Counts Down But Harvest Remains the Same??

UGUIDE

UGUIDE

Active member
OK so explain this to me. 2 years ago counts were down about 50%, last year up 18 and this year down 64%.

But if you look at the stat on the birds harvested per hunter per season it remains largely unchanged for the last decade. Right around 10 birds per hunter for the season.

View the very last chart on this report and look at the historical data

http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/harvest/reports/Pheasant.pdf

Whats this tells me is guys come out, hunt their 3,4 or 5 days and still end up getting birds.

Now one factor could be this. Outfitters that are not preserves and are releasing birds and where their clients think those birds are "Wild". I do not know of many outfitters that do not release birds. And I am talking about outfitters not licensed as preserves. This could skew the numbers.
 
The number of birds harvested is about the same but the number of hunters for 2011 and 2012 is down. Less hunters shooting the same amount of birds. In 2011 we were flooded here and bird hunting was terrible. 2012 was the drought and hunting sucked. This year I've seen one brood within miles of my place and that was last Tuesday. Are bird numbers down 64%? I don't think they're down that much but they did take a hit.
 
When the bird counts were very high we limited quickly and then chased chickens, grouse and or partridge. Last year we still shot limits but had to hunt all day for the limits of pheasants. So if anybody in our group was surveyed thy would have reported the same number of birds harvested for the last 5 years.

I think it was 2008 when we had two days in a row that we were done with pheasants in 2hrs. We had more birds than we knew what to do with. 2012 was not that easy and we did not see the numbers of birds like we "normally" do, however we scratched out limits.
 
man a limit for more then 1 guy in 2 hours SD had it good we would never be able to limit out in MN in 2 hours with 6-8 guys maybe 2-3 hunters & 3 hours lol

if those were the averages for limits i assume SD still has birds its just making people walk a few more hours each day to get birds & id hate to be all done in 2 hours if it takes me 7 hours to drive to SD that would be kind of a flash hunt but there is always prairie grouse to go chase...
 
small munsterlander owner said:
man a limit for more then 1 guy in 2 hours SD had it good we would never be able to limit out in MN in 2 hours with 6-8 guys maybe 2-3 hunters & 3 hours lol

if those were the averages for limits i assume SD still has birds its just making people walk a few more hours each day to get birds & id hate to be all done in 2 hours if it takes me 7 hours to drive to SD that would be kind of a flash hunt but there is always prairie grouse to go chase...
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Exactly. Even in the good years in Iowa you had to bust butt from sun up to sun down to get a limit. It was a real treat to finish early.
 
I remember hunting in Iowa about 7 or 8 years ago before their population of pheasants took a puke, Then we headed to SD we hunted and shot a lot of birds had limits within a few hours, at least b4 noon. Then we hit a dry spell up around Huron, the place we staid had a drought, the guys went out the night before our hunt and low and behold they came across the farmer (this was not a perserve hunt) releasing birds. We changed locations and came down to Charles Mix county and went with u-guide and found birds on land that was farmed for wild birds. We worked our butts off but we got birds and have been back there 3 out of the last four years and heading up there again this year. It may be called Pay for Play, (but doesn't cost nearly as much as been stated). But isn't spending time in the field with good dogs and great family and friends enjoying yourself part of what this is all about?
 
Oh by the way, we have gotten a lot of birds and prob would have had a lot more if 4 out of the six of us could shoot straight. Left a lot of empty non productive casing on the ground.
 
UGUIDE said:
OK so explain this to me. 2 years ago counts were down about 50%, last year up 18 and this year down 64%.

But if you look at the stat on the birds harvested per hunter per season it remains largely unchanged for the last decade. Right around 10 birds per hunter for the season.

View the very last chart on this report and look at the historical data

http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/harvest/reports/Pheasant.pdf

Whats this tells me is guys come out, hunt their 3,4 or 5 days and still end up getting birds.

Now one factor could be this. Outfitters that are not preserves and are releasing birds and where their clients think those birds are "Wild". I do not know of many outfitters that do not release birds. And I am talking about outfitters not licensed as preserves. This could skew the numbers.
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You say "I do not know of many outfitters that do not release birds " than are the counts ever reliable???
 
