Bucket list checked off

S

Swagdaddy

Member
I'm heading to SD for the first tme next week. Been hunting Kansas the last twenty years and fulfilling a dream by coming to South Dakota.
Let's hope it's not a nightmare as I'm coming alone, no dog and hunting on public land. I might be a little cocky, but I plan on killing birds!
So thankful to have this opportunity. Blessings to all you Pheasants freaks like myself. I'll keep you posted on how I do.
 
Obviously a dog helps, but if you put in the time and work hard you can find them without a dog on public land. Look for things that can help your success, "cover within the cover", road ditches, things that are a bit smaller that you can cover yourself and there is some type of boundary that is going to force the pheasant to flush.
 
Even with a dog, one of the best, most overlooked pieces of advice is to stop often. When you're moving, the pheasants know where you're at. When you stop, it puts pressure on them as they no longer are aware of the direction danger is coming from and they feel like the predator is about to pounce.
 
I tell you, as a former Major League Baseball player, I feel like I'm in the pheasant " Big Leagues ". You guys know your stuff!
I'm excited to hunt some ditches, seeing it's allowed in SD. Is this kind of hunting considered a rookie move, or is it an acceptable way to shoot a cock or two?
 
Swagdaddy said:
I tell you, as a former Major League Baseball player, I feel like I'm in the pheasant " Big Leagues ". You guys know your stuff!
I'm excited to hunt some ditches, seeing it's allowed in SD. Is this kind of hunting considered a rookie move, or is it an acceptable way to shoot a cock or two?
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To me, the only rookie move is to break the law or to knowingly jump on a piece of public ground and affect someone else's hunt.

Road hunting is a totally feasible and non-amateur way to hunt. I would suggest limiting road hunting to the hour before sunset as that is when birds are most likely to be picking gravel before they head to bed for the evening. Fortunately, most ditches have fencelines, so you know exactly where the right of way ends. Additionally, you can shoot a rooster that takes flight from the ditch and goes over private property. If you knock one down, make sure to leave your gun when you go to pick him up. The handbook gives all the details of "unarmed retrieval". Beware safety zones, i.e., homes, outbuildings and livestock, and you'll be fine. You might come across a landowner who doesn't like road hunting, but know the law and respect it and you'll be just fine. Good luck!!

PS. For most locals, cocks are limited to the mens locker room. We shoot roosters. ;)
 
Golden Hour said:
You might come across a landowner who doesn't like road hunting, but know the law and respect it and you'll be just fine.
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I don't spend a lot of time working ditches, and probably should do more of it because it does work. But I have done everything legal and still come across a few landowners who stop you and try telling you that you are breaking the law or intimidate you. I have sense just avoided road/ditch hunting pretty much if there is a house or livestock anywhere in site.
 
Some good stuff here. If you're an experienced non-dog hunter & have a decent understanding of when to find pheasants where, based on weather & time of day....then you'll be alright. I did it for the 1st 20 years of my pheasant infatuation. SD public land & the occasional piece of private ground. And ditches. Did I shoot a "lot" of birds? Not by my standards today. But I did pretty well. It's not much different than hunting w/ a springer, from a "how to hunt" standpoint. First & foremost, pheasants relate to food almost all day long. They won't be far from it until it's time to return to roost. Usually. Hunt small pieces of cover. Concentrate on edges & transitions, like fishing. Forget about trees, unless you're trying to move birds into cover you actually CAN hunt. Hunt sloooowwww & quiet. Zig zag & tear that little place apart. If you see a clump of snow-covered grass you think a rooster could hole up in....kick it a couple times. Push or pinch birds to a point where cover runs out & flying is the last resort. When you pause to let them get nervous, sometimes pause for a minute or 2. They'll sometimes sit right next to you for a LONG time, hoping you'll leave. Don't take long shots, especially over real thick cover. RARELY will you put that bird in the vest. When you drop a bird, do NOT take your eyes of that spot!!! Get to it immediately!!! Then put your orange hat on top of the weeds/cattails to mark the spot. I used to search in a spiral out from my hat.
Without a dog....use enough gun! Preferably a 12. THE DEADER THE BETTER is my motto w/ pheasants & it comes from my no-dog days. Lead....5's or 4's. Avoid steel if possible without a dog. Bismuth 5's or 4's are my preference on state & federal land. If steel still gets the nod, 3's or 2's. No smaller than 3's!!
Anyway, you'll be fine. Have a blast! And all that said, I figure a decently well-bred FBESS (as shown in profile pic) has increased my birds/hour by a factor of about 7. And in 19 seasons of springer ownership, we've lost less than 2% of downed birds. Food for thought.
 
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Swagdaddy said:
I'll be staying in Mitchell two nights and play it by ear from there.
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All good advice.
One more thing that i have done lately since I'm newly retired and mostly hunt alone is i bring an old beater mountain bike. 3/4 of the time i dont need it since im walking a circuit, but it saves me a lot of time when the plot of land im hitting is a "one way" walk. Ive trained my dog to jog along side and i often use my truck as the blocker. This might be good for SD ditches, when its not ideal to walk one side down and walk the other side back to the truck.....or do the entire 2 mile circuit around a section.

If you havent been on a bike for awhile, i advise getting back into it for those like me who are getting past their prime. It really helps me keep my balance and stamina and is still as much fun as it was when i was 10 ;).
 
tomt said:
All good advice.
One more thing that i have done lately since I'm newly retired and mostly hunt alone is i bring an old beater mountain bike. 3/4 of the time i dont need it since im walking a circuit, but it saves me a lot of time when the plot of land im hitting is a "one way" walk. Ive trained my dog to jog along side and i often use my truck as the blocker. This might be good for SD ditches, when its not ideal to walk one side down and walk the other side back to the truck.....or do the entire 2 mile circuit around a section.

If you havent been on a bike for awhile, i advise getting back into it for those like me who are getting past their prime. It really helps me keep my balance and stamina and is still as much fun as it was when i was 10 ;).
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Yep, I throw my mountain bike in the back of my 72 f250.I dont hunt ditches much.Im not real patient. I shoot lead 4s.I dont pay, but will leave a 6 pack, or maybe a quart of oil.
 
Thanks guys for all the advice and tips. If any of you get out to Las Vegas, I'll repay the favor by telling you which slot machines are due to pay off.
BTW- I really don't know which machines will pay off, but wish I did!
 
One word for solo dogless hunting in SD: cattails.
 
Okay BritChaser, I'm glad you brought up cattails. I saw on one day over 100 birds fly from a plowed cornfield to a cattail section right at dark. Obviously, that's where they're roosting. Here's my questions:

1) If a solo hunter without a dog goes out into a big patch of cattails, do the birds hold tight or are they going to give you the runaround like in a grass field? Should I just focus on small cattail sections?

2) This particular cattail plot had quite a bit of water. Do you need waders to hunt these plots until they freeze? I'm not sure how deep the water is in them.
 
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