Travel

ROOSTER!

That’s the battle cry of hunters pushing through waist high corn and switch grass at the Cheyenne Ridge Signature Lodge in the pheasant heartland of Pierre, South Dakota.

When the dogs flushed pheasants, ROOSTER! bellowed across the autumn fields in a united front to ensure only male Rignecks accounted for our day’s harvest that ultimately reached 178 birds.

We climbed up into the new 400-horsepower Porsche Cayenne S, ready to embark on a mad road trip that would take us deep into the heart of Kentucky bourbon country. The itinerary was ambitious by any measure – eight days, seven posh sporting clays venues, 13 flats of shells, eight bourbon distilleries and a fresh box of Gurkha Evil cigars. Our departure date was September 11th.

As a certain local bard may have put it, this is such stuff as a sportsman’s dreams are made of.

Imagine if you could take the Vintage Cup, Southern Side by Side and Grand American shoots; combine them with the SCI Show, Las Vegas Antique Arms show, a gun dog field trial, a horse show and a fly fishing festival; then add in miles of world class shopping, exotic motorcars, fine art galleries, acres of gourmet food and drink; and stage it all on the lawn of a beautiful historic English country estate.

I love elegant shops. I love shops drenched in dark wood paneling and have dark leather chairs and couches. Sparkling crystal, fine clothing hanging in rich wood cabinets and stunning firearms with fancy walnut stocks stir my soul.

At Broken Arrow Farms there are people who come and stay at the farm for a few days to a week for pheasant hunting, and there are the day hunters who come out to the farm for the hunting but stay in town to take advantage of the restaurants and entertainment it offers. It also includes some of the locals of Pierre, South Dakota who hunt there as well.