eenie meenie miney mo... which state should we go?

If you were me, & had 1 week to take 2 sons and your dog on our 1st Upland trip, where would you go?

  • Kansas

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Nebraska

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • South Dakota

    Votes: 3 75.0%

  • Other? Driving from South Carolina so wanted to try states as close as possible

    Votes: 1 25.0%
  • Total voters
    4
wnb5th

wnb5th

New member
Good morning! If you were me, & had 1 week to take your 2 sons and dog on our 1st Upland trip, where would you go? SHOULD ADD THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT EARLY TO MID DECEMBER

Me and my boys driving from South Carolina on our 1st ever Upland road trip. Was thinking KS but keep reading so many scary posts about bird numbers, poor WIHA conditions, crowded land, etc... If y'all are trying to scare me away, it's working : )

I want to make this a good trip for my 12 and 14 year old... it's hard enough prying them away from their sports, school, social lives, phones, etc... that with them expressing interest in the outdoors, I really want to stoke that fire!

I'm open to a mix of public land, maybe 1 guided hunt mixed in, or also hooking up with private land owners and paying them for a day or two on their land.

I SHOULD ALSO ADD THAT WE'D BE OPEN TO A VARIETY OF BIRDS... REALLY WHAT GAVE US THE BEST CHANCE OF SUCCESS SO Pheasant, quail, chuka, ETC...
 
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I don't think you're gonna get a mixed bag of upland in South Dakota. Maybe more in the western half of the state besides pheasants?

But for the most public hunting ground and generally speaking, numbers of pheasants, South Dakota is the answer. A "guided hunt" is going to be flare nares.
 
gimruis said:
I don't think you're gonna get a mixed bag of upland in South Dakota. Maybe more in the western half of the state besides pheasants?

But for the most public hunting ground and generally speaking, numbers of pheasants, South Dakota is the answer. A "guided hunt" is going to be flare nares.
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Thank you, I appreciate the reply!
 
Does the 14 year old have his driver's license? Have him do some driving, bail out early one morning and make it a one day drive. I know SD is about half again as far as KS from SC, but I truly believe that SD would offer you guys greater contacts with wild birds. South Dakota Game Fish and Parks has a free interactive public land atlas and millions of acres of public land.
 
Bbentley117 said:
Why not hit Wisconsin for some ruffed grouse, then Iowa for pheasants, partridge, and quail in the right area?
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I personally would not be opposed to that but the issue is that you'd be required to purchase multiple non-resident licenses to do it. That can get pretty steep if we're talking 2 or 3 states and 2 or 3 people.
 
gimruis said:
I personally would not be opposed to that but the issue is that you'd be required to purchase multiple non-resident licenses to do it. That can get pretty steep if we're talking 2 or 3 states and 2 or 3 people.
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I wouldn't be opposed to that either. It's a trip that we have saved up for (I saved the money) and the boys invested their sweat equity doing work for me. It might also help to break up the trip if there were a few destinations along the route and a variety of species also sounds great. But it also sounds hard to plan for a newb!
 
Between those states you mentioned, I'd suggest SD. That late in the season, mixed bag is unlikely due to prairie birds being tougher to hunt as the season goes on but pheasants won't be as big of an issue to find.

If I could guarantee you a mixed bag hunt like I had in southern Nebraska about 4 or 5 years ago, I'd suggest there. But last time I was in Nebraska, the hunting was poor and made the drive from Minnesota not worth it. A trip hunting is always great of course but hard hunting sucks no matter where you go. Last few years reports in NE and KS have been poor so the itch to go there again hasn't caught me yet.

I'd focus on somewhere in SD and make the extra drive. You'll have more pay hunting opportunities there as well compared to KS or NE if you want to add a day of that in as well.
 
Munster927 said:
Between those states you mentioned, I'd suggest SD. That late in the season, mixed bag is unlikely due to prairie birds being tougher to hunt as the season goes on but pheasants won't be as big of an issue to find.

If I could guarantee you a mixed bag hunt like I had in southern Nebraska about 4 or 5 years ago, I'd suggest there. But last time I was in Nebraska, the hunting was poor and made the drive from Minnesota not worth it. A trip hunting is always great of course but hard hunting sucks no matter where you go. Last few years reports in NE and KS have been poor so the itch to go there again hasn't caught me yet.

I'd focus on somewhere in SD and make the extra drive. You'll have more pay hunting opportunities there as well compared to KS or NE if you want to add a day of that
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Thank you for the reply, I appreciate. Man - I live far away from bird country but as a general hunter and someone who loves the outdoors I hate hearing how some of these states have poorer and poorer conditions and populations.
 
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