Not going to start a new thread for one report, but here's my most recent trip with myself and my lab, plus a fellow hunter and golden puppy.
Day 1: Hunted somewhere within a 1-60 mile radius of Sioux Falls on public land. We only saw 3 roosters, 1 in range. We did have probably 100 hen flushes with my lab. So overall I would say it's not a bad day. I come to SD for a chance at 3 roosters each day, but I also want my dog to get as many wild bird contacts as possible. What's better for the dog, only 3 flushes + retrieves for the day and they are all roosters? Or 100 beautiful flushes for the day and they are all hens? Can make an argument for either side. Concentrated too much on thick cover in low lying areas near the middle of pieces where I didn't think other hunters would get to. Ended up finding the birds in shorter 2-3' high grass on the boundaries and fence rows.
Day 2: Hunted somewhere within a 1-60 mile radius of Mitchell on public land that I hit once every trip, call it my public land honey hole. Again, spent too much time in the thick stuff and working too hard. In probably the 8 times I've hunted this piece over the years, this would be the first time I've taken 0 birds off of it. I think my previous low was 2 by myself and high was 7 with 2 other people. Then switched to 2 smaller nearby pieces to finish the day and ended up with 5 plus 1 easy miss. Again found birds in the perimeter, not the middle. Also got 2 sharp tailed grouse, which I was not at all expecting to see in our location. Quite a few hens again.
Day 3: Hunted private land somewhere within a 1-60 mile radius of the "Golden Triangle." Ended with 4, worst shooting performance I've ever had. Easily could have had our 6, or even 20 (if that was legal).
Overall takeaway: Birds are smart, lots of runners that the dog would work from short grass into the nearest cattails and we'd never see them. The birds know exactly how to escape and where to. That said, for all the runners there were plenty that held tight and almost got stepped on before they'd flush, or they'd flush within yards of us after we stopped moving and stood there for a bit. They really aren't bunched up and in thick cover, they were all in shorter cover with a food source nearby. Aside from one night in a cheap motel, I never saw another hunter. Never saw one driving the roads, at another piece of public land, anywhere.
I wish I just lived about 4 hours closer, it would make my decision whether to visit again much easier 
