Road Trip- South Dakota '07

[NATTY BUMPO]

The first week of November, a partner and I made the 1000 mi+ treck from Northern Michigan out to South Dakota. Its not the first time out there but it may have been the best, all things considered. The trip started out a little shaky as my partner's three year old Golden came down with severe allergies, to of all things - fall seasonal allergens ie. burrdock, ragweed, goldenrod, etc. So poor Zak had to go on the IR and not make the trip this year.

We stayed at a family farm in the NE corner of the state and hunted mostly private. They raise corn, soybeans, hay plus beef cattle and buffalo. Birds were at "40 year highs" according to the landowners.:D

The farmhouse and grain storage facilities:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/545/medium/IMG_01902.JPG

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/545/medium/IMG_0192.JPG

Here's a couple of pics from day 1.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/545/medium/IMG_0181.JPG

Thats NB on left and Ron on the right. Scouty's the L&W and Rocky, the blue roan.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/SoDak_07_Small.jpg

Rocky's just 16 mos old, still a puppy really. Here he is with the first rooster killed over him that he found, flushed and brought to hand all by himself. He dug this guy out of a deep creek bottom-30 bars! Quite a mouthful for an ECS.:cool: He was so proud of himself he had to do a "little victory" lap at the end.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/Rockys_First_Rooster_Small.jpg

They raise buffalo on the ranch and have over 100 head. Here's Harold with a herd bull that will go over 2000+ lbs. He's giving him an alfalfa cube- very carefully!

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/IMG_0188.JPG

And they had a very, very rare White Buffalo born on the ranch three years ago. These buffalo are reputed to have mystical/religious significance to the Lakota peoples.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/500/medium/IMG_01851.JPG

The bird hunting was just great but the very best part of the trip was the people we met in SoDak land. Absolutely the very best folks in the world and completely tuned into our hunting heritage. Visiting hunters are a very important part of the economy out there and they love to show off their sporting opportunities.

Natty B.

[PahtridgeHunter]

Great pics, Natty!!! Glad to see "Team Pocket Rocket" performed so well!!! Too cool!!!:coolgleam

[kek25]

Nice report and photos Natty. Looks like an A+++ operation your hosts have going out there, and what a great opportunity for a young dog (and bird hunter(s) alike).

I've said it before; there is definitely a field bred English Cocker in my future. Thanks for posting.

And love that great white buffalo!

[gab]

Looks like you had a great time. Good looking dogs!!! Thanks for the post.

[Merimac]

Fat chance getting me to stand next to that buffalo.

Looks like you had a great time.

[2ESRGR8]

NB,
How about a little detail on what the cover is like where you hunt? Is it wide open spaces of unbroken grasses or is it narrow ditch type stuff, creek bottoms(you mention)?
Could you hunt the pocket rockets in big grass fields if that is all you had available?
Thanks for the report, I hear those cackling birds calling my name again....maybe next fall.

[Defensemens dad]

Great pics! Was in SD Nov 17-22 hunting just WIA and other state areas. Plenty of birds. Took our 2yr old lab his full sister who is 8 mos old. Both did a great job on the birds. The 8 mos old came back a hunting dog.

Our first time there, we will go back.

[NATTY BUMPO]

Great pics! Was in SD Nov 17-22 hunting just WIA and other state areas. Plenty of birds. Took our 2yr old lab his full sister who is 8 mos old. Both did a great job on the birds. The 8 mos old came back a hunting dog.

Our first time there, we will go back.

DD,

I enjoyed your post on your trip out there too. Glad to hear re the great progress your Lab pup made- concentrated exposure to cover and those wily birds makes the "light bulb" come on much sooner for young dogs.

And as an aside, IMHO Labs are THE DOG for the several places where I've hunted all over Eastern SD. Steep ditchbanks and pond banks, huge plum thickets, cattail sloughs, wetlands, chest high setaside places, big thick shelterbelts etc, etc need a big, powerful dog to handle them really well. Lightly hit roosters can be a bit of a struggle for smaller dogs to subdue. Made to order for a good Lab strained to quarter and whistle sit. If we lived out there, we'd have Labs, no doubt.

NB

[wingmaster12]

looks like u had a blast, u have some beutiful dogs there, im hoping to one day make the trip out there with me dogs.

[Steelheadfred]

Looks like a great time Natty!

[NATTY BUMPO]

NB,
How about a little detail on what the cover is like where you hunt? Is it wide open spaces of unbroken grasses or is it narrow ditch type stuff, creek bottoms(you mention)?
Could you hunt the pocket rockets in big grass fields if that is all you had available?
Thanks for the report, I hear those cackling birds calling my name again....maybe next fall.


Scott,

There wasnt a whole lot of CRP where we hunted- some but not alot.
The rancher has a six year rotation on his crops; corn, soybeans, corn, spring wheat, winter wheat, and then alfalfa.

