Fox Collectors

Made the 17 hour trip to Perkins County, SD for our annual hunting trip. Got here Friday evening about 6:30 p.m. woke up to a light covering of fresh snow and 10 degrees. Good news is we had minimal wind today and it warmed up to a balmy 22 degrees which was actually quite pleasant.

I have never seen so many birds. Pheasant, Sharp Tails, and Hungarian Partridge are all up compared to last two years which is saying a lot. Didn’t get a lot of pics but here are a couple. I limited out on Roosters and picked up 3 Huns. The Sharpies are busting out 40-50 yards ahead of the dogs so I never had a shot on one. Several others were able to pic a couple sharpies up.

One gulley we hunted had so many birds of all three species that it was overwhelming for both dog and man! We hunted a couple new places on the ranch that were also productive. I’ll post better and more pics over the next couple of days.

Beautiful pictures Brett, and when it comes to birds, you’ve gotta love South Dakota. I’ll bet Rosey is having fun. I hope you have a Fox out there.

Someday a SD trip is in the cards for me.

Brett, I tried to send you a PM but it keeps showing in my outbox and I'm not sure if it Went through.

Maggiemollie wrote: ↑Sun Dec 01, 2024 8:52 am Brett, I tried to send you a PM but it keeps showing in my outbox and I'm not sure if it Went through.

It went through. I sent a reply. Thanx!

fantastic thanks for report

South Dakota is just a very special place for me. Great bird hunting and great friends. Doesn't get much better than that although I have hunted there with the snow and cold temps I could do without it. Thanks for the great pics Brett.

Daryl, SD is a special place for sure!! We choose to hunt late season due to everyone’s schedule so we know the odds for wind and snow increase for late November, part of the deal for sure!

Brett,

Sounds like a great trip minus the temps. Curious what Rosey and the rest of the dogs are? I imagine you are not running pointers if birds are busting out of range?

Zack

zacharysmith wrote: ↑Sun Dec 01, 2024 11:54 pm Brett,

Sounds like a great trip minus the temps. Curious what Rosey and the rest of the dogs are? I imagine you are not running pointers if birds are busting out of range?

Zack

Zack,
Rosey is a Llewelyn Setter. Of the five dogs we had out there four were Llewelyns and one was a Ryman Setter. I think six weeks of hunting pressure make the birds a little skittish. We tend to get more points if we hunt a couple of dogs and guys in smaller places. The Sharptails are in large coveys/groups this time of year and just bust far out, but there are always a couple stragglers that hold for the dogs’ points.

Four of us finished up yesterday morning hunting public land with a focus on Sharptails. My son-in-law got a limit of roosters and Sharptails. I limited out on Sharptails and missed two roosters I should have had. When we went to breakfast yesterday morning it was 21 already and by 12:30 when we wrapped up it was up to 54 degrees. A big swing from the day before. Scenting conditions with the melting snow and warmer temps were good even though it was a tad breezy.

My S-I-L and I hunted our dogs together in a SD HAP spot where the dogs managed nice points on Pheasants and Sharptails. His dog Maple is a 3 Y/O and is doing fantastic. Rosey always hunts better with fewer dogs/hunters and stays more focused. She had two points on roosters from about 20-25 yards out due to the steady SW breeze/wind.

Dogs are are tired!! So are we!

That is a great picture.