Hunt Swap

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WICOCKERSPANIEL

New member
Hey Guys,

I'm new to the forum, but I am a teacher and football/wrestling coach in WI. My father just retired and I would like to take him to ND or SD for a pheasant hunt. I am reaching out to you guys because I don't want to go out there without a clue. We have a pretty good Field-Bred English Cocker Spaniel that we do a lot of grouse hunting with and would be bringing him and hitting up the public land.

However if anyone would be willing to pt me in the right direction of public land areas to start, or has some private land they would be willing to let us hunt, or hunt with us, that would be great. Otherwise I'm just looking for some tips/help.

If you showed us the ropes we would be more than willing to take you on a grouse/woodcock hunt if you ever ventured into Packer country. We could also get you on some spring turkeys.

Thanks.
Ben
 
Fellow Badger

Hello there fellow Badger!! I'm located in NE WI and have been going to the Dakotas for about 15 years now. We started in SD and moved to ND when the trespass fees got out of hand in SD. I have never hunted public land in either of the Dakotas as we have always hunted private land by paying daily trespass fees. I can tell you that I have had friends that have hunted public lands and they have had varying degrees of success. From what they tell me hunting public land early season is very sketchy. It is hard to find land that someone isn't already hunting or that someone just finished hunting. They say they have better luck with public land later in the season. Our group is all of the opinion that if we are going to travel that far, use vacation and pay for lodging that we are going to pay to get on private land. We want to make sure that there are plenty of birds and that we get our dog work and shooting in.

Good Luck!!
 
Tresspass Fees

Last year we paid $75 per day. We have access to a large amount of land and there are alot of Pheasants. I heard that the fee may go up this year. If that is the case we may look to hunt some public land a couple fo days or maybe go knock on some doors.
 
I was out for a week during opening and we had mixed results. All the corn was still on. Shot probably 8 -10 a day for 5 guys. Shot 10 Huns total in a week


Over Halloween I came out with two guys from Wisconsin. We limited out all four days

Thanksgiving we limited out 3 of 4 days. Just 3-4 guys.

Christmas I hunted with my dad for 6 days. I shot about 1 bird a day. I hunted about 3-4 hours a day.

I always say quite a few.

Also have a bull and cow moose on my land. Kinda neat.

How those shells treating you?
 
pheasant hunt

The shells worked fine. I usually like 5's but the 6's seemed to work equally well. I am usaully hunting late Oct / early Nov so am not shooting too many long shots and work with close working flushing dogs.
 
$75 per gun is cheap. We are at $150 a gun and I feel that is fair compared to what I know other guys are paying up to $300 per day.
 
Hockeybob said:
$75 per gun is cheap. We are at $150 a gun and I feel that is fair compared to what I know other guys are paying up to $300 per day.
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Is that 150 per day per man? The limit is 3 pheasants correct? So $50 per pheasant. Is there any other type of upland bird to chase where you hunt? That seems really high.?
 
Some guys feel that price is high, some feel its a good deal, some feel its low.
Some people think spending 4-5 hours on a golf course and paying 100-200 for green fees is ridiculous too. Everyone likes to spend money on diff things.

I think in ND 50-150 is pretty standard. With Hettinger county on the higher side of the cost. SD I think will run more then ND on average.

I personally haven't paid a trespass fee, but I have paid to hunt on a game farm. Its not that I wouldn't pay a trespass fee just haven't needed to in ND.


I will say ND has a lot of good public hunting places just might have to work to find them. The more time you spend in an area the better access gets. I bet there are more than a few that hunt the same area of ND (or any state) because they met a farmer, and became friends and now they hunt that farmers land every year.

So, if you want to pay a trespass fee, go ahead. if you are against paying the fee. Don't. But, I don't think we should be telling people they are stupid for paying "X" amount to hunt. After all they are using their money for what makes them happy.

Jim
 
Didnt say anyone was "stupid" for paying to hunt. Its what the world is coming too I understand, but I thought North Dakota was cheaper than south dakota as far as trespass fees go. I know guys that go to South Dakota and pay 100 and do well. So I was surprised that people are paying more in North Dakota. And as far as my questions, if there are other gamebirds available then it would be well worth it. Never been to either state so I was curious. Generally I dont call people stupid until after I meet them in person.
 
PheasantWhisperer said:
Is that 150 per day per man? The limit is 3 pheasants correct? So $50 per pheasant. Is there any other type of upland bird to chase where you hunt? That seems really high.?
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Its tuff to say, some might think its high. some might think 150 bucks is a great deal to hunt pheasants for a day. On a per bird basis a pheasant farm will be cheaper 15-30 bucks a bird.

But there is something to be said for chasing wild birds on property that is well suited for this purpose. Depending on where you live and what you do, spending a few days or a week at this pursuit might seem like a great deal at that price.

every person will be feel differently about this. But farmers are charging it and people are paying it, so the law of supply and demand says its priced correctly.

Jim
 
PheasantWhisperer said:
Didnt say anyone was "stupid" for paying to hunt. Its what the world is coming too I understand, but I thought North Dakota was cheaper than south dakota as far as trespass fees go. I know guys that go to South Dakota and pay 100 and do well. So I was surprised that people are paying more in North Dakota. And as far as my questions, if there are other gamebirds available then it would be well worth it. Never been to either state so I was curious. Generally I dont call people stupid until after I meet them in person.
Click to expand...

Sorry if you thought my remarks were directed at you. I apologize for that.

Jim
 
PheasantWhisperer said:
Didnt say anyone was "stupid" for paying to hunt. Its what the world is coming too I understand, but I thought North Dakota was cheaper than south dakota as far as trespass fees go. I know guys that go to South Dakota and pay 100 and do well. So I was surprised that people are paying more in North Dakota. And as far as my questions, if there are other gamebirds available then it would be well worth it. Never been to either state so I was curious. Generally I dont call people stupid until after I meet them in person.
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depending on where you are at. the other two game birds ND has are Huns and Sharptail Grouse.
 
Thank you. And no apology necessary. Didnt read the edited post. Sorry for the mix up there. I like to play Blackjack so I've spent money in the worst ways!! You pay for entertainment is how I look at it. Whatever that entertainment may be!
 
Hettinger County is as commercialized as any location in South Dakota. Planes are flying into rural ND, Dickinson, and Bismarck with hunters willing to pay a lot. The celebrity hunting circuit knows about SW ND.

Large acres are leased for pay to hunt operations charging $300 - $500/day with lodging.

Paying trespass fees to hunt on the other side of the Missouri River is much less common. That is not to say that leasing and guide operations have not taken up some relatively prime real estate.
 
One guy I hunt with used to pay $400 for and entire week of hunting to include lodging but that was in the early 90's. I have carefully tracked my expenses and average $1500 door to door for gas, lodging, food, trespass fees, licensing for 7 days of hunting. Granted that was from driving from Georgia to Western NoDak which has now changed from Idaho to NoDak.

Have found a few choice properties that still charge about $100 per day with mixed bags of huns/sharptail/pheasant. For me it is about watching my dog track wild birds for long distance prior to the flush and the unexpected sharptail/hun encounter. Long days of walking in comfortable boots and carrying my camera in the field. Not to mention Curry pheasant soup/pheasant chili and Lasagna with great friend and occasional shots of Bird Dog Whiskey at night.

Will no longer go with any outfitter due to poor past experiences. Wild birds on my own, as it should be.



 
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