6 birds bagged the first day between 5 guys with 5 dogs. 1 bird lost to a badger hole.
1 pen-reared bird bagged the 2nd day. It had apparently escaped a nearby game preserve.
We woke up at 5am Sunday morning and drove back to KS.
Several factors worked against us, sort of a perfect storm if you will, some of which I take responsibility for. The one thing that hurt us the most probably was the weather, which is obviously out of our control. Bird numbers aren't what I'd come to expect of SD hunting, but from what I understand, much of that side of the state is in the same boat. I knew they'd had a couple down years when I booked the trip, so that's on me. I also let negativity creep in when trying to temper my expectations from Draper to Howard. The property was very "birdy" and in a better year, I suspect there will be more birds there.
We saw great numbers in Platte and an insane number of birds in Draper. Personally, the Platte hunting is what I'd consider the perfect "pace" and cover for my dogs. That said, I'll make it out to Draper as many times as I can in the future just to see the sheer #'s. Only difference is instead of missing 20 shots in a row next time, I'm going to video the hunts or take pics of the flushes...my shotgun is of no use to me when pheasants are flying high over my head
I won't book a block of dates again due to the weather experience. I'll tentatively select a week next time and leave room for adjustment if the weather forecast is like it was during our visit.