I thought I would try something new and put up a hunting report to go along with all the great fishing reports. I just got back from another great opening weekend of pheasant hunting. Or host again was Chad and Darren Johnson of Platte SD. We are lucky to have a great bunch of hunters that come together every year for what we call “Christmas” or pheasant opener. The first picture is part of our group and our day one limit of birds.
This year I had the pleasure of getting to hunt with Tony Dean and Curt Johnson, neither of who I had me before. I also got to hunt with my brother-in-law Todd Ritter and my dad Gary Steil. Getting to share hunts like these with family is what makes hunting such a great sport. The next picute is my Gary, Todd, Tony and myself with a nice bunch of roosters on opening day.
This year was also a special opener because we got to share it with A LOT of kids. The kids got to walk along with their dads and I think it was a memorable experience for them as well. I remember our first walk of the day and two of the little girls got knocked over by a deer. They were fine and something they will talk about for the rest of their lives no doubt. The next picture is a shot of our group and all the kids.
I mentioned I got to hunt this trip with my dad which made it really special. My dad got to meet Tony Dean for an afternoon which was also made this trip very special to him. My dad grew up listening & watching Tony Dean on TV and this was a great oppotunity. Again, I want to thank everyone for a great, safe hunt. We look forward to next year when their is less corn and more beans. Beans always make for less walking and easier shooting.
Great report scott. Looks like you guys did well cant say the same here. We were in north dakota hunting was slower than other years we ended up with 44 birds out of 60. Glad to see you got out with friends and family again thats alway important and make the hunt alot more fun.
Stickboy, what part of ND did you hunt? Was there a lot of corn up yet? Any ducks around?
The corn harvest in Western Minnesota was well underway when we came through. I was really suprised how much was out compared to other parts of SD and MN.
Great report Scott!! I haven’t talked to many of my friends back home to see how it went. I know Ironguts crowd did well.
I used to talk to Tony Dean occasionally on the river when fishing out there. He’s a pretty darn good guy. Some might disagree with his opinions on conservation, but at least he’s fighting the good fight. You going back for another 5 days??
Scott,looks like you had a great hunt.I’ve met Tony a few times and he is a very nice guy.Are you going to make it down to Iowa for any upland hunting this year?I tried to call you a few days before you went to the river pre-fishing for the RCL Champ,was going to try to get over and fish with you for a day.
Ryan Hale
Scott,
I was near garrison underwood area. There usally isnt alot of corn in that area but there was some this year and it was still up. They werte just harvesting beans when i was there, lots of sunflowers up too. They dont take alot of the corn and sunflowers until late in the year, dont no why but they wait an awful long time.There just wasnt alot of birds in our area, usally I see 200 or so birds a day i was lucky to see 50 this trip, I no crops have somthing to do with it but I just didnt see the birds runnig around the fields like I have in the past. I did see lots of ducks and geese mostly locals though. Some new birds did move in over the weekend it got down to 14deg. on fri. night and we woke up to 4″ of fresh snow on sat. but most of that melted by mon. If you are thinking of a trip out there Id be in if I was inveted. I got lots of field decoys and a good dog. My friends cancled out at the last minute so Im the only one that bought a license. I used the first 5 days but can set the second five for when ever.
Nice bunch of bird’s!!! A good hunt is just about as good as a good fishing trip!
Tony Dean is a true professional in my opinion. A class act!
We usually use our last 5 days in SD combined with a deer hunt. We put in for doe tags every year and if we get drawn we do a deer/pheasant hunt. If we don’t get deer tags I would imagine we will go back toward the end of November after all the crops are out.
If anyone one knows someone who has land in Brule County, SD for deer hunting let me know. We are always looking for more land to hunt up there. We only shoot does and usually the locals are happy to have us take a few.
Stickboy, I don’t think I am going to get up to SD this year. My brother-in-law was up there duck hunting and did pretty well, I have been considering heading out there later in the year but, I am still trying to stick that trophy buck with my bow in MN yet.