Another Pheasant Fest Show is in the books and planning is underway for the 2014 show that will be held in Milwaukee, WI. This year’s show marked the 30th Anniversary of the Pheasants Forever organization and, rightfully so, was brought back to their home in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. South Dakota was proud to have an overwhelming presence again at the show with the “South Dakota Pavilion.” The pavilion was made up of 24 booths with 16 different partners. Ourpartners ranged from statewide tourism entities, hunting lodges, hunting accessory and outdoor businesses.
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Roughly 28,000 people attended the 3-day show and after talking with our partners it was definitely one of the best trade shows we have attended. The Midwest states rely heavily on one another to support each other’s economies and we all know pheasant hunting contributes to a large part of South Dakota’s economy. Our residents thrive on the tradition of pheasant hunting and understand the difficulties that lie ahead of us with conservation efforts. Working side by side with organizations like Pheasants Forever is one way our great state can assure we stay number one in the pheasant hunting industry. Working together we are assuring the younger generations will have similar hunting opportunities that we have grown up with.
The South Dakota Department of Tourism would like to thank all of the South Dakota businesses that attended Pheasant Fest 2013 and helped shine a light on the great outdoor opportunities South Dakota has to offer. A special thanks also to Josh Spies (artist), Benny Spies (host of Gun-It outdoor show) and Jason Makkula (owner/operator of Bank Brewing Co.) for donating items for our “South Dakota Prize Package Giveaway.”
One advantage about living in Pierre is our Canadian goose season stays open until the third weekend of February. We are part of “Section 2” that runs along the river and allows us to shoot these average tasting creatures into February. This past Friday I had Gary Howey (host of Outdoorsmen Adventures) and team members Larry Myrhe and Tom Mitchell up for a little goose hunting. Unlike the more popular “Section 1” in the state, “Section 2” always has plenty of left-over non-resident waterfowl tags available. These tags can be bought online or over the counter when you arrive and are good for any private land hunt.
We gathered about 8am Friday morning at Steffen Brothers Expeditions hunting lodge to set out for some late season honkers. It took a good hour to get the decoy spread put out. Once finished we pulled the trucks and trailers away and jumped in to the pit. It wasn’t more than 5 minutes before we had the first group of geese coming into our decoys. “Take ’em!”, our pit captain Paul Steffen yells out, and just like that we had our first five geese on the ground. A little embarrassed to say this after living in Pierre for the past 6 years but it was my first Canadian goose kill, head shot of course! It wasn’t long and another large group of geese ate us up and we dropped another four; 15 minutes in the pit and we had 9 on the ground. It wasn’t going to take long to fill our 15-bird limit at this rate.
It was constant action the whole morning as we picked off 6 more and enjoyed watching some of the groups land in our decoys to assure we got plenty of video to tell the story of the day. My wife probably won’t enjoy the same amount of enthusiasm for my new found love but I think I can expect to be back in a goose pit in the near future!
This last week I had the priviledge to be considered an “expert” in pheasant hunting. Those of you who have seen me shoot will know that is far from the truth but I do know how to look the part in the field! Please take a minute and read a blog post by Bob St. Pierre, Vice President of Marketing at Pheasants Forever and Co-host of FAN Outdoors radio on KFAN. I loved the idea of this post that I had to share it on our site as well. Enjoy.
http://www.pheasantblog.org/go-to-gear-of-the-pheasant-hunting-experts/
Someone once told me you burn an average of 550 calories for every hour of snowshoeing. I, for one, had never tried snowshoeing, so when it was an activity option on a work trip I decided to try it out. Mount Roosevelt was our challenge that day; eight of us strapped on the shoes and started up the trail. The road to the top isn’t maintained during the winter months so its perfect for a winter hike. It wasn’t long into the trek and I realized why so many people enjoy doing it; the peacefulness of the woods surrounded the group as we moved along the trail watching for wild life. There were some deer in the distance watching us “tackle” the trail to the top as did the wild turkeys in the valley below. We weren’t going to set any records getting to the top but with the sun shining, little to no wind, and the temperatures close to 40 degrees, there was no hurry to go anywhere. The slot machines in Deadwood would have to wait a couple hours for our group to return.
When we finally reached the top we were pleasantly surprised by a 32-foot tower. Not knowing that there was anything at the top, besides a great view, we pushed on to the tower to check it out. This tower is referred to as “Friendship Tower” and was put here as a memorial to Theodore Roosevelt. The Tower was Seth Bullock’s idea and it was dedicated on July 4th, 1919.
On this day I was lucky enough to survive the hike, discover something new in the area and got to enjoy the beauty of the Black Hills National Forest. Oh, and burning all those calories!
In my mind one of the best kept secrets of the Black Hills National Forest is the Mickelson Trail. Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of locals and tourists that utilize this amazing trail, but just think about how many visitors come out to see Mount Rushmore and never leave the car to explore the Black Hills? To really experience the beauty one needs to strap on the hiking boots or dust off the cross-country skis and take a day to explore the trail.
This 109-mile trail, an old Burlington Northern rail line runs through the heart of the Black Hills from Deadwood to Edgemont. The trail has over 100 converted bridges and 4 rock tunnels that align with the limestone and gravel mixed path. The fourteen accessible trail heads along the route allow travelers a nearby entry no matter which city they are staying in. The trail is open to the public ($3 daily pass or $10 annual pass) for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and horseback riding.
