After reading this thread as well as the "Is public land going to be anygood" I thought I would post a response. I have been traveling to Eastern South Dakota since 2007 and have had great success hunting public ground. I usually plan my trips from the last week of November through the first week of December and rarely see anybody else hunting, maybe a rig or two on the weekend driving around looking for ditch chickens, but rarely anybody on the weekdays. If you are willing to walk 8-10 miles a day and shoot better than 50% I would put my money that you will walk back to the truck with a limit of pheasants everyday. I have also had decent luck getting permission to hunt in South Dakota. I avoid asking to hunt on the large parcels that are obviously somebody's pay to hunt land and never show up in more than one rig. On these smaller track of land you wouldn't want to hunt with more than one other person anyway.
I just wanted to make my point that hunting can be great if you don't dig your own grave and show up and a farmers house early in the season with 2 suburbans full of hunters and expect to get permission to hunt. I don't make the 1100 mile trip to South Dakota to line up with 8-10 other hunters (most of them yelling or whisling at the dogs) and pay $200-400/ day to have others in the group shooting cross court at birds getting up in front of you. Meanwhile your dog(s) are playing grab ass with the 8 others. My opinion is that this type of hunt is more common practice of the pay-to-play areas and it is unfortunate that a majority of these hunters that pay don't get to enjoy the real meaning of the hunt, which for me is, walking back to the truck at dark usually just me and a couple of dogs with a heavy bird vest, looking forward to a well-deserved cheesburger and adult beaverage at the local pub and a good nights rest in a $40/night hotel room.