Any reports from hunters ?

jackrabbit said:
A5 - I will agree with everything you said, especially the speed while hunting in cattails. When solo hunting, I spend a lot of time in cattails, often which is walking 20 yards and stopping for a bit and letting the dock thoroughly work everything. To clarify, the day that I hit almost 15 miles last week involved no stopping for lunch and hunting pretty much non-stop from 10:00 to sunset. I am also the youngest and in shape guy for our group of 4, so I volunteer to do the most work (by a lot). I probably walk a little faster than I should, but I also zig zag back and forth the entire time- never in a straight line which can also add up the miles really quick. We also hunted lots of smaller pieces that were within a picked field, so hunt this 100 yard stretch, then get through the next 400 yards of picked cornfield quickly to hunt the waterway, etc. All adding up the miles.
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Jackrabbit, I figured you knew all that stuff, especially if your name reflects your alma mater (Jacks are a little smarter than most). I hunt enough public ground that I get to see plenty of "mistakes" out there (or things I THINK are mistakes) & I've made most of them myself over the last 35 years. Just thought maybe I could help somebody out.

I get it though. All those "non-productive" miles do tend to add up. Walking way around a piece of cover to block or approach from the right direction; treks between pockets of good stuff; long hauls back to the truck. And we don't even have any snow yet. Once we have a foot or better on the ground and it's truly cold, that's when you see who the REAL fools are. (note: since I'm one of those fools, I should probably use the term diehard)

Living where I do & being able to hunt as often as I do, I'm fortunate to be very familiar with a ton of public ground. Usually there's a way to make sort of a loop out of it & try to maximize the productive miles. But not always. And if you have to wear out your boots in order to get to a little pocket of great stuff that you think should have a couple roosters in it.....then you do it.
 
My son and I will be ot west of Aberdeen next week for 4 days. Will hunt both public and private land. Two terrific dogs, my 10 yeqr old Griffon and his 7 year old springer. Have been hunting central MN so far this fall and doing ok each time out. I am just not sure what to expect next week. I have been hunting SD all but one year over the last 10 years and have always done very well. Did not hunt at all last year due to my wife being treated for cancer at the Mayo clinic. Good news is that she is now cancer free. I normally hunt SD for five days in early November and then again later in December. Try to watch the weather before I commit to going. Late December can be awesome with very few hunters and birds are bunched up. Will report on how we do.
 
Hunted 5 days. Limited out all 5 days. Had to work hard this year and would definitely say birds were down 20-30%. Encouraged by the numbers of birds we saw (hens and roosters) when corn fields were taken out during our trip. Hunted ditches and public land. Put a lot of miles in walking but saw between 30 to 40 roosters a day. And an additional 50 to 100 hens a day which is once again very encouraging. A lot of negative press on this site about bird numbers but hunt smarter not harder and you will find success!!! Bird numbers in other states are not even close to south dakota. I travel all the way from south carolina to hunt. Annual trip now for 15 years. Wouldn't miss it for anything!
 
bman said:
Hunted 5 days. Limited out all 5 days. Had to work hard this year and would definitely say birds were down 20-30%. Encouraged by the numbers of birds we saw (hens and roosters) when corn fields were taken out during our trip. Hunted ditches and public land. Put a lot of miles in walking but saw between 30 to 40 roosters a day. And an additional 50 to 100 hens a day which is once again very encouraging. A lot of negative press on this site about bird numbers but hunt smarter not harder and you will find success!!! Bird numbers in other states are not even close to south dakota. I travel all the way from south carolina to hunt. Annual trip now for 15 years. Wouldn't miss it for anything!
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hunting "smart" this year means put lots of miles on the truck to find birds...many areas that normally hold lots of birds don't this year...I am having better hunting this year than I have had the past several years...lucky, not smart...just in the right area that had the right conditions to pull off a good hatch...
 
Very encouraging words bman. I too am from South Carolina and will be making my 7th straight trip this year. We are leaving this Saturday and will hunt a combination of public and private. We used to stay in Delmont at my friends house, that is until the tornado on Mothers day of 2015 took the house along with almost half the town. Now our group splits up and we stay above a bar and with a local family. Only three of us going this year and between us our years add up to 194. I don't think there will be an issue with working good cover slow enough.

We have always had to work hard for birds. However, in the last few years we have had more experienced hunters, and dogs. Both have made a huge difference. This year will be a challenge as we only have one dog. Although she is very experienced, she will not be able to hunt 5.5 days.

My trip goal is to maximize our opportunities in the field, enjoy the peace of the wide open country, build friendships, and return to South Carolina Safely. I can't be more excited than I am right now. Looking forward to being able to post a positive report in two weeks. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
 
First day back since the opener. 2 old guys with 2 old dogs. We were done at 130 the sunset tonight was amazing. No place like SD
 
Hunted private ground near Winner today and was relieved to see quite a few hens. We hadn't seen many up to this point, so it's nice to know there are some around. Three of us took five roosters in two hours of hunting on a quarter of land, and might have limited had we made all of our shots. Windy conditions, some birds flushed way out, others held tight for points. All in all a great day in the field.
 
Two of us in North Central lost two, and still were able to get our six. It took all day, but with this warm up I think the wind help push the birds off the fields.
 
Buzz & I hunted as usual on Black Friday. Much different results than usual. Up toward Lake Thompson, hunted 1 GPA, 1 WPA, 1 WIA & 1 ditch. Beautiful cover. Right times of day. All places I had not hunted yet this year. Saw 1 rooster way over there; 1 rooster way over another direction; 1 rooster just right; 1 measly hen. 4 birds total. Not good.
 
I hunter near Madison over the last week. Limited every day that had high winds. And came up one bird short on days like today when they were not holding well with the nice weather. It was just me and two dogs. One seasoned, and one pup. I never hunted more than an three hours on any given day, and all on public land. Worked cattail edges out to ankle high grass to find what they were in that day. Then I focused on the cover. Hunter mostly waterfowl production areas. Probably coming back last weekend of season for one last push.
 
Day two, two of us were able to get our birds by four. Getting lucky with our shooting, birds are down at least fifty percent. Not pushing near the hens as last year.
 
Hunted north of mitchell. In an area not often posted on the website. We cover a fairly decent sized area from Letcher to Woonsocket to Artesian. Public grounds and honey holes from years of hunting. The key this year was watching for corn pickers in the field and hunting that spot the next day. Worked beautifully.
 
This is our day three so far so good! We are seeing less birds than in past years, but there are less hunters so it is evening out.
 
Didn't hunt today, but yesterday was much better than Friday, even with the nearly calm conditions making it extremely important to practically tip-toe through the cover. Hunted 2 WPA's yesterday about 70 minutes from Sioux Falls. Saw around 25 birds, probably 75% of which were hens. Got our 3 reasonably easily. All this year's birds. I'll say one thing. If there's not a good food source nearby, don't bother hunting it in the middle of the day, particularly with the weather as nice as it's been. Seems like I'm seeing more fields being disked this fall than usual. Anybody else noticing this & have any reasons for it? I'm no farmer. Anyway, pheasants will use cover next to UN-plowed fields much more readily than near plowed fields. I suppose because the food is still sitting right there on top.
 
bman said:
Hunted north of mitchell. In an area not often posted on the website. We cover a fairly decent sized area from Letcher to Woonsocket to Artesian. Public grounds and honey holes from years of hunting. The key this year was watching for corn pickers in the field and hunting that spot the next day. Worked beautifully.
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good to hear, i wont be in that area until new years, but nice to know
 
Well today was our toughest day so far. Over 20,000 steps on the stepometer, but got the last bird as the sun seted.
 
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