28 replies to this topic

[sxshooter]

After a hot summer that seemed would never leave, fall has arrived up in the Midwest. I leave in a week for ND and have been watching the weather. Up until the last few days it's been in the 70s & 80s. I even rattlesnake vaccinated the dogs this year thinking it was gonna be a hot hunt. I'm pleased to see it's in the teens this morning. Finally!

Should be a nice opener.

[Frank]

Yeah, I am sooooo sick of this hot weather. I see temps are cooling off in lots of places, and hope they STAY cooled off. I am not a hot weather person though, unlike lots of folks. Old age perhaps? lol

Anyway, I am hoping to get out in about a week(+) myself. Only a tad closer to home. Not sure if that is good or bad though. lol

Have fun & be safe... OH, and shoot straight this time, ok? (j.k.) lol

[KNOCKED UP]

Have fun SS,
and I am sure you will.
I am some what invious.
Tom

[tommybuilt]

Pheasant hunting in N.D. sx? We leave for S.D. Nov. 1st. Flying to Sioux Falls, drive to Chamberlain, stay with my folks and hunt with my brother. Email from my brother yesterday says, snowed in the Black Hills this past week, temps in the 50s and 60s this weekend. He also says the pheasant numbers don't look to good in our area. Major hail storm in April, and the drought and heat wave all summer have been hard on this years hatch. If the pheasant hunting is no good we'll help my 80 year old father with the new house he's building or call some coyotes or shoot some prairie dogs.

We usually drive back, but not with gas at $4 plus per gallon. Any tips for flying with firearms? Between me, my son and 2 son in laws we could be taking several guns.

Good Luck with your hunt. Hope the weather is good and the hunting is better, Tom

[sxshooter]

Tommy,
I go from ND to SD Friday the 19th for the SD openner. My friend's place is near Huron. I may check out Chamberlain area on the way home. "no good" in SD is like "WHOOO HOOO" in CA. . It just means you'll have to work a while for your limit. Maybe even get tired. I'll post about the bird numbers.

Frank,
Thanks. ...and I (my guns) always shoot straight...sometimes just a bit off my target.

[sxshooter]

Tommy,
On the airtravel with guns, I make sure the case is airline approved and will hold up to some rough handling. There was a thread on gun cases for airtravel on another forum I belong to. Keep in mind these guys have guns in the $1000 to tens of thousands range.
http://www.doublegun...er=82798&page=1


The Tuffpak hex shaped case seems to be popular for multiple guns. You put your guns in a softcase and then pack it in the big Tuffpak and stuff it full with clothes or other soft stuff. The guys that like them say they don't draw the attention of regular gun cases, which may prevent an airport theft.
http://www.nalpak.co...ffpakSportCases

SKB and Pelican cases are quality stuff. If you are inclined to spend on a good looking case, the Americase cases are nice. I've owned some of the SKB and Americase guncases. Both worked. Americases are heavy and I'm not partial to them for that reason.

The cheap cases like you can find in most Walmarts and sporting goods stores are a big risk. They often pop open when the baggage handlers or conveyor systems jostle them around. If you have a $200 gun, maybe a $70 case is appropriate, but chances are an inexpensive $70ish case will fail in some way on a airline trip. A broken gun is no fun no matter how inexpensive. The Tuffpak looks like a good way to go since it can double as a luggage bag for other things.

Check with your airline ahead of time about their requirements and look at their websites for special firearm requirements. I would not bother taking ammunition unless you have an antique that has special ammo requirments not available at your destination. Ammo is limited to 2 boxes by most airlines. It's just not worth the hassle with a shotgun.

Arrive at the airport early and expect to spend an additional 1/2 hr checking the guns in. It may take longer or shorter. But allow some extra time. The more organized you are the quicker it usually goes. Know the TSA and airline requirments. TSA has a website. Read their requirments. Air travel since 9-11 with guns has been from just ok to a pain, depending on the knowledge of the TSA people. I think it's settled down. Be polite and courteous. These guys have the power to mess up your trip.

My last trip with a gun was thru LAX to Newark a few years ago. Everything went well. However, one guy on the other board traveled internationally thru JFK and the Port Authority confiscated his expensive doublegun and charged him with possession of a firearm in NYC without a permit. He spent thousands and months defending the right of free passage with a firearm (a federal law) and finally prevailed. Me? I wouldn't travel thru NY with a gun on a bet. Those people make LA look like Tombstone(wild west).

[tommybuilt]

Thanks for reply on flying with guns. I shoot a 11-87 and a 700. Not expensive guns but I still want them to get there in 1 piece. As far as ammo, Cabelas in Mitchell is between Sioux Falls and Chamberlain. Sounds like a good excuse to stop.

We've hunted around Huron, Redfield, and Aberdeen several times over the years. My brother in law has a good friend in Huron, and he always comes up with good places to hunt. Some days we limit out in a couple of hours, other days we hunt all day, but it's always good. I've shot alot of birds over the years but anymore it's more about spending time with family. The hunting is just a bonus.

Chamberlain was a great place to grow up pheasant hunting. I don't think we ever hunted public land. Now thats what we hunt 80- 90% of the time. It gets hit pretty hard and the birds are hard to get close to sometimes.

How long are you going to be there?

