Deerfly Diaries

Women's Pheasant Hunt at Pine Shadows Daybreak Lodge in South Dakota

I just returned from a week of pheasant hunting with five other women at the Pine Shadows Daybreak Lodge in Frederick, South Dakota. It was a 16 hour drive from my home in Carbondale, Colorado, but worth every minute. Just ask my two German shorthaired pointers, who also got to come along for the week of bird dog bliss in the heart of pheasant hunting country.

Pine Shadows Daybreak Lodge

Daybreak Lodge is owned and operated by the Haglin family. Mark Haglin (below left) got his first springer as a gift from his wife Sophie in 1975. Now the company operates Pine Shadows, the country's largest English springer spaniel kennel, located in Brainerd, MN. Mark's son Morgan (below right) is the head dog trainer and one of several guides at Daybreak.

The Daybreak Lodge is ten square miles of private hunting grounds west of Aberdeen, South Dakota, way up in the northeastern corner of the state. The terrain is unique in that it includes a variety of rolling hills, forested draws and sloughs, as well as the more traditional flat farm country that is generally associated with mid-western pheasant hunting. There are two guest houses on the property, the Hudson House and the Campbell House. At one time, the property marked the southern most outpost for the historic Hudson Bay Trading Company.

Women Hunters Convene for a World-Class Pheasant Hunt

The female hunters on the trip included five other women who are all involved with marketing and communications for the hunting industry: Cristie Gates from Benelli USA, Cathy Williams from Federal Ammunition's Media Agency of Record, Kim Eveland of Eveland&Partners who oversees marketing of the Beretta Trident Program, Anna Stubna, Editor of the The Ruffed Grouse Society magazine and Cheryl Riley V.P. of Education and Outreach from Pheasants Forever.

Also joining us were Scott Cherek and Scott Buchmeyer, who handle advertising sales for PF and RGS and several other hunting and conservation publications. Scott and Scott graciously organized the trip and invited me to come along with my dogs to document the trip for a future Pheasants Forever magazine article.

Daybreak is equipped with several ATV "Mules" and even a 4-WD "short bus" to transport hunters into the field. It didn't take long to realize that the cover in Daybreak was exceptional. My jaw dropped when I first saw my bouquets of hundreds of birds explode from the cover. With the help of our guides and their hardworking dogs, everyone got their fair share of shooting and birds. We even had one female guide named Joan (below right) who was an experienced and successful dog handler.

Joanie's husband, Lynn (above left) was our chef extraordinaire for the week. Breakfast and dinner were served family style in the dining room. Lunch and happy hour were served in the Post, a relaxed meeting building adjacent to the Hudson House where we all stayed. There was no lack of nourishment. Despite all the walking and hunting we did, my scale claims I came back three happy pounds heavier. 

It was a blast to share the week with other women who share my love of the outdoors. The camaraderie was similar to any other hunt, yet this was the first time as a women that I was part of the majority of hunters. There was little pressure to "bag our limit." The agenda was to have fun, enjoy the adrenaline of the hunt and learn everything we could from each other.

Daybreak sent us home with cleaned, packaged and frozen birds, along with a selection of their favorite pheasant recipes. I hated to leave the lodge, but I packed up and headed west with my dogs to some wonderful public walk-in access that topped off my week of hunting. The next day I drove all the way home from Pierre, SD. I had plenty of time to reflect on the successes of the week and to dream about the next time I meet my friends at Daybreak.

A big thank you to Pine Shadows Daybreak Lodge and staff, the Haglin family, Scott and Scott, and of course my new huntress friends.

 

 

Columbia Sportswear SeaGrass Grow Event in Islamorada, Florida Keys

Some weeks I am slim on content for my blog, but this isn't one of those weeks. In the last five days I attended a seagrass restoration media event in the Florida Keys, caught an 80 pound tarpon, snorkeled a coral reef, toured a Classic American Car show and shot a 3D archery course. What's next?

The trip to the Keys was with Columbia Sportswear. We gathered approximately 15 local writers, editors and radio personalities together for a two day event that focused on seagrass restoration. Seagrass is the native grass that grows in shallow flats in the oceans all around the world. It is vital habitat to ocean life including fish, shellfish, eels and sea horses. Over 70% of marine life is dependent on seagrass beds at some point in its life stage. Seagrass is impacted, however, by human activities including propeller scarring and ill-placed development.

On day one we gathered the editors for a day of hands-on seagrass restoration work with the Ocean Foundation and Seagrass Recovery. There are specific restoration techniques including placing sediment tubes in the scars, placing out bird stakes and creating planting units to initiate stabilization and restoration of the seagrass. 

Columbia Sportswear, in cooperation with Bass Pro Shops, through the sale of a special collection of its Performance Fishing Gear (PFG). Direct financial support will go to the SeaGrass Grow campaign to support conservation of the ecosystem. 

After a day of seagrass restoration everyone hit the water for a day of fishing. We chartered nine boats including seven flats boats and two offshore boats. Columbia sponsored athlete Captain George Poveromo was one of the captains to take anglers fishing the deep seas off the coast of Islamorada. George and his first mate Carl Grassi were both a pleasure to hang out with and a wealth of knowedge.

