On a guided pheasant trip, the hunting is good.
While I've hunted for more than 20 years, I had never tried my skills at an upland bird hunt before. That's when opportunity came knocking and I received an invite to head to the pheasant hunting capitol of the world, Aberdeen, South Dakota last November for two days of chasing roosters on both public and private land. This part of the state is considered the destination spot for these beautiful birds, drawing thousands of hunters from all over the country every season to experience South Dakota pheasant hunting.
On one of the days of our trip, I hunted with Sal Roseland's R&R Pheasant Hunting based in Seneca. The Roseland family has owned their ranch since the 1880s. These days, they dedicate approximately 6,000 acres a year to managing the crops to create some of the best pheasant hunting planet.
I didn't realize it at the time, but I was about to get spoiled on my first hunt ever for this iconic game bird. As I ended up seeing more pheasants in one day than most hunters will see in a week hunting on public land. Just watch the video of my adventure to see what I mean. Not even ten minutes into our hunt, the roosters started flushing and they didn't stop until we finally quit at the end of the day.
As you can see, there was no shortage of shot opportunities! I just wish my aim was a little better! Sal Roseland's operation is one of the premiere pheasant hunting experiences in South Dakota. You can read more about our experience there in our more extensive piece here. The nice thing about R&R Pheasants is that it is an all-inclusive experience if you so choose. R&R will supply everything you need. That means you can literally show up in street clothes and be fully outfitted with the latest in boots, clothing, and even a shotgun, and in the field later that afternoon.
And when you are not hunting, you'll enjoy the down-home hospitality of the Roseland family, who will even prepare you their own specialty home cooked meals while you stay in their rustic and appropriately decorated lodge.
For one of my first pheasant hunting experiences, I know I was spoiled for it. Still, the whole experience was a ton of fun and left me wanting more. You'll be seeing me burning the boot leather a bit more often in seasons to come in pursuit of these beautiful upland game birds.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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