Bob Peters
Well-known member
Greenlighted for a full five days hunting. I told a buddy, he wanted to come, we drove separate because schedules. I wanted to try a new area, usually have hunted the north half of east river.
Took I-90 towards Mitchell, stopped short and hunted wia and crep from Salem to Artesian. Never been here before. First stop I was trying to motion my buddy to turn into a depression of grass but he didn't get it. Of course a few seconds later a rooster popped out of there, he missed a long shot. We rode the struggle bus, hunted spots with no birds or the birds were really wild. We seen a flock land in cattails, walked that way and they flew outside of gun range. We got skunked.
Day two we headed west and tried a private spot. A working farm/ranch deal. Corn fields and cattle pastures. Lots of tight fences with sharp wire, thankfully no cuts this time. My buddy got a staggered double, I was nervous as a wounded bird was running and flying low right on the wire. We recovered both. Later I did drop a bird here and lose it, which is the first one of the year for me. I could tell my shot wasn't great how he fell. We always see grouse flying around so went into the pasture for 20 minutes. Five grouse, sharptailed I think, flushed in the distance. Then my buddy's gryphon pointed in some of this very short grass. Out popped a rooster! My buddy got him. I got one bird in nice grass and another in grass on edge of shelterbelt. We saw a lot of birds here, really a neat spot.
Day 3 we headed towards woonsockets and wessington's spring, that's more in my comfort zone. All public this day. Started at a spot the night before had seven roosters sitting up high in a tree! Other birds flying in and out from corn to cattail. Amazing most all had vanished by 10am! We got a bird at second spot but didn't see much else. Tried a WPA right in the middle of day and holy smokes it was loaded with roosters, saw some epic flushes. Couldn't get close till we walked separate sides of a cattail finger going into hillside. Birds boiling out everywhere when we got to the end, lots of shooting and we got three. Right back by the parking lot an hour later Roxy flushed a dandy bird and I got him. The next spot was wpa but grazed short, took a pass. I told Brett, follow me down this sketchy road to some public I seen on the map. How old are remnant snow drifts in SD? Two three weeks? There were no tire tracks here, I'm guessing the spot had not been hunted in a long time. There were birds flying around all over when we parked for golden hour. It didn't take long and we got our last bird.
Day 4 Now I was solo. Went back to previous night's spot. Made it down the road okay but kinda nervous as it was mid 40s and I knew it might get muddy. The dog put up two layups for me and I shot 50%. Hunted all day, it was warm touching 50° and almost no wind. Goose's words of wisdom came true, it's hard to get close when the weather is really nice. Lots of birds flushing far away. Noisy walking. 2 birds on the day.
Day 5 Packed up and hit the closest GPA. Looked great, was a dead sea. Easy access surrounded by good roads and large blocks of cover designed for big groups. Who knows how much grab ass these birds witnessed thru the season? The next spot a small wpa. Really sketchy/steep driveway to access so I just walked from the main road. Roxy put up two roosters but I was low on aiming fluid. Wasn't seeing much on the map and I started getting a little nervous. All I really wanted was to get Skye a bird because life is short and you never know how much time you have with a good dog. I was parked on roadside and saw two roosters sail into crp. Turns out the owner lived right there! I told myself "don't be a baby, go knock on the door." A really nice old timer answered. He told me he lets people hunt for some cash. Uh oh! Here I was on the banks of the Rubicon, did I dare cross this river? The one Goose has always warned about! Don't pay these guys he always says, and I kinda agree with him, at least in the over-commercialized manicured fields and foodplot flare-nare kind of way. This guy has an old paper plat book and shows me a quarter here, two quarters there, a shelterbelt, a slough, and a grip of CRP. Then he told me the fee and it was the same as buying a case of PBR! I couldn't get my wallet out fast enough. So we hunted around and the birds were wily and for a long time ran and flew too far away. Late in the afternoon we hit a spot that was loaded. And due to access point it still took until we looped half of it and turned to get the wind advantage. Then the old dog took it to 'em, a little revenge for giving us the slip all day. And she popped a couple up and I popped them back down. And me and Skye and Roxy had a great day and great memories to look back on. And we didn't even get to try most of the spots the guy showed me. Hopefully someday we'll be back.
