Pheasants in February

Glad the game commission finally let pheasants in until February.  Makes for some fun, but tough late season hunts.  Cooper and I went out after a good snow storm hit and trudged through the foot and a half of snow.  The birds were sitting pretty tight with all the snow, so we worked pretty slow.  Here is the last rooster of the day and a nice retrieve over a fence, a creek bottom, and through some deep snow.

Yellow Creek winter outing

Weekend getaway at Bedford Springs resort and I made it out to Yellow. Couldn't believe how much of this limestone stream was frozen over, but was able to coax a couple little brown trout to eat a nymph and kick off the 2014 season.   Peaceful little winter fishing outing

New Year's Eve Western PA Grouse hunt

 

Went up to the mountains after a fresh snow for a New Year's Eve grouse hunt.   We had three guys and three dogs - a German Shorthair pointer and two labs.  We worked for about 3 hours around this ridge and put about 8 birds up and took 2.  Not bad stats in the world of grouse.  I shot one and which was the first in a couple years.  Hopefully it wont be that long again because we had an absolute blast.

Working the thickets

 

Cooper retrieving a grouse I (actually) shot

Winter Ducks

This was most likely going to be the last hunt before Cooper's minor  eye 'surgery' and I wanted to get him out (and get me out) of the house.  Plus there was a storm rolling in and I had a good setup for an evening hunt.  I had a feeling.

Winter Storm Hercules was coming in hot and as people panicked to get home, we went duck hunting.  It turned out to be the best hunt of the year, as ducks were piling into the decoys as soon as we setup.  The first duck was memorable - I shot him on my 3rd shot and he landed a football field away.  He ended up literally crawling onto the ice and leaving us with no option to get him.  30 minutes later and a half inch of snow on him, he rose from the dead and start waddling to the far side of the lake.  Just goes to show you how tough these birds are. 

Other side of the frozen lake. Just looks cold

We circled the 1 mile lake and then I sent Cooper in on a search.  Ten minutes later, he came back with the duck that couldn't fly.  He's just an amazing retriever and this was one of his finest.

Fine retrieve

 We hunted another hour and about 30 ducks came in sets of 2-5.  It was perfect hunting and ended up with a limit of mallards. 

The drive home was insanely treacherous, but we made it back and ended the season on a high note.

Buffleheads

Setup on an unnamed location for a morning hunt for the first hunt of the year at this spot.  Saw some geese and some high flying mallards. ended up taking a male Bufflehead diving duck which was the first one I have ever shot.  By far, one of the coolest looking birds I have ever seen.  Love the cool mohawk that this bird sports.  Saw some more Buffleheads, but just wanted this one. 

December Pheasants

Pheasant hunting on public land with a few friends, a German Shorthair and some cool December weather.

2013 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting

Cooper and I went on a pheasant hunting trip to South Dakota with our friends Brad and Christine and their German Shorthair Pointer, Roxie.  We leased a 1200 acre farm and rented a house in Hoven, South Dakota to hunt wild pheasants for four days.  I had been out to South Dakota a few years ago with my wife and Cooper and we had an absolute blast.  She couldn't make the trip this time, but I wanted to get Cooper out (at least) one more time while he was in his prime.

 

 We had an awesome trip, but the hunting was definitely tough.  The overall bird numbers were down in South Dakota this year and this farm gets hunted by a different group of hunters each week.  We saw a lot of hens and much fewer roosters and the birds were highly educated and wily this late in the season.  We saw many birds that just seemed to flush just outside of shotgun range and the birds that came up in range were fast and tough.  Every bird we got was earned through some long tough miles and relentless dog work. 

 

I cant wait to come back out here one day with the kids and a few more dogs!

 

 

 

 

Brad / Roxy and me / Cooper 

 

Cooper making the first retrieve of the trip





Old windmill on the prairie



Roxie on a nice retrieve



First afternoon on public land.  Great start!

One proud Lab after a hard day's work

 

My wild pheasant and portabella crock pot recipe

 

Living room of the rental house



Best part of the day!

Cooper and Roxie with fine retrieves

A pointer and a retriever can work together well!
 

Cooper and I with a beautiful wild Ringneck using Dad's old Beretta 12 gauge

Beer of the trip = Bells Midwestern Pale Ale

Brad and Christine with a gigantic cottontail rabbit





Random old port-a-potty at the reclaimed
gravel pit yard.  Strange, but convenient!

SouthDakotaWild.com



Just another breath taking SD sunset. 

 

Cooper being Cooper.  Captain Nitwit!

Small game bonanza - 11/25

 

Trip Summary from Pittsburgh - South Dakota
 - Lynchburg, VA.  3,230 miles!

I found the worlds BEST sunflower seeds. 

 


Sunset over the old farmstead in Hoven, SD after the last day's hunt while sitting on the tail gate drinking a cold one.