For safety's sake, shooters are frequently reminded, "Let the bird get up. Plenty of hens are flushed, so it's important to take your time and make certain the quarry has a dark head and a white ring around its collar before putting your "scattergun" into action. Of course, Chuck's Labrador retrievers are eating up the ground right in front of the walkers, sniffing out and flushing pheasant after pheasant. I found out that the hunting at ScatterGun is traditional South Dakota-when it comes to pheasants-with walkers or drivers scouring a specific field-and blockers at the far end of that field. All around the lodge, including that valley, are 3000 acres of intensively managed pheasant habitat.Ĭhuck Ross's kennel sports 30 full-grown Labradors, four Lab pups and several young Labs that are currently with "foster parents." More about that important part of Chuck's dog program shortly. The lodge sits on a hill with a spectacular view overlooking a wide valley. Talking with Chuck that night I sensed the hunting was going to be fabulous. While ScatterGun, I have since discovered, has had plenty of publicity, I had not known about this place. He sold that lodge and built ScatterGun Lodge in 2000. Jesse drove back into Pierre to pick up Orion's head cameraman Larry Sletten while I got to know the lodge owner, Chuck Ross, over a toddy.Ĭhuck, like me, had been a long time member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, for he had had a long running outdoor TV show in Minneapolis, later worked for a major television network, and started a famous pheasant hunting lodge near Chamberlain, South Dakota. But what a first impression the lodge made-even when it was pitch dark at midnight.
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