Hunting Trip

T

Tooling

New member
We will be heading out on Sunday for a trip to Aberdeen from MD...driving straight through and set to arrive Monday..staying for 10 or 12 days (tbd)

SWMBO is excited to see some family and old friends from high school - I am thrilled to be taking my 2.5 y.o. Shorthair along for a trip I've been lusting over for a long time : )

Weather appears to be cooling down quick & crop reports seem to be turning in our favor. Obviously we will be hunting Pheasant & plan on being nomadic hunting in several areas...mostly public but hoping to luck into some private..after all, there are family connections :cheers:

May make it over to the grasslands in the west but it's not on the "list"

I would LOVE to target and get into some Quail but do not know the health of Quail populations in the state - can anybody share a likely region increasing those odds? South East / South Central maybe?

Thanks
 
Forget about Quail. There are very few, if any, in SD. Maybe a few in the very south along the Nebraska border but not really any huntable populations. You might bump a few Sharptails while pheasant hunting. But by the time you realize it's a grouse and not a hen pheasant it will likely be out of range. :)
Good luck while in SD.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Forget about Quail. There are very few, if any, in SD. Maybe a few in the very south along the Nebraska border but not really any huntable populations. You might bump a few Sharptails while pheasant hunting. But by the time you realize it's a grouse and not a hen pheasant it will likely be out of range. :)
Good luck while in SD.
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Although it's not what I want to hear, thank you for the info.

In the back of my mind I have also been thinking about what you are saying about Sharptails. Having never hunted them let alone having seen them I do not have much confidence that I'll be successful but who knows - as if Pheasant aren't going to present enough of a challenge. Considering I'm going to be alone primarily I am thinking heavy cover in proximity to food looking for birds that may set tight..we shall see and I expect it to be a humbling yet awesome adventure.
 
You might bump a few Sharptails while pheasant hunting. But by the time you realize it's a grouse and not a hen pheasant it will likely be out of range.
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Exactly, we flushed one last week and I was the only one who shot at it. Everyone through it was a hen, but it was clearly a grouse.
 
Sharptails - for those who have been encountering them lately..

Are they holding tight for a point or are they spooky?

Also, in the case that they hold - what would an ounce of #5's do to them if taken inside say 20/25 yds? Going to be toting a 16ga & bringing along a 20 as well.

Don't have much interest in turning a living thing into hamburger unsuitable for table fare and would just assume pass.
 
Tooling said:
Sharptails - for those who have been encountering them lately..

Are they holding tight for a point or are they spooky?

Also, in the case that they hold - what would an ounce of #5's do to them if taken inside say 20/25 yds? Going to be toting a 16ga & bringing along a 20 as well.

Don't have much interest in turning a living thing into hamburger unsuitable for table fare and would just assume pass.
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Sharptails are spooky this time a year. I get most mine this time a year when the fly from other people flushing them or when I am posting. I can't remember the last time I flushed one and shot it this late in the year. Same loads as you use for pheasants work just fine.

By the way sharptails are already unsuitable for table fare IMO, but I know some guys on this site enjoy them. :)
 
Tooling said:
lol - I have read the same thing.

Thank you for the info - I haven't slept in a week I'm so excited!!
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Also, I usually don't see sharpies in same habitat as pheasants. Usually the will fly over from some other cover and you can pass shoot. Sharpies like wheat stubble and pasture land, where as pheasants like corn, cattails, etc. Sharpies don't like thick tall cover. IMO.

The times I have seen them togeather is when they have been in cut alfalfa, or in wheat stubble next to corn. Habitat both pheasants and sharpies like.

I find Huns and Pheasants in similar habitat, but sharpies like different stuff. I have never shoot sharpies out of standing Corn. Cut corn Yes.


That being said, I do see sharpies when hunting pheasants. I find it rare if I am hunting for pheasants and will flush a covey of sharpies from the same cover. Unless hunting habitat both like.

example. a fence line with good cover and corn on 1 side and pasture on the other (or wheat stubble). you could find both.

this is just what I have found. Hope this helps......there are always exceptions to everything......but this is what I have found to be the norm.

Jim
 
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example. a fence line with good cover and corn on 1 side and pasture on the other (or wheat stubble). you could find both.
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This is the exact scenario where we saw a sharpie on our trip.
 
I was surprised how many sharptails and prairie chickens we saw on our hunt in late October. Even better was that I was hunting with some out-of-state guys that thought they were hen pheasants so I got most of the shots!
 
zia said:
I was surprised how many sharptails and prairie chickens we saw on our hunt in late October. Even better was that I was hunting with some out-of-state guys that thought they were hen pheasants so I got most of the shots!
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I have never shot a P Chicken, I think I would struggle picking them out over hens. However grouse hardly ever confuse me because of there pointy tails. I hunt with some out of state guys, and if I don't tell them to shoot at grouse they never would....:)
 
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