First trip ever to South Dakota.

G

GWP14

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So a couple buddies and I are going to be making the trip out there Thanksgiving weekend and staying for 5 days in Webster. We will be hunting all public ground with pointers. Looking for some tips and if anybody hunts this area is it any good? I have a hunting Atlas on the way. What kind of weather can we expect that time of year? Our plan is to hunt an area for an hr or 2 and if the dogs show no interest move on. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks Nick.
 
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That kind of year the weather can be really nice, 40's or so, or it can have a foot or more of snow, windy and frigid. Always a toss up. I would be looking for sloughs and tree belts that time of year. Have never hunted that area so I can't tell you what the bird numbers are like.
 
thats deer season remember...

Toss up weather wise hunted in t-shirts last December & had snow November 21 2014...

Be careful I'd recommend not going during east river rifle deer season that in middle of deer rifle season in east SD ... Lots of guys drive vehicles around & push deer hunted deer rifle season in SD 2014 could only hunt 1 chunk of public land daily guys at all other 1s daily...

Have fun & give em hell...

Wear u guys coming from???
 
The Webster area is certainly not a hot bed for pheasants. There are much better areas to base out of. And don't worry about hunting pheasants during the east river deer season especially if you are hunting during the week. Most deer hunting is done on the weekends and mainly the opening weekend which is Nov. 19th. I've lived in SD for almost 40 years and hunting pheasants during the deer season has never been a big problem. But do wear plenty of orange as a safety factor.
 
@ dakotazeb well we are going to go there already booked a cabin out in the middle of BFE. I was going off maps I could find for pheasant population and harvest reports. Looked like day, Clark, and spink county were alll good. Where would u suggest going from Webster?

@small musterlander. We are from central Illinois. The state that every farmer cuts down every fence row and doesn't put anything in crp. But I still get on plenty of wild birds.

We are going to have a blast birds or no birds. Anyday not at work is a great day.
 
You will get on birds there... If u go wear high #s are & game and fish say best then u will have to deal with hunters... Lots then hunting farther east dose not seem so bad...

I hunted sat-wed of SD deer opener & the opening of muzzle loader season another muzzle loader season had a hunter check point in 212 just outside of Watertown looked like lots of guys out even then... 2014 deer opener I seen deer hunters all over sat-wed stopped looking fo spots with know hunters maybe if we ditch hunted we could of gotten away from guys??? More deer tags then in recint years in many east river units so u have been warned.. Also I was always told as rule of thumb don't ask for hunting permission on opener & thanksgiving because locals always have family out deer/pheasant hunting then??? Maybe that b/s???

You will have a blast GWP14 I wish u the best...
 
GWP14 said:
@ dakotazeb well we are going to go there already booked a cabin out in the middle of BFE. I was going off maps I could find for pheasant population and harvest reports. Looked like day, Clark, and spink county were alll good. Where would u suggest going from Webster?
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You will find some birds in Day and Clark counties but more birds in Spink and areas SW of Aberdeen. But like SMO said, higher bird numbers means more hunters but not as bad in late November as earlier in the season. Good luck.
 
According to the SD Phez Harvest and distribution summary, Day county isn't' one of the best. Go west and sw from Webster. Review the road surveys that are published in the next couple of weeks on the SD Game and Fish web site.

Good luck to you and your friends.
 
Don't be surprised to see some very custom, very specific "no hunting" signs scattered all around day county due to the conflicts between land owners and the GFP. public land gets more and more pressure every fall due to that.
Best bet, go west & southwest.
 
Don't get your expectations to high. It takes time to find your way to good hunting spots. Dispite what you may hear birds are not everywhere especially on public land. To say they will be spooky by Thanksgiving time may be an understatement. Get up early and start scouting. The more scouting you can do the better your chances. Good luck
 
That's good advice by Chip. Low expectations. The difference between Private ground and public ground can be night and day as far as pheasants seen and harvested. Last year our group of 7 guys was cleaning our 21 bird daily limit.
A group from Wisconsin had 6 guys and they were cleaning the 3 total birds they shot for the day. They were hunting road side ditches and public ground.
I overheard one guy say "those guys must be hunting released birds" little did they know they were 100% wild birds. Just great habitat on Farms that only get hunted on Weekends and gets "rested" Monday-Thursday most of the season.
Good Luck. You will have a great time.
 
My 1st trip to SD I shot a limit all 4 days I hunted was new to SD & was 2013 a bad year during drought... Low expectations are good then when u do good u will even more Happy lol...

We have shot 6 birds 2 man limits many times on 100% public lands no ditch's seen loads if other birds look for out of way spots away from towns & locals...

Roll around b4 shooting time & if u see birds on road or in fields etc look for public close & hold that spot down... Look for good looking habitat at sunset listen for birds if u hear or see birds get there early next day at least 1 hour b4 shooting hours start...

Hunt smart & u should do OK randomly walk any grass u see mite not do so good... Find food water & thick cover u will be good... Sandwich birds between each other mite be killer Also...

Just avoid hunting some public just after others have just hunted even if u give the area a hour or 2 rest b4 u hunt it is better then hunting it minutes after others just bulldoged through the best habitat...

Bring hip waders & walk through the stuff anybody with just boots can't hunt birds will land in & on Lil islands of land or grass or cattails & just sit there let u pass wait 30-60 min & flutter back out to dry land hunt the stuff outside the crp grass box most guys only hunt & u will be in birds most the time trust me... If u are piss n & moaning its to thick wet or un even ground u will be in birds lol there's not birds everywhere but there's loads of birds in good habitat all over east SD & west river...
 
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Another tip for getting bird when others don't.

While in various campgrounds during hunting season, I see a lot of hunters hitting the fields sharply at 10:00am and returning around 4:00pm all tuckered out and through the day. They miss some of the best time for hunting from around 4:30pm to sunset. Hit them in the morning, take a break if so inclined and hit them again in late afternoon. ;)
 
Ol'gun said:
Another tip for getting bird when others don't.

While in various campgrounds during hunting season, I see a lot of hunters hitting the fields sharply at 10:00am and returning around 4:00pm all tuckered out and through the day. They miss some of the best time for hunting from around 4:30pm to sunset. Hit them in the morning, take a break if so inclined and hit them again in late afternoon. ;)
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agree, so true. actually, i don't fool with them most days until noon or 1:00 pm.
 
If u don't have ur birds & don't hunt the golden hour aka last hour of shooting hours u don't want ur limit I'd rather hunt last hour of day over 1st few hours most years...
 
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