Upland Bird Hunting
Whether you are looking for Pheasant Hunting, Sharptail Grouse Hunting, Pigeon and Dove Hunting, Partridge Hunting, or Others - Dakota Outfitters has just the organizations you are looking for!
Pheasant Hunting
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The Common Pheasant, is a bird in the pheasant family. It is native to Asia and has been widely introduced elsewhere as a game bird. In parts of its range, namely in places where none of its relatives occur such as in Europe (where it is naturalized), it is simply known as the "pheasant". "Ring-necked Pheasant" is a collective name for a number of subspecies and their crossbreeds.
It is a well-known gamebird, among those of more than regional importance perhaps the most widespread and ancient one in the whole world. The Common Pheasant is one of the world's most hunted birds; it has been introduced for that purpose to many regions, and is also common on game farms where it is commercially bred. Ring-necked Pheasants in particular are commonly bred and were introduced to many parts of the world; the game farm stock, though no distinct breeds have been developed yet, can be considered semi-domesticated. The Ring-necked Pheasant is the state bird of South Dakota, one of only three US state birds that is not a species native to the United States.
The birds are found in woodland, farmland, scrub and wetlands.. In its natural habitat the Common Pheasant lives in grassland near water with small copses of trees. Extensively cleared farmland is marginal habitat that cannot maintain self-sustaining populations for long. Pheasants are gregarious birds and outside the breeding season form loose flocks. Wherever they are hunted they are always timid once they associate humans with danger, and will quickly retreat for safety after hearing the arrival of hunting parties in the area.
While Common Pheasants are able short-distance fliers, they prefer to run. If startled however, they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive "whirring" wing sound and often giving kok kok kok calls to alert conspecifics. Their flight speed is only 27 to 38 mph when cruising but when chased they can fly up to 60 mph.
Sharptail Grouse Hunting
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The Sharp-tailed Grouse, is a medium-sized prairie grouse. It is also known as the sharptail, and is known as "fire grouse" or "fire bird" by Native American Indians due to their reliance on brush fires to keep their habitat open. Adults have a relatively short tail with the two central (deck) feathers being square-tipped and somewhat longer than their lighter, outer tail feathers giving the bird its distinctive name. The plumage is mottled dark and light browns against a white background, they are lighter on the underparts with a white belly uniformly covered in faint "V"-shaped markings. Adult males have a yellow comb over their eyes and a violet display patch on their neck. The female is smaller than the male and can be distinguished by the regular horizontal markings across the deck feathers as opposed to the irregular markings on the males deck feathers which run parallel to the feather shaft. Females also tend to have less obvious combs. Males weigh an average of 33.5 oz. and females average 29 oz.
Pigeons and Doves
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Pigeons and doves constitute the family Columbidae which include some 300 species of near passerine birds. In general parlance the terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological practice, there is a tendency for "dove" to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied, and historically the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the term "dove" and "pigeon." This family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalaya and Australasia ecozones. The young doves and pigeons are called "squabs." Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere. The species commonly referred to just as the "pigeon" is the feral Rock Pigeon, common in many cities. Doves and pigeons build relatively flimsy nests from sticks and other debris, which may be placed in trees, on ledges, or on the ground, depending on species. They lay one or two eggs, and both parents care for the young, which leave the nest after 7 to 28 days. Doves feed on seeds, fruit and plants. Unlike most other birds (but see flamingo), the doves and pigeons produce "crop milk," which is secreted by a sloughing of fluid-filled cells from the lining of the crop. Both sexes produce this highly nutritious substance to feed to the young.
Partridge Hunting
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Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Partridges are ground-nesting seed-eaters. There are two types of partridge commonly found in North America as game birds - the chukar partridge and the gray partridge. The gray partridge is more commonly found in deciduous forests. The gray partridge has a less charismatic appearance than the chukar partridge. Partridges are 10-14 inches long and weigh less than one pound. They are a favorite game bird for many hunters.
Other Upland Bird Hunting
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The Ptarmigan is a medium-sized (12-14 in.) gamebird in the grouse family. It is known as Rock Ptarmigan, or colloquially Snow Chicken or Partridge in North America, where it is the official bird for the territory of Nunavut, Canada, and the official game bird for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The Ptarmigan is seasonally camouflaged; its feathers moult from white in winter to brown in spring or summer. The breeding male has greyish upper parts with white wings and underparts. In winter, its plumage becomes completely white except for the black tail. It can be distinguished from the winter Willow Grouse (Willow Ptarmigan in North America) by habitat - the Rock Ptarmigan prefers higher elevations and more barren habitat; it is also smaller with a more delicate bill. The male's "song" is a loud croaking. Because of the remote habitat in which it lives, it has only a few predators - such as Golden Eagles - and can be surprisingly tame and approachable. The Ptarmigan feeds primarily on birch and willow buds and catkins when available. It will also take various seeds, leaves, flowers and berries of other plant species. Insects are taken by the developing young.