South Dakota Pheasant Hunting

At Maple River Pheasant Hunts we do periodic breeding of our Brittanys.  Since we need to keep young, active dogs in our line up we end up having  litter every second or third year.  When breeding we have standards that we have set   First and foremost is temperment.   Dogs become a part of the family   We want them to fit right in as a loving, good tempered, obedient companion!   Secondly, we breed for hunting ability.  We choose proven and titled champion lines for our studs.   We only breed our best females here at Maple River as we want to duplicate what we already have!  Third, we follow the standards for the Brittany breed.  We do have some things we prefer within those physical standards.  We like the dark orange almost auburn color rather than the lighter orange (It seems like the white stands out so much brighter against that darker color).  We prefer a shorter tighter coat.  We look for a longer legged dog.  The Maverick line has a specific head marking which we try to duplicate as well.

We realize that once our pups leave home, we trust the new owners will provide them with everything they need to grow up into the great family and hunting dog they expect.   We’ve included here a letter we sent out with our last litter to the new owners.  As a new dog owner of any breed, we hope this will help you with your new pup. 

Yip! (Hi),

I am excited to become a new member of the family! 

In fact, most things excite me these days as there is so much to see, smell and explore.   I can go, go, go but then I have to take a quick nap so I can go at it again.  I love to play and exercise! Sometimes I can get so excited that I start to bite.  I hear that’s natural for puppies.  We are not discriminating, a hand, foot or shoe is just the same as a toy.  But, if you keep giving me toys or chews and gently redirect me, I can make the change.  

Because the weather has been so cold and rainy this spring, we spent our first 4 weeks in the house.  It was nice, warm and safe.   Once we started to climb out of our box (and we became poopers extraordinaire‘s), we were moved out to our own kennel with a dog house big enough to hold all 12 of us.  We have  a tarp over the top of the kennel for shade, to keep us dry and to keep us safe from predators.   I like the shelter of my own kennel/dog house (or special place) when I sleep or need a time out.  The first few days after I leave my mom and litter mates may be tough.  I may sleep better if I have plenty of exercise, a safe, cozy place to curl up and a ticking clock or music near me. I will make the transition once I get used to it.

When I was  2 weeks old I got supplements of Calf Milk Replacement and Colostrum along with my mom’s milk.  At 4 weeks old, my mom was tired of us chasing after her, so we were started on Purina Puppy Chow moistened with water and Calf Milk Replacement.   Now I eat Purina Puppy Chow either moistened or dry.  If you feed me about 3 times a day and keep me in fresh water, I will continue to grow up healthy and strong.

I am getting used to all kinds of noises, smells and sights.  I still get startled at loud noises I don’t know.   During the 4th of July fireworks season, please don’t let anyone scare me by setting off fireworks too close to me.  I need time and proper introduction to these loud noises.

I will need some obedience training and consistent re-direction to help me grow up to be a well behaved dog. Right now I’m too little for formal education but over the next few months I will learn a lot of things from  spending time with you.  Right now when I hear clapping and a nice voice, I come running for a little attention.   If you put me outside often, I’ll soon learn when and where to go to the bathroom .  When we go for walks, I will enjoy the opportunity to explore and get some exercise but this will also help me with ranging and checking in with you, to get familiar with your voice /whistles and to start understanding some simple commands.  At six months old, there are places that offer puppy school if you want to get some help with other basic obedience commands.  Reinforce my good behavior with lots of praise and pets!!!! I am a smart puppy so I should learn quickly with loving, consistent training. 

My basic instinct to hunt will be very strong.  I will likely show you some of these instincts over the next months.  If you give me things to carry around and play “fetch” with me, that will help with my retrieving in the future.  If you have any wings or feathers,  I may start to point!  In fact, I may point at everything I can: cats, squirrels, birds, turtles, grasshoppers anything that moves!  If you get me into tall grass, woods and water I will learn how to master getting through and over all kinds of terrain plus I get exercised at the same time.  To get used to gun noise, please shoot them in the distance the first few times, then gradually shoot them closer to me.  For more information, there are training videos and books available that cover puppy obedience basics and  pointing puppy preparation for the field.  One you may want to check out is:  Training Pointing Dogs, by George Hickox. This can be purchased online at: LCSupply.com

This fall I want to hunt with you!  I am young, so I may not do everything right away.  The best thing to do if possible this hunting season, is to take me out alone with you.  This will teach us a lot about each other.  In the beginning, if there are a lot of other people and dogs around, I might get too distracted to listen or I’ll want to follow them!!!! I’m a rookie, with tons of potential!!!!   I want you to be happy with me, but I’ll likely make lot’s of mistakes while I’m learning.  Be patient and correct me gently.

