Hunting SD

U

UtGunner

New member
He gang....
So some friends and I are going to travel out of state for Phez for the first time and journey to Pheasant mecca(known as SD). we have been doing alot of research, but thought I would ask a few questions.

1. we have been looking at getting liscense for Indian land I believe are is (Mobridge?). I thought I would see what those familiar with it, thoughts were.
Were advised that for about $130 you can shoot Pheasant and Prairie chacken ? now this seems WAY cheep, is this a "To good to be true" situation ?

2.Looking for some "Other" birds to shoot along the way.... so I have read season dates.... how doable is it to hit Phez, Prairie chicken, Partridge on same hunt/area ?

3.I am confused a bit on what I was reading, is it correct that with a federal duck stamp, you can not just get a liscense and go ? there is an application process (that has already completed)
 
Hunting Indian land requires paying an Indian guide. Yes there are many palces you can hunt Sharptail grouse and Prairie Chickens along with pheasants.
 
no. the tribal ground can be ok for pheasants, but historically you will do better hunting public ground. the tribes take pride in thier hunting land and conservation but the locals don't look at it as private ground. you need to buy a tribal license to hunt tribal land but i've seen many locals walk right over land and they don't have the tribal license. it happens more during deer season but i've seen it on tribal ground for pheasants as well. We hunted tribal for a few years but we got tired of being told that you have to have a tribal license and than watching others walk without them. Its not heavily patrolled so the locals don't seem to care. Like i said, we did it for a while when the poplulations were really high and we did ok but hunting after thanksgiving weekend you will find private land to hunt if you are willing to knock on doors. even in the best areas of sdakota. the public ground improves later as well because everyone assumes that they have been pounded. find cattails and wait for the ice and head out and you will get your birds. be careful, i've fallen thru before and it ends your day quck.
 
if you are heading to the mobridge area you will find a ton of walk in land as well. this year will be different becasue alot of land is under water. hwy. 12 is closed to 2 lane traffic in some areas right now due to high water. a lot of cattail sloughs are going to be really good after a hard freeze because of all the water. this water is going to be tough on the birds but the late planting and may's renesting that is hatching now will make the first month tough. There will be no corn out on the opener and i will be willing to bet that 50% of the soybeans will still be in the ground. With that said if you are traveling a long ways to come to sd, wait!!!! the later in the year will be better.
 
one last thing. yes the draw for the nonresident waterfowl has been completed. if you hunt tribal ground for waterfowl you still need the federal waterfowl stamp.
 
southdakotawannabe said:
if you are heading to the mobridge area you will find a ton of walk in land as well. this year will be different becasue alot of land is under water. hwy. 12 is closed to 2 lane traffic in some areas right now due to high water. a lot of cattail sloughs are going to be really good after a hard freeze because of all the water. this water is going to be tough on the birds but the late planting and may's renesting that is hatching now will make the first month tough. There will be no corn out on the opener and i will be willing to bet that 50% of the soybeans will still be in the ground. With that said if you are traveling a long ways to come to sd, wait!!!! the later in the year will be better.
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Hwy 12 just east of Roscoe is closed again as the water/wind have eroded away the temporary road.

Yes, water is going to be an issue again this year. But if we get some dry weather between now and the hunting season it might not be too bad.

Crops, don't assume the crops won't be out on a timely basis. According to the latest crop progress report they are catching up fast due to the warm humid weather we have been having. If conditions stay warm and dry I think crops could be out by an average harvest date. Probably not as early as 2010 but certainly not as late as 2009. A lot can change in the next 2-3 months.
 
southdakotawannabe said:
one last thing. yes the draw for the nonresident waterfowl has been completed. if you hunt tribal ground for waterfowl you still need the federal waterfowl stamp.
Click to expand...

Yes, you still need a Federal Duck Stamp to hunt waterfowl on the reservation.

If you stay in Mobridge, there are two different reservations that you can hunt from there. One is (I believe) Standing Rock and the other is Cheyenne River.

FYI- Mobridge has the time zone boundary right through it so if you hunt state land, your cell phone might throw you off for the 10:00 am start for pheasants. On tribal land, I think you can hunt pheasants at sunrise, you can for sure hunt shapies and huns at sunrise.

On Cheyenne River you do not have to pay a guide to hunt, although we did because it can get confusing on what is tribal land. After a while, you learn that if it is nice tillable land with no steep hills or big rocks the land is more than likely non-tribal. The crappy semi-useless land is all tribal but does hold birds. We were told that all of the good land was grabbed by Homesteaders before the reservation was created and the Tribe got everything that was left.

I would probably suggest just buying a state license and hunting a little further east. The reservation is pretty limiting.
 
How are the Indian reservations especially in the Northeast part of the state for waterfowl. Since we got blanked on the draw, we were considering going there to get a few days in. We just got so spoiled last year with waterfowl in the morning and upland in the afternoon that we want to try to get more shoooting in. Any info on dove hunting around the Clearlake/Watertown area?
 
if you like to hunt fields it sucks!!!!! there is some good areas if you like to hunt over water. bring a boat and check the nwestern part of the zone. west of sisseton, up in the hills usually holds a ton of ducks in late oct - freeze up. traverse area holds a lot of birds too but not much tribal ground to hunt in that area. we've gone there as a back up in the past but to be honest with you if you are going to go to that area, why not travel 20 minutes farther north and hunt se north dakota. 1 - 10 miles across the border is good. not as much pressure as farther north and still a lot of water and a lot of ducks. if you time it right it can be really good in that area. better there than the tribal ground because you're not limited and the cost is basically the same. the only problem is once you are in that area you are kind of stuck to hunting just waterfowl. that area has been hammered all spring and the farmers we know in that area aren't seeing many pheasants at all. late october to early november, hunt fields and you will and should have a blast. stay away during north dakota deer hunting opener though, it can be scary if you are lying in a field and you hear trucks chasing down a gravel road. stay low!!!
 
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