nrh0011
Senior Member
Let me start with a little background of how I developed my passion for pheasant and quail hunting. I apologize in advance if I'm long winded.
For the better part of 20 years I have been hunting quail and pheasant. I'm fortunate to have the best pheasant hunter I know as not only my best friend, but also as my father. My dad grew up in Kansas, and grandad always had bird dogs mainly setters and german wirehairs. During quail season my grandad would come home from work, load up the dogs, my dad and uncles, and take off to hit a couple spots before dark. They spent the weekends hunting basically all day. My first couple of years hunting were spent stumbling through CRP without a gun, and at the time I thought some of that grass was 10 feet tall. During my first few years in Kansas around the age 8-11 or so, I remember my grandad, uncles, cousins, along with my dad and I all going out west to chase these dang birds. Well time passed on and family members got busy making it harder for everyone to go each year. Grandad is now 81, and would have a hard time holding a shotgun I believe. It's crazy for me to think about because at 65 he was still a mountain of a man.
For the past few years my dad and I have been the only ones still making the trip. We've made so many memories, scene some beautiful country, witnessed some phenomenal points and retrieves from our dogs, and so much more I know I'm leaving out. My old black pointing lab named Shaq is now 11, and really noticed him starting to slow down this year which breaks my heart. This year he made some beautiful points, one of the best ones he made I was walking out a roadside ditch bordering some cut sunflowers and he locked up on a pheasant. The grass was about shin deep, and I got to within 10 yards of him when a rooster explodes out of the grass giving me a passing shot at maybe 20 yards. I pulled the trigger only to find that my gun had no shell in the chamber, and the action was open. Apparently I unloaded my gun while loading up another dog before Shaq and I walked out that stretch of ditch. Still kicking myself over that. I've never owned a more driven and intelligent bird dog, and when the time comes he will be greatly missed.
The past few years we have been mainly hunting Kansas, but after last years trip decided to go hunt South Dakota again. Like always, it never disappoints. I can't begin to put a number on how many pheasant I saw. I managed to get a limit every day, and dad did most days along with killing a prairie chicken. We saw a good number of grouse as well, mostly in the road or flying across the road going to feed. I killed a jackrabbit as well while walking out a ditch. We have always seen them out there, and I think it will make for a wonderful mount.
I urge you all to make the trip to South Dakota someday. They are surely blessed in the wildlife department. Happy hunting and God bless.
For the better part of 20 years I have been hunting quail and pheasant. I'm fortunate to have the best pheasant hunter I know as not only my best friend, but also as my father. My dad grew up in Kansas, and grandad always had bird dogs mainly setters and german wirehairs. During quail season my grandad would come home from work, load up the dogs, my dad and uncles, and take off to hit a couple spots before dark. They spent the weekends hunting basically all day. My first couple of years hunting were spent stumbling through CRP without a gun, and at the time I thought some of that grass was 10 feet tall. During my first few years in Kansas around the age 8-11 or so, I remember my grandad, uncles, cousins, along with my dad and I all going out west to chase these dang birds. Well time passed on and family members got busy making it harder for everyone to go each year. Grandad is now 81, and would have a hard time holding a shotgun I believe. It's crazy for me to think about because at 65 he was still a mountain of a man.
For the past few years my dad and I have been the only ones still making the trip. We've made so many memories, scene some beautiful country, witnessed some phenomenal points and retrieves from our dogs, and so much more I know I'm leaving out. My old black pointing lab named Shaq is now 11, and really noticed him starting to slow down this year which breaks my heart. This year he made some beautiful points, one of the best ones he made I was walking out a roadside ditch bordering some cut sunflowers and he locked up on a pheasant. The grass was about shin deep, and I got to within 10 yards of him when a rooster explodes out of the grass giving me a passing shot at maybe 20 yards. I pulled the trigger only to find that my gun had no shell in the chamber, and the action was open. Apparently I unloaded my gun while loading up another dog before Shaq and I walked out that stretch of ditch. Still kicking myself over that. I've never owned a more driven and intelligent bird dog, and when the time comes he will be greatly missed.
The past few years we have been mainly hunting Kansas, but after last years trip decided to go hunt South Dakota again. Like always, it never disappoints. I can't begin to put a number on how many pheasant I saw. I managed to get a limit every day, and dad did most days along with killing a prairie chicken. We saw a good number of grouse as well, mostly in the road or flying across the road going to feed. I killed a jackrabbit as well while walking out a ditch. We have always seen them out there, and I think it will make for a wonderful mount.
I urge you all to make the trip to South Dakota someday. They are surely blessed in the wildlife department. Happy hunting and God bless.