The corn was just finishing being harvested when we arrived. We hunted with a group of farmers where they were finishing getting the corn out one day and the number of birds which came out of those remaining corn strips was simply unbelievable. It reminded me of stories my dad told about hunting out there around Mitchell "after the war", as in WWII.

So there were lots of big, open empty fields but they were surrounded by thick hedgerows of native grasses, tumbleweeds, etc. Also some large pieces (80 +) of native grasses along watercourses and in areas too rough to plow. Lots of big, deep crrek bottoms too. Team Pocket Rocket is trained to quarter E-W and always within 25 yds or so. They were on strange ground and wanted to keep track of us most of the time. Fortunarely, the whistle signals still worked in the completely different cover in SoDak land.

Also small woodlots, thick hedgerows, shelterbelts with conifers and deciduous, and habitat improvement areas planted with all manner of shelter type and food bearing shrubs and trees. These were set back away from the roads to protect them from the "road hunters". I came away impressed in the way these folks take care of the land and plant for the future too. Much of it was linear type cover made to order for Team PR. A nice thick hedgerow and ditch next to a picked cornfield was a winner- every time. Some of our best shooting however came when we did the old 2-4 man pincher maneuver on some roosting cover in the last hour of daylight.

And I'll add one more thing and not looking to start a war here. But four guys from Oklahoma with a F350 and a dog box filled with big pointers showed up the day after we started hunting. Great guys and serious quail hunters. They had dogs bred back to Yellow Rose, Elhew, Barshoe, Miller, Riggins White Knight and other luminaries. Big tall dogs that could flat out fly. A new friend from AL hunted with them all four days. At the end of the trip, he asked me about our dogwork and I responded with "Well, how many birds did you see shot over points". His answer was "maybe one or two". He came without a dog so he didnt have any skin in the game. If you hunted alot of CRP or after a big snow, I'm sure those birds would sit for points better. And, as always, YMMV

Natty B.

[Buddwiser]

Looks like you had a great time Rod. Just how did that farmer feed the bull a sugar cube? Kinda looks like he is trying to climb on top of the tractor, not that I blame him. :lol: You don't realize how big those things are until you're right next to them.

[2ESRGR8]

Good stuff Natty, sounds as if you had the right "tools" for the job.
I experienced the same thing first year I went to Kansas. Best cover was lucky to be knee high and most of it barely covered your boots because long droughts the grass simply did not grow. I think we shot two birds over points on that trip.

[Back woods]

Great story and pic's Rod. Thanks for sharing.


Bruce

[Bear Creek]

Great pictures Natty, is the LW dog a ECS as well? I've heard the story about Rocky but didn't know about Scouty. Looks like a great time. My brother was out for the opener but I think a little further SW of you. Saw birds but not tons of them. The crops were still all standing.

Sounds like those guys from OK hand some really high power dogs. With them names you mentioned they'd be luck to keep them in the same county!! Definitely big running prairie dogs!! I'll never give up on the pointers but they have there limits as well. And by the sounds of the cover you were hunting it wouldn't be ideal for any pointing dog. Thanks for sharing.

BC

I think there is a song about that Great White Buffalo, by non other than the Motor City Madman!!

[NATTY BUMPO]

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

BC-

Partridge Run Scout is a L&W fieldbred English Cocker. He goes just over 30# and if often mistaken for a small ESS. His markings are very similar to a Springer's. But the action in the field is quite different between the two breeds.

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/photopost/data/544/Scout_01.jpg


The OK guys were hard core quail hunters and had family land and many connections down around Ardmore. Those were some real nice dogs alright and were all broke. And they did range out several hundred yards most of the time. We were there into the third week of the season and it was all wild birds. I would have loved to see them on quail. Horses for courses.
BTW, it was their first trip to SoDak land and I hear they are going back in December!

NB

[Bear Creek]

Partridge Run Scout is a L&W fieldbred English Cocker. He goes just over 30# and if often mistaken for a small ESS. His markings are very similar to a Springer's. But the action in the field is quite different between the two breeds.

Both good looking dogs. But I would have swore he was an ESS!! ;) By action in the field do you mean speed or ground coverage? Just curious, I'd love to pick your brain sometime about the two breeds.

Sounds like the Pointer guys must have enjoyed themselves or they wouldn't go back in Dec. I bet they would be a site to see on quail!!!

BC

[omega58]

Great pics and great looking dogs. . . and very cool to see a great white buffalo. . .the song automatically starts playing in your head.

[GSP Gal]

Rod, what great pictures and story to match! Looks like great fun!

[2PawsRiver]

Great story and pics, thanks for taking us along.:)

[Wellston]

The bird hunting was just great but the very best part of the trip was the people we met in SoDak land. Absolutely the very best folks in the world and completely tuned into our hunting heritage. Visiting hunters are a very important part of the economy out there and they love to show off their sporting opportunities.

Thanks for the report and pictures. That is one trip that I would like to make before to long.
Jim

[browndog49735]

rod,glad you made it back and it looks like you had a great time.