Bird numbers down, but had best year yet!
- Thread starter southernroots
- Start date
ranchodeluxe
Member
as far as how i like to go about it my favorite way is to ride on the hood of a truck and when they fly up from the rd ditches just pound there ass
Might come from KS and get away with it for a week.But I have to live with the warden year-round.Sounds fun though.
ranchodeluxe
Member
Although today was awesome! Three beautiful flushes,three nice retrieves on a little over a mile of working cattails.It never gets boring watching a spaniel go-round with a veteran rooster intent on sitting it out.It's just that most simply flee.Probably saw my dog flush a dozen birds right off the end of his nose today.I guess that's why I hunt at every opportunity.A dog's life is so short,and I'm not going to be the one who cheats them out of a hunt just because it's easier to sit on the couch. It could always be the last.(Yours or theirs)
benelli-banger
Well-known member
Hello, y'all...yes, I have been absent from this board for quite awhile...got bored with it, frankly...I do frequent a few others that I get more out of, but spend most of my time on gun sights...Buck got me hooked on Spanish doubles a few years ago...UMMMMMM!!!!! Just returned from my 8th trip of the year including outing 1 in ND for sharpies back in Sept....my last trip to SD concluded on 12/28...so sad to wrap it up during such gorgeous weather! I told many people I would happily take lower bird #'s with such nice weather and no snow over what we had the past couple of years...Buck was there--what we had about this time last year most people wouldn't believe...I believe Neil had over 75 points in a 45 minute hunt...I will leave it at that. However, very cold, fairly deep snow, etc...this season has been more challenging bird-wise, but a lovely season...and to have salt rubbed in my wounds of it ending, I got a call today from one of my farmer friends who heard I was back and he wanted me to hunt his ground...a day late!! My buddy and I (yes, just two of us) had a great hunt...limited daily...which was true of most of my hunts this year...groups of 6 or 8 mostly, some smaller, but we hunted hard and got our birds. Had some good hunting in other areas as well on WIA's mid-week....had to laugh...nobody out hunting when I have been out, and I am talking within 20 miles of the James River, but further North, as that is how I enter the state on day 1 of my trips, and I often hit a few WIA's, and this year we did well on them as usual. I said what I said a few years ago, and things are just about EXACTLY what I predicted...yes, habitat will be lost...yes, bird #'s will decline, especially with bad weather...yes, I will have a GREAT time hunting pheasants in SD and I will still harvest lots of birds! Guess what...with a reasonable winter and spring the birds will increase in #....and, like I predicted, hunter #'s are declining, and access is easier, and hunting is as enjoyable as ever! I continue to support the farmer who I hooked up with years ago, and he has been putting in trees and CRP and food plots, which help matters. I round up other guys and get them to come with, and that matter$ to this farmer, and he stays in the game. I have my land, and I also know where other good habitat is, and let me tell you the birds are where there is habitat, even in fairly large #'s, which is surprising given no snow and warm temps...there is not much impetus to bunch up right now compared to most years in late Dec. Anyway, I have 3 teenagers to raise and educate, 3 dogs (including a pup who is 8 months old) to take care of, a job to do somewhere in the middle of all this, and lots of birds hunting to get done from Sept to Dec...so, don't assume anything about me if I am not chatting away here other than what I just laid out in the prior sentence....I am fairly busy and this forum is not too high on my list of priorities anymore. Hope you all have a great 2012! May you and your families be blessed with good health and the opportunities that you desire. Buck, sorry we never hooked up...I did do more hunting with slightly smaller groups this fall and enjoyed it alot, hence not reaching out as much as in the past...to any of you not coming out to hunt because of the lower bird and CRP count, all I can say is that there are birds being shot, even in great #'s, by serious hunters with good dogs and the time to scout and try different spots...and yes, even on public ground...whether you come or not, that is up to you, good luck in your outdoor endeavors of choice. I will say one last thing, and I have talked about this before--I am liking the sharpie hunting alot, especially since I can SEE my dogs 100% of the time, and I love the time of year, and I really love eating those birds! I would EASILY add another trip for sharpies to ND and drop a SD pheasant trip, so I could use the other 1/2 of my ND license...haven't done that yet, as I love the mn ruffed grouse hunting as well, which is what I would also have to forgo...good problems to have, I guess! Later....Benelli-Banger
carptom1
Well-known member
brother i wish i was there with you. Nothing better than hunting cattails.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
spoke to a good friend/hunting buddy of mine who went to the watertown area last week and hunted public spots for 3 days and had his 9th bird by 2:00 pm on friday so he took off and headed back to duluth...he did wander a bit towards huron on day 2 of his hunt...bottom line, there are birds to be shot, even in areas where #'s really got hammered...safari's predictions about crp are a fact, but there will still be pheasants...not like the past 20 years, mind you...I have to chuckle, I hunted a 3+ square mile public area two weeks ago that was only recently "remodeled" by du/gfp into a WMA...man, you can walk forever in there...will that produce pheasants? I think so! Again, birds will probably never recover to the levels we saw in the past decade, but I don't need 10,000,000 pheasants to have a superb time afield.
