In South Dakota, For a Little While

November 18, 2015Craig Koshyk

The land belongs to the future, Carl; that‘s the way it seems to me. How many of the names on the county clerk‘s plat will be there in fifty years? I might as well try to will the sunset over there to my brother‘s children. We come and go, but the land is always here. And the people who love it and understand it are the people who own it—for a little while. ― Willa Cather

Well the weatherman is calling for snow tomorrow and there's only a few more days of deer season left. That means the 2015 hunting season is pretty much history. Sure, I we may get out a couple more times for grouse if the snow ain't knee-deep, but for all intents and purposes, our trip to South Dakota last week was the last big adventure of the year.

And what an adventure it was! Even though we could not bring any birds back with us (there is a complete ban on the importation of anything remotely resembling a chicken to Canada due to avian flu stateside), we still managed to take (and eat) a few. More importantly, we managed to get some great photos of some very nice dogs and their friendly owners.

And I really need to thank an the Upland Journal's awesome online discussion forum for much of our success! You see, a few weeks before we headed south I submitted a post asking anyone running Pointers and/or Setters in ND or SD to drop me a line if they would let me photograph their dogs in action. It wasn't long until Brad Adrian stepped up and offered to let me follow him and his sweet Pointer Peanut as they chased prairie birds near Pierre. Along with Brad were few other UJ members, and one of them also had a couple of really nice Pointers.

So Lisa followed them with our Canons instead of shotguns. We could not have asked for better conditions. The temps were near perfect, the light was just right and the hunters, dogs and birds put on a great show. We managed to get some shots that we are really happy with, one or two of which I am pretty sure will make it to my next book.

If you'd like to see a selection of our favourites, check out the 2015 hunting gallery below. It features shots spanning the entire season, in reverse chronological order from South Dakota to North Dakota to Manitoba.

Enjoy!!

LA BELLE SAISON by Craig Koshyk on Exposure