OKhunter88
Member
I believe your math is incorrect. The cost per bird is $3 and the cost of a lifetime of memories is the rest.
January Solo Hunt
- Thread starter BrdHntr
- Start date
Wind River
Well-known member
The quality will be remembered long after the price is forgotten. Life is short and a dog's life even shorter. OKhunter is spot on.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
This all, to me, is what makes late-season SD public land birds so fun (while also frustrating). It goes back to what I've said on here several times before. We've got tons of great public land. But we're not like some other states. The pheasants usually don't need it, particularly during the day. You stand in the middle of "the perfect public spot", whether it be slough, trees, food plot, or whatever. You see fresh tracks all over, but not a bird in sight. Sometimes they've given you the slip. But more often than not, just look around. In South Dakota, in most cases, you'll see PRIVATE sloughs, trees, corn, etc. Everything a pheasant needs to get him through the day, usually within 1/2 mile or even closer. That's where they are. Then they wait until the last minute to return to public roosting cover, just to make us mad.
Just Sunday I figured I'd check a spot I hadn't hunted in a few years. Has a cattail/grassy draw way, way back, with a few nice, big thickets, some phragmites. All surrounded by private land that has the same stuff, plus picked corn this year. They'd littered the place with tracks that morning. Everywhere we went, fresh tracks, but no pheasants. I was starting to think they were probably all in the huge shelterbelt about 1/4 mile away. But we finally caught up to them on about the 3rd thicket, right on the fenceline. Maybe 50 birds, most of which flushed way wild, a couple of which screwed up. My buddy missed a couple. I got 1. When we shot, quite a few others took off in the private slough. Not the most productive walk I've ever taken, but it really felt good to find them. Of course, it helped that it was 35 degrees & not zero. Made the work we'd already done & that which we knew was to come much more tolerable.
This year is a bit odd in my areas. The drought prevented most of the grass from ever getting thick. So even with so little snow, there's way less grass cover than they'd usually have. Sure, it cuts down their options, but I think it's pushing them more than usual into thickets/trees. If there's anything "my" public areas lack in the winter, it's thickets & trees, particularly by the fence near food.
Just Sunday I figured I'd check a spot I hadn't hunted in a few years. Has a cattail/grassy draw way, way back, with a few nice, big thickets, some phragmites. All surrounded by private land that has the same stuff, plus picked corn this year. They'd littered the place with tracks that morning. Everywhere we went, fresh tracks, but no pheasants. I was starting to think they were probably all in the huge shelterbelt about 1/4 mile away. But we finally caught up to them on about the 3rd thicket, right on the fenceline. Maybe 50 birds, most of which flushed way wild, a couple of which screwed up. My buddy missed a couple. I got 1. When we shot, quite a few others took off in the private slough. Not the most productive walk I've ever taken, but it really felt good to find them. Of course, it helped that it was 35 degrees & not zero. Made the work we'd already done & that which we knew was to come much more tolerable.
This year is a bit odd in my areas. The drought prevented most of the grass from ever getting thick. So even with so little snow, there's way less grass cover than they'd usually have. Sure, it cuts down their options, but I think it's pushing them more than usual into thickets/trees. If there's anything "my" public areas lack in the winter, it's thickets & trees, particularly by the fence near food.
gimruis
Well-known member
I do agree @Wind River. A game farm is an ideal situation to train a young dog. I have done it with my own in the past and it does wonders for introducing a pup to a lot of scent, birds, and guaranteed success in a quick time period.
Once the dog is trained though, the heck if I'm gonna continue to keep forking over that kind of money to "hunt" a dumb barn raised bird when I can still have a crack at a wild one. I value fair chase and if my dog could speak, she would agree with me.
jackrabbit
Active member
I can't tell you how many times I've seen a million tracks and no birds. I start to question if my dog is actually as good as I think he is. I think those public land roosters are so smart and know how to bury themselves and hide, run like crazy ahead of you, or run then circle back around you. I hunted a public land cattail area this weekend that had fantastic cover next to it on private land - tree line, picked corn. I watched 3 roosters fly in from private land into the public about 200 yards ahead of me. Got to that spot, my dog is extremely birdy for 10 minutes, tracks everywhere, no birds flying at all. Finally he goes on point, after a few seconds up fly's 3 roosters, I get one to get my limit. After I shot, I bet 20-30 birds got up within a 50 yard circle of me, all in the area that my dog had been working extremely hard for the previous 10 minutes. They absolutely do not want to fly if they don't have to. Had a similar instance again the following morning in a completely different spot 100 miles away in light loafing cover on the very small corner of a piece of public land.
NDPheasant
Well-known member
Moderators of UPH, I almost feel like reporting this type of post
on the happen chance that our spouse may see this. It may lead to more math on that $110 round of golf which would be $2/putt or $8 per slice off the teebox. I would then risk having an audit of my summer fishing addiction where I will be praying to the gods above that she never calculates cost per pound of fish. 
Goosemaster
Well-known member
Yeah those game farms are easy. For some people, that's the only place they will get a pheasant.
Goosemaster
Well-known member
Although my cousin shoots a lot of hens and turkeys, he is still family, and good at getting permission.
Miforester
Well-known member
Unless you live locally the cost will never look good and many will shake their head. But like Goldenboy mentioned all my memories are from my trips out west with family and friends. Game farms are a last resort for when western trips get canceled. I bought my life time license for Nebraska before I moved to Michigan and it paid for itself after 3 trips back, but as most out of state hunters now the license is a drop in the bucket.