carpfisher
New member
4 Adults, 1 kid(11 YO) 2.5 dogs, 3.5 days in the field, Vic Pierre, Agar, and Cheyenne River Reservation. Some Private land otherwist all Public Access.
We saw birds every day, Sharptails and Pez. We harvested 7-8 Roosters and 3 Sharpies. We failed to connect on ~6 Rooster we shot at. All told, we probably saw about ~35 Pheasants, and 15 sharpies.
Rooster:Hen ratio favored rooster ~ 1:4. The numbers are based on what I can remember as I type, not recorded data.
We pretty much walked 1000 to 1700 daily, except when moving to a new field. Based on the past 4 yrs of hunting the same basic areas, we would typically see more birds. (~150?)
If there is no improvement next year, we're not sure we'll continue to hunt like we have been. Perhaps a Uguide facility, or an acquaitance just returned from a Big Game Outfitter in Montanna that has an excellent population on the property he manage/leases. Ringnecks and Goldens. It would add considerable expense to our current method but the Kid will be 12 next year and we want him to have the best chance for success. Plus, dogs (and hunters) get disappointed after putting in all those miles with little action. We quit 2 days early and left for home. We did get some good dog work. The last bird of the trip was a perfect Point, Flush, Shoot, Track, and retrieve from the dog in my Avatar. 10 years old and still going strong ( Thanks Previcox!) This was the only bird out of 1/2 section CRP grass WIA field with Standing Sunflowers on one side.
The tradition will continue somewhere next year as we Blood the kid with his first real hunt(He has walked for the past 3 years). We hope its in SD but time will tell.
PS. A telling point: We make a stop at Cabelas in Mitchell as part of the tradition on the way out. For the past 3 years there was always some level of a crowd in the Bargain Barn waiting in line to buy licenses. This year there was no crowd. I saw 1 guy buy a license.
PPS. Can you believe Cabelas was out of stock on chest protective dog vests 2 weeks into the season!! I asked our helper who got fired over that one! We (dogs) suffered thru OK and we stopped back in on the way out, still no stock. We found them in stock online and they accomodated with free Shipping to home so Kudo's for that but sheesh, really?! Also only about 1 case of Prarie Storm remaining.
We saw birds every day, Sharptails and Pez. We harvested 7-8 Roosters and 3 Sharpies. We failed to connect on ~6 Rooster we shot at. All told, we probably saw about ~35 Pheasants, and 15 sharpies.
Rooster:Hen ratio favored rooster ~ 1:4. The numbers are based on what I can remember as I type, not recorded data.
We pretty much walked 1000 to 1700 daily, except when moving to a new field. Based on the past 4 yrs of hunting the same basic areas, we would typically see more birds. (~150?)
If there is no improvement next year, we're not sure we'll continue to hunt like we have been. Perhaps a Uguide facility, or an acquaitance just returned from a Big Game Outfitter in Montanna that has an excellent population on the property he manage/leases. Ringnecks and Goldens. It would add considerable expense to our current method but the Kid will be 12 next year and we want him to have the best chance for success. Plus, dogs (and hunters) get disappointed after putting in all those miles with little action. We quit 2 days early and left for home. We did get some good dog work. The last bird of the trip was a perfect Point, Flush, Shoot, Track, and retrieve from the dog in my Avatar. 10 years old and still going strong ( Thanks Previcox!) This was the only bird out of 1/2 section CRP grass WIA field with Standing Sunflowers on one side.
The tradition will continue somewhere next year as we Blood the kid with his first real hunt(He has walked for the past 3 years). We hope its in SD but time will tell.
PS. A telling point: We make a stop at Cabelas in Mitchell as part of the tradition on the way out. For the past 3 years there was always some level of a crowd in the Bargain Barn waiting in line to buy licenses. This year there was no crowd. I saw 1 guy buy a license.
PPS. Can you believe Cabelas was out of stock on chest protective dog vests 2 weeks into the season!! I asked our helper who got fired over that one! We (dogs) suffered thru OK and we stopped back in on the way out, still no stock. We found them in stock online and they accomodated with free Shipping to home so Kudo's for that but sheesh, really?! Also only about 1 case of Prarie Storm remaining.