SD Hunt
- Thread starter UGUIDE
- Start date
benelli-banger
Well-known member
I was out twice in the past two weeks... hunting was really good. Feel very fortunate to have been there with little snow...looking at the forecast and trying to figure out if/when I can get back this month.
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UplandHntr
Well-known member
excellent Chris! What camp did those come out of?
UGUIDE
Active member
Mike, the North camp but we had similar success at the South camp but it just took us longer to find the birds.
Was fun hunting in the snow as it forced to birds back into roosting cover and made them a little less flighty.
It is a test of your hunting strategy to get around birds that are flushing hundreds of yards ahead.
(video from both camps forthcoming....and got a professional buddy to film and edit).
" I can say that I have never seen as many pheasants as I saw over last 3 days. AMAZING!"
I couldn't agree more! Birds are thick right now! Congrats on the great hunt! I got my fingers crossed that the birds can make it thru this storm, but I got a real bad feeling in my gut right now....
I couldn't agree more! Birds are thick right now! Congrats on the great hunt! I got my fingers crossed that the birds can make it thru this storm, but I got a real bad feeling in my gut right now....
onpoint
Active member
Me and you would see this sport in a different light
southernblues
New member
60 birds for 3 days. I can say that I have never seen as many pheasants as I saw over last 3 days. AMAZING! This picture was from today and we hunted all day in the snow.
I gotta do your hunt(s) next year!
Please explain.....Just because he had outstanding luck on his hunt and filled his legal limit, he see's the sport different then you?? I guess I don't understand.
UGUIDE
Active member
Southern, you think the photo is good, wait until you see the movie
Problem is we dd not even get the mega birds we saw in this one CRP block.
Anxious,for it to come out as this video is being put together by a pro.
onpoint
Active member
Well, IMO it's hard for those 8 guys to have eaten 120 birds in a week and came back the next week and killed a 120 more. A 120 was their possession limit, that means at home in their freezers. Myself, I would advise people to watch bragging on the net. That is the number one way to get a knock on the door by fish & game.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
What makes you think that it was the same 8 guys? I was the only one who was there both trips, and I have a grand total of 7 birds in my possession...the other 23 have been given away to family and friends who really enjoy pheasant but don't have access to any. Bragging? Sorry for simply relaying the status of my two most recent hunts. I would advise people to watch being presumptious on the net...I will leave it at that.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
How so? I have spent the last 17 years developing contacts in pheasant country, buying and grooming land for wildlife, making career choices that allow me to get away a lot in the fall, surrounding myself with friends who love the same things I do--dogs, guns, bird hunting, etc, and then I actually go and hunt--which is the only thing I take vacation for--and I get slammed for it? I drive 440 miles to get where I go...I hunt for 5 days if I can get the time off, and I was able to on these two trips. I travel out to my hunting haunts 2-3 times in the spring-late summer just to be there, because I love it no matter the time of year. It is absolutely not about the killing...if anyone thinks that it is hard, or impressive, to get 3 birds a day when hunting all day in reasonably good habitat over reasonably good dogs being an OK shot...it isn't. Frankly, the reverse is more true. Anyway, how do you see the sport? If I can't be frank on a website called "ULTIMATE PHEASANT HUNTING", then where can I? Sorry if I didn't read the rules of engagement...
The friends who came to hunt with me this year came from as far away as Utah, Tennessee, and Manitoba, and lots from Minnesota and Wisconsin. This activity is what we all look forward to all year long...the guys I hunt with are very dear friends of mine, and the friendships get stronger with time. The farmers who I have gotten to know are also dear friends of mine, and we do the graduations, weddings, funerals, etc, reciprocally. The young farmer who owns the house we rent for the season has increasingly upped the acreage devoted to wildlife--tree belts, CRP, food plots, etc, partly due to the revenue we generate for him....part of the reason I try and organize groups of 6-8, vs. 2-4. The land I own is in a perpetual conservation easement..can never be farmed or developed...that was done for the wildlife, and I got a nice check from the USDA for doing it. Being in a decent area in SD is like going to a good fishery--Oahe, Lake Michigan, you name it...if you're there long enough, you'll catch fish...if you're out there trying to kill pheasants, you'll do it. I doubt the locals who own the restaurants, gas stations, pubs, grocery stores, sporting goods stores, etc. mind the fact that some guys actually come and stay for 5 days...in fact, I know that they don't mind...in fact, many of them are landowners, and they enthusiastically offer up their ground for us to hunt, especially late season, when deer season is over with.
The most enjoyable thing we do out there is entertain the local farmers...that is as fun as anything we do. Each pair of hunters is responsible for at least one evening meal, and we try and get creative. We never know who will show up at night, as we have given standing invitations to about 5 or 6 farmers (plus families). We're done with dog duties by about 6 pm, and we can't hunt until 10:00 am, so we have a good long evening for socializing. In a nutshell, that is my story...and I'm sticking to it. Good luck to you in 2010.
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landman
New member
Benelli - you have done well and you're a great guy. Fortunately in the United States of America we are free to follow our dreams, and if we work hard our dreams can be realized. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
FWIW, Landman reached out to me about 4 years ago when I was trying to implement all of the requirements of CRP/WRP and I was at my wits end! The local NRCS representative, who is a really good guy, could only do so much, so Landman gave me more than one day of his time...probably two or three, and came up to help me figure out how to implement all of the ins and outs of the programs(s) that I was involved in. I can't thank him enough!
I have been lucky to have also known Uncle Buck personally, and UGUIDE through the web, and consider both of these guys friends as well. Show me someone who is doing something proactive about creating or preserving wildlife habitat, and I will buy that guy a beer and kick in a few bucks to help him with his property taxes! I am small time, unlike Landman or UGUIDE, but I can tell you that it takes alot of $ to pay taxes, plant food plots, spray noxious weeds like Canadian Thistle, plant tree belts, etc. I wish I could do more for the wildlife, but I am proud of what I have done and what I do on a continuous basis. If anyone wants to bash me for being a successful hunter, go for it. As this storm settles in, I am really glad that my hunts harvested well over 600 roosters this fall...the hens will fare better, by far, because of this. And I am rich with memories as well....
I have been lucky to have also known Uncle Buck personally, and UGUIDE through the web, and consider both of these guys friends as well. Show me someone who is doing something proactive about creating or preserving wildlife habitat, and I will buy that guy a beer and kick in a few bucks to help him with his property taxes! I am small time, unlike Landman or UGUIDE, but I can tell you that it takes alot of $ to pay taxes, plant food plots, spray noxious weeds like Canadian Thistle, plant tree belts, etc. I wish I could do more for the wildlife, but I am proud of what I have done and what I do on a continuous basis. If anyone wants to bash me for being a successful hunter, go for it. As this storm settles in, I am really glad that my hunts harvested well over 600 roosters this fall...the hens will fare better, by far, because of this. And I am rich with memories as well....
benelli-banger
Well-known member
Gordon--Same to you and Shirley and the family...God Bless.
JMBZ71
Member
I've been reading your posts for several years and I consider you anything but a bragger. And I've never seen you criticize anyone on these forums that I can recall.
Merry Christmas Guys! :beer: