A fresh report

[hunter94]

some roads will still be impassable, many sloughs will be long and wide....and deep. harvest will be late and cover will be dense....some areas will be virtually devoid of birds.
yes, there will be some jackpots still out there.....late season probably the best, after harvest is over.

 

[Vammy]

I guess if I have any apprehension of the upcoming season, it is that there will be lots more cover which could spread birds out, moreso late season. Early season always has to contend with unharvested crops, etc, but by the time Dec rolls around most crops are out. This year, the birds will likely have options in overgrown fallow fields that would not normally be there.

But I'm still going. And we'll hunt those overgrown fallow fields if/as necessary:thumbsup:

 

[jackrabbit]

I've had largely the same success and will continue with my same thoughts from a number of previous years. A group of 1-3 hunters can "reasonably" expect to get their limit of 3-9 birds in a full day of hunting on public land (walk hard, cover ground, eat a bagged lunch in the car while driving to the next spot, limiting car time, only hunting pieces that look good. Basically non-stop hunting from 10am - Sunset). Obviously there are lots of variables - bad shooting, bad weather conditions, hunting weekend vs. weekday, just simply unknowingly spending half a day in a terrible few mile radius that had horrible summer hail storm and holds no birds, etc. A group of 4+ hunters hunting public land is going to be disappointed with their SD experience when hunting public land. If you have a group of 4+, you can also break up into smaller groups and reconvene at the end of the day. The problem we always have with that, is there are 1-2 die hard hunters with dogs, a few into it, and a few others along for the ride. So each groups success can vary by quite a bit.

 

[Dakotazeb]

Not only will it probably be a late harvest but there are many fields of corn and beans that may not get harvested due to standing water in the fields. Certainly going to be an interesting year.

 

[HS Strut]

I've had largely the same success and will continue with my same thoughts from a number of previous years. A group of 1-3 hunters can "reasonably" expect to get their limit of 3-9 birds in a full day of hunting on public land (walk hard, cover ground, eat a bagged lunch in the car while driving to the next spot, limiting car time, only hunting pieces that look good. Basically non-stop hunting from 10am - Sunset). Obviously there are lots of variables - bad shooting, bad weather conditions, hunting weekend vs. weekday, just simply unknowingly spending half a day in a terrible few mile radius that had horrible summer hail storm and holds no birds, etc. A group of 4+ hunters hunting public land is going to be disappointed with their SD experience when hunting public land. If you have a group of 4+, you can also break up into smaller groups and reconvene at the end of the day. The problem we always have with that, is there are 1-2 die hard hunters with dogs, a few into it, and a few others along for the ride. So each groups success can vary by quite a bit.

you described our group...if we make our shots, those of us who are serious and have dogs get the opportunity to limit every day on public land.

 

[waterdog09]

I've had largely the same success and will continue with my same thoughts from a number of previous years. A group of 1-3 hunters can "reasonably" expect to get their limit of 3-9 birds in a full day of hunting on public land (walk hard, cover ground, eat a bagged lunch in the car while driving to the next spot, limiting car time, only hunting pieces that look good. Basically non-stop hunting from 10am - Sunset). Obviously there are lots of variables - bad shooting, bad weather conditions, hunting weekend vs. weekday, just simply unknowingly spending half a day in a terrible few mile radius that had horrible summer hail storm and holds no birds, etc. A group of 4+ hunters hunting public land is going to be disappointed with their SD experience when hunting public land. If you have a group of 4+, you can also break up into smaller groups and reconvene at the end of the day. The problem we always have with that, is there are 1-2 die hard hunters with dogs, a few into it, and a few others along for the ride. So each groups success can vary by quite a bit.

I've been hunting SD for 25 years now and 95% of it on public ground basically the entire part of the state east of the river. And for the most part even when we had groups of 10+ and some years 3-4 guys we usually never have a problem finding birds it's a matter of getting close and getting a shot and making it count. The last 6-7 years I have been going with a group of 4-5 guys that are as die hard as I am and in these past 6-7 years we have never had a problem getting our limit on public land. You just have to be willing to work for the birds, not just hope they jump in front of the truck while your driving, it takes determination and effort. Last year we hunted new spots that turned out to be unbelievable and it took effort to get to them, whether trucks getting stuck on a section line or walking in waist deep snow to get to the spot because the roads were drifted in. Gotta be willing to put in the extra effort if you want birds in SD on public land!

 

[reddog]

I just returned from 4 days of fall maintenance and fishing at my cabin at Chamberlain. Got there at sunset on Thursday and thought it was odd to have not seen a bird between Sioux Falls and the cabin, and even wierder not to have one cackle at sunset. Same thing Friday. Got half inch of rain on Saturday morning and I was up early. Spent an hour at sunrise with my new neighbor introducing ourselves and drinking coffee , and never heard a cackle. Drove to Ft Thompson to fish Saturday afternoon, and came home at sunset. Left the cabin at 6 am this morning and headed to North Shore ramp on Lake Sharpe. Fished till noon under conditions that I should've heard every bird in the township. I heard nothing. Ended the day /trip seeing one rooster in the city limits of Fort Thompson. I'm thinking I'll be fishing a lot this fall. Seen a bean field being harvested by Garretson. Did not see any others that were ready. It's gonna be real late before much harvesting gets started and there will be lots of corn to dry. And lots that they won't be able to get out at all. $.02.