A couple of weeks ago I took my first trip out to South Dakota for a Pheasant Hunting trip. We had seven guys and two dogs. Definitely could have used more dogs! We hunted on some private ground near Doland, SD.
Not a big town at all, but friendly folks, and a couple of nice taverns/restaurants nearby.
We had good weather the first day, saw a fair amount of birds and Ruby got a workout in. She did a great job finding birds in some of the shelter belts and holding them tight until we got there. Its always a challenge when folks that have never hunted over a ranging pointer do it for the first time, and an even bigger challenge when you have a flusher and a pointer as the only two dogs in the group. Animals and humans both acquitted themselves well and we had a great day.
A couple of nights we ended up at the Time Out and had a great time hanging out with the locals.
I’m not so sure Ruby approved.
Last two days were a bit rougher weather-wise but we saw hundreds of birds and the hunting was good. Ruby ranged out a bit and between the wind and the miles of corn it took some time to get her back on track. She also pointed a bobcat in a rock pile, but fortunately we got her and the other dog away before they mixed it up.
We had a pretty warm day to hunt and so the dogs got limited action, but all in all it was a nice hunt. Lots of finds and some great work by the dogs – that’s the entire point of going for me – some interesting displays of shooting skills, but that’s pretty much par for the course. I swear that the dogs look back at us and shake their heads sometimes.
Ruby:
Just got back from my second Upper Peninsula grouse hunt with a friend and his dad. Hunted four or five different spots on public land. Populations were generally down, suppose its related to where they are in the seven year cycle, but we had 4 or 5 finds each day. Our missed shots brought some looks of disdain from the dogs.
Ruby managed to find a porcupine and this time I ended up with about 30 quills to pull out of her face. Luckily no damage done, except perhaps to her ego.
I’ve noticed when we hunt she really assumes the alpha female role with other dogs. She’s been well socialized and unless the other dog is really aggressive, she’s pretty easy going. But when she gets her collar on and the hunt is on, she really doesn’t have patience for dogs that want to still play and not work. It’s never more than a warning, but she puts them in their place and gets to work.
What was a bit unsettling this trip was the amount of wolf sign there was around the areas we hunted. Looks like they are coming back with a vengeance up there. One of the locals told me not to run her on a beeper collar as the wolves think of it as a potential dinner bell. Not sure if he was pulling my leg, but I ran her with a swiss bell, which required more paying attention from me. We saw two wolves from the truck late one day. Amazing how tall they are.
We had a couple of fun hunts this year. The first was with a few guys from town at a place out in Dundee, Illinois at the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation. Pretty amazing place, a fun morning of hunting, patient guides. 
A few week later we went out to the Sugar Grove, IL area and hunted at Millbrook, a private club. We were the guests of a dad who’s son played freshman football with my oldest. There were ten or so of us, some of which were somewhat inexperienced, but we had a fantastic time. Ruby ran well, my oldest shot safely and well as usual, and the hunt was a lot of fun. 
I took Ruby to a field trial in Michigan recently. The trial was interesting and I think she did fine. Met some nice folks and her trainer was there running dogs as well. I borrowed a horse for part of the trial and learned I’m certainly no horseman. But I managed through.
After the trial four of us went up to north central Michigan, southwest of Traverse City a bit in Wexford County (as I recall.) I was a great trip, good group of guys and the Brits were a lot of fun to watch.
It was Ruby’s first time on grouse and she really acquitted herself well, running with the vets, honoring points, finding birds, holding her point. One set of dogs ran with Swiss Bells and while it was certainly traditional and also soothing to hear the bells jangling, im not sure I’m comfortable enough yet to give up the beeper on her collar. It’s probably more me than her. Well actually it’s the fear of what my wife would do if I lost her for a while!
I’ve not been on public ground groomed for grouse. It’s pretty interesting how they manage it in some areas – four corners are cut in cycles so that one is almost old growth, one is what I think most would consider prime, one quadrant is younger growth approaching prime, and one is pretty much young growth. At least that’s how I understood it.
Ruby found a porcupine and luckily didn’t tangle with it. I am glad she didn’t end up with a snout full of quills!
We saw quite a few birds and Ruby had a solid handful of finds and points.
