First, the lodge is very nice. It's not all butlers and waitresses waiting ready to meet your every wish and desire... but it is close. There must be a few hundred mounts throughout the lodge including a full Kodiak Grizzly bear, an albino muledeer/white tail cross and a black ring-neck pheasant. These beauties adorn the walls throughout the lodge and here are a few shots of the main eating area.
Each morning breakfast is served at 8:30 am, pheasants do not rise early, so neither do we. Treated to eggs, bacon, pancakes and a full menu of other tasty treats, we head down the road about a 1/4 mile to the barn where we have a short briefing and load up the buses to head out to the field.
If you haven't hunted pheasants before with the Stukels, the game plan is simple. 10 or more line up at one end of the file and 4 or 5 more get driven to the other end (in the bus) to stand as blockers. You see, pheasants like to run, not fly... so has the "walkers" move down the field making noise, some pop-up as you walk along and get shot at... others try to run out the end of the field, where the blockers come in.
The great thing about this lodge, is the food. They bring it out, piping hot to a spot in the woods and serve a great hot meal. It is a fantastic spot to take a small break between fields and refuel.
After two days, and 20 shooters we took 131 birds. It was an impressive showing again from the great state of South Dakota. I can honestly say that only 1/2 of the birds that we saw came down, if that... and the guides say that easily that many more never jump up and out-run you on the floor. Here are some photos of the spoils.
Thanks for reading... Here are a few final photos.
