Gregory

C

Cinchy

New member
Wonder what the bird numbers are like in the Gregory area? I have been invited to hunt property near there.
 
If you have an invite I would say go, that area will likely have among the best pheasant hunting in SD this year.:cheers:
 
I hunt just south of Gregory and supposedly the numbers are down. My cousin said they are seeing more grouse than pheasants. If you get the chance, head on down to Carlock Dance/Ballroom just south of Gregory. I know the owner very well.
 
Hi Cinchy...I have relatives in the Burke and Gregory areas; they also said the the pheasant numbers are down. They are worried about the opener and hoping people will find the birds.
 
I should have stayed home!!!!!:mad: I fiqured I would try a new hunting area since my old area was down so bad? I hunted hard this weekend & saw maybe 3 roosters & 1 of them was crossing the road! The second day I hunted a mile long draw that should have been full of birds & did not move 1 bird! This was the worst opener I have ever experienced in any state!! I would think in the hard hit areas it is gonna take awhile for the numbers to rebound? I did see & work lots of sharptails, so not a complete wasted trip!
 
Just back from Kimball and Gregory

Hunted Thursday and the first hour Friday north of Kimball. Most corn is still up there and available cover yielded 2 roosters and 5 hens in 6 hours total hunting time. Tough going there with the birds being in the corn. Watched dozens fly back into nesting cover from the corn at dusk on Thursday, then put up one hen in same spot on Friday.

Shot our limits near Gregory over the weekend, but it was hit and miss. A lot of really good looking land around there. Put in some work and it will pay off. Also ran into some Huns, which was a first for me. Saw Sharptails, but only while driving.

One exciting moment on Thursday. My 6 month old pup goes on point, creeps, points... and I'm getting excited. He stops facing a clump of grass, in which I see movement as I walk up. I stick my boot in there to flush and out pops a black fur head, followed by the white stripe down the back!!! As I'm backing up I'm yelling for the pup, who luckily came to me. I wanted to shoot the skunk, but was down wind and wanted to stay clean more than I wanted to shoot the skunk. It didn't stink at all and never sprayed! Phew!
 
Thanks for the info RR...been there with the skunk before. Glad you didn't get sprayed. We spoke with the owners of the two pieces we'll hunt at the end of next week and they are preparing us in regards to bird numbers being down and we'll be hunting more land in an effort to fill up....but I guess that is why they call it hunting instead of shooting....or shopping.

Still can't wait to get away from the phone, email, etc.
 
Worked a bit harder

We hunted some really good looking areas where one would figure it's can't miss, a draw in the valley with the surrounding corn all harvested, but came up with only a single hen flush. Maybe one rooster in the second spot. Then hit a good stretch on the third, and so on. We hunted more ground to get our limits each day, but it was still very good hunting.

It amazes how you can hunt for hours, not hardly put anything up, then sit back and watch at dusk as they come flying in from over the ridge where they've been in the neighbors corn all day. Then they cackled like crazy, just to tease your tired ass!

I had a lot of birds sit so tight you about stepped on them. Others flush after you've walked right by. Then late in the day, out with the pup and 7 roosters and 2 hens flush wild 200 yards out.

Before leaving we booked to rent the old farmhouse the same weekend again next year. Only 51 more weeks to go!
 
Did you see a lot of very young birds? our land owner said there are many that are so young that it is virtually impossible to call them out.

It certainly is a fun trip isn't it? My dog has gotten old and I probably only have a couple of hunts left in him....that is the only thing I can think of on this trip that doesn't make me smile.
 
I shot a double yesterday. The first bird had vivid color and sharp spurs. The second had very faded, immature plummage, but the white ring just visible enough that it wasn't a hard call to pull the trigger. We saw a mixture, but not as many immature birds as I was expecting to see after reading the reports here.

This trip was both fun and discouraging. My pup is shy of 7 months and my goal for this trip was to get him on as many birds as possible. Taking a young pointing dog with a group of flushing dogs isn't a good mix and so I was going to pick my moments with him. I went out a day ahead of the group to hunt him alone. First day he cut his foreleg on a fence. The Vet said it was superficial and gave me some anti-biotic ointment to apply. The second day he met another fence, this time trying to leap through between two strands and ended up impaled on a barb, hanging there flailing around. That Vet visit saw the pup sedated and stitched up. After two days of being left behind I ran him for about 45 minutes Sunday eve and with the group for two small coverts on monday. I've now ordered a neopreme vest that will be here before this weekend's grouse/woodcock hunting. A second dog in our group, a 7 year old lab, also saw the same Vet. She took a bit more of a beating than my pup, with multiple cuts.

The Vets in Plankinton and Gregory were great people. In Gregory the husband and wife team was in the office after hours on concecutive days for other emergencies. My buddy and I were glad they were, but on a previous trip the guy came in after a phone call. I can't say enough about how nice those folks were. Also, the first visit cost me the price of the oinment and would have been $100 here at home. The second was $114 and would have cost me $500 here.
 
I'm actually from the Burke/Gregory area. That vet actually took over and bought the Vet building in Burke also,so he has one in Burke and Gregory. A few years ago, my lab, probably 3-4 years old at the time got cut on the chest by a barbed wire fence, chasing after a wounded bird. She stood up on the side of the pickup, in the back, and we noticed a large hole in her chest, you could stick your thumb through it. Vet did a nice job and stitched her up. Something happened though on the way back to MN, the wound starting getting really big, filling with fluid. Had to take her to the Vet up here in the Cities, and they had to insert 4 rubber tubes into/out her chest, to help the area drain fluid out. She had to wear one of my t-shirts around the house for 2 weeks while that drained. Sucked because she missed out on our next pheasant hunting trip back to SD because of it. I guess it got infected....... I bought her a vest immediately for the next season of pheasant hunting, and never had a problem again. She also learned and does well with barbed wire fences now.
 
i too had a dog that rang into a fence a few years ago...could put a finger in the hole. sutured adn stapled him up...I did hunt limited fields with him at teh recommendation of the vet. He is always in a vest now...even if it rubs him raw under the "arms".
 
Ranger Rick said:
I've now ordered a neopreme vest that will be here before this weekend's grouse/woodcock hunting. A second dog in our group, a 7 year old lab, also saw the same Vet. She took a bit more of a beating than my pup, with multiple cuts.
Click to expand...

Be careful with the neoprene, it will overheat the dog.

Go with a canvas type skid plate, like these.





This the skid plate by C&C outfiters,

It's adjustable and lets the underside vent.

Barna
 
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