.45-70TC
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Headed to Aberdeen, S.D. tomorrow for the opener. Anyone else headed there?
Pheasants..............
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I'll be going to SD, but not until November.
Good luck!
Good luck!
OP
OP
.45-70TC
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Thanks, Trapper.
Lennyjoe
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I miss hunting pheasants. Grew up shooting them in Ohio back in the day.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
45-70- i'll be hunting on the opener as well, but only because i'm done w/ big game hunting for the next couple weeks... i replied to your similiar post in rallying point. good luck to ya.
btw- most of the crops are out. had some rain yesterday, so that is slowing the harvest up. by the opener, though, there should be good hunting.
btw- most of the crops are out. had some rain yesterday, so that is slowing the harvest up. by the opener, though, there should be good hunting.
OP
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.45-70TC
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Thanks again, dakota, just spotted your reply over........there! Stayin' at the White House Inn. Don't know where we'll be exactly, but, our group has been going for lots of years. Private prop. somewhere.
Good luck to you as well.
Randy
Good luck to you as well.
Randy
Pheasants
Yea, we get there every year. Two uncles with dairy farms and a bunch of other farmer friends give us a standing invite. We host them for mule deer and elk in Montana on certain ranches. Works out pretty good. We also give them all a hand with chores while we're there. My old man and I fight over the pan-fried pheasant hearts.
Yea, we get there every year. Two uncles with dairy farms and a bunch of other farmer friends give us a standing invite. We host them for mule deer and elk in Montana on certain ranches. Works out pretty good. We also give them all a hand with chores while we're there. My old man and I fight over the pan-fried pheasant hearts.
OP
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.45-70TC
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I'm back....
All I can say about S.D. pheasants is...............WOW!!! Never seen so damn many birds in all my life!!! Totally unbelievable hunt! Maxed every day...easy! Ended up, we were around Chelsea.
Dakotasin; hope yours was as well, shoulda been.
JoeMack; forgot about tryin' the hearts. Didn't even remember to ask the locals I was with about them either. Next time!
All I can say about S.D. pheasants is...............WOW!!! Never seen so damn many birds in all my life!!! Totally unbelievable hunt! Maxed every day...easy! Ended up, we were around Chelsea.
Dakotasin; hope yours was as well, shoulda been.
JoeMack; forgot about tryin' the hearts. Didn't even remember to ask the locals I was with about them either. Next time!
my opener went well... i shot 6, but recovered only 5. since the 6th bird was dead, i felt like i had limited and let it go at that.
i don't keep the hearts or gizzards - they work as treats for the dogs for their hard work.
don't know how you were hunting, but if walking, did you get that 'adrenaline rush flush'? you know - where you almost step on a bird, and it scares the bejeebers out of you when it flushes, then everything goes into slow motion as you identify the bird as a shooter, mount the shotgun, and fire the shot, see the feather poof, and finally, time returns to normal and you start hearing again? the adrenaline rush is what makes it so addictive...
glad you had a good time. see any big deer? whack any coyotes? what about hungarian partridges? grouse? geese? ducks? pheasant opener is a hunter's paradise w/ an awesome mixed-bag available... even deer and antelope seasons are open...
i don't keep the hearts or gizzards - they work as treats for the dogs for their hard work.
don't know how you were hunting, but if walking, did you get that 'adrenaline rush flush'? you know - where you almost step on a bird, and it scares the bejeebers out of you when it flushes, then everything goes into slow motion as you identify the bird as a shooter, mount the shotgun, and fire the shot, see the feather poof, and finally, time returns to normal and you start hearing again? the adrenaline rush is what makes it so addictive...
glad you had a good time. see any big deer? whack any coyotes? what about hungarian partridges? grouse? geese? ducks? pheasant opener is a hunter's paradise w/ an awesome mixed-bag available... even deer and antelope seasons are open...
OP
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.45-70TC
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dakotasin....
Local farmers we were with had left strips of corn in sections, we set up blockers and walked with flankers up about 70 yards. Worked REAL well! Sometimes the blockers got the best shooting. Adrenaline rush? Sh#& I guess!!!! Only had one flush RIGHT in front of me, while looking for another I dropped. SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!!!
Worked some sloughs too, in fact, the very first one on Sat., no more than two steps into it, jumped more than 20 birds, all roosters! Sounded like WWIII !!!
Glad to hear yours was well too! Oh Yeah, did see deer. A bunch. One spike just sat up ahead of me in a cornrow for the longest time before he jolted. Some cottontails, no 'yotes.
Randy
Local farmers we were with had left strips of corn in sections, we set up blockers and walked with flankers up about 70 yards. Worked REAL well! Sometimes the blockers got the best shooting. Adrenaline rush? Sh#& I guess!!!! Only had one flush RIGHT in front of me, while looking for another I dropped. SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!!!
Worked some sloughs too, in fact, the very first one on Sat., no more than two steps into it, jumped more than 20 birds, all roosters! Sounded like WWIII !!!
Glad to hear yours was well too! Oh Yeah, did see deer. A bunch. One spike just sat up ahead of me in a cornrow for the longest time before he jolted. Some cottontails, no 'yotes.
Randy
45- well, if you only had one do it, you didn't quite get the full effect, but you did get enough to know! lol! actually, the ones that scare ya the worst are the hens! that high pitched, muffled racket they make, for some reason, just does it to me more than the rooster's cackle.
either way, it is a good time. glad you got into birds - it isn't a bad way to while away a saturday and sunday afternoon...
gun show this weekend in mitchell, a gun auction saturday morning in madison, then i think i'll go try to whack another bird or three in the afternoons.
btw... next time you come out for pheasants, look at their spurs after you drop them. it will give you an idea of the bird's age. older birds have better color, and the tip of the spur will actually be 'polished' to a sharp point. if you shoot a bird that has spurs that measure around .75", it likely has the best color, most color, and most irridescense - this bird needs to go to a taxidermist to be mounted. seriously - those are the prettiest birds. as w/ any trophy, they aren't common, but like any trophy, you know when you have one.
either way, it is a good time. glad you got into birds - it isn't a bad way to while away a saturday and sunday afternoon...
gun show this weekend in mitchell, a gun auction saturday morning in madison, then i think i'll go try to whack another bird or three in the afternoons.
btw... next time you come out for pheasants, look at their spurs after you drop them. it will give you an idea of the bird's age. older birds have better color, and the tip of the spur will actually be 'polished' to a sharp point. if you shoot a bird that has spurs that measure around .75", it likely has the best color, most color, and most irridescense - this bird needs to go to a taxidermist to be mounted. seriously - those are the prettiest birds. as w/ any trophy, they aren't common, but like any trophy, you know when you have one.
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