The Alaska Hunter – Winter 2008 - Safari Club International

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Two Smoking BarrelS by Vic Flint Walking slowly along the edge of a grass filled tree bank, the world exploded in front of me! A blur of large dark objects erupted from the tall brown grass – pheasants!! Two quick shots from my SKB O/U shotgun left me with only empty shotgun shells and nothing to show for it. (“Bird Fever” – is that kind of like “Buck Fever”?) Fortunately the pheasants were not too upset by being startled and leisurely landed in the deep grass a little further up the tree bank. What luck! This could possibly allow myself a second chance. A few moments later the tall grass erupted with whirling wings! I raised my shotgun and fired. The rooster buckled from the impact and fell to the ground. I had successfully bagged my first pheasant in over 30 years! This pheasant hunting oddesy all begin months before at the 2008 SCI Alaska Chapter banquet. After placing my raffle tickets in the bins I was fortunate enough to win a SKB O/U shotgun in one of the many fine raffle drawings offered. Now to find something to use it for! My wife Brenda and I had been talking about pheasant hunting for very long time and decided that “this was the year”. Brenda has relatives located throughout North- Eastern South Dakota so this appeared to be a good place to start looking. A few e-mails later we worked out a great hunting spot consisting of three attached sections of farm and grassland. There was corn, soybeans, and grazing land areas. A small lake with a creek and slough meandered throughout the property. All this plus mature tree bank areas made this look like a nearly perfect habitat for the ring neck pheasant. Now we were both excited about the “Big Hunt”, and arrived in South Dakota in mid-October to prepare for the October 18 opening. After purchasing our hunting licenses, shotgun shells, blaze orange vests, etc., we were finally ready for action. South Dakota doesn’t allow the hunting of pheasants to start until noon for T h e A l A s k A n h u n T e r w w w . a k s a f a r i c l u b . o r g the first ten days of the season so a leisurely hunt preparation would be at hand. It was estimated that the statewide pheasant population for the 2008 season would be over 40 million birds! Now I was thinking that the daily limit of three pheasants per person would be no problem! Opening day started off with a high but broken overcast sky and 15 to 20 mph north winds. At noon sharp our hunting party started by walking a few small tree banks filled with tall brown grass and surrounded by fields of harvested soybeans and grassland. Nothing. Another small treebank. Nothing. Now I was beginning to get a little concerned. Where were the 40 million pheasants that the state said were here? All the while I could hear the hollow reports of distance gunshots. Nearing the end of the third and largest tree bank the opening episode took place. My first pheasant down! Man was this getting exciting!! The wily pheasant used the wind to full advantage (my disadvantage) and like miniature Houdinis could disappear before your eyes in any type of ground cover or lack thereof. They would flush from areas that you would not expect them to be, fly in directions that you would not expect them to fly, and run faster than any Olympic sprinter! Due to poor weather conditions earlier in the month the corn harvest had not yet taken place. This would seem like quite the setback as we had only seven hunters in our party and could not adequately cover the fields. And it was. Naturally this is were all the pheasants seemed to be headed to. I could see multitudes of them running in the corn rows ahead of me. This wasn’t working as the pheasants would not fly and would just disappear ahead and then flush from behind (always out of range). This required a new plan. Later that afternoon while walking through the meandering slough next to the large cornfield the pheasant’s literately blackened the sky before us. (Again naturally out of range). The pheasants were flying between the cornfield and cattails in the slough (back and forth). Finally we closed the gap and the action exploded! None of us could keep shells in our guns! Pheasants from the left, pheasants from the right, pheasants fly towards us, pheasants behind us. In this extreme target-rich environment I was experiencing sensory overload!! Brenda and I finally settled down and closed out our limits. What an adrenaline rush! We each had fired over a box and a half of shells. I guess our shooting skills leave something to be desired and a little more honing of them is in order. And this was only day one!! Brenda and I highly recommend that you try a South Dakota pheasant hunt experience some day. You will not be disappointed. Easy walking, lots of shooting, multitudes of pheasants, great scenery, good weather, and excellent company. What else could a person ask for in a hunting adventure? We thoroughly enjoyed the scents of the fall with the harvested fields, mud, grasses, cows, gun oil and the smoke from a freshly fired shell. n
Disabled Veterans Appreciation Program R In response last year’s extremely successful program, the Alaska Chapter of SCI is once again sponsoring disabled veterans hunting and fishing opportunities to show our appreciation for the tremendous sacrifices of American veterans. PRIzES Eligible veterans will be selected to receive one of three opportunities. Three winners will be selected in numerical order: first, second, and third place. The winners will select their prize based on their placement. The Alaska Chapter of SCI reserves the right to substitute trips of like value if necessary. The prizes are: 1. 7-Day Namibian Safari for 2 (Hunter & Observer) including airfare, daily rates and trophy fees for gemsbok (1), Red Hartebeest (2), trophy warthog (1), Springbuck (1), Steenbok (1), and baboons, jackals, francolin and guinea fowl as available. (Airfare provided by AK-SCI, Trophy fees by AK-SCI and Okatjeru Hunting Farm/Royston Wright). 2. Alaska Bison Hunt in Kodiak, Alaska sponsored by AK-SCI and the Kodiak Game Ranch. 3. 1 Day Alaska Fishing Trip for 2. APPlICATIoN PRoCESS Eligible disabled veterans can apply by submitting an application to Alaska Chapter- SCI at PO Box 770511 Eagle River, AK 99577. The application must contain a short biography of the veteran, documentation of applicable service, permanent disability, and referenced awards, and a minimum 300 word essay on what hunting means to that individual. Applications must be received by January 31, 2008. All applications become property of AK-SCI. SElECTIoN AK-SCI will review all eligible applications and select the winners. The successful applicants will be announced at the AK-SCI fundraiser on Saturday February 21, 2008. Successful applicants will be expected to submit an article describing their hunt for publication in the AK-SCI’s Alaskan Hunter newsletter. ElIgIbIlITy Any Alaskan resident, or military member assigned to an Alaskan based military unit when injuries were sustained, whose injuries were sustained in a combat theater of war and resulted in a permanent disability is eligible to apply for this program. Any eligibility questions should be referred to the Alaska Chapter of SCI at above address. R w w w . a k s a f a r i c l u b . o r g T h e A l A s k A n h u n T e r
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The Alaska Hunter – Winter 2008 - Safari Club International

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