Lodges of Distinction

When it comes to wingshooting, many of us wish we’d been born before our time. We long for the glory days of Dixie quail hunting, when pointers and setters had no problem finding a dozen coveys a day. Or those awesome fall afternoons when Northeast farm boys on their way home from school could pot enough grouse and rabbits to provide a hearty supper.
Sadly, hunting like that went the way of all-metal cars, mail-order shotguns and misbehaving students paying the price with sore tushes. Yet there remains one gem on the American wingshooting scene that shines as bright as ever: South Dakota pheasant hunting.
Thanks to ideal conditions from Mother Nature and an appreciation of the long-tailed birds by farmers, for about the past five seasons pheasant numbers have been downright insane over much of South Dakota. In fact, some years’ estimates have put the state’s pheasant population between 8 million and 10 million—rivaling numbers that were enjoyed in the Soil Bank days of the ’50s and ’60s.
This fall holds excellent promise, too.
Yes, we’re coming off an old-fashioned winter, but people at the Game, Fish and Parks Department say that pheasants fared well thanks to habitat left by many landowners, including thousands of acres of uncut crops left because of extreme fall moisture.
And those uncut crops so hampered hunters last season that old birds with sharks’ teeth for spurs and tails as long as gun barrels should be in excellent supply this fall.
Nowhere will bird numbers be better than on lands managed by the state’s top lodges. These are the glory days, and the following lodges will offer some of the best opportunities anywhere to experience quality pheasant hunting the way it was meant to be. Go enjoy them.

Buffalo Butte Ranch
For many decades the Springer family farmed crops and cattle for its livelihood and hosted hunters on the side. That has changed.
“Now it’s always pheasants first when it comes to the land,” said Buffalo Butte Ranch owner Marshall Springer. “They’re what’s saved our family farm.”
The result is about 6,000 acres of contiguous pheasant habitat near the south-central town of Gregory, in the heart of America’s best pheasant range. That’s about two to three hours from the airports in Pierre or Sioux Falls.
Though food plots are plentiful, the Springers are adamant about providing the perfect nesting habitat to accommodate thousands of springtime hens. Programs to control predators and create dense areas of winter cover also get serious attention.
Although wild-bird hunts remain the lodge’s mainstay, a controlled shooting preserve is operated for hunters interested in taking more birds than the statewide general limit of three roosters per day.
Buffalo Butte guides use professionally trained retrievers and pointing dogs. Guests can bring their own dogs as long as the dogs hunt in control and all of their shots are current.
Accommodations range from rooms within the large main lodge to more private arrangements in nearby cabins. All meals are furnished in the main lodge, with no shortage of quality food offered.
While the Springers handpick a few locals to work for the operation, Marshall and his wife, Colleen, are elbow deep in all aspects of the operation. “I don’t think you can beat that kind of service,” Marshall said, “because it’s our farm that’s on the line. If we work hard and do a great job, we know we can keep the farm in the family for several more generations. That’s pretty big incentive.”
For more information, contact Buffalo Butte Ranch, 800-203-6678; www.buffalobutte.com.
Dakota River Ranch
It can be the best of both worlds: five-star waterfowling in the morning and five-star pheasant hunting in the afternoon. And all wild birds.
Dakota River Ranch’s 10,000 acres of hunting grounds are in northeastern South Dakota, where pheasant-rich farmland reaches the famed prairie pothole region that produces so many thousands of ducks. The ranch is an easy 15-minute drive from the airport in Aberdeen.
Hosting hunters since 1948, Dakota River has things pretty well figured out when it comes to putting guests on good shooting. Hunting manager Gabe Dutenhoeffer says experienced guides scout the wetlands and fields for morning waterfowl hunts. After lunch most hunters hit the thousands of acres of food plots, harvested grainfields, cattail sloughs and grasslands for roosters.
Dutenhoeffer takes pride in the operation’s professionally trained Labs, although guests are welcome to bring their own experienced dogs.
This is a place for real hunters willing to work for great shooting. Wild pheasants mean unpredictable birds, but fortunately there are so many places to hunt and so many birds that things usually have a way of working out.
The ranch does have a shooting preserve for those who are short on energy or time or who want to work their dogs on a few extra birds.
Sleeping quarters range from two-person suites to bunk-style rooms. A main lodge holds the dining hall and leisure quarters.
Breakfasts are usually of legendary proportions. Dinners are of “omigosh” quality, often featuring favorites such as pheasant and locally raised beef. Lunches are hearty and typically served in the field.
For more information, contact Dakota River Ranch, 877-228-0012; www.dakota riverranch.com.

