benelli-banger
Well-known member
Yes! No fun….
Is South Dakota just hype?
- Thread starter Hutcho
- Start date
Weimdogman
Well-known member
What ain't hype is tripe 
gimruis
Well-known member
That's they type of hunt I experience here in Central MN every season the second half of December. Some drifts are waist deep after we get a good snow and then the wind blows hard. Its tough walking and saps my energy quickly.
Crusted snow makes a lot of noise. They hear you coming a mile away. If its still powder, then its soft and quiet.
Weimdogman
Well-known member
40% of this slough was drifted in. The second picture shows the edge which was drifted in from a blizzard. This is where my dog stood steady as 9 hens flushed ,1 or 2 at a time. 9th one came out he looked at me like well thats it and began hunting again. He was right I kicked around for 2 minutes and no more birds in that corner.
2 years ago that slough was 95% drifted in but there were deer trails through it and slightly lighter snow in places. Easily a 100 birds in there but so much scent and noisy the birds were getting up 100 yards ahead and then relocating. I hunted about 20 minutes picked up one straggler
and left as it was too tough.
2 years ago that slough was 95% drifted in but there were deer trails through it and slightly lighter snow in places. Easily a 100 birds in there but so much scent and noisy the birds were getting up 100 yards ahead and then relocating. I hunted about 20 minutes picked up one straggler
and left as it was too tough.If it was all hype, I don't think we would be booked up as we are. We have had a tougher time the last few years and we have shortened our season as a result, but we still have many repeat customers. This year looks significantly better, and we are adding a couple more weeks to our season.
This is a good observation, but I think that stat does not tell the full story. I would like it if there were a more meaningful stat like birds per hour hunted. Purely anecdotal, but my experience in SD was 3-bird limits were the norm with a dog and OK shooting on public land pre-2012. And it was often done in short order with plenty of opportunity to laugh off bad shots or a rogue dog out ahead as you knew other opportunities were close behind. And we would invite every swinging D we knew to go out in big groups. It was a blast.
Nowadays we average ~2 birds per person per day, and that is with a lean group of experienced hunters and dogs. That is only a 33% drop, which aligns to your stat, but fails to capture that it requires an all-day grind, covering 4 counties to find decent public ground. So yes - only a little less meat in the freezer, but a lot more boot leather and truck miles per bird. Not nearly the amount of birds seen or the more casual fun that came with the 'easy' days.
But I certainly agree with your description of the "spike". Those (myself included) started going out there when it was easy pickings in the 2000s so we got a bad mental calibration. If you look at the historical trend, that period was indeed a spike and we are back to a more normal population now.
I would also add that I think the effects have been felt far greater on public land as they have decreased in quantity and greatly in quality. I have no doubt there are millions of birds in the state, but I think they are much more heavily weighted to private ground now than they were when quality public fields were more common.
Having said all that, I will be hitting SD again this year and am greatly looking forward to it. But as the state has shifted its efforts from making a good hunting reality to making a good perception, I find it harder to justify the trip - Especially as MN and IA continue to up their game and close the gap.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
This is ALSO a good observation. I admit that I don't keep data, tracking my roosters/hour, but I certainly take mental note of how hard I work for them year to year, mostly in terms of time spent hunting. I've hunted pretty much the same public areas since I first went to college 35 years ago. 25-30 of those years included a good springer (20 with my own dog). I hunt more often than anyone I know & honestly haven't seen big peaks & valleys. Nor have I seen drastic changes in quantity or quality of public & public-access ground or the amount of time I spend to shoot a couple pheasants. Some years are a little tougher. Some a bit easier. About the same though. But I'm hunting somewhat far east. I believe a majority of the large-scale ups & downs in both bird numbers & quantity/quality of public land have occurred further west & were largely responsible for that early 2000s spike. I assume those areas further west accounted for a larger portion of any corresponding drop-offs too. It's interesting how different areas of the state seem to change greatly, while others seem to remain much more constant. I do, however, think that the numbers reported by the State tell the statewide "average" story fairly well, even though a particular locale may not seem to fit at all.
Golden Hour
Well-known member
I tend to agree with your assessment on the bulk of the pheasants. The Big Sioux drainage is where I do the vast majority of my pheasant hunting. It's alright, but as you said, I don't see a whole lot of variation from one year to the next where I hunt. The exception being the devastating winter of 96-97.
