Dixie and I celebrated our 16^th wedding anniversary a couple weeks ago. I think I may have mentioned this previously, but she finally agreed (willingly or unwillingly I’m not sure) to go pheasant hunting with me in South Dakota to celebrate the occasion.

While I love my wife unconditionally, I have cursed the fact that I got married the first week of November for the last 15 of our 16 years together (first one I was too distracted to notice). The timing provides an annual conflict of me wanting to be somewhere else during our anniversary Anyway, this year has been an absolute dream come true. Dixie finally caved in to the pressure to celebrate our 16^th anniversary by going on a pheasant hunt with me – the first time in our 16 years of marriage. There was an ulterior motive here as well – since she’s a co-owner of the Uplanders Warehouse business with me, I figure it’s only going to serve us better the more she knows about upland bird hunting, and about the products we sell.

The day finally arrived! We packed up the truck and dogs Wednesday, 11/4 and drove to the small town of Mellette, SD (population 250) – about 20 miles south of Aberdeen on Highway 281 – a 12 hour drive from our home in Montana. We rolled in around midnight, found our lodge, unloaded our gear and went to bed. Shooting doesn’t start till 10am in South Dakota (noon for the first couple weeks of the season), so Thursday morning we slept in, then ate a late breakfast before we met our guide at the Mellette bar & grill (the only food in town). We spent the rest of the day hunting the fringes of fields that had yet to be cut – slough areas and fence lines. Did not kick up much at all – in fact, I didn’t fire a single shot on Day 1 – and I was seriously getting concerned that this much-anticipated South Dakota hunt was going to be a bust.

Dixie proudly displays her very first pheasant!

For all of you thinking: “What? I heard there were millions of roosters in South Dakota” – here’s a little more background info about South Dakota this year.
They’ve had a very non-typical fall season – and my guess is bird harvest numbers up till now are way down from prior years.  This is due to the high percentage of crops that are still standing that haven’t been harvested yet. The cool, wet summer led to a late harvest, but continued rainfall in the last couple months have meant that the ground is too muddy for the tractors and combines that even though the crops are now ready to be harvested, they still can’t get out there to do it because of the mud. As we drove around the area, all of the ditches and any other low-lying areas were covered in water. Great for waterfowl (which we saw a ton of), but not so great for farming and rooster hunting.

The week prior to our visit, it was sunny and dry, and we noticed a lot of grain trucks running around and the farmers are now (finally) getting their fields harvested. Apparently, it’s been a rough go for the first several weeks of the pheasant season in SD because the normal fields haven’t been available to hunt. And why would a pheasant hang out in a ditch, when there is tall corn standing? Well, they won’t – which is why they’ve been scarce till now.

So back to the hunting. We were hunting around a slough on day 2 when Dixie shot her first pheasant ever. Several of us were positioned on both sides of a slough with a few blockers at the end. We pushed all the birds to the end of the slough before they started flushing – and we all got several shots off. I was ankle-deep in mud on the inside, and shot a few birds that landed on the water. We couldn’t get our guide’s lab to go get them, so I ended up wading out thigh-deep (without waders) to retrieve them. Let’s just say I got some extra dog food that night for my quality retrieving work. During the push, Dixie was positioned out on the wing, standing in a cut-wheat field. After the main flush happened, there were a few stragglers that were still flushing as we were picking up birds. One rooster flushed on Dixie’s corner, and she rushed the first shot wide, but recovered nicely, turned and dropped it going away with the second shot. She was pretty excited, and I had to dab a tear from my eye One of my primary goals for the trip was to get Dixie hooked on bird hunting, and that first bird basically accomplished that goal. It took some hard(er) hunting, and we hunted all day, but we did get our limit for day two.

Seeing this many birds on the ground was a first for me. I'm ready to go back!

Day three was an entirely different experience – and one that keeps a smile on my face at night when I dream about it. There were 12 hunters total (most of them we lodged with from Louisiana and Florida, a great group of guys that we had a lot of fun with). We hunted three fields in 2 hours and everyone had their limit. The first two fields were CRP fields next to corn that had just been cut the day before. When the corn gets cut, all the birds flock back to the CRP. It was a lot of shooting in a condensed period, and a ton of fun. The third field was a corn strip that the farmer had left standing in the middle of a harvested field. We put several walkers on one end of the corn strip, placed a couple guys on the outside as wingmen (50 yards ahead of the walkers), and several more blockers at the end of the corn strip.

As you push through the corn strip, you see dozens of birds running between the rows out in front of you. Several birds tried to flush out the edges of the strip, and our wingmen were there to pick them off. Once you start nearing the end of the strip and the blockers at the far end, the excitement really happens. Birds flushing everywhere, birds dropping everywhere – chaos and a lot of fun.

Day 4 followed day 3 – more corn strips and CRP. Dixie and I hunted for a couple hours in the morning, got our limit and loaded up the dogs and truck for the drive back to Montana.

The dogs were great as well. The fact that we hunted sloughs and boundary areas the first to days worked well, because that’s where the dogs got all the work. They did work the CRP fields on days 3-4, but stayed in the truck on the corn strip hunts. They performed well, and Cora even had a water retrieve on one of the slough shoots which was great to see (they never practice that, and that was a first for me and my dogs).

Our host for the weekend was Rooster Tail Inc, in Mellette, SD.  Terry Akin is the owner of the lodge and outfitter service and Dixie and I met his son (Travis) at Pheasant Fest last February – we were booth neighbors. While sitting next to Travis for a few days at the show, we did some horse trading and put together a trip for Dix and I. They have a great operation and are wonderful hosts. The main lodge is a nicely remodeled rectory in the middle of Mellette. The main lodge sleeps 20 or so, but Terry has expanded and they now have a “motel” right next to the lodge that sleeps another 16. They can accommodate fairly large groups – and according to Terry, the best pheasant hunting is done with large groups (to fill all the required walker, blocker and wing positions). And I can’t argue – it was very effective. I wholeheartedly endorse Terry and Rooster Tail Inc. for any of you who are contemplating a trip to SD for pheasant hunting. They were very gracious hosts and put us on some great wild-bird hunting. Dixie and I were there with a larger group of guys from Louisiana and Florida who have been hunting at Rooster Tail every year for the past several years. Dixie was pretty nervous initially being the only gal in a big group of guys, but she fit in just fine and felt right at home. Our hunting partners were a lot of fun and sure knew how to cook (white chili with pheasant meat over rice, deep fried pheasant tenders with honey mustard – they fed us well!). We’ll have to plan to hunt there next year when they go too.

Here's the full group photo. This was a fun bunch of guys (and gal).

Everyone Chases Tail

 

Before we left on the trip, Dixie threw a bunch of our “I chase tail” hats and shirts in a trash bag and threw them in the truck. I think we gave out 20 or so while we were there – and everyone loved them. From our hunting partners, to our guides, and even our cute waitress at the Maverick steak house in Aberdeen – everyone was sporting new “I chase tail” gear. It’s fun to see, and fun to see everyone’s reaction to the hats & shirts – they always love ‘em.  

A little excitement on the way home

I was on mental auto-pilot as we had already been driving for 9 hours or so. Approx. 80 miles east of Billings, MT on I-90, we were doing about 80 mph when I saw something in the road ahead. It was pitch black outside, and I started braking, then slammed on the breaks and yelled “Oh $#!%!” as we came up on a huge bull elk standing broadside in the dead-center of our two lanes of the interstate. Dixie was asleep but with the hard braking and my sudden burst, she woke up with a jolt and contributed with her own scream. We were still doing about 50 mph by the time we reached the bull and I was bracing for impact – having nightmares of his huge antlers coming through the windshield. We were hugging the right shoulder of the freeway, and I was praying that the elk would stay put and not step forward (towards us). He was so close to use that I literally could have slapped his nose as we flew by him – but fortunately, he stayed put.

Alas, we made it home safe and sound. Dixie kept her first bird, and has already taken it to the taxidermist here in Bozeman. It will be spring when she gets it back, and I’m sure we’ll get to relive the hunt again. 

My South Dakota hunting license doesn’t expire till the end of the year, and I’m already trying to figure out how to get back

Comfort and fit are the best features of this vest. Not to mention its bullet-proof construction.

Made in the USA – specifically by Bob Welsh in Hailey, Idaho – the WingWorks Upland Vest is a well-built hunting vest with plenty of pockets, good water bottle capacity and a game bag that is easy to access. 

What Can it Carry?

In a word, the WingWorks carries plenty. There are five pockets, plus the gamebag. Two long pockets with large Velcro flap closures are located on the hips, sized for a lot of shells, and blaze orange for safety. The large flaps are easy to get open, and the simple “bucket-style” pockets allows you to dump in shells, and go. There are also two small zippered pockets located just past the water bottle holders, and they can be easily overlooked, but work great for a license, granola bar or pocket knife. They are the kind of pockets I like–zippered for security, out of the way, and hold the stuff I like to leave in my vest, season after season. The largest of the pockets is located on the outside, near the lower back. it reminds me of my fly fishing vest back pouch–large, zippered, and you can only access it by taking the vest off; a good storage pocket. I could fit lightweight raingear in it, as well as a spare pair of gloves. Overall, you will have no trouble fitting the necessary shells, chow, and other essentials in this vest. The one question mark is a large, round leather patch stitched to the back, with a webbing cinch strap through it. I guess you could lash a jacket to it, but it would flap around a lot–I am not sure what its’ intended use is for.

The gamebag is plenty big to hold your birds.

The Gamebag

The gamebag is sized and shaped well, and fairly easy to access with one hand and no contortionist skills needed to slip a bird in. The mesh back panel is a nice touch, especially in early season and hot weather. There is also a small open ended pocket located just inside, which works to stash empty shells. It keeps them separated from the birds and your live rounds. The only drawback to the gamebag is there is no way to zip it open for cleaning–it requires you to turn it inside out or just wipe it clean from the inside–a small detail.

The Hydration System

The WingWorks does not sport a true “hydration system” but instead the more classic water bottles. Two bottle pockets house one liter bottles on each side of the hips. They are easy to access, and if you are not used to water bladders and hoses, or prefer the ease of a bottle, this is for you.  But if you are not used to it, the two full water bottles do put a bit of weight on the outside of your hips.

The Fit

The fit is first-class, with a lightly padded waistbelt that cinches down via a camlock belt, and the shoulder straps, while unpadded, are wide and distribute the weight well. Good vertical adjustment straps on the back and a sternum strap round out a nice, snug fit that stays out of the way of the gun stock during the shot. Basically, this vest comes custom-built to your specific measurements. Wingworks uses measurements of height, weight and waist size (measured around your navel) to get the best fit possible for you.

Many hunters prefer water bottles to water bladders (generally, a lot easier cleanup and refilling)

The Final Word

Pros:  Plenty of pockets, comfy waistbelt, easy access gamebag and deep shell pockets.
Cons: Water bottles can bounce around a bit in the pockets, and the dual shell pockets are a bit tight to access with gloves on, especially with the last few shells near the bottom.

The Quilomene vest straps are flat - a definite plus when shouldering a gun.

The Quilomene Hunting Vest was designed by Steve Owen in Billings, Montana. I’ve met Steve a couple times now and he is a great guy – and has designed a great upland vest as well. To stay price competitive, he now has these vests manufacturered to his specs in Mexico. The Quilomene Hunting Vest is a streamlined, low-profile vest, with thin but wide straps that makes shouldering a shotgun easy and able to carry plenty of gear and (hopefully) lots of birds.

What Can it Carry?

This vest is not short on storage. Two shell pockets, and four rear/back pockets, plus a large hydration pocket, round out this piece. While the shell pockets are a bit snug for my taste, they will hold plenty of rounds for a long day afield. The shell pockets come ready to accept Quilomene’s removable shell-loops to hold your shells. Note: The shell loops are sold seperately as a pair (one for each pocket) and come in all different gauges. The shell loops are made of a non-elastic material (made to your specific gauge shell), which is nice since they won’t stretch out over time.

The back pockets are where this vest picks up storage points. A long pocket runs from the neckline to the bottom of the gamebag, and will easily hold an extra layer, food, or anything else you can fit in there–you could carry another 100 ounce water bladder if you wanted to. The smaller, outermost pouches are sized for maps, gloves, or your dog’s first aid kit. One sits higher on the back, the other near the lumbar region. The last pocket sits in line with the gamebag, and has a large zippered opening. This is perfect to keep bulkier items out of the gamebag, away from bloody or wet birds.

While the amount of pockets located in the back of the vest are impressive, they put a bit of the weight when fully loaded more to the rear than I would normally like. Since it lacks a sternum strap, this causes it to “creep” more than vests with the sternum strap. In all honesty, you could load this thing up with everything including the kitchen sink — it has so many good pockets, you might need to think about what you want to take afield, and leave at the truck.

Note how hydration hose clips to the waist belt above the pocket.

The Gamebag

This is a good workhorse bag, nicely sized, easy to access, and plenty big enough for a limit of roosters. There is no zip opening to clean it, so it does require you to turn the gamebag inside out to wipe down or hose out the usual feathers and blood after a day or, like me, a season. Part of what makes this gamebag more accessible than most is that it rides lower down your back and on your butt than other gamebags that are up on your back. This design gives you extra capacity and easy access, but some people may not like it their birds bouncing off their butt when they walk. I personally don’t have a problem with it, but I have heard others that don’t like the gamebag riding so low.

The Hydration System

The Quilomene vest is designed to carry a large hydration bladder. The hose comes out the left or right side low, just above the hip, and the hose clips to a small attachment on the shell pocket flap. This keeps the hose out of the way of the shoulder area and the gun stock, but in tall brush, it could get hung up. The convenient location is the only tradeoff.

Please note: the water bladder does not come with this vest. I do sell two bladders that will fit nicely with this vest however: Camelbak Omega Reservoir (in 100 oz. or 70 oz.) and the Quilomene 100 oz. bladder (manufactured by Platypus).

The Fit

Even though the straps with no padding might have some people anxious, their generous width and strength will hold pretty much anything. The other bonus is they blend right in, and you hardly feel them at all. Worn over a t-shirt for hot weather hunts or over a big wool jacket for late fall outings, the vest fits just right, never getting in the way of the gun when bringing it to shoulder. To adjust the waist belt, two Velcro straps loosen and tighten the size on the inside of the vest, and also snug up the shell pockets. You can also adjust how far forward or back the shell pockets sit on your hips, by using two fixed D-rings and moving the shoulder straps fore or aft.

Pros: Tons of storage, wide, flat shoulder straps stay out of the way of the gun, a roomy hydration pocket, and the most easily accessible gamebag of any strap-style vest I’ve tried

Close-up of side pocket and back of the vest.

Cons: Dual shell pockets are a bit snug, especially with gloves on, and the snaps can be bearcat to get undone–they take two hands and some cussing (my guess is they will loosen up with use). No zip for the gamebag–requires you to turn it inside out to clean.

My goal is to post some more thorough reviews of various upland gear products that we sell through Uplanders Warehouse. The last review I did on the Badlands Upland Vest was fairly well received, and turns out to be my most read blog of all-time, so I figure I must be on to something. Keeping with that theme, I’ve evaluated a few more vests and written up more thorough reviews. This next review in the series is the Camelbak Upland Vest.

The front view of the Camelbak Upland Vest. Note the black hydration hose - this can go over either shoulder

Most outdoorsmen and women will be familiar with the Camelbak name and their advancements with hydration systems. But the big question is how well they can they combine on-the-go access to water and a rugged upland bird hunting vest?  

First off, the fabric is tough, and very water resistant. This is a bonus when drizzle, wet brush and snow squalls greet you in the field. There is also just enough blaze orange on the pocket flaps and back of the vest to keep you safe and noticeable by your hunting partners.           

What Can it Carry?

The Camelbak Upland Vest has just enough pockets to keep you stocked on necessities during a day chasing birds. There are three on each side, but one of the “pockets” is more of a zipper to aid in accessing the game bag in the back. The outermost pocket has a Velcro flap, and is just big enough for a pair of gloves or a compact digital camera. There is also a back pocket, located and accessed from the outside, near your lower back. It will hold lunch, or compact rain gear easily.

"Third pocket" shown zipped closed.

The second pocket is accessed through a two-way zipper, and includes six elastic shell holders and a water resistant interior, with a drain hole at the bottom. This pocket is big enough to hold a box of shells fairly easily. I like the fact that the zippers, complete with long pulls (good with gloves) allows you to zip up both sides to your liking, thereby increasing or decreasing the size of the opening. This is a nice touch, especially when you are walking, shooting, reloading, moving through rough terrain, picking up empties, etc.— it makes it hard for any shells to fall or bounce out. If the pocket is zipped fully open though, take care  when crossing a fence, or bending over too far–you might watch your shells fall out on the ground!

The third “pocket” is kind of confusing. There is a zipper, but there is no dividing section from it and the game bag itself. It zips open, but its purpose in my view is to allow easier access to the game bag. With it closed, it is almost impossible to get a pheasant-sized bird slipped in without some help. I wouldn’t use it as a typical pocket, because once you are loaded up with a few wet or bloody pheasants and grouse, you are not going to want to keep anything like a sandwich, camera, handkerchief or hat in there, due to the lack of a divider.

The last set of pockets are forward-facing, and vertically oriented,  sized for your dog collar remote. There is one on each side, complete with Velcro keeper strap and cinch cord.

The Game Bag

The game bag is pretty straightforward. Sized big enough for a daily limit of ringnecks, it also has two drain holes, water/blood resistant interior, and can be zipped open and down from the top to help with clean up.

"Third pocket" expander shown zipped open. Allows for easy access to the gamebag, but I wouldn't store any gear in here as it is basically an extension of the gamebag.

The Hydration System

Being a Camelbak product, you are expecting a good hydration system, and there is no doubt they delivered. Arriving with a 100 ounce bladder, you have plenty of water for a long day in hot weather. The bladder is accessed from at the top of the vest, via a long, narrow pocket that runs next to your spine. There is also a small hanger tab for the bladder itself on the inside that a plastic clip loops through, so as the water gets lower you don’t end up with a half-empty water bag collapsed in the bottom of the pocket, restricting flow; a very handy feature.

The drinking hose comes up and out, and can be routed on either the right or left side, depending upon your preference. it is held in place via a small elastic band at the shoulder. Also, the hose is covered in neoprene, to help insulate it. I personally don’t use a covered hose, so I cannot comment on if it helps keep it cool. The one area they could improve is adding “keepers” or clips to trap the hose while on the move. Bending down to go through a barb-wire fence or through tall brush is a hassle, as the hose will get caught up. A simple C-clip located low on the shoulder strap would solve this.

The Fit

This vest has very comfy shoulder straps, and a sternum strap to keep it riding snug to your body. Loaded down with a full water bladder, shells, and lunch, it rides more like a backpack than a traditional bird vest.

A look at the back of the vest.

The Final Word:

Pros: great fit and contoured suspension, good hydration system, dedicated remote control pockets

Cons: hydration hose can get in the way, third “pocket” is not too useful and seems extraneous to game bag access

Emma posing next to the truck. We couldn't find any birds to enhance the picture on this day.

Exactly 7 days after the 20 degree pheasant opener, I headed back to north-central Montana to explore a new area – but this time is was 80 degrees and not even the slightest breeze – a bit too warm in my opinion. I took my 12 year old daughter along on this hunt (my son caught a cold on the opener and stayed home). She took her hunter safety class back in September (along with my wife and 11 yr. old daughter – all passed!) – so she is now an officially licensed hunter. She was a bit nervous to be on her first hunt – and she is a bit of a worrier. I think she was afraid that she would accidentally shoot her dad and be stranded out in the middle of nowhere So, she decided to carry an unloaded shotgun around all day. She had some shells in her vest, but never loaded any in the gun. I didn’t pressure her on this – I knew she was worried and didn’t want to push her past her comfort level. First and foremost, I wanted to make sure she had a good time and a good first hunting experience. 

Turns out, her unloaded shotgun was just as effective as my loaded gun. We worked through a large Pheasants Forever piece of land north of Denton, MT that surrounds a stretch of Coffee Creek. It looked like great bird country, but we didn’t find much – only kicked up 1 hen and 1 rooster. The rooster flushed a ways out, and we never got a shot on him. Towards the end of the hunt, I climbed up a hill and looked toward the back of the PF property and saw a large food plot and shelter belt that we didn’t even get to. I’m guessing that most hunters (like us) get worn out before they ever even get that far back on the land – so I will definitely be headed back to this piece to work it again with a slightly different strategy – and hopefully on a day that isn’t so warm.

After we hunted the PF plot, we drove around and checked out a couple other pieces of state lands and BMA’s (block management areas). We saw several other pheasants and some sharptails, but never got close enough to shoot anything. Given the temperature and dry conditions, all the birds were running well ahead of us – and we could never get in front of them. By the end of the day, dad, daughter and dogs were all dead tired. But it was a great daddy-daughter trip, she had a lot of fun and is now bugging me to go out again. I’ll call that a successful hunt.

I started out the day wearing a Filson Upland Shooting Shirt, but quickly shed that and just went with a short-sleeve t-shirt. I stowed the shooting shirt in my Mother Day Pack which worked well. I was carrying quite a bit of water for myself, dogs and daughter, and the Mother pack did wonderfully. Too bad I didn’t get to really load it up with some birds. My daughter was wearing a Gamehide Youth Vest and some Gamehide Youth Chaps. The chaps are one-size-fits-most, and she’s got some skinny legs, so they were a bit baggy in the thigh, but otherwise worked great. We pushed through some pretty thick stuff and she never complained once of getting poked or pricked.

Dylan with Cora and a couple nice roosters. If it weren't for the birds, he wouldn't be smiling. It was a cold day.

My third trip out for the season was October 10th – the pheasant opener here in Montana. It was a balmy weekend – high of 20 degrees with a solid 20 mph wind all day long. My son and I made the trip up to the Bowdoin wildlife refuge outside of Malta, MT on the recommendations of a couple guys in our Pheasants Forever chapter here in Bozeman. Only 2 days prior, our high temp was around 85 – talk about extremes. I took my 14 yr old son (Dylan) along and we wore out some tread on our boots looking for birds. Being new to the area, we were going off what others had to say about the place – “stick to the cattails.” Well, that’s easier said than done. We pushed through some tall, thick cover trying to kick up a bird or two. We finally had some success and bagged a single bird. If I had to work that hard for all my birds, I think I’d rather starve to death But we also had a couple long-distance flushes and watched the birds fly into a small grove of Russian olive trees. We pursued and found the trees to be a lot easier hunting, and a lot more productive. In all, we flushed 10 roosters, several more hens and had a good time. Its funny when you finally get on birds, the cold weather seems to go away

When you’re hunting with your kids, I always defer to them to take the first shot when they’re in any kind of position to take it. Clearly, if I’m the only one with an angle on the bird, I’ll take the shot without thinking twice. But, if there’s a legit chance my son (and now daughters) can take a shot, I wait for them. And I’ve told them as much – don’t expect dad to shoot – they know they get the first shot. Well, it can get frustrating for anyone who is used to taking a good shot when they see one (and even more frustrating when your less-experienced kids miss easy shots .  I just have to mentally tell myself (over and over again) that its not about filling your limit, it’s about having a good time hunting with your kids – regardless of the number of birds you find, miss or bag. I’m sure if you asked the dogs though, you might get a different story (“freaking idiot – how hard is it to hit a bird 15 feet away that I pointed out for you???”

Given that the day was so cold, so I pulled out all the stops. I wore my Filson Tin Cloth Field Coat with Zipper and a few layers underneath (sweatshirt, Filson Upland/Shooting Shirt, long underwear, etc.). On my lower half, I wore the Filson Briar & Burr chaps and had no issues with the Filson chaps being too warm on this day The laws of the wildlife refuge required blaze orange above the waist, so I had a Browning Pheasants Forever hat on above my Columbia Balaclava (a wonderful item to keep your head and face warm on cold days – the best $12 you’ll ever spend). My son had on some Columbia Upland Jeans II with a Browning Gore-Tex Upland Jacket (now discontinued). Like a typical teenager, he forgot to bring any gloves, so we stopped by the hardware store in Malta and picked up some insulated work gloves.

Cora the Wonder Dog - as in, it's a Wonder she didn't kill herself

On my second outing looking for sharptail and huns, my wife went to a different area in the Shields Valley and had what amounted to a wonderful walk through the fall-colored hills and chalked it up to great exercise - we didn’t kick up a single bird. The highlight of the night was the rib dinner at the Wilsall Cafe afterwards – excellent food and great service.  If you ever find yourself driving through Wilsall on highway 89, it is worth the stop.

We did see several deer and antelope and other game – just no birds. My source who typically bow-hunts for big game in this area tells me he usually kicks up some sharptails and has seen huns in there several times as well. The area looked birdy, but they were nowhere to be found on this particular day. I’m sure I’ll take another walk through here though – it has all the right cover and signs of producing some birds.

Given that this was a shorter trip and less-intense hunt, I didn’t wear a vest at all, but strapped on a Browning Belted Game Bag. This is a wonderful option for warm-weather hunts where you don’t need a ton of bird capacity (my wife was wearing a Columbia Grouse X II Comfort Vest, so I figured I could load her up if needed I also had on a Browning Prairielands shirt (tan w/ blaze) and some jeans with Filson Single-Tin chaps. I love the protection that the Tin chaps provide, but they can get a bit warm and sweaty on warmer days. We didn’t get into too thick of cover, and I thought about pulling them off and throwing them in my wife’s gamebag, but the Single Tin Chaps don’t have the zipper on the leg, so I would have had to take the boots off, etc. Too much work, so I just sweated it out.