There are also some great training schools I can attend, that will help me become a great hunting dog when I’m a little older.  My mom, half brother and sister all went to Willow Creek Kennels for training.  John and Cathi were very pleased with the results!  If you want to send me to their alma mater call Chad and Jodie Hines at 1-320-360-3603.

Included with this letter is official information about me that you will want to keep on file.

Pedigree information:  This is all about my mom Maie and my dad Bull.  They come from great bloodlines which means I have a lot’s of good things bred into me that will make me a great hunter and nice family dog. 
Vaccination information:  My first shots and first worming were done on June 23, 2008 at Pequot Lakes Vet Clinic.  At the time I got my shots (OW!), the vet checked me over and said I was a very healthy and strong puppy. I have a clean bill of health!!!! You will need to go back for more wormer (Strongid Suspension) as I need two more doses over the next two weeks.  My next shots will be due when I’m 10-12 weeks old.  You can also put me on heartworm medication and flea/tick preventative at that same time.
AKC registration application:   Please register me with AKC.  You never know when this registration will come in handy for both of us.
If you have any questions, concerns or you just want to brag about how great I am John and Cathi want to know.   Please call any time to talk about me!!!  Their phone numbers are:  Cell  507-271-2474  SD phone 605-329-2790                                                                                                                                                    E-mail: mapleriverph@yahoo.com

I am a hunting dog but most importantly I will be a loving and loyal family pet.  I can’t wait to become part of the family!  Remember, I will always love you so please give me the same in return.
With excited anticipation,
Your newest addition!!!
 

We have a group of awesome Brittanys at Maple River Pheasant Hunts.  Our Brittanys hunt almost every day, all day, with enthusiasm, energy and exhuberance.   After our hunters have spent the day hunting with our dogs, they often ask, ” how do I get the most out of my hunting dog?”  After pondering this question, we realized that there isn’t just one answer.  There isn’t one thing we do, there are many things we do that helps us to get the most out of our dogs.  

First and foremost is spending time with our dogs every day.  Time spent together builds a bond of loyalty and trust.  Once this bond is established the foundation is there for further formal training and conditioning. 

Have some fun with your dog and get to know his or her personality and abilities.  Fetch is fun for your dog and reinforces an essential hunting skill you want to build.  It also gives your dog some needed exercise.  Another game we play with our dogs is hide and seek.  We do this in a couple of ways.  We’ll hide a toy or bone, then tell them to go find it.  They tear all over the house in pursuit of the prize.  What a great way for them to use their noses to locate and to begin to understand the command to ”find”.  The other hide and seek we play, is to hide ourselves.  They are so excited when they find us and of course their reward is some affection from us.  What we’ve discovered by playing this kind of hide and seek, is that the dogs don’t often let us out of their sight because they just aren’t sure when or how we’ll dissappear.   This will carry over into the field where you want your dog to always be paying attention to you.  There are so many ways to play with your dog.  Playing with your dog is fun and great for skill buiding.

Our pups give us many opportunities to work on obedience throughout the day.  Good obedience comes from reinforcement.  If you spend time with your dog, you will be giving them commands.  The more they hear you, the more they will understand what it is you want from them.  Come, sit, stay, heal, fetch are essential commands you want your dog to obey.  Informally, this starts from day one.  Use these commands consistently.  At 6-12 months a basic obedience class is well worth your time.  You will learn the proper ways of training, you spend time with your dog, it gives your dog a chance to work on socialization skills and it’s fun to spend time with other folks who love dogs.

