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In years where there is no emergency haying/grazing, I prefer CREP spots, and by a pretty big margin. I've also done well on WPA's and GPA's. I do like the fact that almost all GPA's have food plots on them.

For wild pheasant, I keep the Trulock Light Mod choke in all season long in my new-style Sweet 16. If I'm carrying my 16ga 1100, I'll use the Mod barrel (original barrel is IC, which I use for quail) If I'm carrying an O/U, it's IC/Mod all the time.

I had a great season, best ever for sure. It was my pup's 2nd season and the improvement from the 1st season was substantial. (and season 1 was really good) Watching a young dog figure things out and improve is something to see. Two trips to ND, two to SD, and four to New Mexico for quail...

Wow!!!! Well done, Zew!!! :D

My favorite brand of shell. Quality stuff for sure.

Sent you a PM

Amen to that, wish I was still there.

Both trips were outstanding. First trip was 2 weeks, starting with the sharptail & hun opener. Hadn't really planned on taking a 2nd trip, but during the first trip we saw so many pheasant while hunting sharpies and huns that we decided to add the 2nd trip. That trip was a little over a week...

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm stocked up on 16ga pheasant loads for at least several years. But that's a heck of a deal for someone needing 16ga phez shells.

I hear you about avoiding the pressured areas, I try to do the same. I've been going to ND for the past 4 years and for the most part I've been able to stay away from the crowds both in the NW and SW. Good luck on your 2nd trip and let us know how it goes. I would love to take one more trip...

I've hunted that general area for sharpies and huns. Haven't spent a lot of time there, more like a day here and there, while passing through to other areas in '20-'22. Saw good numbers of pheasant. Didn't hunt that area this year, even though I passed through several times in Sept and Oct...

My 1st-choice gun for Sept sharpies & huns is a 28ga o/u. It had the IC/Mod choke tubes in it when I got it, and I haven't taken them out, and probably won't. Haven't hunted pheasant with it yet, but I do intend to at some point because I shoot it better than pretty much all my other guns...

I really like hunting GPA's in SD. They're usually a good mix of grass cover, wetlands/cattails, shelterbelts, and the vast majority that I've hunted have food plots. I've probably hunted between 15 or so GPA's, generally in the SE part of the state. In the area I hunt, there are way more CREP...

Yeah that's exactly what I'd do too, just use the tighter DS chokes until the Trulocks arrive.

I haven't measured the Browning invector DS chokes that came with my new-style Sweet 16 that I bought in 2017, but I have patterned them and they are way more open than how they're marked. I would say my DS mod choke is approximately skeet, which I suppose would make the IC basically a Cylinder...

I've shot a fair bit of bismuth the past few seasons, and IMO #3's would be overkill, and I'd be concerned about pattern density, as KE Outdoors mentioned. Was on a 2-week trip in ND and SD for phez during the 2nd half of Oct and used bismuth about 1/3 of the time. (WPA's in ND and GPA's in SD)...

Looks great! I use about 2/3 of the pheasants I shoot to make curry, and the other 1/3 for pheasant pot pie.

Yep, in the area I hunt, my 3 favorite spots for sharptails are all ND state trust lands.

I bought a toy cap gun on amazon. Surprisingly loud. I'd fire it when we were in the backyard playing fetch. Did that off and on for a few weeks, and then took the pup out to some public land nearby. Wife would take the pup 100 yards or so away and I'd fire a shot off with a shotgun. Then move...

The winter was tough all over the state, but in particular that area around Bismarck up to Wing/Wilton/Washburn, etc really got hammered with snow. The sharpies probably did ok in that area, but my guess is that it was rough on the pheasants. If you want to see more pheasants, I'd recommend...