When numbers were at their third peak in the early 2000's, I remember going to Redfield on Sunday of the opener and the big thing was how fast your group could limit. And this type of thinking was pretty common in a lot of the traditional hot spots. This might be anecdotal, but it has always seemed the James River drainage and Missouri River drainage were a step above my stomping grounds. Again, it could just be the experience I had and nothing empirical.
All that to say, I really dig seeing big numbers of pheasants, but am happy to jump on a WPA and chase the handful of birds that are on that ground at a given point of time. Peaks, valleys, hot, cold, happy wife, angry wife, whatever. Sage and I will go do our thing and constantly be wishing for more.
Yes - you are spot on there regarding differences depending on where you are in the state. I broke my own rule there in generalizing SD when it does vary quite a bit across the pheasant range. Far East and even into MN did not see nearly the up and down swing that the Jim River valley to MO river saw. The latter areas really saw the boom and bust, not only in bird numbers (RIP roadside survey data) but that is also where a lot of great public land dried up. Used to be a good number of WIAs surrounded by crops in those areas, but that good land was the first to be pulled out and put back into production when corn prices went up. Further East the landscape is much more stable - lots of GPAs and WPAs that did not go away with the drop in CRP enrolment.
Roaniecowpony
Member
The last time I hunted SD was probably 10 years ago, But I hunted it over a span of about 30 years with a 10 year gap in there somewhere. I first hunted there in the early 80s. To say it was incredible would be an understatement. I hunted only private land around Huron on a friend's property. We would limit every day and have to call it before sundown to clean massive quantities of birds for our large group.
Untfortunately, the bird numbers declined steadily over the years, until I just quit going about 10 years ago. The numbers had gotten down to the point I didn't want to hunt them. Just one person's experience on a particular area.
Untfortunately, the bird numbers declined steadily over the years, until I just quit going about 10 years ago. The numbers had gotten down to the point I didn't want to hunt them. Just one person's experience on a particular area.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
Further East has always been richer, more fertile soil, so less of that was enrolled in CRP; getting to the area between those two rivers was less productive land, so CRP was viable and got used big-time 30-35 years ago.
Roaniecowpony
Member
Not long ago, Winner was the center of the rooster universe. But around the Missouri river was great too.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
Back in the heyday the “golden triangle”’ was winner, chamberlain and gregory…something like that!
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Then commercial hunting exploded in the area. The habitat still produces wild birds, but they're similar to public land wild birds, only using the premium habitat when they really have to. They're nearly unhuntable much of the time, after the first week or two. So regardless of the law, the preserves release birds to maintain "success". The number of flare nares shot in the triangle is high. The number of real roosters shot in the area decreased significantly.
Hutcho
Active member
I keep hearing that term. Is that just a fancy way of saying pen raised birds?
s.davis
Well-known member
Yes. The have to put a plastic blinder thru the birds’ nostrils to keep them from pecking each other to death when raised in high concentration captivity and you can see their stretched out nostrils.
Roaniecowpony
Member
Don''t know how true it is, but a farm owner friend outside Huron said the state has been releasing birds for years. Anyone know?
benelli-banger
Well-known member
The state? I’d be shocked, it’s been alleged since Christ was a corporal, but that’d be a line item in their budget. Lots of birds are released, but not by the state. My
understanding. Some states, including MT, do that, but it’s not a secret.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Yes, I do know. The State of SD releases exactly ZERO pheasants. Private shooting preserves are required by law to release a minimum of 1 rooster for each bird shot. So it doesn't take long before 80-95% of birds shot on preserves are pen reared. Preserves have released about 500,000 birds a year recently. Other private landowners may release a few birds to supplement their numbers. Probably around 50,000 a year. This is a small fraction of the total pheasant population of the state. Based on harvest estimates recently, the wild population is likely around 8,000,000. Try as I may, I just can't seem to make a big dent in it.
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carptom1
Well-known member
At least every year on here about this time of year…. Somebody’s brother-in-law or sister uncle witnessed the state truck tossing them out of the back… in the middle of the night. Millions of them… looked like mosquitoes