South Dakota Is Losing Its Hometown Pheasant Hunters. Meanwhile, the Nonresident Business Is Booming

[Ben Lamb]

Interesting article from Outdoor Life on SD's upland program. The number of NR hunters is staggering.

South Dakota Is Losing Its Hometown Pheasant Hunters. Meanwhile, the Nonresident Business Is Booming

Nonresident pheasant hunting remains a booming business in South Dakota. Locals, meanwhile, worry their own tradition and access if fading.

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[buckbull]

Same story plays out across the united states for whatever. Whitetails in my area. There is a guy from Michigan that buys every farm near me that comes for sale. 27 farms and counting, $6000 per acre. He seems to be good dude, just mega rich.

 

[seeth07]

Same story plays out across the united states for whatever. Whitetails in my area. There is a guy from Michigan that buys every farm near me that comes for sale. 27 farms and counting, $6000 per acre. He seems to be good dude, just mega rich.

I'd die for 6k an acre right now and be instantly buying all i could...

 

[F250]

Same story plays out across the united states for whatever. Whitetails in my area. There is a guy from Michigan that buys every farm near me that comes for sale. 27 farms and counting, $6000 per acre. He seems to be good dude, just mega rich.

What state ?

 

[Forkyfinder]

Well - im sure all the residents appreciate fatcat out of state landowners hiring a guy to convince people in the legislature to go against things like modest and reasonable NR fee increases.

 

[El Jason]

Well - im sure all the residents appreciate fatcat out of state landowners hiring a guy to convince people in the legislature to go against things like modest and reasonable NR fee increases.

You’re a real gem.

 

[El Jason]

Same story plays out across the united states for whatever. Whitetails in my area. There is a guy from Michigan that buys every farm near me that comes for sale. 27 farms and counting, $6000 per acre. He seems to be good dude, just mega rich.

There are some huge duck clubs in this neck of the woods. They buy farmland with water, and then implement the most bizarre “farming practices” you’ve ever seen before flooding part of it.

 

[Nick87]

There are some huge duck clubs in this neck of the woods. They buy farmland with water, and then implement the most bizarre “farming practices” you’ve ever seen before flooding part of it.

Duck clubs are big money game thats for sure. I'm not defending baiting whatsoever, but the whole flooding corn being legal while dumping corn in the water is illegal has always really pissed me off. They should both be equally illegal.

 

[El Jason]

Duck clubs are big money game thats for sure. I'm not defending baiting whatsoever, but the whole flooding corn being legal while dumping corn in the water is illegal has always really pissed me off. They should both be equally illegal.

Agreed. I watched a combine running its header 4-6’ off the ground one day “harvesting corn”. A week later the field was flooded.

 

[Nick87]

Agreed. I watched a combine running its header 4-6’ off the ground one day “harvesting corn”. A week later the field was flooded.

The way I see it if you have deep pockets its fine to bait I guess.

 

[mtmuley]

All of that to kill a fricken bird. Wonder what they do with them. mtmuley

 

[Nick87]

All of that to kill a fricken bird. Wonder what they do with them. mtmuley

If you think big game hunters go to stupid lengths and expense. Duck hunters are a whole other level. I'd imagine they get eaten. A lot of people turn up there nose at ducks but they're pretty good eating at least in the midwest anyhow. Sorry to derail @Ben Lamb. Back to pheasant hunting resident talk.

 

[Perlodid]

I was more surprised to hear they discontinued the brood surveys. Especially if part of their justification was to keep people coming regardless of numbers. Short-sighted at best, downright stupid at worst. Hope they can get those going again sometime in the future, hard to manage when you don't know what you've got, and you don't have any data to develop population trends.

 

[huntin24/7]

If you think big game hunters go to stupid lengths and expense. Duck hunters are a whole other level. I'd imagine they get eaten. A lot of people turn up there nose at ducks but they're pretty good eating at least in the midwest anyhow. Sorry to derail @Ben Lamb. Back to pheasant hunting resident talk.

Waterfowl outfitters and influencers make the crazy big game ones seem mild. They’re insufferable.

 

[huntin24/7]

I wonder if you could eliminate some of these issues with only allowing non residents two total weeks of upland or waterfowl hunting every season with no benefits to bring a nonresident landowner. Pretty sad what’s becoming of many states in regard to hunting.

 

[warmer]

Welcome to South Dakota! Where we whore ourselves out to the NR pheasant hunters. The resorts , lodges and outfitters pretty well rule the roost. Gov. Noem ended the counts because the numbers tanked and it didnt looked good to the tourism dept. I grew up here and the access is pretty much pay to play. I'm the guy the article talks about, I haven't hunted pheasants in 2 years.

 

[R.K.]

As habitat declines and human populations expand, what was once a bountiful wild resource will become scarce, and those with the ability and inclination to pay for access to the better locations with a better experience will do so in a psychotic arms race. And those turning a profit from selling this better experience will do whatever they can to keep the money flowing.

I grew up duck hunting. So did my dad. And his. My great grandfather was a quail hunter. But the quail went away, thanks to roundup. Then the public duck hunting declined. And the private duck holes were systematically plowed out and tiled. The remaining access to private was bought up or leased out. Pressure on the public increased, hunting declined further, conflicts increased. My dad decided we were done hunting public while I was in high school. Land prices have tripled since. Flooded corn abounds. There are fewer duck hunters than ever in the county.

This is the symptom of the disease we call endless growth in pursuit of profit. Farmers were once the stewards of the land- now I’m not convinced. I can’t blame them- they’re simply trying to survive in this world of razor-thin margins and poor economics and poorer understanding of what truly turns a profit and makes an operation viable yet also sustainable.

Sad to hear it all caught up to what was once the envy of the pheasant hunting world. Happened in Illinois, then Iowa, and seems to have continued its march westward. Wish I could’ve experienced it in its heyday as a DIY experience.

We need CRP to make a comeback in the worst way.