South Dakota Trip Part 2

Back again;
Mark sent the pictures I was waiting for (thanks a bunch Mark) and I wanted to follow up on our last few day in SD.
I left off after the second day of walk in hunting with a cold and tired Ike. 
We finally got back to the hotel in Sioux Falls and got Ike fed and watered and still had to clean 3 of the pheasants we were able to bring down.  Well, I parked my truck under the lights and cleaned them on the tailgate.  In SD (as in many states) you have to leave the leg, head or wing on to identify them as a rooster - since you can't shoot the hens.  Got them cleaned and washed up and then brought out my vacuum sealer and got them sealed air tight and put in the fridge to chill. 

In lieu of a lot words, I am going to post pics with captions - that will be more fun to look at.  Just a couple of notes.  One a big thanks to Scott A and his Dad Bill for agreeing to come up on Saturday and hunt the day with us.  I know I sure enjoyed it and I think Bill and Scott did!!  Kudos to Scott for some GREAT shots too that day.  And Second, a note to Rosemary and Darryl our hosts, They took over for Judy and Ralph (Rosemary's parents) and the new house and lodge is ABSOLUTELY GREAT. The food was super and the hospitality top notch (Terry the homemade wine was really good this year).. Great time and Great people.
Well here are the pics... Enjoy:

Everybody ready to go

The new Lodge - It is really nice



BeBe the Wonder dog (and Steve D too!)

Ikey, with vest and boots under the watchful eye of Uncle Mike

Chuck and his son in law Zach It was Zach's first trip with us..

Most of our group with our former (now retired) hosts Ralph and Judy

Old Dead eye drops one

Lots of walking hope you have good boots

Our Saturday bounty... What a good time

BeBe sums it up... Man I'm bushed...

South Dakota 2012 Part 1

Hi everyone;
As you know this is the time of year that gets Ike's heart a pumpin'!!  Pheasant season in the Great Plains.  This year it was my desire to take Ike up and really work him out on some public hunting in Minnesota and South Dakota.  Lets just say that 5 straight days of hunting and two long 10+ hour days of travel were pretty hard on man and beast. 

We started in MN, and we met up with a couple on some public ground near Jackson and we joined forces and kicked up a couple hens and a rooster.  Ike was just getting his initial burst of energy out and was really working a little to fast to suit me.  Not unexpected since he hadn't really had much of an opportunity to do much local work all summer because of his cast.   We ended up hunting together until noon, getting a couple roosters and a Woodcock (timber doodle).  The couple and the lab Raven (Ray for short) were a true joy to hunt with and took the birds  - I said I have 4 more days to hunt so I should get plenty of opportunities.

We then went on to our farm in MN and met with the man that farms the property, Greg.  He is the nicest man and he said go ahead and hunt his property as well as ours (they butt up against each other) so Ike and I took off to see what we could see.  It had started off warm and foggy that morning but by now it had turned windy, and rainy and COLD!!  Ike and I worked a couple sloughs and ditches, kicking up 2 roosters and a hen,  - no shots at any - one rooster flushed wild and one was just too low over Ike to take a safe shot..  and of course the only good shot I had was at the hen - sorry can't shoot those  :(.  But we were both drenched and cold - Ike as soaked to the bone and Greg allowed us to go in his heated garage and towel off and warm Ike up.  We hung around a while and took off for SD. 



Ike warming up and resting after first cold day of hunting

Got to Sioux Falls a little later than planned (had a little wallet issue - Lesson #1 don't put all your money and credit cards in one spot - if you lose it you are screwed).  Greg found it (THANK YOU) and we were nothing but a little late.  Got to the hotel and checked in and saw the weather was not projected to be too good the next day.   It wasn't ....  We woke up to 3" of wet icy snow ans still had 187 miles to drive to meet with Ken and Steve to hunt walk in area near Presho SD.  Took off and got there just in time to start at Noon and as we pull into the hunting area we see two people already hunting.. They thought it was the week to start at 10 AM but they were wrong.  They were apologetic and left promptly.  We got started and hunted in pines, corn and sloughs and Ike was again a little over anxious - but he did do some good pointing - hens and roosters  Did a really nice job pointing in the slough but was walking through very cold water and after over 2 hours of solid hunting in the snow and wind, Ike was done - he doesn't have a lot of fat on his bones and he was cold and shivering.  I took him back to the truck and warmed him up - let him lay on the floor with the heater blowing right on him....  I have to tell you I was worried - I never saw him quit before.. 


