First Time to SD

R

rjbert2

New member
I've posted a few things on the "Introduction" portion of the website over the last few nights. The response and support is excellient and impressive to say the least. I'm very new at this "Forum Thing" so hopefully I will not step on any toes.

I am trrying to put together a family hunt to South Dakota for three to four Fathers and Uncles ages 50++, four young people early twenties, and two very enerjetic twelve year old boys that are pheasant nuts. We also have three dogs. 6mos., 3 years and 6 years.

What I'm attempting top do is a three day hunt as economical as possible yet give the kids a great time. Something we fathers have talked about was the Public Land but we don't know much about it in SD..yet. It appears the Winner area might be a good place to start.

We are looking at the second or third week of the season. Hopefully the number of hunters will not be quite so many and it would be easier to find a good place for the younger ones in the group. The twenty something girls would like to be somewhere without many people. I think we all would like that.

I am wondering about having to fight for a public spot...you know be there an hour before sunrise to get a spot!?!?

We are also emailing some of the places UGUIDE has mentioned. If anyone has some thoughts regarding what might be the best way to go here I would greatly appreciate your experience and advice.

Most of us come from Family farming backrounds so we know alot about respecting the property of others.

We have hunted some public spots in North Central Iowa over the last 12 years around the Britt area.

We have always wanted to come to SD. We've realized time was not standing still for us and we need to get off of our duffs and do something. maybe start another family tradition for out families of young hunters.

Thank You for Your Thoughts and Suggestions:thumbsup:

Ric
 
Thanks

I too am looking to do the public hunt thing. My friend and I will be bringing our 14 and 15 yo sons. I will be watching your post very carefully and good luck. Shon
 
rjbert2 said:
I am wondering about having to fight for a public spot...you know be there an hour before sunrise to get a spot!?!?
Click to expand...

Yes, you will have to fight for a spot on public land. South Dakota shooting hours start a 12 noon for the first two weeks, and 10 am thereafter.
 
Went last year to SD for first time after trips to other states. Hunted public and a little private and had a great time. It was work to get on the birds and avoid people but we did it. We hunted in Dec. We scouted as many public tracts as possible just by driving day before we hunted and then made plans to hunt next morning @ 10 am. We left the motel before daylight each morn to look at other tracts and planned our route to be back at our chosen hunting location by 9:30 or so. We had very few run-ins with other hunters being on our chosen locations, but again, it took getting up early, staying in the field (or truck) all day and lots of miles scouting.
 
Pheasant phan is definately on the right track. I don't know that I'd suggest going just three weeks or so into the season--I'd wait until November at least, and look for places with a lot of publicly accessible (public +WIA lands) hunting. Nothing wrong with December either, I usually have my best hunting of the year then. You'll have a harder time getting approval to hunt private land early in the season, and the crowds that early can be tough to fight.

With that big a group if you could send a guy or two early to scout for a day or two you might be able to get a bit of a head start. Big groups can be harder to get approval to hunt on private land so you might also be prepared to split up a bit. If you have youngsters and/or oldster's who present themselves well, put them front and center when going to knock on doors.
 
Ric,
I have taken our group of 6 to SD from IL for the last six years. Our group consists of the following ages; 14, 22, 38, 42, 44 and 70. The public land hunts are VERY challenging. Challenge is good but we found that the shots we get are few and far between for my father (70) and son (14). Pressure from other hunters is great early in year. Public land birds are very smart and if standing corn is nearby most birds will be in the corn well before the 10:00am start time.
If public land is what you choose, I agree with others and go in December.
If you can afford private land (its pricey) that is the way to go if you are only making one trip to SD a year. We pay $150.00 per gun per day but have more quality acres to hunt than one can imagine. The birds are plentiful and most importantly we can position my father and son as blockers so they can get quality shooting. The farmer cuts the corn in huntable strips or has sorghum strips. Birds are smart here as well but with a full days effort, we limit out most every day.
Good Luck.
Bob
 
Read an interesting blurb in the SD GF&P 2009 Walk In Area Survey, "About 2% of residents and about 1% of non-residents did 100% of their pheasant hunting on public land". The report also indicated 37% of residents and 50% of non-residents did 100% of their pheasant hunting on private land. I think this proves what most people intuitively know; that grabbing the Hunting Atlas, wandering around South Dakota, crashing at the Super 8, and expecting to shoot pheasants is a romantic notion that doesn't exist. 99% of the pheasant hunters coming to SD have some "connection". Like politics, all pheasant hunting is local.
 
I'd like to see the methods of that survey. I suspect that a much higher % of hunters hunted exclusively on public or WIA lands (which are private) than public alone.

In any case, it is very possible to hunt on publicly accessible (public +WIA lands alone) and do reasonably well in most years lately, in portions of the state with decent acreages of both. You will work for your birds later in the season but they have been there to be had.
 
I dont comment much on here but wanted to add a few more things to what I said earlier. The public land is good, but if you are expecting a "TV" hunt you will be disappointed. It takes lots of scouting, period. Once the scouting is complete, then do some strategy work - where are the birds going to and from? how has this been hunted?, etc. - in other words, it takes lots of thinking and planning instead of just getting out of the truck, unloading the dogs and shooting birds.
I hunt ducks and deer here in AR on an almost daily basis on public land with the same principles. They worked in Iowa for two years and worked last year in SD.
Do your homework and you will be successful.
I have learned a lot on this website from just reading about methods, locations, etc. and then applied that to our trips. Thanks to ALL of you for sharing and if you ever need anything I will be glad to share some tips back your way.
Hope to try Kansas this year so may be looking for some info.

Thanks again.
 
right

Pheasantphan said:
Went last year to SD for first time after trips to other states. Hunted public and a little private and had a great time. It was work to get on the birds and avoid people but we did it. We hunted in Dec. We scouted as many public tracts as possible just by driving day before we hunted and then made plans to hunt next morning @ 10 am. We left the motel before daylight each morn to look at other tracts and planned our route to be back at our chosen hunting location by 9:30 or so. We had very few run-ins with other hunters being on our chosen locations, but again, it took getting up early, staying in the field (or truck) all day and lots of miles scouting.
Click to expand...

Pheasantphan has it right...got to do a lot of driving...with little luck ...it will work out for you. A lot of people want to jump out of the truck into a bunch of birds. Not exactly the way it goes. Jump in the truck and do a lot of looking with the map in hand and things will work out. Good Luck
 
I am not unusual

I travel several thousand miles every year to hunt pheasants opening weekend of the season in SD. I hunt public lands exclusively and can usually with some hard work produce a limit of birds each day. I always have friends who miss large numbers, so they go home with less birds. Tune your shooting skills early (doves do the trick!).
I usually return again later in the season when the birds are wild and the hunt more exciting.
Do your homework and find state and federal lands. I have never been crowded out, so do not know who thinks you have to stake your claim hours early.
 
Is this a good plan???

We are planning a trip in mid-November (our first time to SD) and I've been looking over the "harvest distribution by county" report. I've identified the top 7 counties in respect to birds per hunter ratios and trying to narrow down a section of the state that has high bird/hunter ratio without massive numbers of hunters. From these I'll select a "home-base" county and start looking at public land to start with and once we get there knock on a few doors.

Does this sound like a good plan? Any advice on good counties for public land that's productive? Is it possible to connect with land owners before we get there and if so how would I do that? Thanks much!

-Terry
 
Good Plan

Do not only look at harvest reports, look at the roadside brood surveys the state posts in August.
Also look at areas with public lands....Knocking on the doors works in some areas but in areas with high bird populations many lands are leased OR families keep lands for their relatives etc til at least after Thanksgiving if not Christmas. So when you get discouraged you can fall back onto the public lands. Have knocked on hundreds of doors and only had 3 or 4 yes answers. So I rely on public lands.
 
First time to SD

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. The one thing about this site that is so great is the number of intelligent individuals that offer very good advice and all from different perspectives. It's great to get information from someone that's been there. I plan on using lots of the information to help make this a good time for everyone...especially the youngsters. That's what this is about. Starting a tradition for them.

I was lucky enough to get in touch with someone out there who was willing to help us out our first time out there. This young man was very accommodating. I think that will work well.

Thanks again for all the information. I enjoy all the ideas I see on this site.

Ric
 
Unless you want lots of "company" joining you on public and WIA's, don't plan on hunting SD till at least mid-late November. It is getting worse every year due to non-residents/corporations buying the farmland for hunting, and big companies like Cabelas leasing any good private land left over.
 
i would guess the demand may begin to wane a bit in this economy, the day rates are starting to hit the value threshold for many hunters and the weather appears to have reduced the easy pickens a lot of out of state guys used to expect. that and a very rough early season last year, which disappointed a lot of hunters who paid big bucks, hunted all day and couldn't kill a limit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top