A North Dakota Pheasant Hunt with Prairie Rose
by Ben Novak
My two hunting buddies and I were not sure we were going to be able to manage a pheasant hunt this year and by the time we decided we could go we were pretty late in trying to find a place to hunt. We looked in South Dakota as we had done in past years but the outfits we asked were either full or getting 4 or 5 hundred clams a day for guided hunting out of a lodge. Turning to the Internet, the traveling hunter’s best friend, I searched for North Dakota Pheasant Hunting and up popped Prairie Rose Hunting.
Prairie Rose Hunting is also known as Tom and Vernetta Froehlich (pronounced fra-lick), wheat farmers whose farm sits just outside of Dickinson, North Dakota. This was their first year hosting hunters and they offered guided, wild bird hunting on their place and neighboring farms at a very fair price. It did not take much of a conversation with them to figure out that they are honest, straight-shooting folks. I booked a 3-day hunt that turned out to be one of the best pheasant hunts we have been on yet.
On the first morning, after a hearty home-cooked breakfast, we hunted the fields on the Froehlich’s farm. Tom talked about how he was trying to manage the land to develop good habitat for the birds but I don’t think he has far to go because all three hunters had limited by 9:00am with 9 roosters in the bag! The shooting was steady and there seemed to be pheasants in every hedgerow and plot of grass.
Much
to my surprise we also flushed a covey of Hungarian Partridges. These beautiful
little guys flush a lot quicker than pheasants and are much more like quail in
their size and speed. We were able to work this covey and not only did I bag my
first Hun, but I was able to limit on them. This area is not loaded with them,
the only Huns we saw were this covey of about 20 birds on Tom’s place, but they
are there.
After lunch Tom took us to a stand of trees in the middle of nowhere where he said Sharptail grouse sometimes hang out. We sent one guy to the end as a blocker and two others slowly walked up the tree line. We had just started the drive when a covey of 30 plus birds flushed. We nailed two of them, but once they got up they flew away - far away. It was not like they flushed and landed over there, they simply never stopped. As far as I know they landed somewhere in Kansas. When the Sharps flush, take your best shot because you may never see them again!
We had a terrific first day of hunting; we all limited out on pheasants and had taken Hungarian partridge and Sharptail grouse. We finished the day with a terrific home cooked dinner and retired to the game room for cocktails and relaxation. Since this is Tom and Vernetta’s home and not a bar you should bring your own libations.
On
the second day Tom took us to a neighboring farm to hunt. We hiked for a good
part of the morning and saw a number of roosters but had only a couple in the
bag. Then, as we were crossing a large field we could see a bunch of birds on a
couple of small hills at the edge of the field. There was so many that from a
distance it looked like the hills were covered with grasshoppers. Once we got on
them the action was awesome. We followed this group around for the rest of the
morning until we bagged our limit. Once again we were done before lunch. That
afternoon we gave the birds a break and shot a pile of prairie dogs. Tom took us
to a huge prairie dog town, also in the middle of nowhere, and spent the
afternoon shooting at these little critters. These dogs had not seen much flying
lead, at least not like they must see in Colorado, as they would disappear for
only a few minutes after a shot before coming back up topside and sitting
pretty.
On our last day of hunting, back at the same farm as the
day before, I saw a sight that I will not soon forget. We were
walking a field
next to a big creek bed and a few birds got up in front of us. We hurried up to
get in range then a huge flock of pheasants streamed out of that creek bed.
There was a lot of good cover in that old bed and the pheasants steadily flushed
until the air was filled with them. My guess is that 2 or 3 hundred birds took
flight. There were so many birds that we were in awe and did not even fire a
shot. We followed the huge flock to where we saw them light but we never found
the main group again; they must hit the ground running. There were enough
stragglers that we were able to easily limit out and for the third day in a row
we were done well before lunch.
We had an incredible hunt. Tom stayed with us every minute of the hunting and worked hard to be sure we were having a great time. He was much better than a guide, he became part of our group and we enjoyed his company very much. It was more like hunting with your long lost uncle up in North Dakota. Good old Uncle Tom has been farming in North Dakota for the last 30 years and knows where those birds are hanging out and more importantly has the relationships with the other farmers and can get you on their land. I think this is critically important when hunting in North Dakota. From conversations we had with some folks who were hunting on public land it seemed they were having little success while we were seeing hundreds. It is clear that these birds flock closely together and knowing where to go and having access to the hot spots is critical for a banner hunt.
One other thing to know about these North Dakota pheasants is that they are wild and hearty birds. On more than a few occasions we made solid hits on roosters, watched them crumple and hit the ground like shuttle-cocks, only to see them get up and scamper away or disappear like a ghost. So another North Dakota pheasant hunting tip is to get heavy, good ammo. I typically like light field loads because they are pleasant to shoot and are good for my side by side’s digestive track but next year it will be 12 gauge magnums with over 1 ½ oz of plated shot!
We
stayed in the Froehlich’s farmhouse that is modern and very comfortable. The
house is large enough for the hunters to be separated into their own section of
the house. There is also a nice game room with a pool table and satellite TV set
aside for the hunters. Vernetta cooked all our meals and she is an excellent
cook. We ate very well every day.
Another aspect of these hunts that we enjoy is getting out of the big city and enjoying a bit of the small town ambiance. Dickinson is a perfect size town for this as it has a great small town feel but is big enough to have a variety of restaurants and bars if you are so inclined. After dinner each evening we would make the short trip into town and hit a couple of the bars. We had a great time hanging with the locals and meeting some of the other hunters.
Tom and Vernetta are terrific hosts who are dedicated to seeing the hunters have a great time. They offer a great upland hunting experience and great accommodations in a place that is not yet discovered. My advice would be to take advantage of this wonderful slice of Americana while it lasts!