SD first timers
- Thread starter CdnHunter
- Start date
blackbeard
Well-known member
Walk slow and trust your dog. That's gotten quite a few birds in my freezer.
warmer
Well-known member
Too few pheasants in SD
Be prepared to walk where others wont.
Dont discount ditches near corn and cattle, sloughs can be good too if they are accessible, thick brush is always a winner. Solo with a dog, you should be able to find a limit quite easily if you put in the miles just in ditches alone. Last, hunting in weather is better cause they bunch up.
Havent read this years pheasant report but all that assumes the winter didnt wipe them out. If that happens, good luck, can take years to become good again. I dont hunt much public, its a lot harder haha. We see a lot of birds on public before shooting time for pheasants while duck hunting though. Good luck!
Dont discount ditches near corn and cattle, sloughs can be good too if they are accessible, thick brush is always a winner. Solo with a dog, you should be able to find a limit quite easily if you put in the miles just in ditches alone. Last, hunting in weather is better cause they bunch up.
Havent read this years pheasant report but all that assumes the winter didnt wipe them out. If that happens, good luck, can take years to become good again. I dont hunt much public, its a lot harder haha. We see a lot of birds on public before shooting time for pheasants while duck hunting though. Good luck!
Will definitely report back here after the hunt.
Great advice. That is my personal rule for all of my hunting.
I was surpised to learn to that it is perfectly acceptable in SD to hunt the right of way along the roads. That would be a new experience for me.
Go pick a lonely backroad where theres corn nearby and the ditch is not mowed. We always picked up birds road hunting back to the hotel from private land spots. If you seriously walked ditches all day you would be fine. Just remember you cannot cross onto private with a gun to retrieve a downed bird. Leave the gun behind, and hope your dog does the work anyway.
wihunter12
Well-known member
Leave the 21st, have a duck license and plan to pheasant hunt also. Been going since 2002, cant wait!
Nice. Combo hunts are great. Do you hunt ducks morning/evening and pheasants midday?
wihunter12
Well-known member
They are great, but there is no downtime thats for sure. Duck hunt in the morning, then scout for ducks/pheasants mid day and pheasant hunt the last 2 hours of the day typically.
Thanks! That's a valuable pro tip. A good example of why we join HuntTalk.
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Trip report: Had a great time!
We loved exploring South Dakota for the first time. The great Plains are impressive. We really enjoyed the state Game Production Areas, Wildlife Production areas and Waterfowl Production areas. It is outstanding how many acres have been set aside for wildlife habitat. Road hunting works fine, but the conservation areas are more interesting.
It took a us a couple of days to figure out how to find pheasants, but then things really came together and we started dropping birds. My biggest lesson learned is to hunt long grass near cut crops for maximum flushes. (Next time I will go a week or two after the opener so that more corn will be down.)
We loved exploring South Dakota for the first time. The great Plains are impressive. We really enjoyed the state Game Production Areas, Wildlife Production areas and Waterfowl Production areas. It is outstanding how many acres have been set aside for wildlife habitat. Road hunting works fine, but the conservation areas are more interesting.
It took a us a couple of days to figure out how to find pheasants, but then things really came together and we started dropping birds. My biggest lesson learned is to hunt long grass near cut crops for maximum flushes. (Next time I will go a week or two after the opener so that more corn will be down.)
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warmer
Well-known member
Glad you were successful and enjoyed yourself! Come back next year.
That is likely. I think I am addicted now.
Congrats on successfully hunting public land SD birds! Not always easy. Hunting by cut corn is productive so long as it was cut recently. Waiting by the end of the last row in the field as the combine comes by is even more productive hahaha.
