Hello. This is my first blog ever. Making a trip for pheasant, and waterfowl to aberdeen area on Nov 9-10-11 2011. Recieved waterfowl lisence for me and my three boys already for y00-86. We are form Pennsylvania and are going to stay at MINA LAKE campgrounds and hunt public land. Probably ducks in the morning and eve then pheasants in the hours in between. Was wondering about this years hatching success and caryover. Also if anyone had any suggestions of areas to try around this area they would be greatly appreciated. We,ve never gone hunting outside of PA and obviously hoping for some success on wild birds, as we have never hunted anything except stocked chickens. Any techniques or suggestions would be helpful. their will be between 5 and 8 persons in our group, and two or three dogs, all flushers. Thanks to all who respond.
First trip to SD this year.
- Thread starter MAJTSHR06
- Start date
UplandHntr
Well-known member
welcome to the site.
I cant offer any specific areas to go but I will say IMO - that if you have 2 dogs and 8 guys you are probably way under dogged. Hunting morning to evening for 3 days your dogs will be plenty beat up after 2 days. You didnt mention what type of pooches you're running but if they are hard workers - they will show a lot of wear and tear after a SD trip.
My dogs hardly lift an eye after 5 days straight in SD. They are just wiped out like you cannot imagine.
I cant offer any specific areas to go but I will say IMO - that if you have 2 dogs and 8 guys you are probably way under dogged. Hunting morning to evening for 3 days your dogs will be plenty beat up after 2 days. You didnt mention what type of pooches you're running but if they are hard workers - they will show a lot of wear and tear after a SD trip.
My dogs hardly lift an eye after 5 days straight in SD. They are just wiped out like you cannot imagine.
Roosterslayer
Member
General observations as I've hunted that area a time or two before. Waterfowl should be excellent with the abundant water and you'll be hitting the typical migration period. Pheasant hunting is going to be very dependent on crop harvest. With the weather this past winter and spring, I don't hold much hope for big pheasant #'s in that part of the state. Typically, the best time to hunt pheasants is the last hour of the day so you will need to decide whether to hunt phez or fowl. Hunting well before sunrise til sundown is going to take its toll. As mentioned previously, you may be underserved in the dog department. Good luck and enjoy the experience. I'm sure you will have a great time.
Majtshr06
Good point, I never really thought about that, most pheasant hunting in Pa is for a few hours per day, thru relatively small hunting areas. However the dogs which are labs by the way will probably outlast the boys 15-16-and 17 yrs old, and relatively X-Box soft.
Thanks for the advise maybe we can pick up someone with a dog or two.
Good point, I never really thought about that, most pheasant hunting in Pa is for a few hours per day, thru relatively small hunting areas. However the dogs which are labs by the way will probably outlast the boys 15-16-and 17 yrs old, and relatively X-Box soft.
Thanks for the advise maybe we can pick up someone with a dog or two.
Majtshr06
Not all of our party sent for waterfowl lisences so we will primarialy be pheasant hunting. Curious as to what you mean when you say not to expect big pheasant numbers. By Pa standards you may hunt all day and not see any roosters if they were not stocked recently. I am sure that if we put up a few birds at least and get some shooting we would be quite pleased, plus just seeing a different state and expeiancing the outdoors. More speciffically on a less than average year in South Dakota on an average day of hunting about how many birds do you see?
Not all of our party sent for waterfowl lisences so we will primarialy be pheasant hunting. Curious as to what you mean when you say not to expect big pheasant numbers. By Pa standards you may hunt all day and not see any roosters if they were not stocked recently. I am sure that if we put up a few birds at least and get some shooting we would be quite pleased, plus just seeing a different state and expeiancing the outdoors. More speciffically on a less than average year in South Dakota on an average day of hunting about how many birds do you see?
Roosterslayer
Member
You will definitely see birds and get some shooting in. Number of birds per day could really fluctuate depending on crops, weather and location. Watch for the pheasant forecast to come out and I expect the #'s to be quite a bit lower this year compared to last (especially in the NE part of the state). My advice would be to head west of Aberdeen to get into better phez hunting. Also, you may want to pack rubber boots as they have a ton of water right now. I'm sure you will have a blast and see some beautiful country.
carptom1
Well-known member
even a bum year in South Dakota is better than a good year in most other states. As has been said, if the crops are out you will see the birds, if corn is standing it will be tougher. I have hunted that area for many years in December, and have always had many opportunities. I am sure it will be a blast.
SDJIM
New member
You can hunt standing corn most of the time, your problem is you can't run fast enough and it is usually very hard to make the birds fly when they are in the corn.
I once hunted in standing corn on public land and soon everone got very tired of pushing birds around so several groups gpt together (it got out of hand and I'm sure the 20 people rule got bent badly) and we pushed a corn field with a hunter in everyother row, when we got near the end I had several DOZEN rooster running down my row--not one flushed-NOT ONE but I did have a bunch run past me in the row to left and the right and even some right between my legs.
Standing corn is not to your advantage
I once hunted in standing corn on public land and soon everone got very tired of pushing birds around so several groups gpt together (it got out of hand and I'm sure the 20 people rule got bent badly) and we pushed a corn field with a hunter in everyother row, when we got near the end I had several DOZEN rooster running down my row--not one flushed-NOT ONE but I did have a bunch run past me in the row to left and the right and even some right between my legs.
Standing corn is not to your advantage
Welcome to South Dakota. I live about 20 miles west of where you are staying. We had a very long, cold and snowy winter. That did take a toll on the pheasant population. That was followed by a cool wet spring which probably influenced the hatch negatively. Having said that based on what I am seeing as I make hay and do the other things that I do, there are going to be good bird numbers. It is hard to say for sure because there is so much cover but if the best it has ever been is a 10 then I think in my area it will be a 7. I would say the corn is about average for development now. If it stays that way there should be some corn harvested by the time of your hunt. Birds come out of the corn to roost in the evening. Find some CRP or other roosting cover to hunt the last half hour of the day.