Riverman
Member
Three of us returned last week from our second 5-day hunt in central SD. We hunted a 70 mi (north/south) by 30 mile (east/west) area in central part of state. We had three good dogs (labs) and one okay young dog (lab). Weather was mild 40-60 deg, low wind, no rain or snow. We hunted ditches, private fields, WPAs, and three walkin areas.
We saw few birds on any walkin or WPAs.
Private land was where we saw most birds, but there is little that is available since almost ALL CRP and Walkin areas have been hayed. Most road ditches are also hayed.
We have hunted this area three weeks every year for last 10 years, and it was the worst year of hunting, if you measure it by number of roosters flushed. We had great weather and we killed all our birds, but it was a struggle. Birds seemed to be holding tight and most came right off the dogs so that was nice.
Be ready to walk long distances every day (10+ miles) and don't miss when you get them up.
We saw lots of hens so hopefully if they can make it through winter and the CRP and ditches aren't cut again they can rebound.
Hunter numbers seemed higher this year than in years past and most seem to be hunting guided areas.
We usually do a third trip between Christmas and New Years. Not gonna hapen this year. Any snow of any substance is going to push them to very limited areas and unless you have access you will not see many birds.
We even hunted several private pits and heavy cover areas that should have been loaded with birds, had they been there, but we just didn't see many.
I honestly don't think the bird numbers are up from last year, as stated by G&F. In fact I believe that numbers are down at least 20-50% from last year. I usually give benefit of doubt to G&F agencies, but in this case I think the trend data is wrong. Several folks I talked with thought that the counts occured prior to when birds may have been lost due to drought.
I'm not sure when they do postal roadside counts, but I always assumed it was after birds had matured and close to opening day to get a good count.
If anything, I think that reduced cover of the fields and ditches might have increased the number of birds seen during trend counts, and the count was biased due to lack of cover. In wildlife surveys this is known as "sightability bias" and is influenced by many factors, including the cover and habitat that the animals live in. In normal years there is usually more cover and crops present so the birds seen are a smaller percentage of what is actually there. This year more birds were seen because they were easier to see, but the birds seen represented a large percentage of the birds out there and in actuallity there were a lot less total birds.
If we only hunted a few areas or a smaller geographic area I wouldn't think the lower numbers are applicable to a larger area, but I suspect this may be true for most of the areas that have been hayed.
I am curious what other folks are seeing in other areas?
Good luck and shoot straight.
We saw few birds on any walkin or WPAs.
Private land was where we saw most birds, but there is little that is available since almost ALL CRP and Walkin areas have been hayed. Most road ditches are also hayed.
We have hunted this area three weeks every year for last 10 years, and it was the worst year of hunting, if you measure it by number of roosters flushed. We had great weather and we killed all our birds, but it was a struggle. Birds seemed to be holding tight and most came right off the dogs so that was nice.
Be ready to walk long distances every day (10+ miles) and don't miss when you get them up.
We saw lots of hens so hopefully if they can make it through winter and the CRP and ditches aren't cut again they can rebound.
Hunter numbers seemed higher this year than in years past and most seem to be hunting guided areas.
We usually do a third trip between Christmas and New Years. Not gonna hapen this year. Any snow of any substance is going to push them to very limited areas and unless you have access you will not see many birds.
We even hunted several private pits and heavy cover areas that should have been loaded with birds, had they been there, but we just didn't see many.
I honestly don't think the bird numbers are up from last year, as stated by G&F. In fact I believe that numbers are down at least 20-50% from last year. I usually give benefit of doubt to G&F agencies, but in this case I think the trend data is wrong. Several folks I talked with thought that the counts occured prior to when birds may have been lost due to drought.
I'm not sure when they do postal roadside counts, but I always assumed it was after birds had matured and close to opening day to get a good count.
If anything, I think that reduced cover of the fields and ditches might have increased the number of birds seen during trend counts, and the count was biased due to lack of cover. In wildlife surveys this is known as "sightability bias" and is influenced by many factors, including the cover and habitat that the animals live in. In normal years there is usually more cover and crops present so the birds seen are a smaller percentage of what is actually there. This year more birds were seen because they were easier to see, but the birds seen represented a large percentage of the birds out there and in actuallity there were a lot less total birds.
If we only hunted a few areas or a smaller geographic area I wouldn't think the lower numbers are applicable to a larger area, but I suspect this may be true for most of the areas that have been hayed.
I am curious what other folks are seeing in other areas?
Good luck and shoot straight.
