12/27-12/31 trip

And when I say the fun jabs you guys are pros at it. And of course the information.

First things first the Kongo club looked dead when I drove by it this evening. Granted it was 5:00 and it’s Sunday. Maybe still plenty of time for that place to come alive.

Second I’m planning to head up to artesian and/or Woonsocket tomorrow or Tuesday so thank you both for the information. I’ll be sure to report back. I’m debating whether I should go south of Mitchell tomorrow and try those creps. Last 2-3 years they have been decent so wondering if worth my time.
 
IdahoCountryBoy said:
And when I say the fun jabs you guys are pros at it. And of course the information.

First things first the Kongo club looked dead when I drove by it this evening. Granted it was 5:00 and it’s Sunday. Maybe still plenty of time for that place to come alive.

Second I’m planning to head up to artesian and/or Woonsocket tomorrow or Tuesday so thank you both for the information. I’ll be sure to report back. I’m debating whether I should go south of Mitchell tomorrow and try those creps. Last 2-3 years they have been decent so wondering if worth my time.
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Freeman has been good this year, which is SE of Mitchell….you’ve got time, maybe go south early and scout and see what you think…you’ll do fine in any of these areas if you pick good habitat
 
IdahoCountryBoy said:
Second I’m planning to head up to artesian and/or Woonsocket tomorrow or Tuesday so thank you both for the information. I’ll be sure to report back. I’m debating whether I should go south of Mitchell tomorrow and try those creps. Last 2-3 years they have been decent so wondering if worth my time.
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Southeast of Mitchell is where I spend the most time hunting by far. (live in Sioux Falls)
BB is right, that area has been very good this year, better than the previous 2-3 years for sure. Shoot me a pm if you'd like more info. I'd gladly show you some spots in person, but I'm in Texas visiting my Dad at the moment, not driving back to SD until Jan 1st. I'm itching to get back at it.
 
Thank you for the advice on that large crep south of artesian. Last year if I’m correct that was mowed so wouldn’t have bothered to look at it this year.

I’ve been looking at a map and have no clue where freeman is on the public hunting book.
 
I’ve been looking at a map and I finally found freeman but there isn’t much public land around it. Are you guys getting west of James river where there are a dozen pockets of crep? Just south of mill town? I’ve hunted that before so I have a basic idea but it’s been a year or two.
 
IdahoCountryBoy said:
I’ve been looking at a map and I finally found freeman but there isn’t much public land around it. Are you guys getting west of James river where there are a dozen pockets of crep? Just south of mill town? I’ve hunted that before so I have a basic idea but it’s been a year or two.
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I haven’t hunted there, but my land partner hunts there frequently…suspect S and SW of Freeman…Knodel is a spot I know they hunt…looks like within 10 miles of Freeman there’s quite a few public spots…looks like within a mile or 2 of HWY 81 S of Freeman there’s several smaller WPA and CREP spots, and Knodel there’s a bigger spot..,
 
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I'll be out in that same area Wednesday into Friday. Last year I got my butt handed to me on two separate trips, except for one specific spot I hunted twice each trip. Should be excellent weather for comfort, but we'll see what kind of cover we need to work to find birds. If all else fails, I'll skulk my way back across the border and shoot a last MN bird or two. I was supposed to go yesterday, but I got surprised by the weather.
 
Wish I was around or else I’d say let’s hunt but tomorrow (Tuesday) is my last day in the area. I’ll start heading home Wednesday. The hunting has been fantastic. Any public land with great grass and cattails had birds in them. I limited out again today and just scouting around for spot to hunt tomorrow.
 
I came back from the area he’s hunting about a week and a half ago, and cleaned my birds a few days later…they were eating a variety of crops…corn, beans, millet, sorghum, etc…I think good habitat is the main thing…no snow on the ground, the grass is pretty robust, and adjacent cattail sloughs are a big draw. I always prefer corn for the food source assuming the habitat/cover is decent to good. It was in the 50’s just a few days ago there…birds are in good shape. Warm up is coming in a few days…👍
 
Thanks for the info BB, good to know.

Are you guys finding the birds bunched or still kind of scattered? Heading to SD at the end of the week. Looking forward to it!
 
I agree with BB. Variety of food source.

I was finding a bit of both in terms of birds. I was south of interstate Saturday and they were bunched up pretty good. I saw 200 birds easy on public ground. Sunday it was cold and windy and first field I walked in I got up 50 together. Walked a little further and got up singles but was able to get limit very quick.

Today no huge groupings. First field was 3 hens and a rooster but no shots. Before shooting time saw 100 birds though heading out of public land area that I hunted. Went to another field and only saw 4 roosters and 3-4 hens but enough to get a limit. Was done by 1-2 so just drive around scouting. I’m not much for one to go sit in hotel room. Didn’t see many birds but about 4:10 pm I saw quite a few birds flying from harvested fields back into good cover. Some of it public land and some of it private.

Hope this helps.
 
It’s almost better being in cover with fewer birds…the big #’s are fun to see but harder to get near…sometimes breaking up bigger coveys and following a few birds into different cover is productive…just getting out there and finding what you find is the way to do it…Idaho Country Boy seems to be doing just that! Good work, and good luck tomorrow!
 
During these high wind days, pretty bunched…a few days of calm and some warmth, seems like they disperse a good bit, assuming good amounts of decent cover…and there is a good amount of decent cover currently…
 
Three of us just finished a 6 day trip 12/26–12/31. Started in Martin, then Winner, then Platte. Big storm hit on day 3… what a difference a day makes! Went from hunting shirtsleeves on days 1 and 2 to full on conditions days 3 and 4! 40-50 mph winds, 3 deg temps, and an inch of snow (thankfully it was only an inch). We usually hunt NE of Pierre but a lot more snow above I90. We wanted more grass hunting and less cattails and massive flushes. We hunt all public and mix in some ditch walking. We had great luck. Limited every day, especially during cold stormy days., but you had to shoot fast and know how to deal with shooting dressed like an arctic warrior! It was brutal at times! A few big flushes but mostly coming up in small groups and singles, probably because snow was not a big factor. Tree rows and cattails were key during storm. Last two days it was 45-50 degrees!! What a difference a day makes!! Birds were back in lighter cover and went back to feeding. Shortsleeves today!! I would say we saw more birds near Platte as opposed to NE of Pierre or winner and Martin. Lots more places to hunt around Platte and it’s a nice town. Winner is nice but is big on pay-to-play hunters and not as much public. We like areas north of Pierre since it is less people and not as much pheasant ranch hunting. I think bird numbers are slightly lower than last year, but… it is still a good year. This was our 4th week trip this year—we go October, November (twice) and late December. Been going 24 years, I think this is about third best bird numbers (last year a little better and 2005/2006 over the top). Get out and enjoy the new year! Never a better time than now to enjoy best pheasant hunting in the world! South Dakota is the place for pheasants. Hopefully all the hens we flushed will provide a bumper crop next year.
 

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I got a late start today, so I stopped on my side of the border and put 2 in the bag. Got to my first SD spot at 12:30, and quickly knocked 2 down. I had a few opportunities right after the first bird to have a limit there, but with one guy and one dog I didn’t want to shoot another over the cattails without having the first in hand. About 40 yards away we got number two. Picked a second spot on the map and got my third within 100 yards of the truck. Great, great day, though quite warm at 50. The rest of the day was scouting and I’ve got some confidence going into tomorrow.
 
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