South Dakota

[mikeschneider]

I wrote about this a few months ago, but the highlight of this season thus far occurred opening week in SD…I parked on one of the corners of my ground and walked west with my older lab, knowing she wouldn’t get too far ahead…took my repro 28 with some #5 lead loads, 1 oz, and started walking, figuring I’d flush a bird or two in the fuzzy ditches that were bordered by corn…nuttin doin after a mile, where some of that CREP began…small cattail slough awaited me in the corner of that CREP, so I drifted north of it, given the south wind…I turned into the wind, and as we got near the slough, Lena told me that there were birds in the slough…birds started flushing, mostly roosters…finally, one in range, think I took 2 shots, and down it went…Lena delivered it promptly…I was pumped! Started walking west, and soon I crested a mild rise in the field, and saw more cattail sloughs…small…perfect! We did the same thing, drifted north by 80 yards, and turned into the breeze…I watched Lena, and could tell she was excited…soon after, a few roosters flushed, the first went down and the second I missed; I knew the first wasn’t a dead bird, but luckily the slough was the size of a 2 stall garage, with little vegetation surrounding it. About 5 seconds after reloading, a cock flushed and headed west, which fell about 30 yards from us, and was dead…Lena went to that bird, so I watched where the first rooster had fallen; sure enough, he attempted to escape on foot to the East, and with Lena to my West, returning with that other bird, I promptly finished the cripple off. It was barely 10:30, I had my limit…much fun! I hadn’t hunted pheasants with that Repro yet, just prairie grouse and huns…it was a real highlight of this season, and my entire hunting career!

[Double Lab]

Originally Posted by mikeschneider

I wrote about this a few months ago, but the highlight of this season thus far occurred opening week in SD…I parked on one of the corners of my ground and walked west with my older lab, knowing she wouldn’t get too far ahead…took my repro 28 with some #5 lead loads, 1 oz, and started walking, figuring I’d flush a bird or two in the fuzzy ditches that were bordered by corn…nuttin doin after a mile, where some of that CREP began…small cattail slough awaited me in the corner of that CREP, so I drifted north of it, given the south wind…I turned into the wind, and as we got near the slough, Lena told me that there were birds in the slough…birds started flushing, mostly roosters…finally, one in range, think I took 2 shots, and down it went…Lena delivered it promptly…I was pumped! Started walking west, and soon I crested a mild rise in the field, and saw more cattail sloughs…small…perfect! We did the same thing, drifted north by 80 yards, and turned into the breeze…I watched Lena, and could tell she was excited…soon after, a few roosters flushed, the first went down and the second I missed; I knew the first wasn’t a dead bird, but luckily the slough was the size of a 2 stall garage, with little vegetation surrounding it. About 5 seconds after reloading, a cock flushed and headed west, which fell about 30 yards from us, and was dead…Lena went to that bird, so I watched where the first rooster had fallen; sure enough, he attempted to escape on foot to the East, and with Lena to my West, returning with that other bird, I promptly finished the cripple off. It was barely 10:30, I had my limit…much fun! I hadn’t hunted pheasants with that Repro yet, just prairie grouse and huns…it was a real highlight of this season, and my entire hunting career!

Yep, somedays you just hit the hunting jackpot. Great story Mike.