I personally have brought in a handful of outdoor writers to experience the trail and I have never heard a negative remark about it. Deservingly so, the Mickelson Trail was inducted into the Rails-To-Trails Hall of Fame in 2010. If you get a chance the next time you are visiting the Black Hills area make sure to leave a couple hours in your day to enjoy the outdoors on this wonderful trail.
For more information on the trail visit http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/mickelson-trail/
South Dakota’s population went up tremendously over the weekend, for a 48-72 hour period anyway. Thousands of out-of- state hunters and in-state hunters flocked to their favorite place to shoot the Chinese Ringnecked Pheasant. Last year, South Dakota welcomed just shy of 97,000 out-of- state hunters, throw another 70,000 in-state hunters into the mix, and you soon realize how important that beautiful bird is to our economy. Pheasant hunting is a family tradition that dates back to 1908. It was in the small town of Redfield that it all started and it has being growing ever since.
My opening day started with a cup of coffee, one too many donuts and some socializing with my wife’s family as we gathered to start the day’s hunt near Presho. This chunk of land is dedicated to pheasant habitat and is graciously shared with friends and family.
It didn’t take long to get back in the swing of things. Shortly into the first field, the sounds of “HEN”, “ROOSTER” and the dreaded “STILL A ROOSTER” were hollered as a few pheasants escaped the first encounter of the year. For once, I can say that wasn’t me on our first walk. But not to worry, Federal Ammunition, my bird to shot-gun shell ratio wasn’t very good on this day! Opening day wasn’t as successful as years past. We harvested 23 roosters, as always it was a great time had by all. Unfortunately, I don’t I remember any of my brothers-in-law missing more birds than I, oh well some things will never change!
Remember how last year the state was supposedly wiped out of pheasants? Well it appears the hunters throughout the state found a few birds to shoot at, 1.55 million pheasants were harvested last year in South Dakota. Yes, 1.55 million in a “down” year! South Dakota is to pheasant hunting as Argentina is to dove hunting, no one can compete and we promise you will enjoy your stay! Book you hunt now at www.huntinsd.com, oh and don’t forget to sign up to win a hunt with Minnesota Twins legends Kent Hrbek and Tim Laudner.
Check out every states pheasant forcast here:
http://www.pheasantsforever.org/page/1/2012forecast.jsp
The long, anticipated wait for the dove opener has come and gone. I was fortunate enough to hunt with some buddies, south of Onida, opening morning. After a coffee and a few phone calls to help some of those buddies get out of bed, we all met at the Gross Farm hoping to fire some lead into the sky. There were eight of us so we selected to break into groups of two and work different areas. We all primarily worked areas of small grain fields with a water source nearby.
I definitely cleaned out the barrel on this day and should probably begin to buy some stock in Federal Ammunition. I believe we ended with just over 100 birds on this beautiful South Dakota morning but if we examined my shooting percentage I think it would be fair to say the doves still won the battle. With plenty of days left in the season I’m not sure they will win the war though!
Here are a few video clips and pictures from our day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xycI3VfDB40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VesqcK7u_9E&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l8OghBOIlY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1oYLoQ6a4w
The normal “after the hunt” discussion!
Guest blog by Brad Heidel, Pheasants Forever “Gun Shop” Columnist
I spent some time coming up with one word to define the Remington 870. What came to mind was “venerable.” To save you the trouble of looking up the word, as I had to do, here’s the definition: ven·er·a·ble adj \ˈve-nər(-ə)-bəl, ˈven-rə-bəl\a: calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments <a venerable jazz musician>; broadly: conveying an impression of aged goodness and benevolence, Venerable describes the Remington 870™ perfectly. Brought to the sporting market in 1950 this pump-action shotgun has been a favorite for 62 years with almost no changes other than aesthetic. On April 13, 2009, the 10,000,000th 870™ was produced. It holds the record for the best-selling shotgun in the world, making it the all time champion. If the Model 870™ were introduced today, it would be hailed as a major advance in pump-action shotgun design – the ultimate in strength, durability, silky-smooth bind-free action and sleek classical lines. Most of you have likely gone afield with a Remington 870™ at some time in your life. For many, the Express model could have been our first shotgun, with a few guns in-between. Today, many have come full circle and have upgraded their love of the 870™ with a beautiful new Wingmaster. Remington currently makes 27 different variations of the 870 to allow hunters to specialize this pump gun for many types of quarry or sport or personal defense. You can find a specific 870 for pheasant, deer, turkey, waterfowl or the range. The simplicity of the Remington 870 creates such a reliable firearm that it is used by over 18 armed forces around the world and countless police departments. My personal “full circle” came this past fall in the fields just south of Pierre, South Dakota one beautiful autumn morning when PF’s Joe Duggan pulled a stunning new 870 from its case. We thought we would get tuned up before the South Dakota Governors hunt hosted by Governor Dennis Daugaard. It was a high grade 20 gauge Wingmaster with a gloss finish he had won at a Pheasants Forever Build A Wildlife Area event. We were not in the field very long before I asked to give it a try. The gun was light and shouldered quickly. As you can imagine, I was thrilled with this firearm. Just carrying the gun brought me back to days spent hunting waterfowl with my brothers in Green Lake, Wisconsin. When a rooster flushed in front of me, it was as if I had been shooting this 870 my entire life. My old friend had come home!
For those in the market for a new pump-action shotgun, I strongly recommend you look at the venerable Remington 870. Over 10 million users can’t be wrong.
