2008 SD Pheasant Opener

By now most people know the 2008 SD pheasant Opener was a good one so I will skip all that. We knew there was going to be a lot of birds in SD this year and there was. Our group of 9 hunted 2 days and shot our 27 birds in about an hour each day. Pretty much as good as it gets. Pictured here is our group of hunters plus a few up and coming hunters that helped with the walking.

Being the hunting was so good this year, there was plenty of time for cleaning birds, scounting for the upcoming deer season and enjoying a few cold beverages with friends. Several people in the group refer the the SD pheasant opener as Christmas, for the fact that it is quite a celebration and it brings everyone from SD home to hunt. I know personally the pheasant opener is one of my favorite times of year.

One notable absence from the goup was Tony Dean and his wife. Tony passed away on the pheasant opener from an infection that resulted after surgury. Despite the great hunting, the entire group hunted in a sort of disbelief this year. Thank you Tony for all the great stories over the years…hunt on!

As for our location, we hunted East of the Missouri River, within 30 minutes of Chamberlain. We were very fortuate not to have to hunt standing corn. There is still a lot of corn in as well as beans. The farmers are working hard to get it out but I would say the corn harvest is pretty much just starting.

I really have to thank Darrin for all his work on the food plots. This year we hunted waste high milo in 30ft strips. Talk about nice walking!! Thanks again Darrin for all your hard work, it sure beats walking those huge corn fields. Darrin planted the stips in wheat fields they had harvested so there was no where for the running birds to go and made for easy work for the dogs.

I will keep this report short, since Rob pretty much covered everything in his report. The hunting late season should be unbelievable once the crops come out. Definetly worth checking out if you are considering hunting SD this year.

This last picture is Jewels again. Jewels is on her 3rd year of hunting. It is amazing to see how she progresses each year. I knew Jewels had a lot of potential as a young pup but I didn’t expect her to turn out as good as she did. I have to thank Darrin and his family again for the great pup.

In closing, the weather was very hot but the dogs seem to manage with lots of water and breaks between hunts. But, finishing up in a hour helps also! I am already looking forward to getting back for a deer/pheasant hunt in November. You have got to love that SD hunting! Lets just hope for some cool dry weather so harvest can really get going.