Firesteel Creek Lodge
It’s a land so immense that you’re confined only by the horizons, and the ranch is so large that some its best bird coverts go unhunted during the season. The Lindskov family offers hunting on all of its 150,000-plus acres in north-central South Dakota, less than two hours from Pierre.
Much of the land at Firesteel Creek Lodge is virgin prairie that is some of America’s best sharp-tailed grouse habitat. Hungarian partridge also abound. “Only” about 15,000 acres of the operation are croplands providing outstanding wild-pheasant hunting.
Most visiting groups mix Huns and sharpies with pheasants. About 9,000 acres are managed as a preserve for hunters who want to take more than the state-allotted daily limits of birds.
Hunts are tailored to the individual group. A father and son will be guided in narrow grass swales easily covered with a dog or two. A larger corporate group may be split into groups of no more than eight and spread across broad cropfields or pastures. Groups are never mixed in the field and are so widely spaced that one will never hear the shots of another.
All Firesteel guides are professional dog trainers in the off-season. Clients can bring their own dogs, as well.
Accommodations are in a large ranch house that was once a stagecoach stop. Recent remodeling elevated the facilities to four-star quality. Meals are as big as the country and characterized as “gourmet with a country flair.”
For more information, contact Fire-steel Creek Lodge, 605-466-2452; www.firesteelcreeklodge.com.

The Grand Lodge
Yes, there really is a building that would do any big city proud in tiny Highmore, South Dakota, about 50 miles east of Pierre. And if you happen to stay there, you can enjoy the kind of pheasant hunting that would do any place in the bird hunting world proud, too.
At The Grand Lodge hunters take to about 10,000 acres of fields, most of which the Solberg family farms for birds. Management efforts have been so successful that in recent years some of the cluster flushes have been better measured in minutes than in numbers of pheasants. Mike Solberg, one of the operation’s owners, said that some prime spots have produced an honest 500 wild birds.
Guides have great dogs, or hunters are welcome to bring their own, provided they can keep them in control when pheasant scent blankets the ground like a low fog.
The lodge’s shooting preserve allows hunters to take five roosters instead of the statewide limit of three.
The lodge itself is about 11,000 square feet in size, providing plenty of room to stretch out and the privacy needed for a good night’s sleep after a day afield. Meals do the gunning and lodging justice, too.
For more information, contact The Grand Lodge, 605-852-3200; www .grandlodgehunting.com.
Oak Tree Lodge
The Threadgolds want their hunters to feel like they’re coming home to a family reunion. Luckily for the hunters, their adopted family farm is located in some of South Dakota’s best pheasant and waterfowl country. The farm that’s been in the family since 1901 is located in northeast South Dakota about 40 miles from the airport in Watertown.
Michael Threadgold is the fifth generation to work the land, and for the past dozen or so years he’s been as interested in raising wild pheasants as in raising some of the world’s best crops. The farm is a checkerboard of CRP grasses and food plots, ensuring that the pheasants have five-star nesting and brood-rearing cover. Food and protection from winter weather are also in great supply.
Though most hunters travel to Oak Tree Lodge for pheasants, the destination offers excellent combination hunts for waterfowl, beginning with a September early goose season and lasting several months until swarming flocks of mallards arrive.
Pheasant hunts take place both off and on preserves, which make up about 2,000 of the operation’s 10,000 acres. The limit is a liberal five birds per day, with no more than three from non-preserve areas.
Oak Tree’s guides use mostly Labs, but guests who bring pointing dogs will be taken to dense grass patches where roosters often are willing to hold tight. Special arrangements can be made for those who insist on marching all day or those who prefer a short, gentle stroll.
Sleeping accommodations are spread throughout three structures that sit apart from the main dining/lounging area.
Speaking of dining, meals are entirely homemade by a talented cooking staff. The lodge’s legendary buffalo steaks are thick, juicy and delicious.
Plan on hearty handshakes and hugs when you leave—the kind you get when you’re considered family.
For more information, contact Oak Tree Lodge, 605-532-3335; www.oaktreefarm.com.

