Any reports from hunters ?
- Thread starter mwilly56
- Start date
Have to echo what Brdhntr said; we just got back yesterday from out cold trip. Saw plenty of birds to keep us occupied. Even with the lack of habitat, still saw more birds in the areas with little habitat vs. MN's prime WPA and WMA habitat. Hunted CREP pieces that had habitat, but I would say 75% of the CREP pieces we looked at were hayed off. Probably got half our birds out of ditches, which we never paid attention to in the past but this year we did. the birds were not grouped up as much as I thought they would be or it could just be the lack of numbers. They did hold pretty tight given the time of year. We did come across one piece of GPA adjacent to some private sorghum strips and trees. It was magical seeing the number of birds flying out of the private stuff to the public land for the roost, like SD was meant to be. We only got 2 birds out of there despite the 50+ birds we saw land in there, but it was one of those things, you shoot once or twice and the large group got up and got out of there. besides that GPA, there was probably an equal hen to rooster ratio. Half of our birds or so were this years roosters.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Nope, the place where all the birds live is private & surrounded by only private land. I didn't have the time or desire to play the "Who owns it?" "Where do they live?" "Oh, out of state." game. I'm guessing since that's where all the birds live, they either don't let anyone hunt anyway, or hunt it very infrequently themselves. So yesterday in 18-24 below weather, Buzz & I again concentrated on ditches. But the sun stayed out all day & there was little to no wind, so we were able to make a couple longer jaunts into some public land of 30-40 minutes or so. I'd say we saw a "good" number of hens, but most roosters gave us the slip, as Mother Nature didn't see fit to provide a mask for the noise we make. 3, however, made the mistake of sitting just tight enough. But....on 1 of those opportunities, something was apparently "amiss" with either my gun, shells, or possibly both. I'll have to inform Browning & Federal of their product inconsistency, because it was a true gimmie, & gun/shell failure, especially in a gimmie situation, is not acceptable. Regardless, Buzz & I had a great time.
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3car
Active member
Ended up with 2. Only shots I had but saw about 30. 1-5 Rooster to hen ratio.
Goosemaster
Well-known member
Hunted central mt.real late.Shot 10 birds in 5 days hunting.Saw decent numbers of birds.Lots of predators, deep snow, very cold
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Year-end synopsis (not necessarily brief):
Ended the season with mixed feelings. As some of you know, I hunt “public” land exclusively, which consists of actual public land, walk-in/CREP areas, & ditches, most commonly north &/or west of Sioux Falls within 1.5 hours. Accomplished my goal of getting out at least 20 times. Shot plenty of birds & ended w/ a 2.2 bird/outing average. Not bad by any means, but then I usually hunt alone or with 1 other guy, so to be “successful” I don’t need to see very many birds.
Good thing, because I DIDN’T see a lot of birds. The weather was difficult for most of the season – hot & dry for quite a while early on, real late grain harvest, no snow for too long, sloughs didn’t ice up until late, then uncommonly cold. Several of my favorite spots had been mowed or grazed. Some spots I like had what I’d consider almost “normal” numbers of birds, while most had less (maybe 20% to 50%). Yet a couple of my MOST favorite spots were quite poor. They’re nearby some of the less affected spots, so I don’t quite understand the differences. Nowhere did I think a spot had more birds than normal.
I shot an uncommonly high percentage of last year’s birds, which corresponds to a mild winter & poor hatch in the spring. I saw & shot almost NO real young birds. In fact, I’d say early in the season, most of the young birds I shot were more mature than usual, on average. So most of the young birds came from early in the hatch, which in turn, began earlier than usual. What happened to the hatch then?? It wasn’t too wet. I really don’t think the severity of the drought in my area was that terrible. No big hail events that I know of. Kind of a mystery.
What’s kind of weird is that I didn’t have to work much, if any, harder than usual to get my birds. This confuses me because with fewer young birds around, & old birds being VERY tricky in difficult conditions, I’d have thought they’d be much harder to come by. Not really.
It was just kind of a strange season. The factor that I think contributed most to lower bird numbers wasn’t drought, although I believe it had to play somewhat of a role. I think the biggest factor was poor or disappearing nesting habitat. We had enough rain early in the year that I think grass was good during the nesting period as far as height/thickness goes (although much of it sure slowed down later in the summer). I think the biggest culprit was the TYPE of grass & whether it was mowed/grazed. So many of the public areas in these parts are covered with what I call switchgrass (don’t know if that’s accurate or not). But I don’t believe it’s good nesting cover, particularly when there’s very little variety mixed in with it. I also don’t understand this fascination with ditch mowing, which seems to be extremely prevalent anymore. Anyway, I think those are the biggest contributing factors to declining bird numbers on the land I hunt.
All that said, we (Buzz & I) had a really great season. We got out with my daughters some, a cousin once, & a friend a few times, which was fun. I held up my end of the bargain & shot pretty well, only really pooching 2 birds. Buzz was amazing & had (arguably) more fun than anyone else in the state. I find it hard to believe that another dog could’ve been more efficient, given the type of cover & number of birds he had to work with. He’s spectacular & for 3 months a year, taking him out to see him do his thing is about all I can think about. Now we’ve got to make do with other things for 9 months.
