GUEST BLOG: Laura Schara, A Dad and His Daughters’ Pheasant Hunt

As a child, Laura Schara loved to join her father on his pheasant hunts and the memories she made on these adventures still serve as a few of her fondest ones. That’s why when presented with the opportunity to join her dad and sister on a pheasant trip to South Dakota; she couldn’t have been more excited.

My sister and I have spent many years following my dadthrough pheasant fields in South Dakota. As children, holidays meant family road trips to pheasant country, where the birds seem to flush out of the brush similar to pigeons in a New York City park. So when I got the call to put a weekend on the calendar for some pheasant hunting with my dad and sister in Chamberlain, South Dakota, it immediately was jotted down in permanent marker. This year however, was extra special, as my 8-year-old nephew, Jake, was tagging along.

Our first hunting day was cold and windy with a high of 17 degrees, combine that with strong winds and it equaled VERY cold fingers. Of course I was wearing my Filson gear including the Womens Upland Jacket which was very warm and functional due to its wool lined pocket which did its best to keep my hand warm. Unfortunately, I found that when you’re shooting hand is exposed to cold winds it doesn’t take long for it to go numb! So needless to say, we didn’t get a lot of shooting in that day.

In the following days the weather took a turn for the better and it reached a sunny 60 degrees. We had a group of 15 hunters from Chicago, Denver, New York and Minneapolis at Halverson Hunts.

My sister and I were the only two ladies in the group this time around, but that trend seems to be slowly changing. That’s why I love Filson, it’s good looking, high quality ladies upland hunting gear. As women, we still want to look good in the field, so a good fit is also important. Many of us have spent too many years wearing hunting gear from the little boys or men’s department!

Luckily our group of hunters was a fun group with manysharp-shooters, including my sister. I found that I could have used a few private shooting lessons from her as I continuously missed birds. The only excuse I could come up with was they were wild and moving fast? This weekend I was also wearing the Womens Mesh Upland Vest, which I loved! Thankfully it had large front pockets to store lots of ammo, great for those who miss birds a lot like me!

Pheasants missed or not, there is a special bond that happens when families spend time in the outdoors. It brought me right back to my younger years, when my sister and I would tag along behind my dad for hours in the field, which is why it was special for me to see my nephew starting those same memories. Of course the bond continues over story telling at the day’s end, lots of laughing and some mild teasing goes on for missed shots, dogs misbehaving, tripping over barb wire etc. But most importantly, all of those things combined create an experience sure to make some more lifelong memories.

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