FieldKing said:
You say "I do not know of many outfitters that do not release birds " than are the counts ever reliable???
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I don't think birds are released by then or they will have been eaten by something by opener. They are released as needed.
 
canthitathing said:
It may be called Pay for Play, (but doesn't cost nearly as much as been stated). But isn't spending time in the field with good dogs and great family and friends enjoying yourself part of what this is all about?
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yes it is called PAY TO PLAY hunting & you are correct the guides do drop there prices around say thanksgiving or so if you want to wait for that many hunters to have hunted the area u will be paying to hunt later... but if im paying say 700$ to work my A** off on each days hunt then i think im missing something ??? cant i just go do a DIY public land hunt & work my A** off each day & have the same quality time in the filed with good dogs & great family & friends??? & save the 500$-1000$

i just dont see wear the PAY TO PLAY & enjoying time hunting with family & friends has to be one in the same??? it would be a bummer if it was either PAY TO PLAY or its not worth heading out to pheasant hunt in any state let alone the ring neck nation of SD man i hope that never is the case that would be a shame if the public lands we useless or produced no enjoyment or birds... or not the same as a PAY TO PLAY operation...
 
FieldKing said:
You say "I do not know of many outfitters that do not release birds " than are the counts ever reliable???
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I don't know. I thought maybe there was a law that prohibited unofficial release of birds for hunting.

I could see many situations where and outfitter is not able to tie up land for preserve and just puts out birds as needed.

If a hunter was surveyed that harvested birds at one of those places and thought they were shooting a non-released pheasant when it was actually the contrary then wouldn't the answer be "yes".
 
small munsterlander owner said:
yes it is called PAY TO PLAY hunting & you are correct the guides do drop there prices around say thanksgiving or so if you want to wait for that many hunters to have hunted the area u will be paying to hunt later... but if im paying say 700$ to work my A** off on each days hunt then i think im missing something ??? cant i just go do a DIY public land hunt & work my A** off each day & have the same quality time in the filed with good dogs & great family & friends??? & save the 500$-1000$

i just dont see wear the PAY TO PLAY & enjoying time hunting with family & friends has to be one in the same??? it would be a bummer if it was either PAY TO PLAY or its not worth heading out to pheasant hunt in any state let alone the ring neck nation of SD man i hope that never is the case that would be a shame if the public lands we useless or produced no enjoyment or birds... or not the same as a PAY TO PLAY operation...
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SMO, why do you capitalize "pay to play" all the time? If you hunt public and stay in motels and puts hundreds of dollars in fuel in your vehicle driving around looking for a place to hunt then aren't you PAYING TO PLAY as well?
 
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UGUIDE said:
SMO, why do you capitalize "pay to play" all the time? If you hunt public and stay in motels and puts hundreds of dollars in fuel in your vehicle driving around looking for a place to hunt then aren't you PAYING TO PLAY as well?
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SMO we did that our first time hunting SD, when you drive 12 hours to get there with two vehicles, stay at a motel that raised their rate from $75 a nite to $98 per nite and you pay for meals it all adds up pretty quick----and you do state or walk-in property, and have to compete with other groups of hunters in the same fields at the same time-----that is definitely not fun. I would rather pay some one that maintains their property for pheasants and puts in the time and effort to produce phesants and they are not released chickens (I can hunt these at home at $80 dollars for 4 birds). SMO, you seem to have a pesimistic out look on most things.
 
small munsterlander owner said:
yes it is called PAY TO PLAY hunting & you are correct the guides do drop there prices around say thanksgiving or so if you want to wait for that many hunters to have hunted the area u will be paying to hunt later... but if im paying say 700$ to work my A** off on each days hunt then i think im missing something ??? cant i just go do a DIY public land hunt & work my A** off each day & have the same quality time in the filed with good dogs & great family & friends??? & save the 500$-1000$

i just dont see wear the PAY TO PLAY & enjoying time hunting with family & friends has to be one in the same??? it would be a bummer if it was either PAY TO PLAY or its not worth heading out to pheasant hunt in any state let alone the ring neck nation of SD man i hope that never is the case that would be a shame if the public lands we useless or produced no enjoyment or birds... or not the same as a PAY TO PLAY operation...
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IMHO, I wouldn't dream of hunting pheasants without family or friends and paying for the privilege. Have been doing it for 57 years, and will continue to do it. In all respects, you always pay something!!
 
uguide i CAPITALIZE pay to play all the time in posts because if you dont people mite think your talking about PUBLIC LANDS & there is a major difference in hunting PUBLIC LANDS & PAY TO PLAY lands in most every state wear wild pheasants are hunted... mainly the number of hunters that have pressured the pheasants on the lands... also when i head to SD i plan to camp out not pay for a hotel... i plan to have a core area of public land picked out to hunt prior to me leaving i will hunt a area with many public lands close by to save gas $$$ & i cant avoid the gas coast but i dont feel im PAYING TO PLAY i mean i have to put gas in the vehicle to go to the grocery store im not PAYING TO PLAY...