Prairie Sky Ranch
Of course Prairie Sky Ranch offers pheasant hunting. It is, after all, a hunting operation in South Dakota. But some of America’s best waterfowling is Prairie Sky’s biggest draw.
In the extreme northeastern part of the state, near Sisseton, the ranch’s 10,000 acres hold a lot of water, sitting amid the famed prairie pothole region.
Prairie Sky Manager Bruce Prins says that early fall hunts are for thousands of teal, wigeon, gadwalls and other puddle ducks raised in the region. In a few weeks the first batches of migrant mallards begin to arrive. November is a time of some of the best mallard hunting over decoys. Geese can be counted on throughout the season.
Unlike most nonresidents, Prairie Sky’s guests are guaranteed nonresident waterfowl permits because of the ranch’s access to tribal reservation lands.
Afternoon pheasant hunts are in great habitat that varies from dense cattail stands to easily walked cropfields and grass patches. The hunts are conducted primarily on a 2,000-acre preserve that is routinely supplemented with birds to ensure great action. The guides have some fine dogs (mostly Labs), but clients may bring their own if they can keep them in control.
The main lodge is a spacious 5,000 square feet. Cabins are roomy and sleep up to four. Meals are excellent, ample and healthy, with a wide variety of choice buffalo cuts and free-range chicken served. Desserts are legendary.
The nearest airports are in Aberdeen and Watertown, both within about an hour’s drive.
For more information, contact Prairie Sky Ranch, 605-738-2411; www.prairieskyranch.com.

River Hills Lodge
There are two kinds of hunts offered at River Hills Lodge: “great” and “even better.” In its four years of operation the lodge, near Platte, has gained a solid reputation for quality as one of America’s few all-inclusive hunting opportunities. From airport pick-up in Sioux Falls, to all of the ammo you’ll need for shooting pheasants and sporting clays, to private rooms and top-shelf post-hunt refreshments, everything is included. And it’s all enjoyed in a luxury lodge setting that’s a dead-ringer for an old Western town.
Manager Gloria Aukman says an optional package includes staying in the lodge and enjoying fine meals (including prize-winning beef, gourmet pheasant and walleye); it’s just that hunters need to look after a few details themselves.
River Hills offers about 14,000 acres of great hunting ground in the south-central part of the state. Guides use well-trained Labs, although guests may bring their own dogs.
About 2,500 acres of the operation is a controlled shooting area, so the lodge is able to offer extended seasons and limits. Even on the preserve, however, at least half of the pheasants taken by hunters are wild birds.
Prime habitat includes broad strips of prairie grasses, cedar shelterbelts, pond edges and uncut fields of corn and milo, which help the area hold amazing numbers of pheasants.
For more information, contact River Hills Lodge, 605-680-1515; www.riverhillslodge.com.

Tumbleweed Lodge
Tumbleweed Lodge has been ranked one of the top 10 hunting lodges in the world by professionals who tour the best of the best. At 18,000 square feet, the lodge, near Harrold, is of palatial dimensions with the décor to match.
According to Michael Bollweg, whose family owns and operates Tumbleweed, “We want to make sure people get a chance to kick back, relax and feel like part of the family. We want this to stay personal.”
The hunting operation, located 40 minutes east of Pierre, covers about 12,000 acres and offers excellent opportunities for greater prairie chickens, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge and of course pheasants. The Bollwegs’ farming background also helps them maximize every inch of their 3,000-acre shooting preserve.
It’s wall-to-wall habitat, so wild birds abound. Supplementation is done in the spring, when about 8,000 bred hens are released along with 1,500 roosters. By opening day the mature birds and their progeny are as wild as the prairie winds.
Although the grounds are broad and immaculate, great pheasant habitat is only a few yards from the lodge. Guests often see and hear cockbirds cackling nearby at first and last light.
Meals do the grounds, world-class guides, dogs and accommodations justice. Chef Joe Faucett considers his job complete if you’re a tad miserable from over-eating when you push yourself away from the table.
But as you let things settle, you can retire to one of many secluded alcoves, enjoy a fine cigar or watch a ballgame on a giant screen. Or you can sit around and visit with one of the locals serving as staff or one of the Bollwegs. At Tumbleweed, it’s easy to feel like family.
For more information, contact Tumbleweed Lodge, 605-875-3440; www.tumbleweedlodge.com.