South Dakota pheasent

[Don Taylor]

Im , looking for some advice on pheasents in south dakota, this is a hunt my dad has always wanted to do so my brothers and I are going to skip chasing elk this year and make a trip to chase birds. I am not a wingshooter by any stretch even though ive killed a few bobs, chucker and one pheasent, also hit one with a snowball once. looking to do this on our own if possible and any advice would be appreciated. I know some fellas from around home that go but dont want to ask their game plan for respect of their own hunts. Thanks in advance for any info, Don.

 

[Kolbeck]

http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasants.aspx

Lots of great info on the SD website, their pheasant distribution map is pretty spot on. I would also look at the interactive version of the public land atlas. Some areas of the state have a higher percentage of public land. I've also met guys that hunt nothing but road ditches, study up on the do's and don'ts of that. My suggestion would be to come first half of December. That's when the bird hunting really gets fun and there is much better possibility of getting access to private land.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

Kolbeck gave ya some pretty good insight. I might hunt pheasants 1 time before december rolls in. My advice would be to try and NOT be the guy hunting road ditches, its a real good way to piss off adjacent land owners. Pulbic land gets hit pretty hard early in the season.

If you do decide to come in Dec, be prepared for cold weather. We had some days this year that the high for the day was -15 or so. It's cold out but can make for some fantastic hunting.

 

[T Bone]

Assuming you have dogs, hunt the grasslands near Pierre. Plenty of birds on public land.

 

[Kolbeck]

As a landowner, I would agree that road hunting can get landowners irritated, but around our place if you do it the right way, all the respect to you. Basically, walk the ditch towards your blocker, let your dog do the work, don't stop on the road and try to block for a group that is pushing. Don't drive around sitting out the window with shotgun at the ready, (seen it more than once). Don't shoot near farms or livestock.

 

[Don Taylor]

appreciate the insight fellas, how much snow is on the ground on average in december, I dont want to make it to hard on my father, were doing this hunt to hunt with him as the mountain hunts are too hard for him any more. He went elk hunting with my brothers and i last year but stayed at our base camp and didnt hunt. We did hike back out and spent a few days fishing with him, just looking to do a hunt he can be totally involved in.

 

[Treeline_Pursuits]

I used to run 4-6 dogs and was in South Dakota every year for many years. I hunted primarily around Pierre. If you are going to go early in the season you will have lots more hunters to deal with and the birds get pretty wary and wise fast. If you are in a small group of guys and can't really set up good blocking, you have to rely on holding birds. A couple good dogs can pick up those birds that holdout and let other dogs and people walk by, we made our living that way in the early season. It amazed me how many birds would stay put, that people had no idea were there. The problem was you have to have a pretty decent dog to get them out.

That being said, like others have mentioned the grasslands are very fun and can be productive, but they can also be some serious walking. The Walk In areas are pretty good I guess, but they get very good late in the late season. It seems the worse the weather gets the better the walk in areas get. We tried to find frozen ponds with cattails and windbreaks. Hunting pressure or not, late season they are packed in there like cord wood. You can hear the cattails buzz before the rise.

If you father has a bit of trouble with tough treks it may be worth a trespass fee to make it a more fun hunt for him. There are some farms that are still pretty darn reasonable out there. Just remember that is big business in SD.

Hope that helps...

Cheers

 

[1_pointer]

The other bonus(es) on the Pierre NG is that you can still hunt prairie chickens there! Very cool bird! If you go after them, be sure to take some binos and carry them with you afield. They can go a LONG way before setting down after being flushed.

 

[Treeline_Pursuits]

1_pointer, yes indeed, but those darn things can drive you crazy when they are spooky...

 

[Don Taylor]

Thanks fellas