Hey guys. I don't post much at all on here but I needed some help/ advice. I am heading up to the winner area around the 5th of December. I am coming up with my 62 yo father, 18 yo brother and possibly my brother. We have hunted the winner area the last 2 years and have had some good luck on public land. Our problem is we would like to hunt some private ground but we cannot afford 100-200 dollars a day per gun. My question is is there anyone here that knows some places where they would let us hunt and not charge us? We are very respectful of others property, safe, and very accommodating. Any suggestions would help. Thanks a bunch. Wlff
Need help
- Thread starter wlffmnnn
- Start date
ranchodeluxe
New member
I take a pint of my homemade maple syrup from Wi., knock on the door and ask politely. You would be surprised how many folks are receptive to a token offering of appreciation. I leave the syrup with my best regards, whether the landowner lets me hunt, or not.
I have a 3000 acre ranch just outside Winner. We farm the land for pheasants with food, nesting cover and shelterbelts. We have thousands of birds. Just stop on by, you'll get your limits in 10 minutes.
Seriously, didn't you just have a similar post asking for a free handout. If you don't want to pay for hunting in SD, go make your own luck. I have been taking freelance trips to SD for several years often checking out new areas. I hunt by getting out there and doing it. Check out the publics and walk in areas. Get out of the truck and talk to people. You'd be surprised what is out there if you work at it. Wouldn't it be a more satisfying trip if you put it together yourself without a handout.
Seriously, didn't you just have a similar post asking for a free handout. If you don't want to pay for hunting in SD, go make your own luck. I have been taking freelance trips to SD for several years often checking out new areas. I hunt by getting out there and doing it. Check out the publics and walk in areas. Get out of the truck and talk to people. You'd be surprised what is out there if you work at it. Wouldn't it be a more satisfying trip if you put it together yourself without a handout.
dvmweb
Member
It's called paying you dues. I agree.:cheers:
UplandHntr
Well-known member
I am not looking for free handouts, I am simply trying to get as much advice and information as possible. We have done a lot of legwork the last 2 years, and it has not been as fun as we had hoped. We do NOT hunt ditches without permission. To us, my father and I that is, it is just like trespassing so we do not do it. It may be legal, but since we fully don't understand it and since it is probably someones property we are respectful and do not do it. We have also tried going to houses and asking permission. We either get told that they do not own the land, or we get told 200 a gun. Then we end up driving more than we actually end up hunting which makes for a pretty lousy trip. As far as paying dues goes I think we are doing our best at it. Trying to get info or advice while you are in town isn't much good either. On more than 1 occasion we have been told from someone in town that we could hunt their place, only to get there and be told it is 200 a gun. It is like they are trying to trap you.
I believe, that this is what forums like this are for. Maybe I am naive and wrong.
reddog
Well-known member
Well, Heres how it has worked for me in the past.
Of all of my local hunting buddies, (which is 2) I have the most experience with South Dakota bird hunting. (10 years) (both the other guys are on the 2nd year)
If I wasnt out there, I seriously doubt that they would have went either. I'm pretty much a solo hunter myself. Ive tried going with a couple guys, even tried the big groups, and I have found that there is always too much orchestration going on to have much fun. Maybe its just me and how I roll, but if I want to stop the truck and hunt a 10 acre patch, I'm gonna. I dont want to pass up an opportunity, just because its too small of a patch for two or three guys.
Last year, a acquaintance called me up complaining that he couldnt find any birds. To begin with, he didnt listen to me when he was planning his trip, and didnt go far enough west to begin with. I listened to his lamenting, and after a while, I asked him why he didnt go where I told him to begin with. ( I didnt give him anything more specific than a county) Gas money, time, blah, blah blah. So I decide to throw him a bone, and tell him about a couple WIAs that I liked to hunt. They hightail it over there, and call me up and thank me for the great hunt they had. The next day (their last) they shot their limit again. Good for them. While checking out of the motel, they run into a group of 5 guys that they know, who are having problems finding birds. Well, what do ya think happened? Yep, they sent them there... several times. Now, between the one guy that I told, I now have 7 that know about the spots. How many friends they have told, who knows but all I hear about is how many times these two areas get hunted. I havent been back since I threw him the bone. You would think I would learn my lesson, but no.
I set up a trip to leave last Wed night with a friend. I tell him where we should go and make plans. Mon night, he calls me up and asks if he can bring a friend along. I say, yea, thats probably Ok. I know the guy, and hes cool. Then, they proceed to tell me that they are leaving at 4:30 am on Tuesday with plans to hunt Tuesay. ( I wont get there till Thursday)
Umm, I guess I better go to Plan B or C for myself, because Plan A is going to be ashes by the time I get there.
Maybe I'm stupid, or selfish, but its gonna take some serious horsepower to open my lips from here on out.
No offense, but I dont think I would give out my good spots to my grandma, let alone on an internet board.
FWIW, I carry a WIA map and a plat book ($50)for the county I'm hunting, and did bang on doors last week. Its not much fun, until someone says yes..
Of all of my local hunting buddies, (which is 2) I have the most experience with South Dakota bird hunting. (10 years) (both the other guys are on the 2nd year)
If I wasnt out there, I seriously doubt that they would have went either. I'm pretty much a solo hunter myself. Ive tried going with a couple guys, even tried the big groups, and I have found that there is always too much orchestration going on to have much fun. Maybe its just me and how I roll, but if I want to stop the truck and hunt a 10 acre patch, I'm gonna. I dont want to pass up an opportunity, just because its too small of a patch for two or three guys.
