A South Dakota pheasant hunt
December 18, 2011admin No Comments »Brought to you by: Mercy Hospital Copyright ©2010. The Associated Press. Produced by NewsOK.com All rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
WINNER, S.D. — My 9-year-old lab, Will, was hot on the trail of a running pheasant.
He was zigzagging at a rapid pace 15 yards ahead when he froze like a statue in front of a gnarly tumble weed. Will crashed into the cover and a beautiful ringneck exploded skyward.
I quickly dropped the bird with my .12 gauge over and under, and Will proudly retrieved it with his head held high so all could see.
Over the many years that I have hunted in South Dakota, this has been common occurrence. until this year.
in a state long renown for its huge pheasant population, this year’s estimates have the bird population down by almost 50 percent.
while the Oklahoma pheasant population is down due to drought, the spring flooding and winter snow in South Dakota has caused that state’s low pheasant numbers.
I go pheasant hunting every year with a group of 10 veteran hunters and friends who meet in South Dakota from Oklahoma, Alaska, Florida, Wisconsin and Texas.
we traveled to South Dakota in late November this year and discovered how spoiled we had been in acquiring our three bird limit over the years. we were going to have to work much harder for every bird this time.
Pheasant hunting requires strategy for both success and safety. The most common game plan is to divide the hunters into two groups identified as the “walkers” and the “blockers.”
The walkers along with their dogs head into the wind, while the blockers fan out on the other end of the field.
several protocols must be followed to ensure everyone’s safety. since hunters will be facing each other at some point, no one can shoot at a low flying bird.
Significant blue sky must be seen under the bird to ensure a safe shot. Additionally, never fire at a wounded running bird because a dog could be in close pursuit.
The wind was howling more than 40 mph on our final day of the three day hunt. My hunting buddy, Ken Cashion from Oklahoma City, remarked that we were lucky the temperature was above freezing.
we stood adjacent to a mile long cattail swamp which historically is excellent habitat for pheasant on windy days.
As we began our walk into the teeth of the wind, the cattail heads began shattering, creating a brown snowstorm. Suddenly Will started getting extremely birdy.
two hen pheasants took flight, but since you can only harvest roosters, we gave them safe passage. Will was not pleased and flashed me a very hostile glance as the hens sailed away.
we were nearing the end of our marathon walk when my disgruntled lab put up a pair of roosters. Somehow I snagged a tall cattail in my right ear as I shouldered my gun. I connected on a long shot, and Ken dropped the other rooster.
even though bird numbers are down, we certainly enjoyed good dog work and had moments of glory. and I was still cleaning my ear of cattails a week later.
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<a href="http://newsok.com/article/3633013tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://newsok.com/article/3633013Sat, 17 Dec 2011 22:06:50 GMT”>A South Dakota pheasant hunt
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