My hunting buddy and I packed up and headed north from Texas last Friday morning for our 18 hour trek to SD. We started our hunting around Chamberlain Saturday morning. i guess it was the the calm before the storm because the weather was perfect.
The first push of the field produced a few wild flushes but Charlie and my old 16 gauge model 24 were able to scratch out a rooster.
We decide to head to another area and ended with 3 birds total for the day. It wasn't a bad start to the trip especially since my buddy's new sxs was obviously broken based on his shooting.
The 2nd day turned out amazing. Charlie and I had 3 birds in the bag by 11:00. I do have to give some credit to my buddy's Drahthaars since one of the birds came off a beautiful point from that ugly dog.
My birds from day 2.
Then the storm hit. We woke up to temps in the single digits with around 5-8 inches of snow on the ground. We hit the fields despite not being able to feel our fingers. Let's just say with 6 layers on I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn that day. We found piles of birds in the thickets and heavy cover but it just didn't work out in my favor that day. My buddy did scratch out a bird or two that day.
On the way to the field day 3.
We decided to hunt one more day and then head back to Texas. Our final hunt was absolutely amazing. Birds were everywhere. We must have seen a couple thousand. It was still beyond freezing but we each were able to get our limit by 2 or so and loaded up and headed south.
Day 4 birds. Sorry for the cheesy tailgate shot but we were too damn cold to pose for a pic..
Turned out to a great trip! See us again after thanksgiving South Dakota.
The first push of the field produced a few wild flushes but Charlie and my old 16 gauge model 24 were able to scratch out a rooster.
We decide to head to another area and ended with 3 birds total for the day. It wasn't a bad start to the trip especially since my buddy's new sxs was obviously broken based on his shooting.
The 2nd day turned out amazing. Charlie and I had 3 birds in the bag by 11:00. I do have to give some credit to my buddy's Drahthaars since one of the birds came off a beautiful point from that ugly dog.
My birds from day 2.
Then the storm hit. We woke up to temps in the single digits with around 5-8 inches of snow on the ground. We hit the fields despite not being able to feel our fingers. Let's just say with 6 layers on I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn that day. We found piles of birds in the thickets and heavy cover but it just didn't work out in my favor that day. My buddy did scratch out a bird or two that day.
On the way to the field day 3.
We decided to hunt one more day and then head back to Texas. Our final hunt was absolutely amazing. Birds were everywhere. We must have seen a couple thousand. It was still beyond freezing but we each were able to get our limit by 2 or so and loaded up and headed south.
Day 4 birds. Sorry for the cheesy tailgate shot but we were too damn cold to pose for a pic..
Turned out to a great trip! See us again after thanksgiving South Dakota.