 

I joined Miami Herald writer and outdoors woman extraordinaire Sue Cocking for a day of tarpon fishing with our guide Dick Hagood. Dick was an excellent guide, but it was a quiet slack tide so the tarpon were laid up and not eating a whole lot. By the afternoon there was a little action and Dick put the two Sues in a good spot to intercept the tarpon as they moved around a near by island.

 

As the day closed on us, my line went tight and a tarpon exploded in the air fifty feet away. After a thirty minute fight my guide had the leader in hand. Unfortunately the hook came free before we snapped any photos of the 80 pound fish, but that is probably better for the survival of the fish anyway.

 

On our last morning, despite wind and waves, Doug Berry, GM of the Bass Pro Shop, graciously treated us to a snorkeling trip a mile off shore from the docks of the Cheeca Lodge where we stayed. It was my first time snorkeling and it was awesome. Just like being in a tropical aquarium. I got a little sea sick from the high water, but it was worth it.

All in all an excellent trip. The best part was meeting the excellent people who attended the event. Everyone had a wealth of experience and ideas to contribute. Of course the oil spill was a main topic of conversation. We were at least 600 miles from the nearest reported oil, but it is clearly affecting everyone regardless. Public perception has already reduced bookings throughout the whole state even though the fishing and vacationing is still great at this time. Time will tell how the story will play out, but it is certain to be an ugly story from many perspectives for years to come. 

Thank you to everyone who helped make the event a success. 

For more information:

Press release: Download BassPro-CSCMR_FINAL_060110

View the Columbia Sportswear Seagrass Restoration video.

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Sue Melus contracts with Columbia Sportswear to help with the hunting and fishing public relations. She is the owner of Melus Outdoors, LLC Public Relations and Communications.

Video: Herman the Sturgeon at Bonneville Fish Hatchery east of Portland, Oregon

I was able to take a day of sightseeing today on a trip up to Portland, Oregon. I drove out the Columbia River Gorge to Hood River where I took in the sights, enjoyed talking with the locals and had 8 incredible ounces of Full Sail Brewery's Full Sail Wassail Holiday Blend. Yummy!

On my way back to Portland I exited the highway to check out the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. The folks at Columbia Sportswear told me I had to check out Herman the Sturgeon. Herman is a 450 pound, ten foot long, 70 year old white sturgeon that was taken from the Columbia River in 1998 when the hatchery was built. Unfortunatley, I couldn't get Herman to show his face. The other more brightly colored fish are rainbow trout.

Bonneville Hatchery sits on Tanner Creek in the Columbia River Gorge about 40 miles east of Portland, Oregon. Tanner Creek flows into the Columbia River about 145 miles upstream from the ocean. The hatchery, run by the Oregon Department of Fish and Game, raises salmon and steelhead for sport and tribal fisheries in the lower Columbia River and along the northern Oregon Coast. 

Sue Melus handles public relations and communications for hunting, fishing, shooting sports and resource conservation. Check out her website at Melus Outdoors, LLC.

Fall Vacation in New Hampshire and New York

Glenn and I had a great time in Jaffrey, NH and Cazenovia, NY visiting our families.  In NH we visited Glenn's mom, grandma, uncle, sister and his nieces. In NY we saw my parents, my grandma, my great aunt, and some of my high school and college friends.

The colors were just about peaking and we even saw some blue skies.  We enjoyed the Jaffrey Scarecrows on the Commons, fishing, grouse hunting, apple picking and tasting apple vodka!

Enjoy the slideshow.

Fall Vacation in New Hampshire and New York from Sue Melus on Vimeo.

Back in the game after a narrowly averted disaster in Upper Chute Canyon, Utah

Sorry to my readers who I left hanging the last couple weeks after my trip to the San Rafael Swell in Utah. Unfortunately, I had a little accident that left me hanging from a rappel rope in the Upper Chute Canyon.  I was a little banged up and suffered a concussion, but I'm feeling better now and couldn't be more ready for summer.

Steve Howe from Backpacker magazine has a great photo blog: San Rafael Swell Slot Canyoneering.  That's me in the orange hat- before the "rappel of death."

Or you can read my followup safety article in the June 4th Sopris Sun.

From turkey hunting in Central NYS to camping in the Utah desert

Just got back from my vacation visiting my family in Central New York State in my hometown just east of Cazenovia, NY.  My week off also meant a much needed week away from the computer: no blog posts, no emails, no Facebook and no Twitter.  Just a week of sitting in the beautiful eastern forests with my Dad every day hunting turkey.  The skies were blue, the forest was popping green, the apple trees were blooming. We had a lot of fun, I learned a ton from my Dad and the turkeys gave us action almost every day. I also got to cook dinner for my Mom and my 99 year old Grandma B and be there to hear the news of my sister having her third baby on Mother's Day.  What could be better? Well, if I hadn't missed my one shot at a gobbler it could have been a little better, but ask me about that when I get back later this week.

I'm now making the mental adjustment to go to the hot and dry desert for work.  Yep, work.  I leave early Monday morning for the San Rafael Swell 30 miles west of Green River, Utah.  Backbone Media is hosting a press trip, so we'll be camping and canyoneering in the slot canyons of this unique geological area in the heart of the desert with a group of writers for various magazines. I just saw they are expecting record high temperatures tomorrow in Green River.  It will be a far cry from the moist and cool forest of NY.

Stay tuned for more on my recent trips when I return on the 22nd.