When our pups reach a year old, we send them to “puppy hunting school” for a month.  Here they have the opportunity to get into birds many times a day.  The trainer can assess the pup’s potential and begin to work with the basics of hunting.  A well bred hunting dog will have all the instincts but getting them fine tuned is essential.  When the dog is ready to return home, the trainer will go through everything he has worked on with your dog and show you how to continue to work with him at home. When our pups get back from “school” they are excited about birds and hunting.   All that exposure has imprinted “birds” on their brain.  We strongly encourage finding a trainer who uses a variety of techniques and a gentle hand. 

This last one is our favorite!  Exercise your dog daily!   It’s good for your dog and it’s good for you!  If you can, find a safe area to let your dog run free.  Hunting dogs have loads of energy and allowing them to run for 30-60 minutes daily will help them to stay in shape and to keep them calm.  The other benefit of letting them run in grass/weeds/cattails, etc is this helps to get their nose, skin and feet pads toughened up.  This conditioning will have you and your dog ready for a challenging day of hunting in South Dakota habitat.

The time you put into your dog will be repaid over and over in the years ahead.   You’ll know you’ve gotten the most out of your hunting dog:  When your dog doesn’t let you out of their sight once he sees the hunting gear come out of the closet in the fall,  when they jump in the truck and won’t let you leave without them, when they cover every piece of habitat in search of birds, when they point/or flush the bird for you to shoot, when they bring back the bird proudly and lay it in your hand, when at the end of the day they hesitate to leave the field because they are sure there is one more bird out there to find, when they give you one more wag of their tail before falling into a deep sleep at the end of the day. 

Our B and B, MRPH Lodge in Frederick SD, housed a number of spring snow goose hunters this past March.  We work with a couple of waterfowl guides who do the outfitting and we provide the lodging and meals (if requested), and at times acquire the land for hunting. 

Snow goose hunting is intriquing.  The geese have been pushing their way north for weeks.  They are tired and hungry.  They are skittish.  They’ve been hunted their entire journey.  

When we are out scouting, we’ll see entire sections overtaken with thousands of snow geese.  The noise is deafening.  Just driving by these flocks, is often enough disruption to stir them up.   Their lift offs look like a cyclone in the sky!

Usually it’s about the 15th of March when we start to see the first flocks of snow geese come through.   The flocks increase in size and numbers over the next few weeks.  Each year is unpredictable as the weather plays a major factor in their movement.  This year we had been seeing good numbers of geese for days.   Thousands of geese were resting and feeding in the fields outside of town.   Then we had a sunny day with extreme wind (over 50 mph) from the northwest.   The geese didn’t move at all that day.  They were hunkered down/ beeks in their wings.  The next day the wind continued to blow but had switched and was coming from the south at about 30-40 mph. 

At about 5 PM that day, the wind died down.  Every flock in the area took flight and headed north.  Wave after wave of flocks kept moving.  We have never seen so many birds in the air at one time.  Everywhere you looked, the sky was covered with long lines of birds.  Some low, some high, some small flocks, mostly large flocks  all moving northward.  It was a sight to see!

We weren’t sure if this was their final move out of our area or not.  Were they just moving feeding grounds or actually continuing their migration north?  Over the next days, we had the answer.   All of those geese had moved out of the area.   More flocks continued to migrate from the south but not nearly in the numbers we had previously seen.  

At MRPH B and B, our specialty is fall pheasant hunting.   We’ve enjoyed our involvement with the snow goose hunters and the outfitters in the spring. If you are looking for pheasant hunting or a water fowling experience in either the fall or spring give us a call.  We can get you connected. 

The 2009-10 winter in the Frederick, South Dakota area was tougher than what we have experienced in the past 10 years.  Early blizzards left us record inches of snowfall for the season.  Yet, the pheasants survived quite well on many of the hunting grounds used by Maple River Pheasant Hunts

In early March, John and Cathi, checked a number of the hunting fields and found that the brood stock was in very good shape.  The birds were still finding enough food and cover to keep them healthy.  The weather warmed enough early in March to start melting the deep snow.  We thought the spring migration of snow geese would be delayed because of all the snow but they showed up at their usual time on March 15th. Their arrival is a sure sign of Spring!

