Dec Trip Day#1.....

We were able to finally located birds yesterday on public ground. Two problems were they were large groups hard to get close to, second there were a ton of hens with minimal roosters.

That votes good for the spring from what I seen. I spent 10 minutes in a 30 yds x 30 yds dry cattails patch and had point after point. When it was all done had put up close to 40 hens with no roosters. It was awesome just watching the girls work the area.

Also had my 6 month old female back on a three hen point by my two of my older girls. Then she had her first solo point on a hen. It doesn't get any more rewarding than that. I have always said SD is the best place to train a young dog.

Four more days left before having to return home to WI. Hopefully now that we know were the birds are we can outsmart them and put a few more in the vest....

Good luck to all still out there pounding the ground!
 
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sent pm

BeirlSetters said:
We were able to finally located birds yesterday on public ground. Two problems were they were large groups hard to get close to, second there were a ton of hens with minimal roosters.

That votes good for the spring from what I seen. I spent 10 minutes in a 30 yds x 30 yds dry cattails patch and had point after point. When it was all done had put up close to 40 hens with no roosters. It was awesome just watching the girls work the area.

Also had my 6 month old female back on a three hen point by my two of my older girls. Then she had her first solo point on a hen. It doesn't get any more rewarding than that. I have always said SD is the best place to train a young dog.

Four more days left before having to return home to WI. Hopefully now that we know were the birds are we can outsmart them and put a few more in the vest....

Good luck to all still out there pounding the ground!
Click to expand...

Sent PM............
 
I hope Chad doesn't mind me posting, but I don't think it warrants a whole new thread. Delete it if need be.

I hunted (or tried to) south of Presho. The section of ground I have access to is a deep valley / cattail creek. It has produced the 2 times I've hunted it this year. Drove out with high expectations from my cabin in Chamberlain. (Ice fished with no luck from 7 to 10). The further west we got, the more snow there was. When we got to the property, it was painfully obvious that if I was going to hunt it, it would probably require a helicopter ride out hooked up to a heart monitor. There's probably a full 18 inches on the ground, and the drifts are several feet deep. Drove around looking to see where the pheasants were hanging out, and it seemed like tree lines and food plots were holding the majority of the birds.
Made a text to a large landowner and secured permission to hunt his home place. I told him that I would go look at it, and if it was full of snow, then I was going to pass. Less snow up north of P, so we decided to give it a try, since it was already 1:30. 7 birds later, we managed to salvage what was for sure to be a wasted day on the license. Hoofed it back to Chamberlain to give the walleyes another chance to cooperate. Birds are very concentrated right now, and you need to move them a couple times in order to get any chance at decent dog work. My 8 month old went into bird overload, and after finally getting him corralled, his day ended. Took Breez out and wow, I wish I would've had a camera on some of the points. In hindsight, I should've probably took the older dog out first to bust the birds up and hunted the singles with the pup. Maybe try that tomorrow. Headed back to the east..
 
reddog said:
I hope Chad doesn't mind me posting, but I don't think it warrants a whole new thread. Delete it if need be.

I hunted (or tried to) south of Presho. The section of ground I have access to is a deep valley / cattail creek. It has produced the 2 times I've hunted it this year. Drove out with high expectations from my cabin in Chamberlain. (Ice fished with no luck from 7 to 10). The further west we got, the more snow there was. When we got to the property, it was painfully obvious that if I was going to hunt it, it would probably require a helicopter ride out hooked up to a heart monitor. There's probably a full 18 inches on the ground, and the drifts are several feet deep. Drove around looking to see where the pheasants were hanging out, and it seemed like tree lines and food plots were holding the majority of the birds.
Made a text to a large landowner and secured permission to hunt his home place. I told him that I would go look at it, and if it was full of snow, then I was going to pass. Less snow up north of P, so we decided to give it a try, since it was already 1:30. 7 birds later, we managed to salvage what was for sure to be a wasted day on the license. Hoofed it back to Chamberlain to give the walleyes another chance to cooperate. Birds are very concentrated right now, and you need to move them a couple times in order to get any chance at decent dog work. My 8 month old went into bird overload, and after finally getting him corralled, his day ended. Took Breez out and wow, I wish I would've had a camera on some of the points. In hindsight, I should've probably took the older dog out first to bust the birds up and hunted the singles with the pup. Maybe try that tomorrow. Headed back to the east..
Click to expand...

would guess a lot of roads were impassable? dogs must have been pushed to limit getting thru thr drifts and working the cover too.....
 
reddog said:
I hope Chad doesn't mind me posting, but I don't think it warrants a whole new thread. Delete it if need be.

I hunted (or tried to) south of Presho. The section of ground I have access to is a deep valley / cattail creek. It has produced the 2 times I've hunted it this year. Drove out with high expectations from my cabin in Chamberlain. (Ice fished with no luck from 7 to 10). The further west we got, the more snow there was. When we got to the property, it was painfully obvious that if I was going to hunt it, it would probably require a helicopter ride out hooked up to a heart monitor. There's probably a full 18 inches on the ground, and the drifts are several feet deep. Drove around looking to see where the pheasants were hanging out, and it seemed like tree lines and food plots were holding the majority of the birds.
Made a text to a large landowner and secured permission to hunt his home place. I told him that I would go look at it, and if it was full of snow, then I was going to pass. Less snow up north of P, so we decided to give it a try, since it was already 1:30. 7 birds later, we managed to salvage what was for sure to be a wasted day on the license. Hoofed it back to Chamberlain to give the walleyes another chance to cooperate. Birds are very concentrated right now, and you need to move them a couple times in order to get any chance at decent dog work. My 8 month old went into bird overload, and after finally getting him corralled, his day ended. Took Breez out and wow, I wish I would've had a camera on some of the points. In hindsight, I should've probably took the older dog out first to bust the birds up and hunted the singles with the pup. Maybe try that tomorrow. Headed back to the east..
Click to expand...

Reddog,

I don't mind at all. Sounds like you ran into the same situation I did with large groups. I handled it the same way you did. Break them up and go after them. Good luck on your venture today!
 
Well we are down to our last day, where did the season go? We make the nine and half hour trip back to Wisconsin tomorrow and close the book on another great season is SD. There have been a few ups and downs this year due to the weather(snow) but overall it was a very good time with lots of memories.

The dog work has been awesome all season. I have been hunting behind my setters for years and I still find it absolutely amazing watching them work an area and pin a bird and go on point.

I am also happy with the development of a few of my young females. Next season they will both be year an half old and have no better experience as a base than this past season. I look forward to what the next year will bring with them.

Spent a lot of great time this season with friends and family. Now as I get older I realize that's what these trips are all about the quality of the time you spend with your friends and family. Oh I almost forget the quality time spent with the dogs as well, they are like the kids...

This past week we have seen large numbers of birds and especially hens. Crossing my fingers for the remaining winter to be mild and the spring to somewhat dry for nesting. Next year could be even more promising than this year.

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable season. I wish everyone the best!
 
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