This morning I did some errand running. Rod stayed at the house (working on his blog no doubt - http://www.redbirddog.blogspot.com/)
 |
| Rod working on his blog http://www.redbirddog.blogspot.com/ |
I went into Isabel, which is a town about 9 miles away. I had to pick up a few items from the Hardware store get an extra key made and settle up my account from repair work that I’ve had done on the place. It’s interesting in small towns – everyone knows about others and Tammy at the hardware store was very nice and greeted me warmly. It felt good. I can’t put into words the feeling I get when I’m here, but I’ve immediately come to appreciate the genuine people in this area and am already starting to feel sorrow in leaving in a few days.
 |
| a clip from the internet of Isabel Hardware |
Rod and I decided to branch out and try some new areas to hunt today. We’ve had limited success in bird counts, but great fun and the young dogs are getting better at handling these wild birds. We’ve found that running “two tracks” which are much less used county roads has worked pretty well. As my feet are trashed, I let Rod and Bailey out, drive ahead about 400 yards and get out with one of my dogs and start walking back towards the Michaelson team. This “pinches” the running birds between us and offers more opportunities with less energy expended (can you tell we’re tiring!)
 |
| Hunting the two track |
While driving some of these smaller back roads, we came by a neat old place on a hill that piqued our interest. Over the next few days, we dubbed it "Rod's Place".
 |
| Rod's Place |
Thursday October 21st, 2010
Today Rod and I decided to take a trip into Mobridge, which is about 50 miles to the East. It is a larger town, with most of the amenities one would expect in a city. We stopped at Runnings Farm & Fleet which has nearly anything a guy could want from Hunting gear to tools to dog supplies. It was a nice morning trip and reminds me of how little of the area we’ve really seen yet. I’d like to do more exploring, but time and energy wanes…
 |
| The Railroad bridge on the Missouri River at Mobridge, SD. Picture clipped from the internet |
 |
| A "honey hole" where we nearly always found birds |
The conditions are very dry now. We dropped three birds today. Two of which we never recovered. Nellie worked hard with Bailey - The marks were good, the dogs were on top of where the birds fell within seconds and the search fruitless. It’s amazing how hardy the birds are – as dry as it is they don’t seem to be leaving trails to track wounded birds. Frustrating yes, even more so the thought of game going to the coyotes.
After our hunt we stopped by the Boysen Farm and visited with the family that helps take care of our place here. They are wonderful people and have made us feel very much at home here. New found friends that seem as though we’ve known each other much longer than the time we have. They have friends coming next month for deer season and Bernie commented that they weren’t sure where they were going to fit them. I’m honored to be able to offer them the use of this place. I know it is in good hands.
 |
| The lodge at Firsteel Creek |
After that we drove on to Firesteel Creek Lodge about 5 miles away. It’s an absolutely beautiful place that high rollers come to pheasant and sharptail hunt. They use four wheel drive hunting buggies to cover the vast lands that we are working on foot. Guess that’s where paying the fees pays off! They are also great folks and it was nice to see them again. Tomorrow is the last day of hunting and a quick pack up for an early departure Saturday morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment