Any reports from hunters ?
- Thread starter mwilly56
- Start date
All I can say is WOW! It couldn’t get much worse could it? We are 20 miles from you Haymaker.
Our group is supposed to leave Saturday but now we have to rethink this. We usually get 2 birds while we are still loading the guns at the car.
At $175 per gun per day to walk 9 miles to get a few birds is ridiculous. Throw in a 12 hour car ride and I might need my head examined if we still decide to go.
jackrabbit
Active member
I think you should get it examined if you don't go. It's still a fun time to be in SD with your group of friends or whoever. The experiences and memories made with everyone, watching the dogs work, a SD sunset over a never ending prairie. Working for birds, even if just one or two a day, makes them even more enjoyable.
It is not good. The guys and I talked about it last night, obviously they were not thrilled. What they told me was they would be back because if they did not come back I can't continue to provide habitat and they will miss out on the better years to come. These guys understand that it is about a drought this year and can see that I am providing a lot of habitat. They want to contribute to the cause.
You are right on that point Haymaker. We most likely will go just to not “lose our spot” for future years.
I hunt a lot during the year at my club. Yes, I love the SD sunset and all the other stuff that comes with it. But let’s cut through all the BS.
Out of Staters like myself come for the birds. Period. I can fish in a river by my house and catch carp all day but I choose to drive to NW Ontario and pay $1500 for walleye and Pike.
Same with pheasants. I can walk all day in Illinois and scratch out a bird but I come to SD to see hundreds maybe a thousand in a 4 day hunt. It’s close to $1500 per guy for treaspass fee, housing, food and liscense. So going there for 2 birds is a little crazy if you ask me.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
I wonder how many opportunities they had?? Even the best of us have days of several opportunities & come home skunked, especially as windy as it’s been. Just a thought.
Not saying this was the problem either, because I obviously have no way of knowing. But I see this a lot. Big group of guys lines up in a CRP field next to some corn & off they go. Doesn’t matter if it’s noon, 3:00, or that last hour before sunset. They hunt the same way all the time. Commonly, everyone’s time but the couple closest to the corn is being wasted (if the goal is to shoot pheasants), particularly when there’s SOOO much standing corning around. There are times when it’s much more productive (from a birds/man/hour standpoint) to split up & hunt structure in groups of 2 or 3, or alone w/ a dog. With the harvest so far behind this year, I think this will be a common theme with larger groups early on. Unless they’ve got food plots to hunt.
Not saying that bird numbers aren’t down in some areas. But when I hear stories of such extreme difficulty, I tend to think there’s a little more to it.
Three of us limited in two hours near Winner. I suspect we let quite a few young roosters fly as it was overcast and a little tough to see if they were actually roosters. We saw more birds than we did in last year's opener. Our nine roosters included two carryovers, with the rest being this year's birds.
For what it's worth, we heard a lot of shooting going on, but I suppose it could have been frustrated guys taking pokes at flocks of blackbirds. After seeing the dismal bird forecast, I was very pleasantly surprised to see the number of birds we did.
For what it's worth, we heard a lot of shooting going on, but I suppose it could have been frustrated guys taking pokes at flocks of blackbirds. After seeing the dismal bird forecast, I was very pleasantly surprised to see the number of birds we did.
Gettin Birdy
Member
I am curious if the folks that are seeing/shooting more birds are hunting land with more water? Ponds, creeks, etc.. Surely the land with more water for the birds in the drought faired better?
We start hunting Friday on private land and have always done well. This year we are expecting it to be tough but still looking forward to getting in the field. I also figure if I have to walk 9 miles, that's not all bad as we all need some more exercise.
We start hunting Friday on private land and have always done well. This year we are expecting it to be tough but still looking forward to getting in the field. I also figure if I have to walk 9 miles, that's not all bad as we all need some more exercise.
Hi,were you hunting public,private or staying at a lodge? That's the area I was suppose to go this fall but decided against it from reports I was getting.Two of my friends still went and have only taken one rooster on public land using 3 good dogs.You must know the area well hope your luck continues and take care.
Huntmorevizslas
Member
Now this is third party info, but a buddy of mine was in the Winner area this weekend on a private farmers land. He said the bird count was down 20% to 30%, but they did limit every day. They had to work harder then usual, and finished later in the day, but all 6 hunters did get they daily limit. Private land, so I am assuming wild birds.
Huntmore Vizslas
Huntmore Vizslas
benelli-banger
Well-known member
hunted 3 days...my buddy and I were done early each day, but monday we were one short and took a long break and I killed our 18th bird around 5 pm. 15 of our 18 birds were this years birds. We stayed in a motel that had all hunters staying there...didn't talk to any other hunters that did well...and we talked to other guys not from the motel as well who hunted other areas surrounding where we were that did poorly. Not sure why our areas were good...corn still standing...obviously the hatch went well...I knew when I entered the first spot we hunted on public ground that it was going to be good...the food plot held lots of birds...we killed 15 of 18 on public. One of the nicest hunts I have had in a long while...not because of birds, really...just good dog work, nice weather, just 2 of us, so no babysitting....shot OK...had I not started with a double gun I would have been done in 15 minutes on opener...drove by several REALLY NICE public areas in Mn on Friday (MEA weekend) that had NO hunters and were SWEET looking spots...right near a town in SW MN...I will be back to hunt those. But the drought did take its toll when I reflect on the totality of the info I picked up from all sources that included MANY areas of SD...every gas station, cafe, etc. that I stopped in all over the state I quizzed the folks there...tough hunting it seems. The wind made it sporty throughout the first 3 days...back in 8 days. Can't wait!
Huntmorevizslas
Member
I'll second that!
Was out for opening weekend. Only public land hunting. Numbers are way down, but when we found good cover we found sufficient shooting opportunities. Did not limit out, but could have with decent shooting.
Most difficult part is finding decent cover on public land. Probably crossed off 10 fields on the map to every one we hunted. Most everything is thin or mowed. If you are hunting the same fields from years past, you will likely be disappointed - Need to find cover.
Birds did move from corn to cover at golden hour so looking forward to crops getting out.
Most difficult part is finding decent cover on public land. Probably crossed off 10 fields on the map to every one we hunted. Most everything is thin or mowed. If you are hunting the same fields from years past, you will likely be disappointed - Need to find cover.
Birds did move from corn to cover at golden hour so looking forward to crops getting out.
blackstorm
Member
did poor on the opener and Tuesday was a complete loss, Hunted in Faulk & Edmonds Co's mostly private land did hunt two waterfowl production area's, 5 of us shot 6 birds on opener, 14 on Sunday, 12 on Monday, one on Tuesday but flushed a bunch before bagging it, Wed was our best day with a full bag of 15. we hunt waterfowl in the morning before the noon start and bagged our first swan on Wednesday.