Scoelki
Member
I have been planning to go to South Dakota for years. I finally decided that it was time to go a few months ago with my dad. We usually just go to Kansas. We decided to go around the Oacoma-Chamberlain area. My daughter also just got her hunter safety and decided that she would like to go with us, perfect timing since she had the whole week off from school. We left for South Dakota last Saturday 11/22.
As for dogs we had my pointing lab the yellow one named Maximus and my dads black lab named Duke. I had to put down my GSP a few months ago from health problems. I definitely miss him this year as my other hunting buddy and from the ground that boy could cover. I wish he could of made this hunt.
We hunted from Sunday through Tuesday and headed back Wednesday right before Thanksgiving. I shot my limit the first day. Ended up with only two the second day as it was crazy windy and cold. It made for some creative shots. Third day I shot my limit but could not find the last downed bird. Ended up in some cattails and the dogs were on the first one and never seen it go down.
Being our first time out here we did not know what to expect. So it was a scouting/hunting trip for future trips. We mostly hunted all Public, a few ditches and did a little road hunting on the really cold and windy day.
Recap for South Dakota:
1. Everyone seems much friendlier here than Colorado.
2. The cover was great even in the public areas. Most of them are really large for small groups. Just work the edges and follow the dogs.
3. A lot of roosters and great opportunities for limits daily.
4. There were a lot of hunters out that week, especially in the game production areas. I think the CREP fields were much better to walk than the game production areas. Seemed like these were hit constantly, prob because of the big game hunters as well.
5. Ditch hunting was good for smaller group like us and closer to the end of the day really produced. The grass cover next to corn produced birds almost every time.
6. I seen massive waves of birds the first night I got there and all you can do is watch in awe, pretty cool to see. It feels good to see roosters everywhere you go.
7. I learned that the best hunting was from noon to sun down out there. I think I am going to start implementing this rule back home. I usually burn myself out in the morning before the days over and am too tired to walk anything in the afternoon.
8. Can't wait to go back!!!:cheers:
A few pics to look back on the really fun week we had.
As for dogs we had my pointing lab the yellow one named Maximus and my dads black lab named Duke. I had to put down my GSP a few months ago from health problems. I definitely miss him this year as my other hunting buddy and from the ground that boy could cover. I wish he could of made this hunt.
We hunted from Sunday through Tuesday and headed back Wednesday right before Thanksgiving. I shot my limit the first day. Ended up with only two the second day as it was crazy windy and cold. It made for some creative shots. Third day I shot my limit but could not find the last downed bird. Ended up in some cattails and the dogs were on the first one and never seen it go down.
Being our first time out here we did not know what to expect. So it was a scouting/hunting trip for future trips. We mostly hunted all Public, a few ditches and did a little road hunting on the really cold and windy day.
Recap for South Dakota:
1. Everyone seems much friendlier here than Colorado.
2. The cover was great even in the public areas. Most of them are really large for small groups. Just work the edges and follow the dogs.
3. A lot of roosters and great opportunities for limits daily.
4. There were a lot of hunters out that week, especially in the game production areas. I think the CREP fields were much better to walk than the game production areas. Seemed like these were hit constantly, prob because of the big game hunters as well.
5. Ditch hunting was good for smaller group like us and closer to the end of the day really produced. The grass cover next to corn produced birds almost every time.
6. I seen massive waves of birds the first night I got there and all you can do is watch in awe, pretty cool to see. It feels good to see roosters everywhere you go.
7. I learned that the best hunting was from noon to sun down out there. I think I am going to start implementing this rule back home. I usually burn myself out in the morning before the days over and am too tired to walk anything in the afternoon.
8. Can't wait to go back!!!:cheers:
A few pics to look back on the really fun week we had.
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