Old farmhouse near Murdo SD - note Outhouse in back

We finished a couple more passes and got a couple of roosters but I decided to take off back to the hotel and get Ike some needed food water and warmth.   2 days of bad weather and tough hunting... I hope not an omen for the rest of the trip....... More to come in part 2

South Dakota Hunt

Hi everyone

Well we made it back from South Dakota and Ike's second hunt. We took a few more days and did some hunting at a new location Ringneck Retreat - The Tschetter Family - and a more hospitable group you just won't find. Ike held his own there but we didn't hunt him too hard those days as we weren't sure how hard we would have to use him the last two days at Winegar Farms in Wessington Springs. But hunt he did - I have a few pics but wanted to share a couple stories. First day at Ringneck, Ike is working really hard in the cattails and I can't seem to get him out of there and low and behold he comes popping out SKUNKED!!! Right in the face - and man did he stink.... Well, Darik the owner of the lodge had a concoction that took care of it Baking Soda, Peroxide and a little Dawn Dish Soap... It really worked on him - not so good on the collars... But that didn't stop him.. he kept on hunting...

The last day there was a classic point - he was working CRP grass and quartering into the wind just like he (and I) knew what we were doing and he locked up on a hard point just like the pictures show. Ike 1 pheasants 0..

At Winegar Farmson Sunday Ike was hunting on almost every push but kept getting stronger and stronger on each one. We were going on the downwind side of a shelter belt and some thigh high grass when he got really birdy and BAM he locked up on a bird - Uncle Ken and I got that one- then a few minutes later he got birdy again in the fence line. Locked up and I flushed that one and he turned towards me and locked up on another one. - Got em both so Ike and I limited out in one pass. But that just made up for the day before - I only got one then so it all evens out..

Can't tell you how proud I was of Ike - He may be small but he has no quit in him... but let's just say he is sleeping quite soundly since his arrival home... Can't wait for the next time to say, "Ike, find that bird!"

"Now We're Talkin'"

Hi everyone;

As promised we really did go to South Dakota to do some Pheasant hunting and thanks to the graces of God and good weather we had a successful hunt. While there won't be any recipes on this installment, we will talk about Ike and what he loves to do. Ike did good job on Public ground the first day. For those of you that don't know South Dakota has about 4 MILLION acres in varoius public access areas for hunting. Hunting in general and non-resident hunters generate an estimate 12% of the gross income for the state-so it is big business. Public gound is more difficult and usually need BIG groups of people to hunt them as many times you are walking in 300+acre plots. There were just us 3, Bryan, Ken and myself and Ike. While we saw a couple roosters (you can only shoot roosters) right out of the box, they were too wiley and flushed too far out for a shot - I considered that a good omen... But after that we saw only Hens.. Ike did really well finding them - one field he found 4 but again we couldn't shoot them.. (Man did I get a dirty look from him after the 3rd one -like, "Hey I did my job -now do yours!"

But we did have a pretty good day at the Private Ground on Friday. On the left you see part of are group as well as Ike with our harvest of our "limit". Pictured front and center is Ike, although I think he was still looking for one more bird- but flanking Ike and I are our two guides Larry and Lowell, (and Mocha) great guys and wonderful dog (Larry's 2 labs are in the background in his truck)

Here is a pic of Ike with his first retrieve in South Dakota - He extracted the tail feathers in the process but he brought it back to me - so that is a good thing.

He was a tired puppy every night but he was rearing to go the next morning. What he lacks in size he makes up for in determination!!

Next Blog - Pheasant Chilli.... Mmmm..

Until then, "Ike, Find that bird!"