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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...

The rarely-seen web-footed aquatic rooster 😂

That's a dead rooster for sure.

I definitely didn't, I've never had any buffered bismuth. The ones I patterned were factory- Hevi-bismuth 4's and Kent bismuth 5's.

This was my experience too. I did some pattern tests 3 years or so ago, and bismuth patterned just a bit tighter than lead. That was Hevi-bismuth 4's and Kent bismuth 5's, in my new-style Sweet 16 through a Trulock light-mod choke tube. Like you, I'm not a fan of Hevi.......weird-shaped shot of...

Many times over the years here in TX. Some have been cool, some have been jerks. Been taking 2-3 trips each season to SD for the past 8 years and have only crossed paths with one game warden. He was very nice and gave us a couple of tips about public spots to try. Didn't even check our...

Sharptails are my favorite game bird to eat. I treat the breast filets like steaks- light coating of olive oil, montreal steak seasoning, then into a hot pan just long enough to be medium rare. Absolutely delicious to me. I do the same thing but with mexican seasoning instead of steak seasoning...

I have the Affinity in 12 ga, synthetic/camo stock, and my wife has the same gun in 20ga. They're our main duck guns, and we couldn't be happier. I mostly use other guns for upland, but my wife has used her 20 for pheasant in SD a good bit. I love Remingtons, I shot 870's and 1100's growing...