It’s now early April, the snow is gone, the temps are rising and the roosters and hens are in the early stages of getting ready for the nesting season.  The roosters are strutting around, showing off their plumage, fighting over territory and crowing at all times of the day.The hens are sticking together, waiting for the right amount of daylight and warmth to begin building their nests. The early signs are good for another excellent hunting season in 2010 at Maple River Pheasant Hunts in Frederick SD.  With a warm and dry spring and early summer we should have an excellent hatch of pheasant chicks.

Before you know it, another South Dakota pheasant hunting season will be here.  The 2010 opening day for South Dakota Pheasant Hunting is 12 noon on October 16th.  Maple River Pheasant Hunts will be ready to provide each and every hunter that hunts with us  memorable days in the field.  Our Brittany hunting dogs will be fine tuned and ready to go.   The birds will be ready to challenge us.  The beautiful landscape of northeastern South Dakota will embrace us.

Anyone wishing to book a South Dakota pheasant hunt for the 2010 pheasant hunting season, can contact mapleriverph@yahoo.com, 1-605-329-2790 or cell 1-507-271-2474. Call us with any questions or just to chat about hunting (we never tire of talking “pheasant hunting”).  We look forward to hearing from you!   Happy Hunting

Our Brittany, Sunny was an outstanding hunting dog and obedient companion.  A day spent with her in the field was as good as it gets……..until I would loose her. She was a dog totally focused on the hunt.  Once in awhile she’d get on a scent and suddenly she was on the go, oblivious to my whereabouts.   She quit hunting for me, and started hunting for herself.  No amount of calling her got her attention. Standing there yelling was not only fruitless, it was disturbing to the birds as well as my hunting partners.   

Thank goodness, one day my hunting partner had an extra electronic collar on hand after I had become frustrated with the dog.  I had battled using these thinking they were barbaric and cruel.  I felt my dog was to well trained to stoop to using one of these.  Well, my well trained dog was giving me fits!  

After a quick lesson on using the collar, Sunny and I set out into the next field.  I had the collar set low.  We actually hunted a couple more fields before she once again got going on another scent and forgot about me.   I called her back.  She didn’t respond.   I hit the button and it was just enough stimulation to get her to stop, look at me and come back and check in.  The next time she got out ahead and didn’t respond to my call, she got hit again.   I don’t think I ever had to hit the button again, that day or any day afterwards.  We had years of happy hunting thanks to the collar.

Collars have come a long way since my days in the field with Sunny.  With her and all the dogs we have had since Sunny, when the collar goes on, they are a different dog.  They love getting those collars on because they know they are going to do something they love to do. 

The collars we use pheasant hunting in South Dakota,  are equipped with beepers.  Beeper’s are essential for those who hunt with pointing dogs.   There are 3 different ways we can use the beepers on the collars.  They have a locate button.  We use this when we can’t see our dogs in heavy cover or they have gone farther than they can hear us.  The beeps range is about a mile, so we can get them to turn around without loosing our voice! There is a point only button.  This steady beep will only go off  when the dog is locked up on point.  That one is music to our ears!   Follow the beeping, find the dog and flush the bird!  The third choice is a steady beep.  We rarely use this as it’s just too much constant noise in the field.  We use this mostly when walking corn plots as the noise, plus dog and people movement, helps to get the birds stirred up and flying, hopefully over our blockers. 

99% of the time we get the results we want by just using the beepers. On those rare occassions when we’ve used the “zap” or “stimulation” it’s because we mean business and want an immediate response.  Examples of those times have been when our dogs have: chased a deer,  running after game towards the road, when they’ve encountered skunks and racoons in the field and when they’ve gotten aggressive with another dog.   This gives us the final say!  It sends a strong, no nonsense message to the dog that we are in control and we need their obedience and attention NOW.

 Unfortunately, we’ve seen the overuse and abuse of electronic collars as well.  There is really no excuse for this, as there are great training videos and instructions included in the package with the collars.   There are also classes that use collars as part of their training.   

We’ve also seen dogs that just don’t respond to the collar. They don’t respond to anything.  Maybe the collar had been used incorrectly for too long.  If that’s not the case then I’d  get you and your dog into  a good training program or if you have been trying to train your dog to no avail, then it’s time for a different dog! 

We, at Maple River Pheasant Hunts, have electronic collars on our brittanys every time we enter the field.  It’s an essential investment for us.  There are a number of systems out there to fit your needs.  They will cost you some money.  However, a good system, with good care, should last for the life of your dog. 

