If you could only pick one week...

M

mkelley4

New member
If you could only pick one week to hunt pheasant in South Dakota what week and why? Kind of new to upland hunting and did the first week last year. The heat was tough on the dog but I also like getting out early in the season. It was all public land and we were able to get on some birds.
 
Not SD specific but probably December 15-20th ish. Snow on the ground (usually), but not waist deep. Cold but not too cold.
 
We typically hunt the first couple weeks of November for our trip. We typically get good weather with the chance of extreme temps but not many days usually. Would like to do a late season hunt one of these days in January.
 
The second to third weekend in Nov. Crops are mostly out. Not so cold that you can't pull the trigger. Most of the fair weather folks have called it for the season. Get to hunt east river before the deer hunters push through everything. Plus I don't have to worry about them sitting at every public spot hoping that the dog and I will scare up some deer for them and have to dodge some bullets. I never get to go this week because it is west river deer season. I can't pass up my opportunity to track down a big mule deer.
 
I've been on 2 SD trips, both times the first weekend of November for 4 days of hunting. T-shirts or long sleeves has been the normal wear.

As a side note, don't ever get married the first weekend of November. It makes for some really quiet time at home following a 4 day trip. But man, did we ever kill the birds.
 
That is a tough call. I preferer to make sure the crops are out, and the weather looks good. But if I had two pick it would be a week or two after thanksgiving as I have been turned down for permission before because they were saving it for yearly family hunt at thanksgiving.
 
Some great points made. The other thing I would say as far as access to private ground is if you go after rifle season you may have more luck getting permission. So first week of December May be a prime time if private land is in your plans since after thanksgiving as mentioned above. If doing public early November would still be my answer. Most years when we are there crops are majority out or coming out hard which can lead to great hunting.
 
Matt D said:
Some great points made. The other thing I would say as far as access to private ground is if you go after rifle season you may have more luck getting permission. So first week of December May be a prime time if private land is in your plans since after thanksgiving as mentioned above. If doing public early November would still be my answer. Most years when we are there crops are majority out or coming out hard which can lead to great hunting.
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Yes, I don't know how I forgot about that frustrating week in Iowa when I failed to do any research and was blown away at how many people were deer hunting.
 
My vote would be for Thanksgiving or later simply to make sure crops are out and temperatures are not warm anymore.
 
There's no way I could pick 1 week as my favorite. Just no way. From the 2nd (resident's) weekend in Oct. to the last one in Jan., I love 'em all. Granted, there are highlight times - opening day, when most of the corn is finally out, first good snow, Black Friday (just because I always hunt on that day), Christmas-to-New-Year, and stuff like that. And I can say that if I could pick my favorite TYPE of pheasant hunting, it'd be cattails after the first good snow. But most things change so much from season to season that I really couldn't even nail it down to a favorite month.
 
A week in December & preferably M-F
If you have the flexibility to leave on a moments notice, watch the weather - if the forecast is calling for snow (not a foot or a blizzard) time your travel to arrive before the snow begins -even if that means starting on Saturday
There is nothing better to improve your odds of success than a fresh snow
 
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