Serving The Hunter Who Travels
Vol. 22, No. 7
July 2010
Fax Number: 240-599-7679
Order Line: 301-528-0011
Website: www.birdhuntingreport.com
Dateline: South Dakota Where “Little” Delivers Big Time!
small — except the pheasant hunting itself. It is as grand as one can imagine. The hunter or group looking for a fully staffed, luxuriously appointed
• Timetable: Late October through early January • Accommodations: House in town • Food: Home cooked served family style • Hunt: Easy to difficult Talk about small towns. Located in an area of small towns and with a population of 761, Onida, S.D., is the seat of Sully County. It’s about a 70-mile drive from the state capital at Pierre, right in the heart of South Dakota pheasant country. Mike Moody sets up the pheasant hunting part of his operation, South Dakota Hunting Service, in a small house a block from South Main Street in small, cozy Onida. Everything about a pheasant hunting experience with Moody is
master lodge with individual motel-like rooms or cabins won’t want to visit Moody. Nor will the person who expects gourmet meals, fine dining and an array
of beers and liquors to choose from. Moody offers something much more than that: a feel for what it must have been like in the old days when outof-state hunters could make friends with individual farmers who would welcome them back to hunt year after year. The camaraderie that develops during a booking with South Dakota Hunting Service is similar to that experienced even today by those hunters lucky enough to have a good buddy in a small South Dakota town who has access to prime pheasant hunting property. There is a lot that is small about Moody’s operation. But make no mistake. “Small” here means “restrained, tempered, condensed,” not “small time, cheesy or lacking.” Basically this means Moody doesn’t have a sprawling operation that he conducts with a huge num(continued on page 2)
Dateline: South Carolina Outstanding and Affordable Quail Hunting • Timetable: Oct. 1 through March 31 • Accommodations: Guest cottage and townhouse • Food: Country cooking, BBQ, seafood or do-it-yourself cooking, with full-service restaurants three miles away • Hunt: Easy The Clinton House Plantation is perhaps one of the best values in quail hunting. The sporting facility caters to avid bird hunters by offering quality services at affordable costs. It more than
delivers on its commitment. What visitors will find on the more than 2,000 acres at this plantation near Clinton, S.C., is a staff of mostly Clemson University graduates who understand the power of team play and customer service. Mike Johnson, the general manager, employees 14 guides who hunt for a mixed-bag hunt of quail, pheasant, chukar and Hungarian partridge. In 2009, Johnson expanded the Clinton House kennels to include a mix of 25 English setters, English pointers, German shorthaired pointers, Boykin spaniels and Labrador retrievers. The addition of flushing dogs came out of a desire to offer a traditional pointing dog experiReproduction by any means is illegal 1 — The Bird Hunting Report — July 2010 © Copyright 2010 by Brunson Publishing Co.
ence followed by the tasteful simplicity of a flushing dog to roust and retrieve the birds. Clinton House also offers a full (continued on page 3)
Inside: Mexico ................................... p.4 Briefly Noted ......................... p.6 Missouri ................................. p.7 Wisconsin ............................... p.8 Illinois .................................... p.9 California ............................ p.10 South Dakota ....................... p.11 Outfitter Critiques ............... p.11 Spain .................................... p.11
Serving The Hunter Who Travels groups, he took us to smaller strips of corn or shelter cover — areas we could work effectively without having all the birds scoot out the sides without offering any shots. And since I was learning to walk on one new hip and was feeling the pain of another that would soon need replacement, he worked out systems of placing us so that I would always be a blocker. And to put things quite simply, Mike Moody is a very effective hunt manager. The smaller tracts of land among the 11,000 private acres Moody has available to him include CRP, shelter belts, sloughs, cattails, native grasses, weed patches, food plots and any cover that will hold the birds and allow high quality in-range shooting at roosters. This is why the hunts are rated the full gamut from easy to difficult. Just as he graciously placed me and my bum legs at the blocking end of things, Moody is more than happy to show hunters who want more of a challenge what a tough
walk through tough cover for tough birds is like. He says that wild birds are much more challenging to hunt than penraised birds. They have a survival instinct to run out of gun range and escape from any danger. The high quality of pheasant hunting is a result of cooperation he has elicited from farmers as the land is managed for prime wild pheasant hunting. On our hunt, which covered two small fields and probably a half-dozen rows of corn, each about a quarter-mile long and 20 yards wide, we put up well over 500 birds in probably less than two hours of actual, feet-on-the-ground hunting. The birds were so plentiful that another blocker and I enjoyed the alltoo-rare experience of watching without anxiety dozens of birds flying out the sides of the corn strips well ahead of the walking hunters but too far away for us
to shoot at them. No need for us to worry, for we knew there would soon be plenty of birds launching themselves well within range. The cost per hunter at South Dakota Hunting Service is $450/day. This includes meals, lodging, a guide with a dog, bird cleaning, onsite transportation and, if necessary, pickup from the airport in Pierre. The regular South Dakota pheasant season runs from the third Saturday in October through the first Sunday of January. A nonresident small game license costs $100 and is good for two periods of five days each. For more info: South Dakota Hunting Service, Mike Moody, P.O. Box 493, 600 Birch Ave., Onida SD 57564; 605258-2818; www.sdhuntingservice.com; sdhunting@gmail.com. For South Dakota license info: www.sdgfp.info.
