A Day in Pheasasnt Land by Larry Myhre
Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal
Pheasants were boiling out of the milo field in unbelievable numbers.
Hunters cut loose, and the sound of 12-gauge shotguns reverberated across the landscape.
My shotgun hung over my shoulder on a sling, and I was performing rapid fire maneuvers with my Nikon in motor drive.
I had photographs of birds falling, birds getting up, dogs running across the field, hunters in the foreground, hunters in the background.
You don’t run into many moments such as this so a photographer has to “make hay when the sun shines” to quote an old farmer’s saying.
But enough is enough.
A big rooster was flying hard and fast right in my direction.
The camera dropped on its lanyard to my chest, and I unhinged the shotgun swinging it to my shoulder and passing the muzzle through the bird’s flight. I fired, and he folded.
I pumped another load into the Benneli and swung on another rooster and repeated.
Two down.
A third was coming my way and he, too, slammed into the wheat stubble behind me.
I was done. It was back to the camera.
We were Team 13 of Governor Mike Rounds’ Invitational Pheasant Hunt.
We were hunting land owned by Darrel and son Brad Reinke. The Pierre businessmen farm the nearly 600 acres for pheasants, and it was obvious their efforts were paying off.
We were one of about 35 hunt teams scattered across the prime pheasant habitat of central South Dakota that day.
The governor’s hunt has a long and valued tradition, and a track record of economic marketing that can’t be equaled by similar efforts in any other state.
The hunt showcases the favorable outdoor (and tax and business) climate of the state.
The event begins with a noon lunch and trapshooting opportunity for participants at Pierre’s Izaak Walton Clubhouse.
A first lady’s Prairie Art Showcase is held Friday afternoon in the lobby of the Ramkota River Centre and is open throughout the weekend.
Attendants meet their team members at an evening social and banquet, meet again the next morning for breakfast and then board an assortment of vehicles to hunt on land provided by participating landowners. Another banquet after the hunt concludes the event.
Non hunters can take a train ride along the shores of Lake Sharp, then take a turn north across the prairie to the town of Blunt and back again.
Pheasant numbers in South Dakota are near all-time highs right now.
The governor noted teams harvested 1,107 roosters during the hunt.
Now that’s pheasant hunting, South Dakota style.