Ended the season with mixed feelings. As some of you know, I hunt “public” land exclusively, which consists of actual public land, walk-in/CREP areas, & ditches, most commonly north &/or west of Sioux Falls within 1.5 hours. Accomplished my goal of getting out at least 20 times. Shot plenty of birds & ended w/ a 2.2 bird/outing average. Not bad by any means, but then I usually hunt alone or with 1 other guy, so to be “successful” I don’t need to see very many birds.
Good thing, because I DIDN’T see a lot of birds. The weather was difficult for most of the season – hot & dry for quite a while early on, real late grain harvest, no snow for too long, sloughs didn’t ice up until late, then uncommonly cold. Several of my favorite spots had been mowed or grazed. Some spots I like had what I’d consider almost “normal” numbers of birds, while most had less (maybe 20% to 50%). Yet a couple of my MOST favorite spots were quite poor. They’re nearby some of the less affected spots, so I don’t quite understand the differences. Nowhere did I think a spot had more birds than normal.
I shot an uncommonly high percentage of last year’s birds, which corresponds to a mild winter & poor hatch in the spring. I saw & shot almost NO real young birds. In fact, I’d say early in the season, most of the young birds I shot were more mature than usual, on average. So most of the young birds came from early in the hatch, which in turn, began earlier than usual. What happened to the hatch then?? It wasn’t too wet. I really don’t think the severity of the drought in my area was that terrible. No big hail events that I know of. Kind of a mystery.
What’s kind of weird is that I didn’t have to work much, if any, harder than usual to get my birds. This confuses me because with fewer young birds around, & old birds being VERY tricky in difficult conditions, I’d have thought they’d be much harder to come by. Not really.
It was just kind of a strange season. The factor that I think contributed most to lower bird numbers wasn’t drought, although I believe it had to play somewhat of a role. I think the biggest factor was poor or disappearing nesting habitat. We had enough rain early in the year that I think grass was good during the nesting period as far as height/thickness goes (although much of it sure slowed down later in the summer). I think the biggest culprit was the TYPE of grass & whether it was mowed/grazed. So many of the public areas in these parts are covered with what I call switchgrass (don’t know if that’s accurate or not). But I don’t believe it’s good nesting cover, particularly when there’s very little variety mixed in with it. I also don’t understand this fascination with ditch mowing, which seems to be extremely prevalent anymore. Anyway, I think those are the biggest contributing factors to declining bird numbers on the land I hunt.
All that said, we (Buzz & I) had a really great season. We got out with my daughters some, a cousin once, & a friend a few times, which was fun. I held up my end of the bargain & shot pretty well, only really pooching 2 birds. Buzz was amazing & had (arguably) more fun than anyone else in the state. I find it hard to believe that another dog could’ve been more efficient, given the type of cover & number of birds he had to work with. He’s spectacular & for 3 months a year, taking him out to see him do his thing is about all I can think about. Now we’ve got to make do with other things for 9 months.
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benelli-banger
Well-known member
just returned from my final (7th) outing to SD this season. Didn't do all that well, hunting alone. Had a great time, however. Highlight of the trip was a 2 hour hunt on one of my private spots...must have flushed 150 birds...the vast majority were hens...my dogs probably pointed close to 80, maybe more...those birds were holding very tight...the snow knocked the grass down enough that they were burrowed in to the orange parking cone sized clumps...and the best part was that not one bird was caught by any of my dogs over the whole time I was there. Then there is the cattail slough about a mile and a half from my ground that has hundreds...400? 500? birds living in it...maybe more...that spot is west of my ground, the first spot referenced is about the same distance in the other direction...and there is a great public spot full of good winter cover right in the mix as well...things look pretty good for 2018 if mother nature does her thing. most of the birds we shot this year in this area were this years birds...we pulled off a pretty good hatch evidently.
All of us need the "exact location" of your hunting ground...
Uncle Buck
New member
I know exactly where it is ,but I'm not talkin'.
Uncle Buck
New member
Spent the last day in Lyman Co. Six hunters done by noon. 5 Pudelpointers, sometimes 3 honoring 1. Private of course, but tons of birds, great day weatherwise and what a way to end it.
All of us need to know exactly where you hunted...
Hmm, have not hunted with a p. pointer but watched a video/ hunt demo; looks like a great dog! How do they handle the cold weather? Would assume better than a G. Shorthair...
How long have you hunted with these dogs? Are they big runners or stay close?
Thanks.
Hmm, have not hunted with a p. pointer but watched a video/ hunt demo; looks like a great dog! How do they handle the cold weather? Would assume better than a G. Shorthair...
How long have you hunted with these dogs? Are they big runners or stay close?
Thanks.
Zew
Member
I made it out for the last 2 days of the season. Birds were grouped up in some areas and spread out in others. A nice breeze Saturday kept the birds holding tight. Sunday was beautiful out. I managed my 6 birds but had to work for them. Fought the "domino effect" of flushing birds a lot. Most birds I saw on one piece of public was probably around 60. Average birds was probably around 12 per piece. All in all, once again I had a great time.
I'll be back in SD for pheasant fest working the American Brittany Club booth. See ya there~ Zew
I'll be back in SD for pheasant fest working the American Brittany Club booth. See ya there~ Zew
Highvoltage
Active member
Pretty bad when you have to explain that! Lol