Reporting back from NoDak pheasant trip

[huntingfool7]

Back in town from hunting pheasants in North Dakota.  Bird numbers were down this year reportedly by 35% due to wet spring.  Also, due to spring weather the crops were planted late and are mostly still standing in the fields. 
Abnormally large amounts of standing corn and soybeans provided additional cover for the birds and as always, 100's of acres of sunflowers awaiting harvest. 

Hunting pressure and road traffic was notably down presumably due to reports of lower bird numbers. 

We hunted hard averaging two roosters in the bag per person/hunt day ending the week with 24 pheasants in ice.

We had four field bred springer spaniels working the fields and cattail sloughs.  The two veterans and two pups strung together one memorable flush after another.  The dogs worked hard and they all came home with their share of scratches and worn skin from pushing through the thick stuff and run ins with barbed wire.

Personally, my most memorable flush/shot/retrieve occurred over Sage about 150 yards from the truck.  Sage had gotten birdy almost right out of the tailgate and worked a big rooster up and over a small hill.  The bird got up with a nose in his tail feathers and caught a beak full of steel #5's from the left barrel of my side x side.  With a pellet in the head the roosters tail dropped and he helicoptered straight up to an unbelievable height before leveling out to fly a slow, large circle around us.  Then he just folded his wings and crashed into the back side of the hill with a loud thump.  A short search in the crash area and Sage made the retrieve.

A second bird was shot over Tucker.  Again with a pellet behind the eye, the rooster landed in a cut wheat field and looked like he couldn't remember how to run.  Tucker made the retrieve and the bird was put in the vest after a poor job of wringing him out.  I didn't realize the bird was riding around peaking out of the vest until he took the short hop out of the vest and flew away with Tucker in pursuit over a small hill.  Tucker made the retrieve in good time and said rooster was "reduced to possession" once again.

I mostly ran the two pups together this year.  They performed well and there is almost a blur of pheasant wings in my mind with young dogs doing a large share of the work putting them up. 

Overall it was a really good experience for all involved and I can't wait to see the prairies of North Dakota again regardless of the crowing counts.

[huntingfool7]

Sage

[huntingfool7]

The Dog Rack

[boneaddict]

Sounds like a fantastic trip.   Bird numbers don't surprise me.  Lack of hunters does.   

[Crunchy]

If you hunt birds it is hard to beat N. Dakota.  Spent four years in Minot, and loved the bird hunting.  Dove, duck, goose, pheasants, partridge, and grouse. 

[silverdalesauer]

Awesome report Huntingfool7!   

[tsimp1211]

I didn't make it up to NoDak, but did hunt around Aberdeen, SD for the opener.  As you stated earlier, the bird numbers were way down.  I had not hunted around Aberdeen before, but the guys I was with told stories of birds so thick you couldn't decide which one to shoot.  That didn't happen this trip.  What did happen though was an unbelievable experience, hunting with some great guys, making new friends, and killing enough birds to bring a few home for the freezer.  I ended up shooting 5 birds in two hunts, but I could have not killed anything and would have been just as happy.  The Dakotas are a fantastic, I can't wait to get  back next year!

[deltaops]

Sweet deal!  To think I was calling and pm'n you thinking you were back in WA already.  Hurley is itching to get out, haven't been able too with birthdays and other stuff going on. Hopefully next weekend I can get him out if the weather permits.

[MC37493]

Thanks for sharing, sounds like a great time! i have been dreaming of going out to either of the dakotas since i was a kid!