Area suggestions

R

RoosterBooster3632

New member
Hi All,
Looking for suggestions on where to hunt this next year. We have hunted in SW N. Dak for many years but the hunting in the area we have gone to has really been on the decline. We decided to try something new this year and went just west of Watertown, SD. We paid to hunt on some private land. It was a pretty big dissappointment for us. Looking for suggestions on somewhere to go where there will be better bird numbers. Back in the 90's we used to hunt around Winner but the daily trespass fees got really high. Any idea what the fees are in that area now??
Thanks for any insight.
 
No idea on fees but if looking for paid access private land hunts probably hard to beat the Mitchell, Chamberlain, Gregory, Winner areas. Can look up UGuide on this site as well.
 
Fees in the Winner area: opening weekend in the $250 per hunter range. Later in the season, $150. In late December, you may find even less, but they are in the minority.
 
fourtrax said:
Even in good years you want to Get at least a half hour or more West of Watertown for decent bird numbers.
Click to expand...

What he said. Wish you had asked about the Watertown area before you came out. I could have told you this area has really been down in numbers for many years.
 
learn to become proficient with "current climate summary maps"...study that tool religiously starting in June...(hatch)....watch it throughout the summer...temps, precip, etc...fantastic tool...look at it in the winter, too, to know what is happening periodically...but the early summer is critical, and the rest of the summer is important, too...then line that info up with the SD GDP brood count survey...pick an area based on what these things tell you. hopefully you can find an area that wasn't too cool, wasn't too hot...wasn't too dry, wasn't too wet...that is why the Huron/Mitchell routes bounced a lot this year...weather was very conducive.
 
What you mentioned in the OP is out there, but it is tough to find. In general, you can expect to pay $150-250/gun/day. Most of my trips consist of a mix of public and private. It is tough to answer your questions... I've paid $150 and hardly seen a bird in the Winner area. I've paid $150 and gotten easy limits in the Winner area. I've hunted public in the Watertown area and come close to 1-2 man limits. You might just be off by a mile or two, or it might be one of those days. You're best chance at seeing birds, unfortunately, is some place that will release a few to help sustain their population (or income), or getting lucky and finding private land not hunted too often. Our group has slowly gotten access to more land each year just by returning to the same hotel, restaurants, etc. each year and slowly building connections. In general, on a 4 day hunt for us, it seems to be one good day, 2 average days, one horrible day. No rhyme or reason to any of it, just how it always seems to be.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top