Gary Greene’s Memories from an Old Hunter…..#19
During his five year military career, my special force’s army ranger son Nate totaled five war time deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sporadically, during that time, he would call me from overseas and because of the time zone changes, those calls would usually arrive around 2:00am. I was always awakened from a deep sleep hearing my son’s voice saying: “Hi dad.” Each and every time, those two words would bring me to tears due to being emotionally relieved, knowing that he was alive and physically unharmed. My son’s response always was: “Geeze dad, I’m not going to call if you always cry,” but he continued to call and I continued to cry with each phone greeting. Being an army ranger, he wasn’t allowed to discuss any aspects of his job, so we frequently talked of our past and future hunts together. Those were extremely stressful years for my son and his family back home. One concept we always found humorous was that the time difference was 9 ½ hours. Yes, that is correct, Afghanistan is 9 ½ hours ahead of Wisconsin in time.
Nate Greene and our dog Elsie in a South Dakota snow storm. (2012)
In 2010, when he was fresh out of the army, I was thinking that the pheasant’s numbers in South Dakota might be vanishing. I wanted Nate to experience abundant, wild pheasants before they disappeared,so in late December of that year, we made our journey to Huron, South Dakota. It was a rewarding hunt that met my objective.
There are numerous South Dakota guides, clubs and places to hunt, but in Huron, I chose Steve Bublitz and his Fair Chase Pheasants. It was moderately priced, had privately owned lands, and advertised all wild pheasants. In a hunt, those were the qualities I was looking for. We didn’t need a fancy club house and prepared meals. When in Huron, we stay at the Motel 8. They offer dog friendly rooms and a heated bird cleaning room with hot running water. They also include a continental breakfast and warm, afternoon, chocolate chip cookies. You might say big deal to the cookies, but after walking six hours through cattail marshes in sub-freezing temperatures, then pass judgement. The indoor hot tub is also a welcomed feature. We know Huron well and we have identified all the best restaurants. Our favorite night is Thursday at the Airport Lounge, featuring all the crab legs you can eat.
In Huron, South Dakota, Gary and Nate Greene and the big bird. (2012)
Traditionally with every trip, we get our picture taken under the giant, 28 foot tall, steel and fiberglass pheasant. The sign reads: “HURON: HOME OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST PHEASANT.”
Many of the other guides and lodges offer liberated birds, which means those pheasants were released from pens sometime before you arrived. If that was the type of hunting I wanted, I could have stayed in Wisconsin, and hunted at our fine hunting clubs. One of Wisconsin’s hunting clubs, that I am familiar with, has sent several thousand mature pheasants to South Dakota outfits. With that scenario, unknowingly, I could be hunting Wisconsin birds, but driving over 600 miles to do so.
For example, in 2014, Brian Jablonski and I did stay at an Aberdeen hunting lodge because at the time, we were also pursuing bison. That establishment offered wild or liberated pheasants. During our late December hunts, it took us the entire day to harvest our limit of six wild roosters. We saw thousands of hens, but after being chased and shot at for two months, those late season roosters were few and very intelligent. Most times, the roosters flushed hundreds of yards ahead of us.
Meanwhile, the other hunters didn’t care that they were hunting liberated pheasants. One such hunting party started their hunt after lunch and they missed numerous birds, but within an hour, they still shot their twelve pheasant limit. They wanted lots of birds and lots of shooting and we wanted the challenge of outwitting wild South Dakota pheasants.
We have enjoyed many great trips to Huron, but I think the most memorable was the 2012 trip with Jim Wick, Nate, and me. Hunting four days in December, pushing cattails with constant flurries, with steady 25 mph winds and with temps in the teens………….we were beat. We shot plenty of birds, but the memories always go beyond just the pheasants.
Hunting partner, Jim Wick and his dog Beau on our South Dakota hunt. (2012)
One night back in the motel room, after one of those long, hard hunts, as I was telling one of my favorite stories about Jesse Jablonski’s dog Nellie falling down into an uncovered Huron well, Nate and I glanced over at Jim and noticed he wasn’t moving. At the foot of his bed, he was facedown with his glasses ajar across his face, and his nose was jammed into the bed. Nate and I looked at each other and simultaneously said: “I think Jim is dead!” There was a silence, when suddenly from Jim, out came a snort and a quiver. We laughed long and hard.
The next night, talking over buckets of crab legs, Nate mentioned that the longest clay bird shot was about 105 yards. We discussed how one would have to lead a lot and shoot high. The next day, a rooster flushed far out in front of us. On a whim, Nate, using the technique discussed the evening before, in one shot dropped the bird. We paced off the distance of that shot and made it out to be about 75 yards. Smiles were all around.
For our departure home, with no snow in the forecast, we got an early start in the dark. Just as we left, a heavy snow erupted. It was a South Dakota, wind driven, white out. I had near zero visibility. Thinking the snow would let up, we continued on, but the 52 mile drive from Huron to Mitchell took us nearly three hours. Tensions were high, as Nate and I struggled to see out of the corners of the front window. Jim in the back seat, sensing the strained situation, never said a word. When we finally arrived at Mitchell, the snow had stopped and Jim made his first sound in three hours. He said: “I had made up my mind. I knew we were going to crash, it was just a matter of time!” At that moment, under all that stress, those were the perfect words to break the silence. Again, smiles were all around.
Brian Jablonski and Greene with his three black labs and their limit of wild pheasants after a tough,six hour, Aberdeen, South Dakota hunt. (2014)