BeirlSetters
Member
A little late but was out last weekend to open up the house and prep for upcoming season. Conditions were about what I expected with what I have been hearing. Crops depending on the area you are in look good or not so good. Bird numbers were about a 1/3 of what I normally see during this trip every year. But there is some really good cover in certain areas if it wasn't mowed so there are probably more birds than we did see.
On to the terrible news of the trip, some of the public ground plots we have hunted for years are either gone or roughly a 1/3 of what they were in years past. I was told based on the program they either have to leave a portion of cover or they can take the whole section. I would say 30% of the public I have hunted in the past looks like my front yard. I guess we will have to wait until next year to have them come back. What scares me is the lack of cover in the public areas for winter cover. Hopefully there is another mild winter because a hard winter could have a toll on the carry over. I was surprised to see they were still mowing public as of last weekend. SD is never easy and you have to roll with the punches. There still is no other place in the country you can see the volume of birds you see there. Its about the experience and not killing birds. I will be prepping for lots of walking and discovering new areas based on the conditions. Good luck to everyone this season!
On to the terrible news of the trip, some of the public ground plots we have hunted for years are either gone or roughly a 1/3 of what they were in years past. I was told based on the program they either have to leave a portion of cover or they can take the whole section. I would say 30% of the public I have hunted in the past looks like my front yard. I guess we will have to wait until next year to have them come back. What scares me is the lack of cover in the public areas for winter cover. Hopefully there is another mild winter because a hard winter could have a toll on the carry over. I was surprised to see they were still mowing public as of last weekend. SD is never easy and you have to roll with the punches. There still is no other place in the country you can see the volume of birds you see there. Its about the experience and not killing birds. I will be prepping for lots of walking and discovering new areas based on the conditions. Good luck to everyone this season!
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