Wet Spot Liquor On Mile Marker 69: North Dakota Pheasant Hunt

This hunt started well before I ever moved to Minnisota. It has been one of my goals to find a guide and pull a group together. I did just that in October 2020. While visiting a customer way out on the far west side of North Dakota, I found an office full of photos and a few items that led me to think these folks must know someone who could get me on some birds. A gentleman by the name of Brent Swanson happened to be a guide through “Brown’s Pheasant Hunting”, and the seed was planted. 

Fast forward twelve months: Nicholas Rhyne, Archer Price, and Jordan Domboch decided to fly from Atlanta, Charlotte, and Greenville to Bismarck, North Dakota for this  pheasant hunt. The photos will prove a successful hunt, but things surely did not start off terribly well. Nicholas was to arrive Thursday, and the other guys were to be picked up Friday. I could likely write an entire article simply on Nicholas’ experience, but I will lay it out in a quick breakdown.

He flew from Charlotte to Dallas, flight was delayed, flight was cancelled at 9:30pm, arrived at Dallas hotel at 12:30am, left hotel Friday morning for 5:45 am flight, connection in Minneapolis, arrived in Bismarck at noon, no bags, shotgun came in on later flight, luggage never came, we purchased new gear on American Airlines wallet,  (wish they had lost his shotgun so he could have gotten a new one.) Basically the poor guy went through the ringer to get to this hunt, but we did manage to get him some boujee hunting swag that made him look like he had just stepped out of an Orvis catalogue! 

It should be noted that we were heading to a town called Glen Ullin, ND, which is about one hour west of Bismarck. I do not think any of us were ready for just how rural this town would be. No fast food, one gas station, one grocery store, two banks, a butcher shop, and one restaurant that doesn't take orders for food after 6:30pm. On our way to town we, literally, saw a tumbleweed ( like in the western movies), and of course someone pointed it out as we all got a laugh at how unbelievably unfamiliar we were with this part of the country and its terrain. 

Upon arrival at Brent’s home, we were greeted by three beautiful labrador retrievers and Brent's wife. She was so welcoming, showed us around the house, and made an effort to remember our names. Once we unloaded our gear and selected beds, she even got into her car and led us to our dinner spot. The only restaurant in town is called “Wet Spot Liquor,'' which happens to be on mile marker 69 beside Kunts’ Butcher Shop. The Restaurant takes advantage of the location and name, which we all thought was funny. They even sold gag gifts to go with the name. We ended up eating at this restaurant three times while we were in town and pretty much memorized the menu. 

Now to the hunting, we started off Saturday morning at 9 am. We followed Brent out to these beautiful fields where everything was a rich amber color for miles around. There were a few wind towers off in the distance breaking up the blue sky. The temperature was just under 30 degrees with nothing around to break the wind from whirling through the prairie. We lined up… two on each side of a drainage creek that carved through the fields. Brent's dog went to work walking the edges of the tall grass and getting deep in the cattails where these birds like to hide from the wind and predators. 

The first thirty minutes were slow, and we were all thinking that perhaps this was not going to go so well. And then it happened. A pheasant was flushed up and in one single motion, it was shot out of the air by Jordan Dombach. We were all impressed with his speed and hand-eye coordination as he didn’t give the bird a chance. And from then on, it was pretty consistent action. With the daily limit of only three birds, we were almost able to reach that number by lunch. I harvested two, and Jordan had his three to be done for the day. I have to mention that my second bird was hit, but did not die and instead decided to run for it. The only way I can describe this is that it was like when your dog gets out and you really need to leave for work, but the dog thinks you're playing a game. I am lucky I didn't pull something, as the bird did, in fact, get away. Luckily Brent's pup was able to find it in the brush. At least the guys got a good laugh at me trying to chase this prairie chicken. 

We took a lunch break at, you guessed it, Wet Spot Liquor, and headed out to finish off the day. Brent swapped pups and put a dog named Filson on the birds. Nicholas soon had a similar situation with a downed bird trying to get away. As he approached the bird it flew off and he made one of the best shots of the day. With eleven birds down, we had one left we could harvest. We walked down a fence line as a last resort in hopes of getting one last bird. We did not get another bird, but lord knows we had a chance. We walked up on this one large pile of brush and sure enough, seven or eight roosters took flight just out of shotgun range. We shot like hell, but not a single bird fell. Still kicking myself on that situation as we sent every BB down the line like a Hail Mary hoping one would make contact. Just one...

At the end of the day we had walked eight miles or so, but the work was not done. We returned to the house where Brent educated us on the proper way to clean these birds before washing them off and vacuum-sealing them. We were all terribly relieved to shower and kick our boots off for a bit before we went to eat at… you guessed it… Wet Spot Liquor! By now, the bartender and single server knew our drink order as we walked in and occupied our same table. 

Overall the hunt was extremely successful. This kind of trip is more about the fellowship than just getting birds. It's about being with friends, having a few laughs, and getting away from the stresses of work. We created memories and were able to meet some of the nicest people in Glen Ullin, ND. It is truly “out there”, but it would be a challenge to find one person there who  isn't kind and welcoming to newcomers. If anyone out there wants to hunt pheasants in the coming years, give me a call. I will be more than happy to get you in touch with Brent and his family. They know what they are doing and made us feel right at home. 

Side note: Really give these photos a good look. I am amazed at how colorful these birds really are.