Well guys....I think it's pretty much over in the areas I hunt. I went out this weekend with the fresh snow thinking it was going to be really good. I hunted my best public spots Saturday with my girlfriend all day and did not get many opportunities. I think we flushed around 45 pheasants out of 4 large areas, however, all but 5 of them were in two large areas in 2 groups.
These are spots that I've found over the last two years that have phenomenal winter cover, in areas with large bird numbers, and not a ton of pressure for public land. The birds were super jumpy, even with the fresh snow. I don't slam doors, and never talk in the field. I only use hand signals for my dog so I don't need to give him verbal commands. You literally can't be any more sneaky and quite and they were hard to get close to. We got three opportunities all day and I got them all.
Sunday I hunted around my house in an area with more pressure and less birds. I did not find a single spot that hadn't been hunted at least once (if not twice) on Saturday. I flushed 8 birds for the day and didn't get a single opportunity. I only saw 1 rooster and it flushed wild. I saw more hunters this weekend then I saw on opening weekend. I had two different times when I was hunting a field to have another group come and hunt another part of the same public land I was already on.
I've been doing really well the last month hunting out of the way spots and areas people have ignored. I fear my experience this last weekend is the proverbial "cliff" that I have experienced in the past. The snow should have helped the public land hunting and it did not help at all. The "cliff" is when the public land has gotten so much pressure the birds just stop using it all together. When I started noticing this trend last year it became very difficult to shoot anything. I think I got 6 birds in January in 10 days of hunting. I'd be very surprised if I shot 20 more birds the rest of the year and I'll put in another 12-15 days before the season is over. For perspective, I've been averaging 2.7 birds a day before this weekend.
If you're thinking about doing a South Dakota trip this year and hunting strictly public, I would temper your expectations. You could easily get 1 opportunity in a couple days of hard hunting. I live here and know which areas and corners get less pressure, you won't have that knowledge and luxury. A friend of mine, and my uncle, were supposed to come out hunting at the end of the month. I've contacted them both and told them not to come.
If you do go I would recommend you go to an area of the state that has allot of public land, and is not within an hour of any mid-size town. Any area where you think the public hasn't been hunted 4-5 times a weekend for the whole season.
The pressure continues to be high. In fact, the old adage that late season has less pressure doesn't seem to be true anymore. When I started pheasant hunting in the 90's I barely ever saw another pheasant hunter in December. The last 7-8 years it almost seems like I see more hunters in December then in October. The "secret" is out. Late season public land pheasant hunting is harder and busier then it used to be.
Kidding. There are plenty of times I'd give my eye teeth for even a second or 2 of point. But alas, I'm a springer guy, so if you ain't running, you ain't hunting.