Last year, a acquaintance called me up complaining that he couldnt find any birds. To begin with, he didnt listen to me when he was planning his trip, and didnt go far enough west to begin with. I listened to his lamenting, and after a while, I asked him why he didnt go where I told him to begin with. ( I didnt give him anything more specific than a county) Gas money, time, blah, blah blah. So I decide to throw him a bone, and tell him about a couple WIAs that I liked to hunt. They hightail it over there, and call me up and thank me for the great hunt they had. The next day (their last) they shot their limit again. Good for them. While checking out of the motel, they run into a group of 5 guys that they know, who are having problems finding birds. Well, what do ya think happened? Yep, they sent them there... several times. Now, between the one guy that I told, I now have 7 that know about the spots. How many friends they have told, who knows but all I hear about is how many times these two areas get hunted. I havent been back since I threw him the bone. You would think I would learn my lesson, but no.
I set up a trip to leave last Wed night with a friend. I tell him where we should go and make plans. Mon night, he calls me up and asks if he can bring a friend along. I say, yea, thats probably Ok. I know the guy, and hes cool. Then, they proceed to tell me that they are leaving at 4:30 am on Tuesday with plans to hunt Tuesay. ( I wont get there till Thursday)
Umm, I guess I better go to Plan B or C for myself, because Plan A is going to be ashes by the time I get there.
Maybe I'm stupid, or selfish, but its gonna take some serious horsepower to open my lips from here on out.
No offense, but I dont think I would give out my good spots to my grandma, let alone on an internet board.
FWIW, I carry a WIA map and a plat book ($50)for the county I'm hunting, and did bang on doors last week. Its not much fun, until someone says yes..
carptom1
Well-known member
reddog,
i feel ya. It is hard when you are a decent guy you want help. What you will learn is you have to observe a " don't ask don't tell policy". I too have a couple of late season spots i SD that i go up and hunt. They always produce. Sometimes it is hard to not share those with someone who is struggling, i do have a heart. I just keep my mouth shut, because you are right it will be overrun. Some years ago i gained permission to fish this 2 acre pond by my house. I caught some awesome crappie, almost every cast. I kept 10 and my son and I threw the rest back. Being a nice guy I told a buddie. 2 weeks later I went there and my buddie was there with another guy and his wife. Go to the pond now and it is devoid of crappie. Everybody wants to be the " guy with the hookups". It is in our nature as men.
i feel ya. It is hard when you are a decent guy you want help. What you will learn is you have to observe a " don't ask don't tell policy". I too have a couple of late season spots i SD that i go up and hunt. They always produce. Sometimes it is hard to not share those with someone who is struggling, i do have a heart. I just keep my mouth shut, because you are right it will be overrun. Some years ago i gained permission to fish this 2 acre pond by my house. I caught some awesome crappie, almost every cast. I kept 10 and my son and I threw the rest back. Being a nice guy I told a buddie. 2 weeks later I went there and my buddie was there with another guy and his wife. Go to the pond now and it is devoid of crappie. Everybody wants to be the " guy with the hookups". It is in our nature as men.
reddog
Well-known member
Im not leaving my post up very long. (who knows, my buddies might see it) Umm, 450 views, and 8 replies tells me there are alot of lurkers siphoning information. Thats the other problem.
Look at the SD opener page over 10K views, and only 80 replies. If you dont think it has an affect, your delusional
It's that time of the year where we always get what I characterize as the " I'm the poor blind and crippled man from out of state", posts. All from someone who has less than 20 posts and signed up yesterday. I've hunted all over the west, long before the internet, used the phone, read population surveys, arrived early to scout and get permission. That's what real hunters do. Let these guys either learn the ropes or take up Quiddich with Harry Potter.
carptom1
Well-known member
WallyGator12000
New member
This makes no sense. It isn't trespassing, that's the whole point. If it was trespassing, it wouldn't be legal. You are missing out on the best part of south dakota public land pheasant hunting by not hunting ditches. I was just there this past weekend, and we shot as many roosters as we cared to by walking ditches.
What part of ditch hunting don't you understand? You have 33 feet from the center line of the road, unless there is a fence (and then you have up to the fence). You can shoot birds that get up out of the ditch. You have to stay 660 feet from houses, farm machinery, and livestock.
Rather than asking for free handouts on where to hunt, instead try hunting the gazillion acres of public land found on either side of every section road. Find a ditch with decent cover next to some cut corn, and you'll find birds.
reddog
Well-known member
Theres a large movement out there towards mowing the ditches. It started with the pay to play operations that pay to stock pen raised birds to supplement their wild birds. This stopped the ditch hunters from taking their birds from them. No cover, no birds. Then, they started mowing 30 feet into their property from the fenclines to further stop the birds from using the road.
I have no problem with that happening around the P2P operations, it only makes sense.
But now, you are seeing alot more hayed ditches statewide, and the amount of huntable habitat in the ditches is decreasing... quickly.
Not everywhere, but it is getting worse every year.
only a pointer
Banned
stay north dont mess with the southern part of the state u can pm me if you want there are tonsof birds in sd dont let lot of these guys fool you they couldnt fill there limit in five days if they had all private i get pms all tyhe time they dont even know the right cover or what cover to hunt the right time of day sd is very simple ks Though i cant tell my secrets