A day in the field, with your obedient dog, IS as good as it gets!

Our young Brittany, Juice, had just finished her rookie hunting season with a flair!  At 18 months this girl was everything we wanted in a hunting dog.  She covered the field well, she held her points, she brought every bird back she found, she had learned the fine art of finding down and wounded birds, she listened well in the field and every day she spent out there she just got better.  When the season ended, we breathed a sigh of relief that all of our brittanys had made it through the season with minimal injuries.   It’s tough work out there and is a miracle that the dogs don’t get injured more often.

That is why we were baffled, that the week after the pheasant hunting season ended, she was yelping in obvious pain.  We couldn’t really tell exactly where it was coming from.  We took her into the emergency room where the only thing this particular vet could come up with was a possible ACL tear in her knee.  We set up an x-ray for 10 days after she was to take anti-inflamitory meds.  An ACL didn’t seem like the problem since she wasn’t limping.  We canceled that appt and consulted with the large animal vet that we can use in our town for shots and small things.  His recommendation was to give her half a tab of aspirin and rest. He thought it was likely she had sustained an injury in rough play in the backyard. He’d seen dogs get better with this treatment. 

We kept her away from the other dogs for a week and on aspirin and she seemed better.  Once again, we put her out with the other dogs. She did fine for about a week.  The day before we were to leave on vacation,  she was back to yelping and in obvious pain.  We decided to take her with us, since there was no way the dog care folks could keep her isolated for the 3 weeks we were gone.  This way we could watch over her, keep her medicated and keep her calm.  Again, she seemed to improve.

Until…. we thought she was fine again and we took her out woodcock hunting in Louisiana.  She hunted enthusiastically all day without any sign of distress.   Later on that night when we let her out of the kennel, enthusiasm was gone and the pain was back.  This time we went to our host’s vet in Louisiana.   We had to quit quessing what it was.  This was obviously more serious than we had originally thought. 

They took x-rays of her spine.  From the x-rays, the vet thought it looked like she had compression of her back 3 vertabrae and a bone spur.   Another round of pain meds and anti-inflamatories were perscribed.  They did 2 laser treatments on the vertabrae.   They recommended no hard exercise, no hunting and increased isolation.  They also recommended that when we got home, we should have her see a vet chiropractor and accupuncturist.

The next two weeks of our vacation, Juice was up and down.  At times she seemed in less pain.  But overall, she was getting worse.  She had taken to crawling more than walking.  She just could not get comfortable.  I’d spend time massaging her back.  I tried Bio Freeze.  We were really getting worried.  We wondered if this injury was so bad that she may not hunt again.

The day after we returned from vacation, we found a vet chiropractor about 90 miles away from us.   She looked over the x-rays and did an exam.   She felt she could help her with just a few treatments. She also changed her meds to something less harmful to her stomach, a non-steroid anti-inflamatory.  We felt hopeful that we had found our answer.  A few days after her first treatment, we saw remarkable improvement.  When the chiropractor saw Juice two weeks later, she could see that she had really improved.  Another adjustment was made.  It looked like we wouldn’t have to bring her back for a month.  Juice continued walking around better, no crawling and she was getting up and down with minimal pain.   Then all of a sudden, she’s back to crawling instead of walking.  Her pain had increased tenfold.  For 7 days, we all spent sleepless nights and restless days as she was so agitated, yelping in pain, whining, unable to walk, sit, stand or lay down.  We felt helpless, nothing could comfort her.   We went back to the chiropractor the following Monday (she had been at a conference, so could not see her sooner).

Upon examination, she felt Juice had really gone backwards.   She made some adjustments. This time the adjustments only gave Juice minimal relief.  Within hours she was back to where she had been before we saw the chiropractor.   We were at wits end.   We called the vet we use to have back in MN for a consultation.  His recommendation was to go to the University of MN vet school, because they see all the unusual and hard cases.  They have the specialists. 

