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bamadraht

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Welll i am planning a trip up north for this fall and trying to decide if it would benefit me to guide my self ( walk in area/ managment / crp land) or to hire a guide and go with an out fitter. I have no problem getting a map and door knocking and scouting I plan on taking a week off of work to drive either to ks/ nebraska / or sd. My other question where would be a good place to go for a beginer? I know I could cut quite a few hours out of my drive by just being in ks but i know a lot of the populations were hit hard in the mid west. Also I have been doing some research on past populations and with this mild winter the birds should be back in better number than this past year but not back to were they should be. It might be just me and the dog or as many as 4 or 5 guys. I am trying to keep the cost down but I also want to get into some birds. Basically, What would yall do if you were in my situation? ( also I want wild birds I can go to a perserve and shoot pen raised not to far from home)
Thanks Guys Love the forum so far.
 
I would wait until the states you are intrested in post the survey numbers and then choose the one with the best results, there is still a lot of factors that will detrmine the number of birds. Its been a mild winter but there is still nesting season weather and summer hail storms that can affect the bird numbers come fall.

Good luck on whatever you chose to do.:cheers:
 
I would make the drive to SD. Wait until the bird counts come out and then look for the places with the best bird counts and most public land. I would also think about staying mobile. If you dont see the birds you were expecting move onto another part of the state.

A guided hunt is really going to dirve the price up and in my opnion its not needed in SD. As long as you dont mind walking you should find plenty of birds. Just my thoughts and keep us posted on what you decide. Good luck:thumbsup:
 
bamadraht said:
Welll i am planning a trip up north for this fall and trying to decide if it would benefit me to guide my self ( walk in area/ managment / crp land) or to hire a guide and go with an out fitter. I have no problem getting a map and door knocking and scouting I plan on taking a week off of work to drive either to ks/ nebraska / or sd. My other question where would be a good place to go for a beginer? I know I could cut quite a few hours out of my drive by just being in ks but i know a lot of the populations were hit hard in the mid west. Also I have been doing some research on past populations and with this mild winter the birds should be back in better number than this past year but not back to were they should be. It might be just me and the dog or as many as 4 or 5 guys. I am trying to keep the cost down but I also want to get into some birds. Basically, What would yall do if you were in my situation? ( also I want wild birds I can go to a perserve and shoot pen raised not to far from home)
Thanks Guys Love the forum so far.
Click to expand...

Bama, when I went to Kansas for my first hunt a couple of years ago, I headed to the South Western part in Kansas near Wakeeney and Grainfield in that area, granted it was more of a drive for me but I didn't see as many hunters and it had a lot more concentrated walk in areas for a better chance for me to get birds. Wakeeney has two hotels one is a super 8 and the other one is the Kansas Kountry Inn. The Kountry Inn kind of a run down hotel but everything was clean and cheap so I hope this helps.
 
Your starting to plan your hunt early, good first step. Asking questions and learning stuff from UPH another good way to start.
I think most anywhere in pheasant country, guys that do their homework and are ready to work hard at it will find birds.
Pay to hunt will save you the work, you'll pay to have others do the work. 3 roosters per day, with a pay to hunt you can be done in a hour or 2. On your own it will likely take you all day. depends on what you want your experience to be.
One guy knocking on doors [later in the season] can do pretty well. 4-5 guys really not much chance. But there's public areas that will have roosters.
 
Well thanks guys this is all helping I just figured I would budget 1000 for gas and room and I am saying 3.50 a gal so lets keep our fingers crossed it doesn't go up any and it looks like bringing a buddy will be the best thing, cut my cost in half. I don't wont to use a guide I have never been out to sd or to ks but I would love to walk the hills all day if thats how long it takes to get a limit. but I will not be on anybody's time scheldule so will really be able to enjoy myself. Thanks again this is all valuable info.
 
bamadraht said:
Welll i am planning a trip up north for this fall and trying to decide if it would benefit me to guide my self ( walk in area/ managment / crp land) or to hire a guide and go with an out fitter. I have no problem getting a map and door knocking and scouting I plan on taking a week off of work to drive either to ks/ nebraska / or sd. My other question where would be a good place to go for a beginer? I know I could cut quite a few hours out of my drive by just being in ks but i know a lot of the populations were hit hard in the mid west. Also I have been doing some research on past populations and with this mild winter the birds should be back in better number than this past year but not back to were they should be. It might be just me and the dog or as many as 4 or 5 guys. I am trying to keep the cost down but I also want to get into some birds. Basically, What would yall do if you were in my situation? ( also I want wild birds I can go to a perserve and shoot pen raised not to far from home)
Thanks Guys Love the forum so far.
Click to expand...

Hunt public land opening weekend. Start early in securing lodging.
 
If I only had one trip I could go on every year, it would be SD in mid-late nov. The crowds typically thin out, and a couple of guys could gain some land knocking on doors. I personally would not go opening weekend for a first trip on only public, it can get kinda crazy. You might think of paying a tresspass fee for a day or two, just to get your feet wet. When you figure a grand for gas and lodging, another 250 or so for a couple of days of awesome hunting is a no brainer for me. I like a 4 day trip with half public, half private. Just keep on here, it is amazing the amount of help you can get if you put out a little effort.
 
I went to both SD and Kansas this year. I would not plan on going to Kansas next year unless they got some major nesting success. It was bleak this year compared to the previous couple of seasons.

South Dakota is excellent. There is plenty of public land to hunt. It does get pounded pretty hard though and it really sucks that you can't hunt until 10:00 am (noon the first week). The hunting is pretty commercialized and the locals seemed less receptive to out of staters compared to other states I have hunted in.

The winter has been pretty easy on birds so far, so if ND has a good nesting season it too could be good hunting. You can hunt 1/2 hour before sunrise in ND, which I love. I plan on trying the NW corner of the state this year. It is tough to find lodging with the oil boom going on so we are bringing a motorhome. We will wait for bird counts to come out before solidifying any plans.

Order atlases from the state wildlife agencies and hunt the public land in KS, ND, SD in areas of decent bird counts and you should do fine.
 
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