David Nolt’s father Jim was born and raised in Mitchell, South Dakota — de facto pheasant hunting capitol of the world. Jim grew up hunting and fishing every chance he could get. Whether wing shooting in South Dakota or in the swamps around the Army base where he was stationed in the DMZ shortly after the Korean War, bird hunting was in Jim’s blood.
Although the father and son were very close, their days in the field together became few and far between as David entered high school. Preoccupied with all the trappings of a teenager, David missed many seasons of opportunities to hunt with his dad before he returned to Montana to attend college.
Just a week after graduating college, David lost his father suddenly to cancer. Years later, he returned to bird hunting as a way to reconnect with his dad and discovered his own passion for hunting. He adopted a pair of mismatched dogs from a local shelter — Leroy, a chocolate lab and Lucy, an English Setter. Together, they reclaimed hunting, learning from each other along the way.