We called the U of Minnesota Vet School and Clinic to get an appointment. We were able to get into a neurologist the following day.  We loaded up Juice and drove the 5 hours to make our appt.   They examined our x rays and then examined Juice.  They told us what it could be.  It could be:  cancer of the spine, a severe disc injury or discospondylitis (staff infection of the spine).  We could x ray again.  We could do an MRI.  We would have to do something to get more information about what was going on.  We opted to first go with another x-ray, to compare it to the first onewe had and see what had changed.  What they found in the x-ray, would determine our next decision.

The neurologist examined the new x ray.  His preliminary diagnosis from looking at the x-ray was discospondylitis (staff infection in her spine). Her back vertabrae was fuzzy, not defined, thus indicating infection.   They prescribed a heavy regiman of pain killers and antibiotics.  The Neurologist said if this is it, we’ll see dramatic improvement by the end of the first week.   If no improvement is noted, then we’d have to have the MRI . The drive home was excruciating for Juice.  Every bump, every turn had her yelping. The meds couldn’t kick in soon enough!

We got home and got her going on the meds.  Every day we anxiously looked for signs of improvement. 3, 4, 5, days went by and we were not seeing the pain subside. By day 6, she seemed to be sleeping better.  By day 7, she quit yelping when she moved and when she got up and down.  By day 8 we were able to take her off the heavy narcotic pain med. 

At day 15, she is back to our happy, good natured, energetic pup that we know and love. It’s obvious that the diagnosis of Discospondylitis is correct.  She is showing dramatic improvement on the antibiotics. We have her down to just one mild pain pill in the AM and one at bedtime along with the antibiotics twice a day.  She is to stay on the antibiotics for another 4 weeks and can quit the pain meds as soon as she’s ready.  We are  to return to the U for another x ray after 4 weeks to determine how the vertabrae is healing. She also needs to be kept calm and isolated.  Her vertabrae is at risk of injury right now as it’s weakened from the infection.

Are we excited or what?   We had feared that if this didn’t work, that we may just have to put her out of her misery.  For the past 2.5 months all we could see was this great family and hunting dog deteriorate.  It looked like she was destined for a life of containment and pain if we kept her alive.  The vets we saw along the way, did their best to help her.  But she needed specialists.  We are so thankful we didn’t give up and took the advice to go to the University.  The Veterinary Schools have the specialists, the testing equipment and the expertise in tough cases like ours.  The small clinics don’t.   Getting the correct diagnosis and getting the correct treatment, in Juice’s case, has given her back a bright and long future.

You are working a cattail, a long CRP field or marching through rows of corn, you shoot a bird and the last thing you want after all that effort is to loose it.

Some days you will loose birds no matter what you do.   However, at Maple River Pheasant Hunts, we have found there are some things you can do to lessen your losses.   Here are some things to think about when you shoot a bird.

• Bring something along to mark the downed bird ; a cap, scarf, flagging tape, etc.
• When you see the bird get hit:   mark the spot you shot from before you move to the bird, as you may have to go back to that spot to reassess.
• mark the spot where the bird dropped/ note how the bird fell (is it wounded or dead?)  use landmarks in the field  i.e. it fell in the green area, it fell by the longest cattail, it was in line with the telephone pole, etc.
• if possible don’t take your eyes off the spot until you have gotten to it.
• when you get to the area you saw the pheasant drop, mark the spot again before you start to look for the bird. Once you start wandering around looking, it’s easy to loose your starting point, if you don’t have it marked.  It’s amazing how easy it is to loose your place as everything begins to look the same.

If there is a lot of bird action and you want to finish your push, mark the spot the bird dropped.  Then you can continue your drive knowing you can return later and look for the bird in the right area.

There are other factors that will affect you finding the bird.  If you have a dog that saw the bird drop and it get’s to the spot right away, your chances of finding your bird are greatly increased.  But if you are in heavy cover, you will need to do some things to help your dog out.   Mark where the bird dropped and get your dog to the spot as soon as you can.   If the bird is dead your dog should be able to find it quickly. However, if the bird is wounded and on the run, getting the dog to the scent asap will increase your chances of your dog tracking the bird.

The other thing that helps is not only you marking the bird but your fellow hunters can be a big help too.   Ask them to mark the bird for you as you walk to it and have them guide you in to where it dropped.  

Don’t give up!   Some birds just get away, but a hunt without many lost birds is a great hunt!  We always encourage folks to spend time marking, looking and finding their birds before moving on.   

