a nice shelter belt next to some crops. About 50 pheasant flushed and Jimmy shot a nice rooster that he got on his GoPro, he shot another one but it escaped into the crops. 2 of our sharptail came out of the last field we hunted. A covey flushed wild and we hurried to the place they got up at. Abby and Tipsy both went on point and we shot the 2 lazy singles. That night we ate at a cafe called Perkins, great food!

Wednesday we was our last full day of hunting so we hit all our favorite spots. The first field we hunted we probably should've had a sharptial and 2 rooster. Especially the last rooster. Me and Jimmy were standing there talking and Tipsy and Sarge went on point and a rooster flushed when we were even ready, Jimmy through a hail mary at it but it kept on going. The next field we hunted we were getting out of the truck and Jimmy saw a covey of grouse flying through the field. We marked where it went down and came up with a strategy to put the wind in the dogs noses as we came up the hill towards them. We had a couple points before we even got there but it was just a few hens. As we got to the top of the hill both dogs locked up. We got in front of them and a big covey of chickens got up. Jimmy dropped one and I put my bead on another pulled the trigger....click. I opened the chamber and there was a shell in but it just wouldn't fire. We decided to work our way down the hill and back to the truck. As we were going down the hill Abby locked up and a prairie chicken flushed. I was mad about the shell not firing so I tossed some lead at it from about 50+ yards and much to my surprise it dropped and she went for the retrieve. I had got a new Benelli M2 12ga before this trip (I freaking love it) and between it and federal prairie storms it did the trick.) She was on her way back to me and Sarge went on point, another single chicken flushed and Jimmy shot it. We saw another 50-70 pheasant on the way back but none were in range. Then we hit up Sharptail Heaven that evening and got our limit of sharptail again. And then halfway through the field Tipsy, Abby and Sarge lock up almost simultaneously, the biggest rooster i had ever seen got up and Jimmy shot over it, i put the Benelli up and dropped it. It add tailfeathers over 2ft long and 1" spurs. That night we decided we wanted a steak so we went to Cattlemans. It was great. Nothing like a 14oz sirloin and 3 22oz beers, and a cigar to finish off the day.

We loaded our stuff up and decided to hunt our way south towards home. We hunted shelter belt first and Abby put a nice stalk and point on a running rooster, it flushed right to me and dropped it. I was wearing the GoPro that time and it looks pretty sweet on camera. Then we hit up the biggest field of the trip, worked a small part of it and 200 yards from the truck a huge covey of 50+ sharptail got up 100 yards in front of us. We decided that was good way to end the trip and we packed up and headed home.

I think we finished with 24 birds total, 8 sharptail apiece, 2 chickens apiece and I had 3 roosters and Jimmy had 1 (2 more we couldnt find). Our birds are already at my taxidermist who said we had the best South Dakota trip he had seen so far that year for freelancers.

All in all it was the best hunting trip I've ever had. The town we stayed in was great, the hotel was the best one I've stayed at while hunting, not the nicest but the overall best. We had plenty of dog power for such a long trip and our dogs never got tired because we were able to rotate them regularly. Had a great time with Jimmy, lots of laughs on this trip lol. Like when he turned on my windshield wipers when it was 8 degrees and froze the whole windshield. And i met a hidden log that up ended me flat on my back as i was trying to get to a dog that was on point. I've got 2 buddies that want to go in December so me and Jimmy may make a round 2 this year. The amount of ducks and geese we saw was jaw dropping. We saw thousands. Saw some antelope, nice deer and a big ol coyote. South Dakota will have us passing up Kansas in November probably for years if not forever. This was an unforgettable trip and me and Jimmy will have 2 great mounts to show for it. Can't wait to go back!


I have pics that I'll post as soon as i get the pics off my phone and onto a computer. I havent figured out how to post pics on here from my phone yet.


Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed it!

[skeetermc]

Awesome account! Im happy to hear someone else is having a great year.

[CowboyBirdDogs]

http://www.uplandjournal.com/cgi-bin/ik ... =2;t=85820

Here's some pics from the trip.

[deseeker]

I might be wrong, but I think the bird in the picture that you say is your 1st prairie chicken is a grouse instead. If the feathers go all the way down on their legs to their feet they are grouse. Prairie chickens don't have feathers down their legs all the way to their feet. The chickens we have in Nebraska have scalily legs like a pheasant or a Col. Sanders type chicken. I could be wrong--it wouldn't be the first time :roll: Anyway it looks like a real good hunt

[CowboyBirdDogs]

The first pic of the bird on a green tub is a male prairie chicken. I didn't know their feathers went that far down either but I guess they do.

[Herve]

All in all it was the best hunting trip I've ever had.
This was an unforgettable trip and me and Jimmy will have 2 great mounts to show for it. Can't wait to go back!

I have pics that I'll post as soon as i get the pics off my phone and onto a computer. I havent figured out how to post pics on here from my phone yet.

Thank you for the pictures.
I went to SD this autumn and I have the same opinion about this fantastic trip!

[ChetB]

The other day I promised my grandson that a SD trip is in our not too distant future. I was fortunate enough to be able to make some good contacts there when I was still a long haul trucker. We've got an early April hunt club trip planned (Pheasant and Quail) then we'll be fishing until Dove season opens. This semi-retirement thing is really working out nicely!


Chet

[roaniecowpony]

I've been going to a friend's farm for over 20 years near Huron SD. Bird populations in the area have declined drastically over that time. Last October was about the worst I've seen it. Other areas may differ. But I'm not likely to drive 4000 miles round trip and spend a couple grand for what I've been seeing for the past several seasons.

[Wyobio]

I've been going to a friend's farm for over 20 years near Huron SD. Bird populations in the area have declined drastically over that time. Last October was about the worst I've seen it. Other areas may differ. But I'm not likely to drive 4000 miles round trip and spend a couple grand for what I've been seeing for the past several seasons.

Almost every report I heard was similar. Private land managed for birds was OK, but a shadow of what they were a few years ago. Most areas sounded pretty bad.....

[roaniecowpony]

Something is seriously going south in SD. A biologist told my farmer friend that West Nile has taken a large toll.

[Meller]

Something is seriously going south in SD. A biologist told my farmer friend that West Nile has taken a large toll.

This and the extreme loss of cover!

[roaniecowpony]

Something is seriously going south in SD. A biologist told my farmer friend that West Nile has taken a large toll.

This and the extreme loss of cover!

Good point. My farmer friend pointed out that in the 20+ years I've been hunting his place, improved fertilizers/weed control have virtually eliminated the undergrowth in the cropfields. Pheasant dont have that for nesting and predator cover. If you walk a cropfield nowadays, it's bare dirt between rows.

[Mountaineer]

Something is seriously going south in SD. A biologist told my farmer friend that West Nile has taken a large toll.

Are you, or the biologist, saying that game bird populations are down in SD from West Nile?
I know that state has a comparably high rate of human cases of the virus...somewhat reasoned by the high temperatures early and so more mosquito contacts.
Other than sage grouse farther west being negatively impacted, never seen much evidence that pheasants, sharptails, etc. are experiencing declines from west nile.
WN has been found in ruffed grouse in MN and NY, last I heard...with no deaths attributed to the virus.
I do wonder if it weakens the birds though....rather than outright deaths.
Maybe...what you may be suggesting is new.
Otherwise, I expect the other dozen or so factors of decline hold sway in SD...just as they do in other states with declining game bird populations.