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Made my first trip to South Dakota last week. Lots of fun, here are some pics

Emma, 16 ga Uggie

Emma working a bird

Uggie, purple hulls, limit of pheasants

Initially we were a little overwhelmed by the sheer size of the cover

Emma and one of the guide's dogs

OK, I took something like 100 pictures, may post a few more later.

Rob

Member Joined: 30 Nov 2011 Posts: 1698 Location: Minnesota

Rob, Which part of SD were you in? Whats your read on population levels?

We were in the Aberdeen area. I live in Western NY, and it was my first trip to SoDak, not sure what constitutes a lot of pheasants by South Dakota standards. Compared to Western NY, there were a bunch.

Here is a pic from my first day back to NY though

Good trip & nice photos. I leave Sunday to hunt SD for two weeks. One of my favorite annual events.

Wife and I did S Dakota and came to the conclusion that it is the same there as just about everywhere else. If you know someone that has property, have leased property, or pay to hunt on private land or 'club' there are plenty of birds. Not so much on public lands. Doubt we will go back. To say we were pretty disappointed would be an understatement.

We are used to walking long distances and did our homework AND put in the walking time in S Dakota. Do the same here in Washington. We even prefer jump shooting doves in the sage to standing still and waiting for them to come to us.
We have done enough 'hunt clubs' (use them for training) to know what they are about. It is not just about bird numbers but working and watching the dogs.
That said, S Dakota was SUPPOSED to be amazing. Meh.

Rob , MOO is another 2hrs west of there - 30 mi west of the missouri river . Had I had a close working dog , would have done much better . We had 3 dogs amongst us , 1 great and 2 not so much . Many birds crowing and not able to attack . The back of the ranch must have had 100 roosters , but not able to attack ! The limit on the rez is posted at 3/day , but it is really 5 which is the same for grouse . The REZ mosaic is sorta like trying to figure out the reg So. Dak landmap - kinda need a guide . Nick ! I also live in central NY ( Canandaigua) and I drive all over this part of the state - have seen 1 bird all yr . SoDak is a welcome change !

Member Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 1863 Location: Wisconsin

I shouldn't let the secret out of the bag, but often the best times to hunt the Dakotas is when you see a hole in the weather opening up later or late into the season. You have to be flexible enough to travel at a weeks notice and have your homework done. competition will be scant, the locals have had enough by that time. You're looking for friendly farmers and public land that adjoins private farms and ranches. A satellite view can show you shelters out of sight of state and county roads. Any thick cover near grain farming operations that you can get access to, public or private, is where you want to be. The downside is that the birds can be so concentrated that you can limit in less than an hour, so combining these spots with working larger patches is a good way to go. Just post me on a flyway and I'll wail away at the ones who think they are getting away!

Reno

Joined: 18 Jul 2010 Posts: 591 Location: SoCal-FL- NYC