Oct 21, 2006

South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Noon opener - Hunters present, Steve, Gary, Dale, Ben, Tim, Andy, John and Cathi. Dogs:  Maie, Cabo, Zac and Buddy.

The weather was perfect!  Overcast, cool and dry. 

We were set up and ready to go for our first push by 11:55.  We hunted corn strips most of the afternoon and picked up 3 to 4 birds with each push.  We had many opportunities to get more pheasants, but hey! we were all a bit rusty to start.  But having those extra opportunities to shoot, helped get us tuned up quickly.  We finished up the days, pushing a couple of small cats. 

What was great about our pheasant opener hunt is that everyone got a chance to shoot at a lot of birds and everyone pretty much got their own limit.  Birds were steady all day. The weather stayed cool enough so the dogs were able to stay strong all day. Had our limit in 4 hours!

 We look forward to another big pheasant hunting day today!    

If you haven’t hunted many pheasants, then some of the suggestions below may be helpful in making your South Dakota Pheasant Hunt work for you.

First and foremost, know the South Dakota rules and regulations regarding pheasant hunting. Game wardens do show up and ignorance will not get you off the hook!

You can only shoot roosters when wild bird hunting in South Dakota.  However, you will find at times you can’t identify a rooster or hen, due to lighting, direction, etc.  Therefore, always call out, hen or rooster if you can see what it is for the benefit of your pheasant hunting party and to ensure you don’t let a rooster get by or that you end up shooting a hen. 

Give the pheasant a chance to get out a bit. Shooting a bird at close range gets counted as part of your limit, but most of the time it ends up being unusable/inedible.

Decide before you start the day if each hunter will shoot their own limit or each hunter will work to get the groups limit or do a combination of both during the day. The limit is 3 pheasants a day.

Remember to carry water for you and your dog in the field.

We started to carry with us wire cutters after one of our dogs got caught in a snare trap.

Take care of yourself!  This is your ”day in the field”!  If you are tired, rest.  Cold, warm up.  Hot, cool down.  Hungry, eat. Thirsty, drink.

Maintain control of your dog.  Pheasant Hunting Dogs are brought on the hunt to find, point or flush and retrieve our birds. Out of control or aggressive dogs can ruin the hunt, a great dog can make the hunt!

Even great hunting dogs can make mistakes. Correction is expected, but excessive punishment is never acceptable.

Even the best hunters may not shoot so well some days. It’s easy to blame the dog, others in your party, your gun or whatever. If this is truly the case, try to resolve the problem.   Otherwise, let it go!!!  There are always other opportunities to shoot your limit in South Dakota.  Always remember that a tough day in the field is still better than a good day at work!!!

John and Cathi Jensen, Maple River Pheasant Hunts, Frederick, South Dakota.  www.mapleriverpheasanthunts.com

At Maple River Pheasant Hunts, we want every hunter to have a great hunt, but never at the expense of the other hunters or dogs in the field. Therefore, we expect that everyone that hunts with us, abides by specific pheasant hunting safety expectations.  Some of them are quite elementary, but we believe that it’s always good practice to review and agree to abide by these expectations before starting in the field.

1.  Blaze orange vests and/or hats are required.

2.  We ask that hunters wear some kind of eye protection which can include: sunglasses, perscription glasses or shooting glasses.

3.  No loaded guns in the vehicles. Guns may be transported uncased in South Dakota.

4.  Know where your gun is pointed at all times (while loading and unloading, carrying, shooting, etc).

5.  Gun must have the safety on at all times except when shooting a bird.

6.  Know where everyone in the field is at all times.

7.  No shooting pheasants on the ground.  Birds must be airborne. This is also good sportsmanship.

8.  Do not shoot low flying pheasants. Wait until birds are well above everyone’s head before shooting. 

9.  When surrounding/driving birds, wait until birds are away from the group before you shoot.  Never shoot into the group or at your blockers or drivers.

10.  Alcohol is not allowed while hunting.  You will have plenty of time afterwards to celebrate the day’s accomplishments. 

 John and Cathi Jensen, Maple River Pheasant Hunts, Frederick, South Dakota www.mapleriverpheasanthunts.com