WTF have I been up to???

tod osier

tod osier

Well-known member
Supporter
Just got back from what has become an almost annual trip for me. My two oldest friends and I travelled from the East Coast to enjoy a week in the South Dakota grasslands.

New coach... Jen and I bought this coach a couple months ago and it got its first test on this trip. The coach is a 2006 Sunline Solaris - once we narrowed in on a make and model we found this one about 300 miles away in upstate NY. Just towing it to CT from where we bought it was the longest trip it had made, so a trip to SD was putting it through its paces. It was great having the coach and I won’t go back to a tent (other than back country) anytime soon.

x005.jpg



Skeet before the season started. He had no idea what was coming up, but proved ready.

x021.jpg



Pete, however, had a real good idea what was coming as we closed in on the noon opener. Can you guess where the thickest cover is?

x027.jpg



It took Skeet about 3 minutes after noon on the first day to get his first retrieve. He did well on the trip and was especially good at hunting dead – finding many birds knocked down over heavy cover. Good drive and persistence, I'm very pleased.

x038.jpg



Start of a nice bag of birds hunted up in the grasslands.

x045.jpg



Tom on a fence line with Conan waiting for the chicken flight to start.

x067.jpg



Scott waiting for noon with my boys.

x069.jpg



Skeet with the first bird he ran down and flushed from the prairies. A scruffy cock for a young dog.

x082.jpg



Tired young dog in some pretty evening light.

x138.jpg



Same pretty evening light over the prairie.

x144.jpg



The crew with a morning’s flight of chickens - myself, Tom and Scott (L-R). Scott lives in MA, Tom in NY and I in CT, so we had the NE covered pretty well. It was nice bringing a Masshole and New Yorker, so there was always someone to blame for any jackass moves the group made.

x155.jpg



Good pheasant hunt on the prairies.

x156.jpg



Tired young pup will share a bed with anyone.

x160.jpg



Walked a damn long way to get to this tree, but we did find a couple cockbirds in the associated cover.


x165.jpg



New coach at sunrise.

x166.jpg



And after all, isn’t it all about the sunsets?

x167.jpg

 
Looks like an awesome trip Tod - something I have always wanted to do!!! I especially like the RV way of doing it. Did you hunt public ground?
 
You have my attention now. I tried to set up to pass shoot sharptails in the afternoon, but I had no idea where to set up, so it mostly turned in to a granola bar eating and elk watching session for the boykin and i.
 
Tod
Boy, that looks like a lot of fun. Pretty nice after a day's hunt to crawl into a trailer or motor home at the site. Way to go!
wis boz
 
Tod,
you had me worried there for a bit with your reports about the pup, Boy am I glad you and Skeet had a great trip. It looks like it was not loss to Pete since the birds seemed like they were there in numbers to give both dogs a good workout. Very good pictures of the trip.
I like the trailer. Any thoughts on what makes a good set up for the use.


Bob
 
Any pics inside the trailer, Todd. How long is it? What didn't work about it or what would you change? Inquiring minds want to know. Trip
 
Looks like an awesome trip Tod - something I have always wanted to do!!! I especially like the RV way of doing it. Did you hunt public ground?
Click to expand...


Thanks, it was a lot of fun. My western hunting has been all on public ground - I wouldn't do it any other way. Tons of land, toughest thing is to decide where and what to hunt.

T
 
You have my attention now. I tried to set up to pass shoot sharptails in the afternoon, but I had no idea where to set up, so it mostly turned in to a granola bar eating and elk watching session for the boykin and i.
Click to expand...


I thought that may get the blood pressure up. To get into the pass shooting you need to be out in the first and last 2 hours of the day with the bins and find where the birds are moving. Find some high ground over cut or standing crops if you can and watch. Sometimes you get lucky, but mostly you need to scout and scout. Not my favorite way to hunt them, but a great break for the dogs and the quality of the wingshooting can't be beat.
 
Tod looks like you had a great time. Great pics. And I really dig those red suspenders.
Click to expand...


Other than the concerns with potential man-crushes those suspenders are great :).

I'll tell you one story about the suspenders from this trip, anyhow... I had to take a whiz and I was letting one fly when Pete puts up a nice tight-holding cockbird right in front of me. I traded guns, so to speak, a dropped that pheasant. I won't say that it didn't take me 3 shots to get him as my balance and stance was a bit off, but I got him. Yep, suspenders work out well and they gave a new meaning to the word "cockbird".
 
Last edited:
Tod
Boy, that looks like a lot of fun. Pretty nice after a day's hunt to crawl into a trailer or motor home at the site. Way to go!
wis boz
Click to expand...


Boz, you aren't kidding. Microwave and an oven with a broiler was sweet, furnace and hot water was even nicer and having a bed to crawl into was priceless. I can't wait untill we can get out for a couple months next summer.
 
Tod,
you had me worried there for a bit with your reports about the pup, Boy am I glad you and Skeet had a great trip. It looks like it was not loss to Pete since the birds seemed like they were there in numbers to give both dogs a good workout. Very good pictures of the trip.
I like the trailer. Any thoughts on what makes a good set up for the use.


Bob
Click to expand...


Pup did well. I'd rather train with a 2x4 than my brain, but the brain works well enough. He is a good pup, but still a pup. The hunting kicked his ass, he was beat at the end of the day. We had planty of birds to go around, that was for sure, but the pheasants took a little more work than I would have liked (it was a down year).

I haven't used the trailer enough to make much of a comment, but I'll post up some thoughts in my response to Trip.
 
Nice work Tod. Enjoyed the pictures and dialogue. We're headed out to NoDak on the 4th for my 10th annual trip to chase both waterfowl and upland.

Brad
 
Great pictures Tod! Really like the picture of your tired pup in the afternoon sun...
Click to expand...


Thanks Troy, the grasslands and deserts have some of the best light and make for great photos.
 
Any pics inside the trailer, Todd. How long is it? What didn't work about it or what would you change? Inquiring minds want to know. Trip
Click to expand...


Trip,

Trailer is a 20'er. I'm super happy with it at this point. We flipped the axles on top of the springs before the trip, so the trailer is a little jacked up - perfect for our use. The Sunlines sit low, part of thier deal, but with a 5" lift it is sitting high and proud.

What we were looking for is the smallest trailer we could get that was top quality and had dedicated bed space for everyone (Jen, Gus and I) that didn't require making a bed every night (three guys and 3 dogs requires one guy on the floor, not all that tight a fit).

The range in trailer construction is huge and most of what you see is pretty basic. We wanted a trailer set up for 3-4 season use with quality construction, the Sunlines fit that description. The information on trailer construction/quality that Ed offered up, really came in handy in narrowing down brands.

T
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top