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This is the first day and the very first Pheasant for my girlfriend Amie Ivey.

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This is Peaches and I the first day .

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This is the end product of the first days hunt.

Originally we had 22 people going to join us on this hunt but all backed out for one reason or another . ( Now all most all of them want to go )

My girlfriend Amie Ivey and I left here in Missouri at 4 PM on Friday the 12th of Oct. heading out after work expecting to arrive around 6:30 on Sat morning well we were alot more worn out than I had expected we didnt make it to the hunting area untill 10:30 that morning , I had wanted to hit the Grouse before chasing the Phesants.

We headed back to the area that the Indian guides had taken us before and sure enough the Grouse were there in abunance , but during the whole trip we just could not get up on them for the Sentry Bird always fouled it up for us , I should think we seen more Grouse on this trip than we did going to Canada something to the tune of 200-300 birds all in one area but try as we might we chased them all day long and still didnt get up on them close enough to kill a bird, I like chasing them but Amie said she didnt care as much about hunting them as she did the Pheasants she admited later on ( we didnt shoot one that is why but we sure did get the exercise ).

The photos above showes the outcome of the first day I killed 2 birds and Amie got her first Pheasant ever.

We were shooting the Marlin 90 16 ga with the 1400fps 3/4 OZ 7 1/2 shot that day and all the shots were short range with the longest being 25 yards

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Looks like a great trip Charles.

As for the grouse, I had exactly the same problem when hunting in SD for them in Oct a few yrs back. Once they get in big coveys, no chance for a shot. They would flush 50 to 100 yds in front of us or the dogs. I shot exactly one bird and my son had a couple of chances but didn't connect. I now hunt grouse in Sept before they covey up.

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This is the result of the second day , thinking that we could only take 3 birds apiece we ended up with 6 Pheasants and 1 Partridge.

I had contacted Jeff Kelly the Director of the Game and Fish for the Reservation that week asking if they had changed the bag limit like they had done the year before to 5 birds a day and a possesion of 15, he didnt get back with me so I thought that was the answer it was 3 birds a day as the website said .

So we hunted the moderate population areas and came up with our 6 birds with no problem and a Hun as a kicker.

The next day on Monday we went to visit Jeff at Fort Yates where we finally put a face to the name and I ask when they were going to open the bag limit to 5 a day like they did last year , He said we have and went and picked up a paper with the dates and bag limits on it and told me the dates were wrong they missed them by a year 2006-2007 not the 2007-2008 I found out the Indians have good intentions and a wonderful heart but have poor follow through , so it was 5 birds a day all along the website having not been updated due to lack of funds and such.

This day I had Amie shoot a varity of loads and observed the same results that Ben and I had on the last trip , The Winchester 1 OZ of 6's crippled birds at range as did the Federals but here we go again the Remington 1 OZ of 6's the load I didnt even want to try performed for Amie very well indeed with no crippling observed with this load ( OK BEN I WILL ADMIT I WAS WRONG NOT TO CONSIDER THIS LOAD IN THE BEGINING IT DOES PERFORM WELL INDEED )

Just will not keep up with the 1400fps 7 1/2 3/4 OZ load but runs a close second , To Bens dismay ( having to buy more doughnuts for another bet he is about to loose ) we are sending to Tom Armbrust some more loads for testing I would like a 1550 fps 3/4 OZ load at 10,500 psi or less I think I will have it done with these concoctions were sending off . ( mmmmm I can taste the cup of Tea and the Jelly filled Doughnuts now )

As for the Remington 1 OZ of 6's ,
I will have to take some time to cut some apart , put them over the chrony , shoot some targets at long range and see just what makes them tick.

Will post more later

Regards Charles

Guest

Guest

Nice pics of your hunt. You mentioned all of the people that backed out at the last minute due to "other matters". I don't know the financial situation arrangements that you had made with the reservation re. guide and access fees. I know of a few reservations that I've been on that do not have the ability to get funds from other sources (ie casino) are very dependent upon using their property for hunting and fishing. If I have to plan any trip that involves any money to exchange hands and to further improve my future relationships with the property owners, I make all interested participants make their payments to me several weeks ahead of time. I have had past experiences when planning a trip where the people that don't come up with the money are usually the ones that flake at the last minute. It's funny when you have to pay cash up front that you get the big talkers to keep on walking....

Have more great shoots on that reservation...

