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For nearly
thirty years Pine Shadows has been proving its Springer Spaniels while
guiding hunts in the Midwest’s prairie pothole region. Each fall we bring just a few groups to the Dakota
prairies for exciting expeditions
of memory-making wingshooting.
Beginning
the fall of 2010, Pine Shadows is excited to present DAYBREAK,
its own signature hunting estate.
DAYBREAK’S ten
square miles of Dakota Prairie is traversed by seven and a half miles of
the Elm River, an expanse offering perhaps “the finest pheasant hunting
terrain in North America”.
A few
years ago Pheasants Forever wildlife biologists designed and implemented
a habitat plan for the acreage resulting in a diverse and amazingly
abundant game population that includes whitetail deer, wild turkey,
sharptail grouse, puddle ducks, and ring-necked pheasants. The project
was awarded the Izaak Walton League’s Wildlife
Habitat Award of 2004.
DAYBREAK
is located in Brown County, South Dakota, about a half hour north of
Aberdeen. Historically, the land was the birthplace of Wanata, a Sioux
Indian famous for his contributions to the British in the War of 1812.
Also on this site in the 19th century was the Campbell Fur Post, the
southernmost agency in North America of The Hudson Bay Trading Company.
Today
there is pheasant hunting history waiting for you at DAYBREAK. You will hunt over Pine Shadows
Springers pursuing wild ringnecks on six thousand contiguous acres of
private land.
Take a Look At
Daybreak
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Your small group of hunters will flush scores of
pheasants on each pass through intensively managed habitats of grasses, sorghum,
corn, cattails, dry marshes, treelines and CRP.
Now you
can become part of this Pheasant History.
Meet me at
DAYBREAK,
Mark
Field
Notes
The winter Saturday training days started off strong
in January and continued into February. We have had cold weather, rain
one weekend and snow for others. The switch grass cover is holding up
well for working on issues with the dogs. The one thing that suffers the
most, especially with the young dogs, is the quartering and teaching dogs
to use the wind correctly in the deep snow.
The depth of the snow just creates issues in the dogs
mind in that they cannot respond exactly as commanded because of the
momentum they are creating and the slipperiness of the ground. So we have
to slack off a bit on correct wind pattern and quartering depth but it is
extremely good exercise for the dogs.
We still pursue the winter time training because of
the endurance it creates in the dogs and the excitement level is maintained.
For the dogs, they thoroughly enjoy romping in the snow, digging out dead
birds that fall deep into the fluffy snow and climbing over snow banks.
For the handler, we need to learn that things will be
a bit different with long marks, hard snow to run in, lighter cover and
wet soggy birds. In the end, the hobo fire is warm, the lunches inside
are always good and the friendships developed are treasured.
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