cockrocker
New member
soooo. with as dismal as the season in Eastern SD was, me with an unproven dog, only hunted wia (one landowner let me hunt a small draw for 1 bird) and just me solo......I had a great time. 5 days, got 12 birds, coulda shoulda woulda had easy limits if I hadn't acted like a rookie at the end of a few pushes. Maybe I just appreciated it a bit more because I hadn't been used to seeing thousands of birds and getting my limit by noon....(something I don't want to do as I love being out "hunting".) For me the habitat destruction is depressing to see as it is evident, and farmers can help out and still make the BIG $$ that they have been making (yes I have an argument with them that is valid but thats for a different time) and leave the greed behind.
with that said......SD is wonderful. anybody seen a POOR farmer lately?? I no tink soooo
) and just me solo......I had a great time. 5 days, got 12 birds, coulda shoulda woulda had easy limits if I hadn't acted like a rookie at the end of a few pushes. Maybe I just appreciated it a bit more because I hadn't been used to seeing thousands of birds and getting my limit by noon....(something I don't want to do as I love being out "hunting".) For me the habitat destruction is depressing to see as it is evident, and farmers can help out and still make the BIG $$ that they have been making (yes I have an argument with them that is valid but thats for a different time) and leave the greed behind.with that said......SD is wonderful. anybody seen a POOR farmer lately??
I no tink sooooranchodeluxe
Member
with that said......SD is wonderful. anybody seen a POOR farmer lately?? I no tink soooo[/QUOTE]
I have,he's the one driving the year-old pickup.
I no tink soooo[/QUOTE]I have,he's the one driving the year-old pickup.
Dakotazeb
Well-known member
When you refer to the Watertown area how large of an area are you talking about? You say your friend wandered down to the Huron area one day. Huron is 90 miles away and I wouldn't consider that the "Watertown area". To me the Watertown area would be maybe a 20-30 mile radius of Watertown. If your friend had stayed within that radius I think he would have been hard pressed to take 9 birds in 3 days.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
I didn't ask him that specifically, but I know he did well on public areas around watertown...when you can't hunt til 10, and you're an early riser like both he and I are, moving 90 miles isn't too tough, as you know...he did indicate that there are some CREP areas he hunted around watertown...if he did all his hunting closer to huron, or aberdeen, or redfield, he wouldn't have referenced watertown....no matter, the point of the message was that there are birds to be killed, even late in the season as a solo operator, without having to go to the river....mainly a point of refutation to safari's last few posts...for those who don't follow, the huron areas is going to be around 50 degrees for the next 4 days or so...no snow on the ground...none in the 10 day forecast....my good farmer buddy called on new years eve laughing as last year he took his front end loader 4 miles to get to town for the party--couldn't get there anyway else. Could still be a tough winter, but we already have a 20+ day head start from last year as far as snow and cold go...that can't hurt as far as mortality is concerned. Who knows, birds could rebound a bit, or even alot, next year....
cockrocker
New member
with that said......SD is wonderful. anybody seen a POOR farmer lately??
I have,he's the one driving the year-old pickup.[/QUOTE] cool....you got my tounge in cheek humor then!!:thumbsup: to bad the govt isn't giving subsidies to hard on their luck construction workers like me!