South Carolina ... (from page 1) dog breeding and training program. Starter pups are available, and training programs are custom designed for young pointers, flushers and retrievers. If a seasoned dog’s performance needs enhancing, the dog trainers can accommodate according to need/request. Eight hunting fields are spread throughout the property, thereby ensuring safe and varied hunts. Johnson has created both unique and diverse bird cover. Hunters can expect to find traditional fields with broomstraw, sorghum, millet, Indian grass and switchgrass. In other areas they will find mature oak and beech stands that are interspersed with low brush cover. When hunting the grass fields, they find missed birds in the hardwoods that surround the fields, and when hunting the woods, they find missed birds in the fields. As the fields are fringed with both hard and softwoods, with long needle pines being the dominant softwoods, guests are guaranteed a quality experience regardless of where they hunt. Walking throughout the fields and the woods is easy, and paths are appropriately cut where necessary. South Carolina temperatures are moderate to hot during the hunting season, so light-
weight brush pants and shooting shirts are the norm. A fleece vest is enough in the throes of winter. Both half- and fullday hunts are available. In addition to establishing an early release program, Johnson has managed
the property for wild birds. Over the past few seasons, he’s seen a dramatic increase in the plantation’s wild quail population. In 2009, he found approximately 40 10bird coveys throughout the hummocks, fields and swales on the property. Late in the season, hunters also encounter migratory woodcock in the lowlands and along the river bottoms. Common gauges for quail hunts are 20- or 28-gauge shotguns, while pheasant and chukar hunters favor 12- and 163 — The Bird Hunting Report — July 2010
gauge guns. Field hunts present shots that are typically in the 15- to 30-yard range, which makes cylinder and improved cylinder chokes ideal. Tower shoots feature 15 ground blinds/pegs, each of which is occupied by two shooters. The majority of hunters will shoot 12- or 16-gauges, and I/C and modified chokes get the nod. Field hunts are either a half day (morning or afternoon) or full day with lunch in between. Tower shoots are held in the morning followed by a midday lunch while birds are cleaned and prepared for transport. Clinton House’s onsite pro shop is basic and sells field and sporting clays loads, blaze orange hats, shooting shirts, eye and ear protection and licenses. Shotgun rentals include Beretta over-unders and semi-automatics. Regular shooters might consider a membership in the Clinton House Shooting Club. Individuals or corporate group rates are offered. The plantation’s field course was designed by Chris Grant, and Marty Fisher designed the woods course. Both courses offer a combination of hunting and technical target presentations. Clinton House has hosted the South Carolina Sporting Clays State Championship, registered tournaments,
Serving The Hunter Who Travels and charitable events. The cost for a round of 50 targets (member/nonmember) is $16.28/$24.68, and for 100 targets it’s $30/$42. The plantation has a five stand course that serves as a quick warm-up for a round of sporting clays or for a bird hunt. Cost is $10 for both members and nonmembers. It’s important to note that the five stand course features wobble traps, thereby making for a fun and sporting warm-up. The clays course is open a robust seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Golf carts are available for rent. Accommodations are comfortable with the private five-bedroom guest cottage getting most of the attention. The 2,500 square foot lodge overlooks a pond and is perfect for small groups. The cottage offers a living room, dining
