ND Pheasant trip

[kenster]

Well after my weeks vacation in ND and shooting a bunch of pheasants, I just made it home from the 20 hour drive. The week total was 150 roosters, plus a few sharptail grouse. This was all private land/public land that we hunted on. It's always nice to have friends;) There was at least 8 people hunting a day, which made for great times. Here is one pic from the trip. The birds on the left are sharptail grouse and not hen pheasants, just to point that out:D

[Rich Z]

Man, that's a LOT of feather plucking awaiting you! I don't believe I have ever eaten pheasant. Does it taste like chicken? :)

[kenster]

Rich,
We skinned all those, plucking would have taken forever! As for the taste, take the taste of chicken and multiply it by a million. Pheasants have an all white meat breast and are by far the best eating game bird IMO. Not to far behind them is the ruffed grouse, which is also a great eating bird. It was a great trip, and my legs are a bit tired from the walking, but it was one heck of a great trip, can't wait to go back in two years..

[Clint Boyer]

What a great trip!

I'm glad to see you had a good time, I know you've been talking about that trip for a long time.

[CAV]

The birds on the left are sharptail grouse and not hen pheasants, just to point that out

Sure Ken! ;) Did the game warden buy that "explaination"?? :D

Making me jealous, Ken. Pheasant season doesn't open here for several more weeks. (Not that there are any left after your little expedition!)

[kenster]

Gary,
Many time when I'm showing off pic's from my trips I hear "oh sure you guys get to shoot hens out there" of course that is after they see the sharptail grouse. The season opened here Oct. 20th and I would consider it pure luck if I actually got to see one here in MI. I'm gonna guess we saw over 300 birds in a weeks time. Wait make that 6 days, since one day there were winds of 50 MPH, made shooting the birds a bit tough. Can you say "lead and swing through" easy to say but tough to do in winds like that;) That day we hunted 12 ounce silver cans, which I'm pretty sure I got my "limit" of;) Attached is a pic of the three types of birds we shot, of course ringneck pheasants, sharptail grouse, and gray partridge or hungarian partridge as they as also called.

Can ya tell I got a new digi cam?:D

[CAV]

The 1st pheasant I bagged was a big rooster (or so I thought). He flushed right up into the morning sun, so I squinted hard, induced proper lead, and took him down with a single shot.....er her down with a single shot......

It amazed me how fast a 12 year old could beat feet with a shotgun and game bag through a maize field.

(Did I say that out load?? Anyone know what the statute of limitations is on this???)

To this day, I refuse to shoot until I can positively identify the target. Live and learn, I guess. :D

[kenster]

Gary,
Yeah I know you were just messin'. There were quite a few times I had to let birds fly away because the sun was in my eyes and I had no idea if they were roosters ir hens. All I can tell you is that they were pheasants. I have decided that next time I go out I need to get in better shape. After chasing a few birds down a stubble field with broken wings, I know I need to be in much better shape. Boy do those birds move!