October 19th, 2025
Day Three Complete of the North Dakota Expedition…
With nearly striking out on pheasants the day before, Dad and I had personal vendettas against those dang disco chickens! We started off NOT so hot walking a good bit with nothing to show for it. And we were walking GOOD looking cover. Eventually, we started putting some things together and noticed the thicker the cattails, the better. Jazz and I weren’t huge fans of that aspect as we tromped through the thickness ahead. It paid dividends, however, with a two man limit of pheasants! Dad’s phone after we finished the pheasant limit said we walked 4.9 miles. NOT easy miles either (but worth it).
When we finished, it was swan o’clock. Dad helped me grab my swan decoys, a dozen duck decoys, and my jet sled and off I went. Dad went back to home base to run some errands, and I sat and waited. After just 40 minutes I heard some flying swans and switched two of my three shells out for some TSS (just in case). They saw my decoys, but with the wind to my face and not my back, I worried they may keep going towards a large group of swans on the other side of the pond. I took two shots and knocked him flat with the TSS. A few celebratory expletives were shouted, and the weight of the tag was lifted off of my shoulders. I still had some time waiting for Dad to get back and I managed to knock down four wigeon in my spread while listening to no one better than Midwest Flyways themselves. If you don’t know them, they really appreciate wigeon, so it was only fitting that I was doing some WORK on the “widge”. Also, can we appreciate the sheer size of a dang swan! MASSIVE!
As we clean our home base and prepare for tomorrow, we can’t be more appreciative of how North Dakota has treated us so far. Hoping to make some noise day four as well! Also maybe get a car wash…
