Just returned from South Dakota

BeirlSetters

BeirlSetters

Member
Just spend the 4th in SD getting the house up and running. What a difference a year makes when you look at the crops this year. It didn't look like there was a field that didn't get planted this year. Seems to be heavy to corn from what I seen in our area. Last year with the flooding I would say 60% minimum of the fields didn't get planted.

Cover looks to be in really good shape this year as well after spending a few morning and evening riding around. We did see some birds over the course of a few days. Seen a few broods and more older birds(roosters) than I am use to seeing over the 4th. Crossing my fingers that we have a good year for birds. I would hope it will be up over last years numbers.
 
Good info, thanks for sharing. I talked to a farmer West Rive last week and he was seeing a lot of birds as well. Both broods and Adults. They had some hail earlier so it was good to hear!
 
You guys know how to get me fired up!
I counted my shells again!
 
Nice report Chad. It's a relief to see the fields planted as normal this year. For me, lack of crops was really a game changer the first couple weeks of the season last fall (to say nothing of the farmers). Regrettably, I haven't been out & about much in SD yet this spring/summer, but what I've seen looks really good. I drove by one of "my" many public spots about a month ago. It's a quarter section. Drove by 1/2 mile; turned the corner; & drove the other 1/2 mile. I saw separate roosters in 7 different spots in a mile in mid-afternoon, which is pretty unbelievable to me. How many were around that I DIDN'T see???? This was about June 1, so I'm guessing hens must've been sitting on huge piles of eggs. I also get over into NW Iowa on weekends. It's not a very pheasanty trip, except for 1 stretch of about 5 miles. The road goes by some public land & sometimes I'll see a pheasant or 2. This year I'll bet I've seen 3 times as many birds as I've ever seen. This is a road I've traveled many, many, MANY times over my lifetime. Last fall wasn't nearly as bad as the brood report indicated in my areas (In fact, I think numbers were up somewhat over 2018.). Either way, I'm pretty encouraged about this season.
 
Just returned from S.D.. Here is my report: saw a fair amount of hens with chicks, mix from tiny probably only 2-3 days old to chicks that could fly short distance. Batchelor roosters standing around during the evening was a common site, guessing based on past experience similar numbers to last year. Oh yeah, water everywhere !!!!
 
What is different this year is the lack of planted crops on the landscape. There is still 1000's of acres of unharvested corn in ND and SD. PP is really prevalent as well. Some of this ground has had chemical burn downs but some of its been so wet they couldn't even spray it. Its kinda bad for the producer but I think there will be wildlife benefits for sure.
 
I’m in S.D. right now...lush and green and all the crop land has nice crops. Pheasants galore, as was the case in April and May, but now I get to see the chicks...looking good there, too. Positive report...the wet June was not great, except it delayed haying....that certainly saved lots of birds.👍👍
 
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