Atbrdly - JRBlu gives some good advice. I was in your exact shoes last year, and a couple of guys on this website helped me tremendously. I live in Wisconsin and am limited to hunting stocked put and take birds. A good day was to flush 1 or 2 birds. My dog(s) aren't the best, but are pretty good. I just always wanted to do a South Dakota trip, but wasn't sure where to begin.
I spent a LOT of time on the SD game dept website. I researched the available reports on pheasants and pheasant hunting, from population estimates to hunter densities and hunter harvest. This gave me an idea at least of where in the State that I'd have my best chance at some birds. Let me also say right up front that a trip like this isn't (shouldn't) be all about bagging birds. Its seeing a new part of the country, of the satisfaction of putting a plan together and figuring it out. Pheasants bagged are a bonus. Back to the SD website, use the mapping technology there and the overhead photographic layering. It will show important things like tree lines, cattail swamps, etc.
Spend a bunch of time just driving around and looking for birds along the road. See what kind of cover they are using. Once of the neatest things I've ever seen was out there last year watching a combine harvest a sunflower field. I have never, not ever, seen so many wild pheasants fly out of a field. I just sat in my truck in awe. It was a sight I'll never forget.
Expect some pressure if hunting just public lands. But don't be afraid to hunt there just because there are or were other hunters there. Concentrate on the edges where public meets private land. Hunt little pieces of cover. I got a nice rooster out of a clump of taller grass the size of a kitchen table last year.
All in all in was a great trip. Do your research! Stop frequently and just enjoy your trip. Other than a particularly memorable rooster that I'm getting mounted, my soveneir for the trip was a real nice pheasant shirt I bought at Cabela's in Mitchell on my way out there.
A lot of a successful trip is in the eye of the beholder. Many people were complaining about a lack of birds. From a guy who hunts hard in Wisconsin, to flush more than a couple of birds a day was GREAT. Those that complain about South Dakota may have had the luck to hunt in glory years, but have never experienced a day of feeling happy and satisfied just getting one bird. I hunted just myself and my single 3 year old Golden Retriever for 3 days. We took home six roosters, and I estimate we flushed around 50 total in that time.
I so much enjoyed my trip last year that I'm coming back again this year. My wife is coming, in part so we can hunt my older dog who didn't get to go last year, but in larger part so she can experience some of thing neat things that I did that words just can't describe.
While there are others from this website that helped me in one way or another, I'd again like to very publicly thank SDJim, Carptom, and Reddog for the help they gave me. You really helped make my short time in South Dakota very memorable. :cheers:
