South Dakota Fun

[Larry the Gun Guy]

Very nice indeed. It looks like you both got a lesser prairie chicken. The horizontal bars going down the body are a dead give away. And in the picture of the birds on the ground you can definitely see the "chickens" foot on the prairie chicken. Were they shot as the flock flew past or did you flush them?

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Larry Stauch

Very nice indeed. It looks like you both got a lesser prairie chicken. The horizontal bars going down the body are a dead give away. And in the picture of the birds on the ground you can definitely see the "chickens" foot on the prairie chicken. Were they shot as the flock flew past or did you flush them?

Are there Lessers in SD? I hunted them (unsuccessfully ) in SW Kansas before they closed hunting on the species. We saw them...at a distance only. A chicken, Greater or Lesser, is a trophy bird in my book. Congratulations again to those happy hunters.

[Larry the Gun Guy]

No, the prairie chickens in SD are commonly know as greaters, but they do vary in size from sharp tail size to nearly pheasant size. I did harvest a phesant size bird a few years ago that I wished I had mounted, but I did mount one of the smaller birds that I took near Pierre. And they are great eating, as are sharp tails.