britton/hecla area

wingsnfins said:
Always good to be away from the grind and out enjoying time in the outdoors.
Overall, trip was a success....no one got hurt, 1 minor barbed wire incident with my lab, good banter, cold beer and delicious Old Fashions.....other than that.....sigh.
BIL and I put 8 birds in the bag between us 2, with 1 bird lost. About a half dozen "should of had that bird" shots. We ranged east of Hecla about 5 to 7 miles and as far west as Eureka hunting whatever looked good and spots that have produced for us in the past...mostly north of SD 10....
No large concentrations of birds flushed or seen except for one property Eureka way, but those birds flushed 100-150 yards out with no stragglers. Plenty of birds in the fields and roads around the couple hunting farms by Hecla....even some roosters with no tail feathers at all.
Beans are all down and the remaining corn was really been worked on these last 3 days.
I might try another run out there later this year, just not sure where yet.
Click to expand...
Those roosters with no tail feathers may be released from one of those blue blood places.
 
Currently sitting in North Central SD and could not be more surprised by how low the bird # are down I believe. Walked a ton with 3 dogs with little to show for it.
All public and excellent cover.
 
Sounds like the hunting pressure is really high. Sometimes you see these reports with guys blasting tons of birds. What they don't always like to mention is it's all cherry picked private land. I think the AVERAGE for public land hunters is one bird a day. Yeah if you got a good dog and have a nice milk run built up over the years you can get a limit.
 
I’d focus on good looking ditches next to picked corn, as well
as small chunks of cover within CREP, WIA, WPA’s and GPA’s…or the smallest WPA’s/GPA’s/CREP/WIA you can find. Also, move around 30,50, 70 miles…you’ll find birds…then focus on ditches, public spots, etc. Find areas with birds…be driving between 7-8:30….they’re out and about first thing…be driving gravel near the various public spots mentioned.
 
TABLEROCK said:
Currently sitting in North Central SD and could not be more surprised by how low the bird # are down I believe. Walked a ton with 3 dogs with little to show for it.
All public and excellent cover.
Click to expand...
Fisherman move spots after awhile if nothing is biting…don’t waste your time in a big sea of grass if you’re not seeing or contacting birds within 30-45 minutes. Move on. Find public land that has food plots and try them. Cattails near picked corn within a WPA. Not huge…a few acres. If something’s not working, change it up…move 30-60 miles, or until you find birds. 5-10 miles even.
 
All CO’s are listed on GFP website…call a few who work your general area. Ask nicely if he’s noticed any general trends…insist you’re not looking for honeyholes, you’re happy to put in the miles…just running out of time and wondering if your area had tough weather? Try it. And thank them for their service. Leave a gift card for them at local bakery or coffee shop…they’ll accept it, I do it regularly…confirm you have their name correct. They know what’s going on!
 
Tue/Wed/Thur are good days to hunt public in SD…especially now, during deer season..don’t have a goal of hunting 6 hours, or 10 miles, or 20,000 steps…hunt 7,8, 9
different spots…leave after 20 minutes if no contacts. Be 20,30 miles from decent size towns…or further. I was out in SD 11/7-11/15, left the 16th…not a lot of hunters, frankly…I’m near a few fairly large towns…3k, 15k, 10k…opening weekend was busy for sure…not the last stint of time.
 
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TABLEROCK said:
Currently sitting in North Central SD and could not be more surprised by how low the bird # are down I believe. Walked a ton with 3 dogs with little to show for it.
All public and excellent cover.
Click to expand...
U need to be south of hwy 12 and west. Bird numbers are better that way. Still tough but better.
 
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