Aberdeen numbers?

M

markbrit

New member
Lurker on this board usually :)
My 13 year old son and I are headed to Aberdeen area next week for our first SD pheasant hunt. Looking forward to great memories!

No honey holes need to be shared but anyone hunting public land in area? Wondering how you think bird numbers are this year? Thanks.
 
Bird numbers seemed to be fair. I didn't notice much of an increase over the past few years. Well that is not true. I saw about equal numbers of roosters this year, however it seems like I saw more hens than in the past. So yes overall numbers seemed to be up. I was thinking maybe my dog being 3 and finally coming into his own attributed to this. I was thinking that he ran buy lots of hens that would sit tight, as he has a tendencyy to use his legs not his nose when pheasant hunting. I will tell you the birds were already very skittish by Monday, and that the WIA were getting pounded.

So what that means is the dumb birds have been shot, now you will have to work to get your birds! Good luck, have fun, be safe. I will be back out to SD on 11-13 for a 3 day hunt.
:10sign:
 
I was in Aberdeen area for 2 days....never saw soooo many hunters before...I hunt public land in many states and I've never seen it that bad....first day I was there people were in every single spot I planned to hunt ...saw way fewer birds than last year...found birds in hard to get to spots...but very tough hunting. good luck to you and your boy....sure you will have fun whatever happens
 
Spoke with a friend that hunts the Aberdeen area. He hunts private land.

Just returned; he didn't see very many hunters...and shot a limit of 75 birds.
 
I stay in Aberdeen because my family usually comes with me for a couple days (better amenities, restaurants etc.) and because I can use the hotel points I build up during the work year.

Truth is I usually don't freelance close to town. If going to hunt public one needs to be willing to drive farther and hit the hard to get to spots. Need to be willing to hunt areas in all directions of town and even areas without the best bird numbers. One has to be OK scratching out educated roosters one at a time, OK with the all day marathons and OK with the understanding that a limit is far from guaranteed.

Last year there was a good group of guys staying at the motel who were surprised me and the Cocker were coming in with the birds we had hunting public. They invited me to tag along on their private land hunt on one of the days and said they were usually limited by 1:00. Considered accepting but cordially declined the invite. I like chasing roosters the way we do it.
 
Back at work now :(

Was a wonderful trip to Aberdeen area for hunting and times with friends. If I had to do it over again I would line up more private land. Public land was nice cover but just did not locate a lot of birds. Scratching out a few contacts here and there. We also hunted outside Mitchell.

Great trip I will be back!
 
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