Hunting South Dakota

walk213

walk213

Active member
Hello All,

My buddies and I take a 3 day upland hunting trip once a year. We usually hunt CO, KS and NE on both private and public lands. This year, the boys want to hunt either SD or MT. They want to see more birds.

-We want to hunt wild birds (no preserve hunting)
-We want a location 7 hours or less from Colorado (Denver area)
-We want to hunt private/guided but also want to hunt public in and around the area we select
-We will bring our own dogs

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Best,

Ross
www.huntfishgolfwork.com
 
More birds will mean more hunters in SD lots of non resident hunters as many or more then resident hunters...

Montana pretty tuff middle of no mans land stuff still gets a lot of hunters due to all the reports of above 10 year average crow counts etc.

SD is still tops ...

I'm curious on SW NE my self there is not enuff birds to keep u guys going to NE or just want waves of birds etc?
 
walk213 said:
Hello All,

My buddies and I take a 3 day upland hunting trip once a year. We usually hunt CO, KS and NE on both private and public lands. This year, the boys want to hunt either SD or MT. They want to see more birds.

-We want to hunt wild birds (no preserve hunting)
-We want a location 7 hours or less from Colorado (Denver area)
-We want to hunt private/guided but also want to hunt public in and around the area we select
-We will bring our own dogs

Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Best,

Ross
www.huntfishgolfwork.com
Click to expand...


Hi Ross, we have 3 open spots left for 2016. Weeks 7 and 9. Minimum 6 hunters. All our camps have plenty of public ground in the local area. You can stay extra nights at our lodges too for nominal fee ($45-60/night/person). Hunts are minimum 6 and you don't need a guide if you have dogs and have hunted before. J Bar is one a few camps where all 4 species of upland bird have been harvested. 1/2 hour east of Pierre.

http://www.uguidesdpheasants.com/availability/

http://www.uguidesdpheasants.com/pheasant-hunts/j-bar-lazy-7/

$600-650/person for 4 nights lodging and 3 days hunting.
 
7 hours from Denver puts you in SW SD. Have no idea about that area, but a perusal of the pheasant report should enlighten you.

Not to make light of preparation and research but I think some people make this too difficult. This will be my 4th year, fourth different SD destination, by myself, with however many dogs I have in the kennel at the time. Others are much more organized than I... all I do is get the walk in map, look for an area that has a decent amount of public ground, confirm there are pheasant there by roadside count, find a motel, and go walking. To date it's worked well. Don't always shoot limits, but has more to do with my shooting and the half crazy derby age horseback dogs I'm putting down, than lack of opportunity.
 
UGUIDE said:
Hi Ross, we have 3 open spots left for 2016. Weeks 7 and 9. Minimum 6 hunters. All our camps have plenty of public ground in the local area. You can stay extra nights at our lodges too for nominal fee ($45-60/night/person). Hunts are minimum 6 and you don't need a guide if you have dogs and have hunted before. J Bar is one a few camps where all 4 species of upland bird have been harvested. 1/2 hour east of Pierre.

http://www.uguidesdpheasants.com/availability/

http://www.uguidesdpheasants.com/pheasant-hunts/j-bar-lazy-7/

$600-650/person for 4 nights lodging and 3 days hunting.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the information. I will send to the guys tomorrow morning. You will hear back from me shortly. I think this is what they're looking for.
 
small munsterlander owner said:
More birds will mean more hunters in SD lots of non resident hunters as many or more then resident hunters...

Montana pretty tuff middle of no mans land stuff still gets a lot of hunters due to all the reports of above 10 year average crow counts etc.

SD is still tops ...

I'm curious on SW NE my self there is not enuff birds to keep u guys going to NE or just want waves of birds etc?
Click to expand...

I agree with your last statement. We have hunted both public and private land in CO, KS and NE. I think it has been pretty good. Five years ago, I never had to leave CO. The arid conditions made things tough. Unfortunately, the number of birds seen per day dropped significantly. I was told to get them on birds.
 
Gumboot said:
7 hours from Denver puts you in SW SD. Have no idea about that area, but a perusal of the pheasant report should enlighten you.

Not to make light of preparation and research but I think some people make this too difficult. This will be my 4th year, fourth different SD destination, by myself, with however many dogs I have in the kennel at the time. Others are much more organized than I... all I do is get the walk in map, look for an area that has a decent amount of public ground, confirm there are pheasant there by roadside count, find a motel, and go walking. To date it's worked well. Don't always shoot limits, but has more to do with my shooting and the half crazy derby age horseback dogs I'm putting down, than lack of opportunity.
Click to expand...