Yes Twice Barrel it is the Black Remington Game Loads in 1 OZ 6's to my shock for I shot the 8's on trap and was not impressed at all but these 6's are quite something else on birds if I had to pick a factory shell to shoot it would be these for long range birds in all the guns we have tried them in ,

Hello Terry :

No the Reservation tags are only $75 for the season and you have 1.5 million acres to hunt on and do not need a guide for the Pheasants the things are every where , now the Grouse are another matter I needed a Guide to find any numbers. But just the one time is all and now I will go on my own after finding the locations to go .

Everyone had Children , Elderly and Business issues come up it was not the Money at all , this is a very cheap trip to go to the Reservation the Motel rooms at the Casino are only $45 a night for two and after the 3rd day it drops to $39 a night for two with lots of perks to go along with that rate as well , we were given a $11.63 meal ticket and $15 cash back for just showing up what a deal never stayed so cheap before.

Gotta go My sister and I are going out to celibrate our birthdays just a few days apart and have been doing this for 35 years or so, will post more later

Regards Charles

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This is Amie and I with 9 Pheasants and 1 Hun.

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This is Amie with the last bird for a 10 bird limit , as you can see Peach is none too happy she wants to be with me and not poseing for a Picture ( Smiling)

The last day as I mentioned we didnt get to hunting till a wee bit after noon , we were visiting with Jeff Kelly all morning .

The day was bird filled to put it mildly , with Amie in the Middle of them almost everytime but not putting too many down , shooting a bit and finally connecting with a few , this is when we took the Pic of the 9 birds about 4 PM and was one shy with her getting shots but also getting a bit frustrated ( Smiling real Quiet like ) at 5:50 I ask her if she wanted to take another pass up in a cut corn field , she said no but she would do it just the same ( She was plumb worn out , and I was as well ) but I dont give up .

So we made another pass with Hens getting up for me everytime Peach would point No Roosters then about 6:20 it was getting late I heard 2 shots and shortly afterwards a big Warhoop Amie had the 10th bird missing the bird with the first barrel and picking it up with the second .

I hate to even think about if she had missed that last bird , ( Amie is very Athletic and very driven when it comes to a sport of any kind ) she was all joy so that is what the last Pic is all about .

The 10th bird and bird for the limit sure got her wound up and she cannot wait to get back to the Dakotas on the 3rd of November .

PS I was so proud of her , I will tell you a little story .

Amie and I have been dating for 3 years now , she invited me to a 4rth of July Celibration in her hometown about 100 miles north of here , after the festivities her brothers wanted to go shoot hand trap , well its not much of a challenge for me so I declined to shoot , but was eager to see what Amie could do , ( I took her Turkey Hunting and she killed a Gobbler in the spring ) well she could not hit a blamed thing .

I made the statement to her brothers and she has 6 I think that is the right number if I got that wrong I am in trouble but I think its 6 , well anyhow I said she would , ( WAX THEM ALL NEXT YEAR) they laughed a bit at that .

Well the next year came about and she was ready she didnt miss a target and picked up the birds her brothers missed (QUITE SMILE HERE) The ask if I had gotten her into the Dove Fields , we said no but that was a thing to do .

Now of course she shot the Marlin 90's when doing this and this summer when I aquired the Darne's I thought that would be a good quail gun for her , did I miss the boat she could not hit the broad side of a barn with the things , this give Ben more food for thought concerning the Darne.

Well we are eager to get back to the Dakota's for more fun with the Pheasants and perhaps the Grouse as well I am hooked on them Sharpetail I do enjoy hunting them they are a challenge with the Pheasants just something to shoot when we cannot find the Grouse , but Amie sure likes the Pheasants but not the Grouse , I sure hope she can kill a Grouse and change her mind about them .

Regards Charles

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Member Joined: 06 Nov 2006 Posts: 128 Location: NE

Charles, it sounds like a great hunt.
I know how tough it can be to get close enough to the large flocks of sharptails or prairie chickens after they have been chased a time or two. It is really frustrating when they flush just a little out of range and then fly for a 1/2 mile or more.
Last weekend I got into some that hadn't been shot at yet this year and was able to walk right into the middle of the flocks. Would have had time to reload and shoot a couple more each time. The dumb ones sure are easy, but they smarten up real quick.

berg

Hello Berg :

It takes a few times and boy they are ready for you indeed , have lots to learn about the Sharptail but fortuanly I am a quick study and learn every time I get into them . I do love to hunt this bird though ,

Regards Charles