Boots on ground

J

James O

Member
Have been walking a lot of public lands in north central SD.I run my dogs about two hours a day in different areas.What I An findings is about 75% of walk-in areas are not huntable.No cover,I think they were cut during past droughts and have not grown back.I agree with others post.If you move around you will find birds.Found some areas that were walk in that are awsome.Sometimes I travel 100 miles a day.Also finding in general that game production areas are best.Looks like places I see birds are a lot of young birds.Seems that there were three hatches.Some birds are all colored out,others are starting to color and then small birds starting to fly.Will be hunting till mid Nov.Find water,crops,cover there will be birds there.if you come from out of state you need a few days to scout areas.
 
I'm sort of familiar with the Gregory area.U will talk about it because I rarely hunt south Dakota. East of Gregory looks good.
 
James O said:
Have been walking a lot of public lands in north central SD.I run my dogs about two hours a day in different areas.What I An findings is about 75% of walk-in areas are not huntable.No cover,I think they were cut during past droughts and have not grown back.I agree with others post.If you move around you will find birds.Found some areas that were walk in that are awsome.Sometimes I travel 100 miles a day.Also finding in general that game production areas are best.Looks like places I see birds are a lot of young birds.Seems that there were three hatches.Some birds are all colored out,others are starting to color and then small birds starting to fly.Will be hunting till mid Nov.Find water,crops,cover there will be birds there.if you come from out of state you need a few days to scout areas.
Click to expand...
You might want to read up on what is legal in SD regarding running dogs on public land this time of year.
 
I have checked law it states if you own your dogs you can run up to 4 dogs on state or walk in areas.You can’t if you are a trainer.
And you can’t during pheasant breeding season not sure of dates but ends third sat in sept.
 
Correct - it does state less than 4 dogs. It also states you can only run them Aug 1 - Sept 15 (varies by year), or before April 15. And never on a WPA.

The definition of "public land" is not well defined in the rules. WIA and CREP are not not publicly owned, only public hunting access, so a conservative interpretation is that those are off-limits for anything other than in-season hunting access. Perhaps an email to GFP would clarify. I always stay on WMAs and school ground for running dogs as I do not want to learn the hard way.

At any rate, regardless of the vague statement of exactly which grounds you can run - Sept 15 is the last date (this year).
 
After reviewing rules I think I read them wrong and believe you are right that after Friday preceding 3rd sat in September you can not run dogs on public lands.It does not state anything about private lands like walk in areas
In any case I will stop running dogs immediately on any property.
Woollybob thanks for bringing correct interpretation to my attention
 
Could always bring a shotgun and buy a migratory bird stamp and say you're dove hunting. The dog just happened to get a pheasant up.
 
It says for purposes of dog training. If all youre doing is letting them run for their mental health so they dont crap all over the house with anxiety, it’s not training.
 
James O said:
Could also say you are grouse hunting
Click to expand...
That has crossed my mind, but I don't want to be 'that guy' looking for loopholes... Like the ones that are "crappie fishing" before opener and just happen to have a ton of 'incidental catches' of walleye. So if someone is down in the James River valley, walking the dogs in thick cover, the 'I'm just bad at finding sharpies' might not carry a lot of weight.

I have had enough instances of getting screamed at out there - following the book - I have no desire to go looking for gray areas.

And I do think it is a bit more kind to fellow hunters (personal opinion) to give the birds a break - less educated and not pushed to private ground right before the season opens.

Back to your original post: Glad you are seeing birds and it is similar to what I saw last month. Decent bird numbers, several hatches. I actually try to run the dogs on crappy ground (plenty to choose from) where they will not molest (or catch) the young birds, and we were still running across coveys.
 
Ok woollybob. Agreed
Never been out so early in season.I never realized how much fun it is just watching dogs.Shooting is secondary
This is third year I have been resident in s dakota but always hunted a week in n dakota because of friends
And place to hunt.Lady who owned land got killed in car accident and relatives leased out land to outfitter
Now just looking for some good public land to hunt.Not interested to pay to hunt.Having fun just looking for good
Places
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top