I like the way you do it as this is how I do it in KS and NE. When you're responsible for a group of 8 or 10, not everyone wants to work for it. They expect me to get them to spots that have birds. Sometimes I have made it happen. Other times I get the death-stare (usually after we walked miles and did not see a bird take flight). I have a new pup and she just finished 10 weeks of gundog training. I am excited to hunt with Echo this season.
 
Only way it gets much better is when u camp out & hunt from camp in a area u researched etc & bag birds... If u don't really care about numbers throw a dart at a map of eastern SD & hunt like gumboot... Sometimes that may lead to hotels full of hunters & bumping into the same group of guys for 4-5 days... I've been there... Once u figure out a hand full of areas with good numbers of bird & habitat u golden... U gotta out think the other hunters the closer u get to the opener... Once u find a honey hole hold it down daily if u can get there early & try a new area spot daily u will see wear there is more birds & why etc...

Good luck walk123... Have y hunted NE in the past few years or just KS ??? I seen & herd lots of pheasant in NE this spring... Found some good looking spots plus quail....
 
small munsterlander owner said:
Only way it gets much better is when u camp out & hunt from camp in a area u researched etc & bag birds... If u don't really care about numbers throw a dart at a map of eastern SD & hunt like gumboot... Sometimes that may lead to hotels full of hunters & bumping into the same group of guys for 4-5 days... I've been there... Once u figure out a hand full of areas with good numbers of bird & habitat u golden... U gotta out think the other hunters the closer u get to the opener... Once u find a honey hole hold it down daily if u can get there early & try a new area spot daily u will see wear there is more birds & why etc...

Good luck walk123... Have y hunted NE in the past few years or just KS ??? I seen & herd lots of pheasant in NE this spring... Found some good looking spots plus quail....
Click to expand...

Thank you for the insight. I agree with your sentiments. I talk to a few land owners in eastern CO (don't know any in NE). They are seeing lots of birds (both pheasants and quail). I am up for staying "local". The guys want to try something different. I am providing options now. If they hesitate, we will just hunt in and around our regular areas.
 
walk213 said:
Thank you for the insight. I agree with your sentiments. I talk to a few land owners in eastern CO (don't know any in NE). They are seeing lots of birds (both pheasants and quail). I am up for staying "local". The guys want to try something different. I am providing options now. If they hesitate, we will just hunt in and around our regular areas.
Click to expand...


Hard to beat SD I go at least 2-3 times a year... Ur group will enjoy...

So u have not hunted NE lately not busting ur groups balls lol. Im just thinking of heading to SW NE come January season close in MN & SD come January NE runs through January... I hunted NE last in 2014 shot quail & pheasant...

P.S. what kind of dog do u run walk123???
 
Also I punched in Denver & Montana & south Dakotas prime pheasant areas you will need about 9 hours to get to the number of birds u wanna see I'd assume... NE Montana & central SD will both take a Lil over 9. Hours to get there... 3 drivers 3 hours each u there... Lol
 
UGUIDE said:
Hi Ross, we have 3 open spots left for 2016. Weeks 7 and 9. Minimum 6 hunters. All our camps have plenty of public ground in the local area. You can stay extra nights at our lodges too for nominal fee ($45-60/night/person). Hunts are minimum 6 and you don't need a guide if you have dogs and have hunted before. J Bar is one a few camps where all 4 species of upland bird have been harvested. 1/2 hour east of Pierre.

http://www.uguidesdpheasants.com/availability/

http://www.uguidesdpheasants.com/pheasant-hunts/j-bar-lazy-7/

$600-650/person for 4 nights lodging and 3 days hunting.
Click to expand...

Proposed the dates to the 10 guys today. Only one response? I will push them for answers this weekend. I apologize for not having a definite answer today.
 
small munsterlander owner said:
Hard to beat SD I go at least 2-3 times a year... Ur group will enjoy...

So u have not hunted NE lately not busting ur groups balls lol. Im just thinking of heading to SW NE come January season close in MN & SD come January NE runs through January... I hunted NE last in 2014 shot quail & pheasant...

P.S. what kind of dog do u run walk123???
Click to expand...

We hunted NE last year and the year prior. I thougth it was pretty good. We go onto some priviate and had a bit of success. We scattered one covey and killed a few quail. Our group needs to prepare better. We hunt hard...sometimes not smart.

Here is my new pup, Echo. She will be good for me. We retired Pride last year.

http://www.huntfishgolfwork.com/videos-v/
 
Thank you. I am doing my best. I know that we will have some communication issues early on. That said, we will be patient. I am so excited to hunt with her.
 
We will put some good tunes with our adventures this fall/winter. I am not the best editor but I pick good bands/songs!
 
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