area and kitchen, a fireplace, satellite reception and a swimming pool. New in 2009 was a duplex residence. Each unit of the duplex features four bedrooms, each with a private bathroom, living room, dining area and full kitchen. Following a long day in the field, some hunters will relax in the whirlpool spa. Bird prices in 2010 are an attractive 30 quail for $420, 40 quail for $520 and 50 quail for $600. Included in those prices are a guide, a dog and bird cleaning and packaging. The prices are for each shooting party with a maximum of three hunters per party. Additional birds can be purchased for an additional cost: pheasants, $21.20; chukar partridge, $13.78. Hungarian partridge prices have not yet been set. For hunters who pay for birds a la carte and who
require bird cleaning and packaging, the service costs $1.50 per bird. Lodging costs are $50 per person per night, regardless of venue. The entire staff at The Clinton House Plantation is professional, courteous, knowledgeable and willing to make every hunter’s trip outstanding in every way. As evidenced by their hosting Clemson University’s Camp Wildlife, one particular focus of the plantation’s management team and staff is to expose children to the shooting sports. For more info: The Clinton House Plantation, Mike Johnson, 864-8330274, 864-316-1371, www.clinton house.com, info@clinton house.com. —Tom Keer
Subscriber Field Notes Eight by 8, 11 by 9 The Mexican fishing village of San Felipe sits at the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula between Merida and Cancun. Six of us traveled there from Dallas, the attraction being black-throated quail living in profusion within a 30-minute drive of the village. Our guide, Gallo Munoz, met us at the Cancun airport and drove us for 2 1/ 2 hours, stopping only for lunch at a roadside restaurant where we had handmade rectangular tamales, rice and tacos unlike any found within the states. We stayed at the Hotel San Felipe de Jesus where we had a clear view out our windows of the fishing boats coming and going and an island a short distance away with white sands and friendly beaches. Upon arriving at San Felipe, we were pleasantly surprised to see that it was a festival weekend. Vendors were setting up small booths and getting ready to sell everything from ice cream to pastries to sandwiches. We looked forward to joining them after dark as music blared from loudspeakers, which seemed to be everywhere. Morning came and the plan was to hit the birds early while it was relatively cool. After a 20-minute drive, we parked in a field near a wooden gate. Two
thatched-roof structures were nearby, along with a cinder block building, which appeared to be part of the cattle operations. Trees were few and far between, and the ground looked flat giving the appearance of easy walking. A deceptive appearance, as it turned out. Our group split up into two teams of three each, each team heading out in a differ-
ent direction. Our team was led by Humberto and Harry Bean and accompanied by Rhonda, a 6-year-old female pointer who knew her stuff. Our team got on line behind Rhonda walking through wheat-colored straw about one to two feet high. It was hard to see how anything could grow there since the bedrock was limestone everywhere you could look, as it is all over the Yucatan Peninsula. That flat 4 — The Bird Hunting Report — July 2010
ground turned out to be anything but easy walking. The porous limestone was honeycombed with holes to step in, large wobbly chunks to step on, and rocks seared black by the sun that were hard to see while paying attention to keeping a straight line and watching Rhonda. We were there literally minutes before Rhonda locked up on a point and we walked up and through her, pushing the first covey up with about eight birds headed in nine different directions. Shots rang out. Two birds fell to the ground, and we found them quickly with the help of Rhonda and our guides. Unlike many pointers, Rhonda did not shirk from retrieving and seemed to enjoy that part of her work as much as the locating and the pointing. Some people refer to these small birds as Yucatan bobwhites, but it appears that they are more commonly known as black-throated quail (or codorniz garganta negra in Spanish). They are found in Mexico and as far south as Belize and Nicaragua. They are unmistakable as being a cousin of the North American bobwhite but have a black throat and an eye band surrounded by white, a scaled appearance and are typically smaller than our bobs. They