Last week, I noticed a "Game Bird Resort" sign just down the road from our deer lease in Perry County, this got my curiosity peaked. Lately I have been day-dreaming about the fall days my family spent bird hunting the prairies of South Dakota. Back in the day, we all went hunting. My daughter was pretty young to be handling a shotgun so she was the official bird dog. On these hunts my boys learned to safely shoot a shotgun and they even dropped a few birds. We didn't hunt Quail but grouse, Pheasants and partridge were all on the menu. Upland bird hunting gave us time together in the sunshine as a family and there was always action. I sure miss those days.

Well back to the story, I stopped at the High Rise shooting resort in Casa, Arkansas and got the information I needed to plan a hunt, I found out later why they call it "High Rise". Their prices seemed reasonable, that sure is important these days. I still wasn't sure if I could work out a hunt but I thought I would talk to my wife, Ruth and see if there was time and money for a hunt. I thought I might be hunting by myself but when I mentioned it to my wife Ruth she was fired up to go, that made me very happy, she doesn't hunt much anymore.

We met Paul at the hunting ranch in western Perry County. It has been over 5 years since we have used our shotguns on flying birds, we were pretty rusty so we asked if there was a place we could shoot some clays and all Paul just pointed almost straight up behind us. Setting high above the field was the lodge and a shooting platform, perched on the edge of a high ridge. We drove up to the lodge it was pretty windy that high up, but we still shot a couple of boxes of shell. We were as ready as we were going to get. It was time to get after some Quail.

We had decided we would do an unguided hunt so we brought our Catahoula (Emma); she has a good nose but she has no experience and she is young. I have heard that Catahoulas can hunt just about anything; but we didn't know how Emma would be getting after Quail. The hunting area was a large field bordered by woods. Since I am having so much back problems I asked for easy walking, it was just what the doctor ordered.

I let Emma out and Ruth and I got loaded up. Emma is pretty good about staying close, although but she was finding all kinds of different scents and wanted to get after them. When she did get on some birds she did something I never expected, she pulled a perfect point! Tail up, front right leg up, staring and quivering, she didn't move. Then swoosh two birds flushed one headed right for the woods the other took off across the field with Emma right on him, we couldn't shoot without hitting her. Emma had no problem keeping up with this flying bird, after about 200-300 yards the quail ran out of gas and Emma was there to grab him and proudly bring him back, she wasn't even out of breath. We kept this up for a while, Emma was getting all the birds, either she would quickly grab them or she would run them down, she was having a ball. We had to kennel her up so we could get some shots at birds. We ended up with 11 Bob White Quail. Ruth seen a lone quail fly into a tree in the wood line; she quickly walked over and raised her 20gauge pump boom, boom, boom, reload, boom, "He won't Fall" again boom, boom, "He is stuck in the tree!" That bird may need to be strained for bird shot.

Ruth and I had a great time; it has been awhile since Ruth and I have spent a day in the woods, we needed this hunt. It seems like after losing Wade we just don't know what to do with ourselves. This hunt was great exercise for the body, and the soul.

Paul and Pam were very helpful in getting us a hunt that was catered for us.

For more info: Upland Bird Hunting Casa, Ark

Ruth didn't make this trip but she was more then happy to help me clean birds.

Hunting the Prairie Lyle J. Hart Jr. March 2005

Wade and I had a good day at the Wammen Family ranch on the prairies of N/W South Dakota.

Pheasants

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