Took I-90 towards Mitchell, stopped short and hunted wia and crep from Salem to Artesian. Never been here before. First stop I was trying to motion my buddy to turn into a depression of grass but he didn't get it. Of course a few seconds later a rooster popped out of there, he missed a long shot. We rode the struggle bus, hunted spots with no birds or the birds were really wild. We seen a flock land in cattails, walked that way and they flew outside of gun range. We got skunked.
Day two we headed west and tried a private spot. A working farm/ranch deal. Corn fields and cattle pastures. Lots of tight fences with sharp wire, thankfully no cuts this time. My buddy got a staggered double, I was nervous as a wounded bird was running and flying low right on the wire. We recovered both. Later I did drop a bird here and lose it, which is the first one of the year for me. I could tell my shot wasn't great how he fell. We always see grouse flying around so went into the pasture for 20 minutes. Five grouse, sharptailed I think, flushed in the distance. Then my buddy's gryphon pointed in some of this very short grass. Out popped a rooster! My buddy got him. I got one bird in nice grass and another in grass on edge of shelterbelt. We saw a lot of birds here, really a neat spot.
Day 3 we headed towards woonsockets and wessington's spring, that's more in my comfort zone. All public this day. Started at a spot the night before had seven roosters sitting up high in a tree! Other birds flying in and out from corn to cattail. Amazing most all had vanished by 10am! We got a bird at second spot but didn't see much else. Tried a WPA right in the middle of day and holy smokes it was loaded with roosters, saw some epic flushes. Couldn't get close till we walked separate sides of a cattail finger going into hillside. Birds boiling out everywhere when we got to the end, lots of shooting and we got three. Right back by the parking lot an hour later Roxy flushed a dandy bird and I got him. The next spot was wpa but grazed short, took a pass. I told Brett, follow me down this sketchy road to some public I seen on the map. How old are remnant snow drifts in SD? Two three weeks? There were no tire tracks here, I'm guessing the spot had not been hunted in a long time. There were birds flying around all over when we parked for golden hour. It didn't take long and we got our last bird.
Day 4 Now I was solo. Went back to previous night's spot. Made it down the road okay but kinda nervous as it was mid 40s and I knew it might get muddy. The dog put up two layups for me and I shot 50%. Hunted all day, it was warm touching 50° and almost no wind. Goose's words of wisdom came true, it's hard to get close when the weather is really nice. Lots of birds flushing far away. Noisy walking. 2 birds on the day.
Day 5 Packed up and hit the closest GPA. Looked great, was a dead sea. Easy access surrounded by good roads and large blocks of cover designed for big groups. Who knows how much grab ass these birds witnessed thru the season? The next spot a small wpa. Really sketchy/steep driveway to access so I just walked from the main road. Roxy put up two roosters but I was low on aiming fluid. Wasn't seeing much on the map and I started getting a little nervous. All I really wanted was to get Skye a bird because life is short and you never know how much time you have with a good dog. I was parked on roadside and saw two roosters sail into crp. Turns out the owner lived right there! I told myself "don't be a baby, go knock on the door." A really nice old timer answered. He told me he lets people hunt for some cash. Uh oh! Here I was on the banks of the Rubicon, did I dare cross this river? The one Goose has always warned about! Don't pay these guys he always says, and I kinda agree with him, at least in the over-commercialized manicured fields and foodplot flare-nare kind of way. This guy has an old paper plat book and shows me a quarter here, two quarters there, a shelterbelt, a slough, and a grip of CRP. Then he told me the fee and it was the same as buying a case of PBR! I couldn't get my wallet out fast enough. So we hunted around and the birds were wily and for a long time ran and flew too far away. Late in the afternoon we hit a spot that was loaded. And due to access point it still took until we looped half of it and turned to get the wind advantage. Then the old dog took it to 'em, a little revenge for giving us the slip all day. And she popped a couple up and I popped them back down. And me and Skye and Roxy had a great day and great memories to look back on. And we didn't even get to try most of the spots the guy showed me. Hopefully someday we'll be back.
