Most South Dakota will be all pay for play in the future. To the benefit of the greedy farmers they do not have a great amount of managed land. Last year a lot of the Walk in Areas were harvested or had standing crops so the walk in system is not monitored and in shambles. This year South Dakota will be importing more birds than ever from Michigan and Wisconsin. Any of you "hunters" who are going to the fancy lodges and are told you are hunting wild birds are misinformed. How could everyone get their limit every day? They are wild birds because they are released into the wild. But, you do have a beautiful state with some great people and that is a positive so I hope you rebound.
South dakota on the decline
- Thread starter guyndog
- Start date
waterdog09
Active member
LOL another person that thinks the state releases birds! Gotta love the people that are misinformed and probably have never hunted the state! In 23 years of hunting south Dakota I have seen 3 pen raised birds shot on public land, 2 were on the same piece and was only 1/4 mile from a lodge so we know where they came from and the other bird was a Cabelas banded bird about 20 miles north of Mitchell. It just makes me laugh to think the state has $ to just blow on pen birds for people to shoot!!
benelli-banger
Well-known member
say whatever you want, do whatever you want, think whatever you want...I could give a phuck. take it easy, pardner....
Why do I have the feeling you may have been on this forum before--under a different name?
UGUIDE
Active member
Oh moderators.......
So I used to be one of U GUIDES camps. One of the first things Chris told me was no released birds ever, and there were none, period. I still do not release birds. What actual knowledge do you have?
I've been to at least five of Chris's camps--taken many many birds. NO PLANTED BIRDS!!!
Any one else notice the over use of lol--remind any one else of someone else who has been banned?
South Dakota is in decline because of habitat lost,drought and lack of good public hunting land.Released birds are for preserves, and lodges so expensive that if their customers don't get birds they won't be back.I feel the state needs to get more involved in saving the habitat and working on public programs that help out of state hunters access land.The WIA and CREP programs are good examples,however,they seem to be shrinking in amount and quality.States like Michigan and Wisconsin,where a great deal of hunters come from,have massive amounts of public land for grouse and woodcock hunters,and with the timber harvesting going on habitat is always being improved and worked on.South Dakota doesn't have those vast areas of managed habitat and good public land is hard to find,so I'm hoping more involvement from the state will turn things around.Just my take.Thanks
i imagine the state's hands are a bit tied by now and they didn't plan ahead when they saw the CRP program being decimated. hard to find good WIA ground and then the drought allows the ground to be largely hayed.....double whammy! ditches being mowed and over crowding, reduced bird production equals bad season for many.
Keeping in mind that the state is struggling with a budget, what would you have the state do?
UGUIDE
Active member
South Dakota may be on decline as state but I have one friend who took over his family farm and has lived there for 30 years. He is a hunting and fishing fool like most of us on this forum. Last year he said he saw more pheasants on his farm than ever before.
I also know of another outfitter not in our system but started his own in 1985. He takes in 400-600 hunters a season and has been full for years and turns many away. Not a preserve and does not release birds either. He really doesn't care what the state says or does or does not do.
I also know of another outfitter not in our system but started his own in 1985. He takes in 400-600 hunters a season and has been full for years and turns many away. Not a preserve and does not release birds either. He really doesn't care what the state says or does or does not do.
I think the state should try and move more land into the CREP program where habitat is more managed for wildlife.The WIA program is too variable,as land can be mowed over or changed , and still left in the program and when you show up to hunt there's nothing there.In the beginning WIA lands were abundant and you could move from one spot to the next and generally find good habitat.It's all about habitat.
I agree it is all about habitat. Most of the land in South Dakota is in private hands. To get that land into public habitat is going to take financial compensation to the landowner. Where is that money going to come from. I have land that is maanaged for the benefit of wildlife, but I can't afford to do it for nothing, so I offer pheasant hunting for a fee therefore it is paid for. How does the state get additional funds to create the habitat you seek. Are you saying quit the walk in program and transfer that money? That will make some deer hunters unhappy. The small amout that is paid for an acre of walk in will not create much habitat like CREP. I am not opposed, I just don't see where the money is going to come from. It might be better to work on the crop insurance program.
NOPLCLKNEB3
New member
Guys I swear, I am not Guyndog! I'm reformed!
UGUIDE
Active member
CREP land rents for $140/acre. WIA for about $7/acre. Get what you pay for.