Two of my daughters (on the left) and their friend came along to serve as additional bird dogs. Not quite effective as the 4-legged kind, but they had a lot of fun.

As usual, I’ve neglected my blogging for the past month or so. I’ve got a good excuse though – I’ve been too busy hunting!  Given that this is my first bird hunting season in the great state of Montana, I’ve had to do some exploring. I have successfully found birds, but been less successful at bagging them. It’s been a fun process nonetheless.

Dylan headed back to the truck. The wheat in the background was unseasonably green (and unharvested) for Sept. 1

On the positive side, we did find birds – and healthy numbers of them. It’s a place I’ll be headed back to soon to see what else we can find.

My goal is to test out some different gear on each hunt. Serves two purposes – one is to get experience with different product so I can do some product reviews and write ups, the other is so I can write-off my hunting excursions as business trips

On this hunt, I wore the Columbia Upland II pants with a Pella Bird ‘n Lite Strap Vest. The Columbia pants were nice as they were a bit lighter weight than their old denim version pants (new ones are 7.5 oz. cotton duck I believe – with the heavier facing for briar protection). It was a warm day as well, so lighter-weight, yet tough pants were appreciated. We did get into some thick cover, and the pants did great. I also wore a Bob Allen Short-Sleeve Prairielands Shirt in tan/olive. Given the warmer temps, short sleeves were the best option. For the vest, I had on the Pella Bird ‘n Lite Strap Vest – also a great warm-weather option. The Pella Bird ‘n Lite vests have so many different straps, they can be a bit overwhelming initially, but if you stick with them and get the right fit, they are a very solid vest option – I wear both the Bird ‘n Lite Pack vest as well as the strap vest depending on the temperature. 

You can feel it in the air already (at least here in Montana)! It’s hunting season once again. Grouse and Sharptails open today in Montana - and between bird hunting and college football, I can’t even think straight I’m so excited. There’s always that side benefit of our Uplanders Warehouse business really ramping up too

As you may know, we’re still new to Montana, and this is really our first hunting season here in Big Sky country. I just went out and bought a map book of the entire state and I’m sitting down with a few friends to have them mark it up for me and give up all their prime bird spots (I wish that were the case – most likely, they’ll send me to some parking lot in Billings). I guess we’ll see how good of friends they really are

I also finally got my neglected dogs out to do some work the last few weeks of August (yes, I’m a procrastinator). Fortunately though, they still look pretty sharp. They sure were excited to be over birds again. I hooked up with the Missouri Headwaters Gun Dog Club here in the Bozeman area. Seems like a great bunch of guys, and I’ll definitely be doing more with them throughout the next year. Here’s their website if you’re interested: http://mhgdc.org/pointers.htm

Back to hunting and my first hunting trip of the season: My wife (Dixie) and I are flying down to Texas this week for a good old dove hunt AND we’re catching a football game (BYU v. OU) in the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. Let’s see… hunting + college football in the same weekend = too good to be true. The only thing that would make the weekend better is if my beloved Cougs could actually make a game of it against the Sooners - but that would really be too much to ask for. The Sooners are looking tough (as usual). For the dove hunt, we’ll be going out with a good friend of mine (more like a brother) – Eric Henline. Eric runs Big Sky Outfitters in Sanger, TX - and knows how to put on a great hunt (birds, big game, pigs… anything you can think of). His website is www.bso-texas.com if you’re ever in need of a great North Texas guide.

So my evil plan is to get my wife hooked on bird hunting this fall. She’s enjoyed running our Uplanders business - and talking with many of you - but she’s never been too keen on the actual hunting part. We’re starting out this weekend though - she’s committed to the dove hunt. On top of that, she’s also agreed to go pheasant hunting in South Dakota for our anniversary. You may have read last year’s post about the annual pain I suffer for getting married the first week of November. But alas, this year is shaping up to be pain free. We met Travis Akin - proprietor of Rooster Tail Inc (www.roostertailhunts.com) - a family run outfitter in Mellette, SD, and we’re trying to setup a hunt with them the week of our anniversary.

Free gear is always a good thing!

On a separate note, if you’re not entering our monthly product giveaways, you’re missing out (just enter from our home page at www.uplanders.com). Free gear is always a good thing! Our June winner, Mark from Platteville, WI, sent me this picture of his son posing in his new Boyt strap vest along side their new Wirehair pup “Magnum.” Thanks for sending the picture Mark!

I’ll post some pics from our Texas hunt as soon as we get back. I promise not to be as negligent as I’ve been in updating this blog. Hunting season should provide some good material to make it easier.

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Ok, we just got back from our Dallas trip today (Monday).  The dove hunting was horrible.  What made it even worse were seeing the hundreds of empty shells on the ground presumably from the opener.  We had rain the night before we hunted, and could count the number of birds flying on 2 hands.  Not the best start to the weekend. But then our luck changed (must be karma).

The football game was absolutely beautiful (sorry OU fans).  My Cougs pulled out the victory with a clutch 4th quarter drive.  My voice is still hoarse from yelling so much.  I’m not sure if I’m willing to trade good hunting for a good football game though.  I guess I’m still searching for the absolutely perfect weekend.

Since I don’t have any hunting pictures to share (zero birds = zero pictures taken), I will post a lovely shot of me at the game.  Enjoy (I know I did!)  PS – Kudos to Jerry Jones – he sure built an impressive stadium.  What a facility!

JT at the BYU-OU game in Dallas, TX

Side view showing the shell pocket with a full box of 12 guage shells inside. A bit of a tight fit due to the height of the box, but it does zip closed and there is extra room in the pocket on both sides of the box. Better solution is to dump the shells out of the box and into the pocket. Note the position of the pocket in relation to the shell loops above on the belt.

I received an email from a guy asking about the Badlands Upland Game Vest - a product I added to Uplanders Warehouse just about a month ago after hearing some good feedback from a friend of mine.  He specifically wanted to know what the front of the vest looked like, and how many shells could fit in the front/side pockets of the vest. 

To start with, Badlands is a great manufacturer who has made quite a name for themselves with their big game packs (they are especially popular with bow hunters).  They make a great pack and know how to distribute weight within a hunting pack for maximum comfort while carrying a load.  I must admit, I’ve never hunted with their upland vest, but, after doing a thorough review for this blog post, I am quite impressed with the quality of construction and the many features it has.

So here are some of features of the vest as I see them:

Lots of pockets.  There are two shell pockets on the sides, plus an additional 7 pockets on the back of the vest of varying sizes.  This does not include the mesh basket-type pockets that are on the outside of most of the other pockets.  Confused? Just know there’s lots of pockets.

One of the pockets mentioned above is for a water bladder.  This vest will hold a 100 oz. water bladder.  The vest does NOT come with the bladder, but it is built to hold one.  I also just started carrying water bladders on my site in both a 70 oz. and 100 oz. version – both of which would fit in side the Badlands upland game vest.

An additional pocket mentioned above (one of the 7 in back) is a water-resistant, welded-seam bag that hangs from two clasps inside the gamebag part of the vest.  There are a couple ways to interpret this bag: 1) you could use it to store your lunch or anything else you didn’t want to get blood or feathers on, 2) you could use it to store your birds for the hike back when you’re done hunting, or 3) throw some ice in there with a few of your beverages of choice   Or, I guess you could just fill your hydration bladder with your beverage of choice as well. However, short of actually using it, my initial impression was to take it out to give you more room in the gamebag for birds.  But it all depends on your hunt, and how much you need to pack with you. And fortunately, this extra bag is extremely easy to take off or add back in.

Same view with box of shells in pocket zipped closed

Another interesting and unique feature is that the side pockets slide backward to expand the gamebag. It’s a kind of rail system made from web straps that I found impressive.  The more you pack in the back, the further back your side pockets slide.  The downside is your shell pockets are less accessible the further back they slide.  There are 5 shell loops on each side as well that don’t slide (they’re attached to the belt) – so if you keep them loaded, you still have easy access to your shells. 

Note the position of the shell pocket after it slides backward to accomodate a larger load in the gamebag.

The straps on the vest are all adjustable to get the right fit. However, the vest only comes in one size, which doesn’t quite fit me.  I am 6’2”, 250 lbs. and it felt small and the natural waist of the pack rides higher than my waist. Most people smaller than me shouldn’t have a problem.  It is a very comfortable pack, and I like that the shoulder straps lie flat and don’t obstruct the butt of your gun when you’re shooting – obviously constructed by someone who has actually shot a gun with a pack on.

Overall, I give the Badlands Upland Game Vest a thumbs-up. I’d give it two thumbs up if Badlands would make it in a larger size.

If any of you have used this vest, I encourage you to comment on this post and share your experiences.

A view from the front showing the belt and clasp. Note also the chest strap.