Cancelled SD trip

Bob Peters

Well-known member
This fall/winter I was planning a bird trip to SD, area between aberdeen/redfield. I had gotten a good tip from a buddy about a place for lodging, $70 a night which included hunting on private land. This wasn't a guy who advertised online, only took referrals. I looked around and realized that this is a really good deal. I called the farmer and he told me back in june that all the pheasant habitat was flooded, he wasn't seeing much around, and that he even saw pheasant eggs floating in one ditch he checked. I planned on going out with my buddy late season after the sloughs/ditches/crp had frozen. Unfortunately my buddy, who introduced me to wild bird hunting, has come down with an unknown ailment and is in the hospital placed in an induced coma. This is a guy who first became a fishing buddy 6 years ago, and soon was very close to me. The purpose of me writing this, is to tell you, don't take anything for granted and cherish the hunting trips you have taken, and will take with those close to you. I hope I am wrong, but I might not every get the chance to fish or hunt with my buddy again.
 
Great reminder to all of us. Sometimes I just want to shoot birds, but maybe there is more to it than just shooting a limit. Some of my best friends are guys I have shared the field and boat with for years. We always talk about the "good times" but often remember the difficult trips with more regularity. I don't look forward to the day when one of them can't make it because of a life threatening illness. That makes the rest of the trips all that more special. No-one is guaranteed one more day. Make sure you know where you are going when your last day is called. Life is short and the older we get the shorter it seems to get.
 
Best wishes to your buddy. For the last 15 years almost all my fishing and bird hunting adventures have been with the same buddy. Would be hard to think about that coming to an end.
 
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