How can they hay this much public ground

[hunter94]

locals have the advantage, the public ground is shrinking and gets pounded every year. later in the season is better, but birds in these places are wild as hell.
not everyone can walk 10 miles per day or have the dog power to cover big areas.
by the time i drive 8-12 hours to get there, buy gas, motel and lodging, hunt for 4-5 days, shooting 8 birds in a half day on a preserve makes so much more sense.
not many years ago I could easily pop my 3 birds a day with no problem
things have changed, so I have changed my plans as well.
until then I will spend my money close to home.

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

CO’s drove the routes. I’m good with that. Part of the trick is spotting and counting chicks. I am amazed at fellow hunters not seeing adult birds when driving around!

People who grew up road hunting are a LOT better at spotting pheasants than those that didn't. You spend your whole life looking in ditches, down every fence line, along every shelterbelt, during the season & in the off-season....you get good at it. Or at least you see the ones that screw up & allow themselves to be seen.

 

[carptom1]

People who grew up road hunting are a LOT better at spotting pheasants than those that didn't. You spend your whole life looking in ditches, down every fence line, along every shelterbelt, during the season & in the off-season....you get good at it. Or at least you see the ones that screw up & allow themselves to be seen.

I look for pheasants in Leavenworth County where I live in Kansas. Pheasants are Non existent here. I have lived here 35 years but still I look. Ditches, sunny side of cover when it’s cold, up and down gravel roads when I pass them, plum thickets all the usual places. In all that time I have seen 4 or 5. One hen and the rest roosters. But still I look. My kids always gave me a hard time when they were young

 

[IdahoCountryBoy]

You should notify MN, IA, ND, KS, NE, MT…probably some others! This is a rough tool to get a rough estimate, conducted pretty much the same way, at the same time, each year. Just a rough, approximate tool. Don’t forget SD has dropped from over 100k NR hunters just 10 years ago to under 70k today…what do you think they’re concerned about? 103k NR licenses in 2007, 62k last year. Those are facts and 100% accurate, no guessing! Think they’re worried? Think they’d do something rash like discontinue the survey? I know what I think!!!!

103,000 x 125 average license cost is just under 13 million. 62,000 x 125 is just under 8 million. If I were losing 5 million a year I’d do something different.

 

[benelli-banger]

103,000 x 125 average license cost is just under 13 million. 62,000 x 125 is just under 8 million. If I were losing 5 million a year I’d do something different.

Not to mention the multiplier effect to motels, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, C stores, strip joints, etc…10x the cost of a license or more.