danlecl u lost me have you did the PAY TO PLAY route the last 57 years??? i hunt with family yearly in MN & we have a blast & harvest birds & never pay a thing to trespass all public lands...

canthitathing im pretty sure u were talking about me when u said that the rates posted were not nearly as high as stated correct??? when i was commenting to haymaker??? any way if not being a fan of paying 500$-1000$ to hunt 3 days plus lodging or its either PAY TO PLAY or not worth heading out to SD mentality is being pesimistic about most things guilty as charged... i could not imagine having to pay the amounts or ever paying the amounts above just to have a good time out hunting with my family & friends its just never been that way here in MN...

the PAY TO PLAY hunting is not & will never be for each & every single hunter that wants to hit the fields & hunt each fall thats why they have public lands... i only wish some of the $$$ guys pay to play with each season would go towards helping inhance or buy more public lands for the average joe to hunt on... not that the guides do not have great habitat on there lands i just wish guys would take that hunk of $$$ & there hunting partys $$$ & put it to public lands instead of downing the public lands as a waste of time or not worth hunting at all... its a bummer if its either PAY TO PLAY or stay home...
 
small munsterlander owner said:
uguide i CAPITALIZE pay to play all the time in posts because if you dont people mite think your talking about PUBLIC LANDS & there is a major difference in hunting PUBLIC LANDS & PAY TO PLAY lands in most every state wear wild pheasants are hunted... mainly the number of hunters that have pressured the pheasants on the lands... also when i head to SD i plan to camp out not pay for a hotel... i plan to have a core area of public land picked out to hunt prior to me leaving i will hunt a area with many public lands close by to save gas $$$ & i cant avoid the gas coast but i dont feel im PAYING TO PLAY i mean i have to put gas in the vehicle to go to the grocery store im not PAYING TO PLAY...

danlecl u lost me have you did the PAY TO PLAY route the last 57 years??? i hunt with family yearly in MN & we have a blast & harvest birds & never pay a thing to trespass all public lands...

canthitathing im pretty sure u were talking about me when u said that the rates posted were not nearly as high as stated correct??? when i was commenting to haymaker??? any way if not being a fan of paying 500$-1000$ to hunt 3 days plus lodging or its either PAY TO PLAY or not worth heading out to SD mentality is being pesimistic about most things guilty as charged... i could not imagine having to pay the amounts or ever paying the amounts above just to have a good time out hunting with my family & friends its just never been that way here in MN...

the PAY TO PLAY hunting is not & will never be for each & every single hunter that wants to hit the fields & hunt each fall thats why they have public lands... i only wish some of the $$$ guys pay to play with each season would go towards helping inhance or buy more public lands for the average joe to hunt on... not that the guides do not have great habitat on there lands i just wish guys would take that hunk of $$$ & there hunting partys $$$ & put it to public lands instead of downing the public lands as a waste of time or not worth hunting at all... its a bummer if its either PAY TO PLAY or stay home...
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If you bought a license to hunt you are paying to play. Just sayin....
 
I spend about $460/annually on nonresident SD licenses...not to mention the $50 I spend on my boys' licenses...does any of my $500 go towards the procurement or enhancement of public land? I do know that GFP bought a 2000 acre piece from DU about 10 years ago that is kind of near me...I hunt it often, and enjoy it immensely, and have to believe it was partially funded with $ from hunting licenses. I think close to 90,000 non-residents hunt SD annually...I assume I am not the only one that buys more than one license...but if all non-ressies only bought one, that still comes to over $10,000,000 dollars...and that is just small game licenses...add in deer, turkey, waterfowl, etc. and you have some additional dollars. I personally do not expect the high-rollers to pony up extra $ just because they choose to do the pay to hunt thing...as soon as SD does that, they go to ND or somewhere else. I am not a golfer, but someone who joins a private club has no responsibility to subsidize the public course down the road above and beyond what is already taken from him through real estate taxes, sales taxes, etc.

The fact that there are guys willing to fork over large coin to do the pay to hunt thing still benefits the locals...it does create habitat and birds...some of which leave the compound and reproduce elsewhere, go feed elsewhere, go roost elsewhere, or just find themselves on the road or in the ditch. The state needs to build it into license fees, which I am sure they do already, and keep adding to the walk-in lands, and/or WMA's, WPA's, etc. When I open the SD public land atlas, I am stunned by how much public land there is already...granted, I only hunt public land about 15% of the time, but I really enjoy it, and find birds consistently...maybe not as many this year!
 
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