[sxshooter]

Tommy,
I was just obligated to stay until Monday evening in Huron. After that, I have until the next Monday to get back to work. So, maybe two extra days if I have the desire to hunt with just the dogs and me. I'd prefer one other person to hunt with, but it looks like I'm headed back alone.

Regards
Chuck

[tommybuilt]

Chuck, it looks like we'll miss each other by a couple of weeks. I would like to be there in Oct., as the weather can get pretty bad going into Nov. We've driving through more than 1 snow storm driving home in late Oct. Maybe we'll get lucky and have some "indian summer" weather. I know we'll have some good hunting no matter what the weather does. If you've hunted there before, you've hunted in wind, rain, snow, bitter cold, and bright sunshine. That's S.D., you never know what your going to get. Good Luck and happy hunting, Tom

[DirtyDave]

I'll be in SD in late Nov. If I get to go at all. Work is going to be pretty busy from now til Jan.

[sxshooter]

...like a boxa chocolates...ya never know wha cher gonna get. Tommy, you're right. We've huntied in sunshine to 80F and snow down in the 20'sF. i'm hopin for the median temp of about 45- 50F and the wind just lopin along.

[DirtyDave]

My Uncle in SD always says "If you dont like the weather, just wait 10 minutes"

[sxshooter]

Dave
I leave in the morning for ND then down to SD next Friday.

[Fjold]

I just flew home from New York today and the fall colors in Massachusetts and Connecticut were fantastic.

[ShooterJohn]

The colors can be amazing back there like Frank says. In some places it seems to go on forever.

[sxshooter]

I'm in Colorado Springs tonight. It's definitely fall here.

[Braz]

Well, heck, we had snow in the Sierras this past week.

[DirtyDave]

Doesnt look like I'll be making it to SD this year. My Wife just lost her job.

[BearWhoHunts]

Sorry to read that Dave. Hope you two bounce back soon.

[ShooterJohn]

Sorry to hear that Dave. Loosing a job is never at an opportune time. I hope she finds something quickly. I thought Obama's people said the economy and the jobs outlook had turned around.

[sxshooter]

Sorry about your wife Dave.

The pheasant hunting in ND remains pretty decent. I got rained and blown out for one of the days I had planned to hunt ND. Still we hunted half a day the following day when the wind and rain quit and saw a lot of birds. The dogs had a number of points but often the birds flushed wild or ran out. The birds were pretty spooky. I hunted with one other friend that had a GSP. His dog and mine worked well together to produce a few birds in the short time that I had.

In SD our land was already harvested and we hunted just sloughs. With 8-9 hunters we only managed 15 roosters in two days. Reports of other hunters at our hotel were better. But these guys were paying to hunt land with food plots and managed habitat and some with pen raised birds.

Still my dogs did an outstanding job with most of those 15 birds having either been flushed or retrieved by my lab. Monday I hunted my two dogs in some weed cover patches alone with a few of my old friends that hadn't gone home encircling the patches.. We produced a couple birds, a couple coyotes, and a couple deer.

[tommybuilt]

Sounds like you and your dogs had some good hunting Chuck.
Message from my brother says on their first day (sunday) his group of 8 hunters got 12 pheasant, 1 grouse, and 1 prairie chicken, on public land.
They hunted hard all day, and he figures they walked 8 miles.

[Frank]

We produced a couple birds, a couple coyotes, and a couple deer.

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. ( )

Sounds like you still had a great trip, sxs, and is always nice to get away to someplace special like that.

[modoc squeek shooter]

Sounds like a great trip SXS. I remember when we hunted wild birds in Calif.


Dave sorry to hear about your wifes job. Hope she finds something soon.

Ed

[tommybuilt]

Hunting report from my brother. He hunted with one group for 4 days, they hunted public land all week and took home 57 birds, just about half their limit. He hunted with another group for 2 days, and that group took their limit both days off the same piece of private land (160 acres) set up for pheasant hunting. This place is loaded with pheasants, and is also a good place to coyote hunt. Looks like we'll have good weather for the week I'll be there, we leave here wednesday.

[sxshooter]

This is me and Lynn with Greg. Greg took us to his hunting grounds about an hour northwest of Bismarck ND and showed us a great day in the field. We had a memorable time with Greg and his dog Dutchess. We hope to be able to do it again.
Here's a picture of all of us.


Greg and Dutchess in action as caught by my wife Lynn.

Dutchess and my pointer Sky working together.


Big country, good dogs. A hunting ground that I was honored to hunt with Greg.





This picture shows just how perfect Greg's hunting grounds really are. Reminded me of Montana where I spend some of my youth (as a bird dog for my father).

[tommybuilt]

Wow, great pictures Chuck. I love the one taken by your wife, with Greg, his dog, and the bird, awesome. And that last photo looks like the perfect spot for a coyote stand. Great photos, can't wait to be there. How could you not want to go back. Thanks for sharing.

[sxshooter]

Thanks Tommy.

Here's some from the SD part of the trip. Not many birds but still a great gathering of family and friends.

It's a different way of hunting in SD with groups 'driving' the fields. Usually it's in crop fields of corn, soybean, sunflower, etc.. This year the crops were all out and all we had to hunt was cattails, weeds and fencelines. OK by me, it lets me use the dogs better.

[ShooterJohn]

Great photos Chuck. That's real bird hunting fun there.