South Dakota
 

We will be making our annual trip to SD tomorrow in anticipation of the Phez opener this Saturday. About 16 hours of drive time for us. Anyone else in our group heading out for opening day ?

Also the reports I have from the locals where we hunt W of Winner were favorable as of a month ago, I have not checked in since that time. Anyone have any info on the bird count this year ?

You’re going to have a lot of competition. Yesterday Scheels in Sioux Falls was full of folks buying upland hunting gear. You will have good hunting. There are a lot more birds this year.

We will be hunting private land so no competition so to speak. We have been the beneficiary of some very fortunate circumstances that have allowed us to enjoy this land alone for the last 20 years or so. Like all good things I fear the end is not so distant as the Owners are aging and a move is a possibility.

Start hunting on Nov 9th. Gettysburg....

I spent a couple weeks in SD hunting chickens. Hunting pressure was by FAR the highest I had seen in my 10 years or so of hunting there. I was a little underwhelmed with pheasant sightings as compared to glowing reports I had heard. Would be enough for a good time I'm sure.

What area were you hunting Terry ?

Fort Pierre NGL

Heading out Friday to the Gettysburg area. The weather looks interesting with maybe some snow on Sunday, but it is changing everyday.

Ken

Weather actually looks good for us. Seems like heat is always the culprit in the early season but they are calling for cooler temps this year with highs in the mid to low 50's and lows in the upper 20's. No rain or snow in sight for now but then there is always the wind.

I was going to joke that the only thing we are getting ready to do here in Fairbanks is shovel snow...... then I looked out the window and it's snowing!!

Hit 77 today here in Southern Indiana but the weather girl is promising cooler temps soon. Well cooler to us anyway Richard, balmy to you most likely:)

The ground is slowly turning white here.....

Hey Randy, good luck out there. I am leaving at 6:00 am tomorrow for 2+ weeks in the UP with my three setters hunting grouse. Hope to make a pheasant trip later this year, maybe to Kansas in December, or maybe January. After shooting the 28 ga course with you and Chuck Bishop, I pulled out my little Ugartechea 28 ga, a Lion Country gun, and have been shootin it well, so taking it along with the VHE 20, and my G. Forrester 20 ga hammer gun.

I'm shutting down the combine on Friday and heading for the North Branch outing Club for two days of woodcock and grouse hunting. Parker 28 ga is the primary gun for this hunt.
My boss says I need to be back to work on Monday.

Jeff

Give Woodrow a pat on the head for me. Good Luck!

Brett, will do. I'm not hunting with him this year, but he pointed my first grouse last year.

Good luck Harold, safe travels. Hopefully we'll get to shoot together again before too long.

I always thought your boss was an okay guy, but now I am really beginning to wonder:). By the way your care package arrived yesterday, thank you very much!

Sounds like fun Randy,

Maybe we’ll see you along the way, we’re just departing your home state, plan to be in South Dakota this evening. I’m looking forward to my first pheasant opener tomorrow.

Good luck to you guys,
Stan

Stan where are you hunting at. Flying in ?

Randy,

We’re hunting near Hitchcock South Dakota.

I was originally planning to fly but, one of the fellows was going to be driving solo, so I’m riding with him.

Stan

We managed to get the limit yesterday. Lots of birds and we had to hunt hard. Unfortunately it appears that our rancher has the last remaining milo in SD that's still standing and he's got a lot of it.

Hopefully Randy doesn’t mind me adding a picture to his thread, just thought you might enjoy a photo of a Parker that I had the pleasure of taking a few pheasant with this morning.
Stan

We managed to limit again today. Lots of birds but lots of crops to hide in. Managed 3 grouse today also including a double. Now I can get my doubles pin. Good job Stan. Hope you boys are having a good hunt. Is Shane with you ?

Here’s Stan Hoover with his 8 gauge hammer gun. Nice shooting Stan!

We didn't see a lot of birds on the public land we hunted. We did manage to scratch a few birds for SD. I don't work pumps well--safety is a little different than a SxS, but it was my grandfather's model 12 so I used it.

http://parkerguns.org/forums/albums/...?dl=1603334766

Ken

[I have no idea why the photo is so small]

Images of SD
 

Back home and what a contrast in weather. Left SD with temp hovering at 30, light rain and 30 mph winds. 10 hours later driving through IA the vehicle read 82 at one point. The weather for opening week was definitely cooler than the norm. As I said earlier we were greeted with standing milo but the bird numbers were up substantially from prior years where we hunted. The grouse numbers were off the charts according to the locals and we saw a lot driving to and from the hunting area. We only harvested 3 as we spent all of our time trying to limit out on pheasants which we managed to do every day but we had to work for it. A good time was had by all. Time to get the archery equipment out for a bit before I head back to SD for round 2 next month.

One day while we were taking a lunch break I started hanging some birds on a fence post in an attempt to snap a few pics. It was later dubbed the picture post and used frequently used afterwards. A couple of which are attached.

So tell us what guns your group and you used and what loads. Inquiring minds want to know.:)

This group is all over the place with guns and loads but here goes:
For me I used a VHE 32" 16 ga choked .030/.030 with RST 1 oz of 5's @1200FPS exclusively. I also took a DHE in the same gauge/configuration but I never got it out as I was doing alright with the VHE and the weather was not the best.
Fred shot an A grade 16 gauge 28" Fox choked M/F with the same load as I.
Greg a Franchi 20 ga O/U with Rem Nitro Phez loads most of the time with an occasional appearance of his Benelli 20 ga Super Sport.
Jason shot a Win O/U 12 ga with Kent 2 3/4 shells stuffed with 1 3/8 oz of #5's traveling at something in the 1400's +. OUCH !!
Brother Bennie shot 1 gun. Rem 1100 Special Field 20 with Rem Nitro Phez #5 loads. I need to work on him but I fear it's to late. :)