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Had a great hunt in SD back in Oct/Nov. My impression is that there were more birds this year than last year. We probably saw an average of 30 wild birds per day. As is often the case, very few offered a shot and it seemed like 2/3 were hens. The hunting party consisted of 2 men (one 80) and 2 dogs (one 14) and we shot 2-4 birds on average per day. But just having the opportunity to enjoy the Great Plains for a week was fantastic. God’s creation is truly amazing. Our farmer friends of 35 years have 10k acres and we are the only bird hunters.

One highlight. One day at sunset, we hunted a 10 acre cattail slough with a 1/4 acre pond in the middle beside a road. I dropped my FIL off at one end to guard one corner and drove to the other end, put the dogs down and worked toward him. At least 40 birds exited out of shot between us as we executed a clumsy pinch maneuver. As I reached the pond 200 ducks got up in 3 waves. That cacophony startled almost all of the remaining pheasants out of the cattails. We finished the hunt with 2 “sleeper” roosters that tried an ill advised “hunker down” technique. That mental picture of ducks getting up and peasants flushing simultaneously was truly memorable.

T. Boss 11 bore. Putting birds in the bag since August, 1851.



Lucy working hard at 14. She hunted this rooster in a grass field for 30 minutes before it flushed.



The slough at sunset.