SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) Hunters are coming from all over the country, all over the world really, flying into Sioux Falls Regional Airport for the opening of South Dakota pheasant season.
"It's the best hunting in the nation, right here in South Dakota" declared Cary Hartman from near Boston, just off the plane, on KELO Radio's It's Your Business with Bill Zortman.
The show broadcast live Friday morning from the annual fly-in at the airport as city and civic officials welcomed the hunters with a little "South Dakota Nice."
Hartman's been coming for ten years, and his teenage son, Alex for the last few years.
"It's just nature and God's gift to all of us and I just love it. The best hunting in the world. That's why we come here." and Alex enthused that he likes it so much, he might move here one day.
The South Dakota pheasant season is more than birds, its also bucks, dollar bills that is, lots of them, a big boost to the state's economy. Many of the hunters fly into Sioux Falls, the state's biggest city, and thus the annual welcoming event at the airport.
Airport Manager Dan Letellier says the planning starts months in advance, making sure the airlines will schedule bigger planes to handle more hunters. A hunter really loves his shotgun, so Letellier says there is a special procedure at the baggage claim so that each hunter is sure of getting his own gun.
The season opens Saturday.
