ND vs SD

GW from Tenn

GW from Tenn

Member
I've hunted several parts of the state of North Dakota and South Dakota and from what I've seen North Dakota has the potential to be as good of a pheasant hunting state as South Dakota, they just don't have the habitat on private ground that they're southern friends have. Why is that? Outside of the crops being in the field late in North Dakota the birds do not have any cover on private ground during the fall and winter. They have fence rolls and wind breaks and that's about it. I've even seen where farmers use the road side cover to cut for hay. South Dakota on the other hand has eminence cover everywhere it seems and abundant wildlife. I'm sure something legal that I don't understand probably comes into play in this. Just been wondering though over the years. When we hunted Kansas several years ago it seemed all the birds were on private ground when we were hunting public, of course most of the crops were still in field also.
 
Where are you hunting in ND ?

ND has 1.6 million acres in CRP. SD has 930K acres in CRP.

Much of ND pheasant range is covered in cattail sloughs. Great winter habitat except in real snowy years when they fill up.

SW ND is different ... while they have milder winters (most of the time), they do not have the same amount of winter cover except ranch yards and river valleys. Drought has reduced grass cover because it is hayed or just never took off. Pheasants in SW ND often "migrate" to working ranches and winter in the wind breaks and hay bale yards.
 
ND winters are significantly tougher than SD. The differences are enough to make huge differences in pheasant populations.

Any area "roughly" north of I-94 and East of Hwy #3 should be considered marginal pheasant land ... one rough winter sets 'em back hard ... takes about 2 - 4 years of good nesting and mild winters to rebound, then boooom winter is back again. Vicious (if not depressing) cycle.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Where are you hunting in ND ?

ND has 1.6 million acres in CRP. SD has 930K acres in CRP.

Much of ND pheasant range is covered in cattail sloughs. Great winter habitat except in real snowy years when they fill up.

SW ND is different ... while they have milder winters (most of the time), they do not have the same amount of winter cover except ranch yards and river valleys. Drought has reduced grass cover because it is hayed or just never took off. Pheasants in SW ND often "migrate" to working ranches and winter in the wind breaks and hay bale yards.
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Mostly central ND, north central and northwestern part. In and around Williston, just south of Minot, but mostly in central North Dakota around Medina and north of Bismarck.
 
BRITTMAN said:
ND winters are significantly tougher than SD. The differences are enough to make huge differences in pheasant populations.

Any area "roughly" north of I-94 and East of Hwy #3 should be considered marginal pheasant land ... one rough winter sets 'em back hard ... takes about 2 - 4 years of good nesting and mild winters to rebound, then boooom winter is back again. Vicious (if not depressing) cycle.
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Yes I agree, they "North Dakota" need more habitat on public ground. What is offered in South Dakota that is not in North Dakota or is the winter the difference maker in the habitat of the farming in North Dakota?
 
GW from Tenn said:
Yes I agree, they "North Dakota" need more habitat on public ground. What is offered in South Dakota that is not in North Dakota or is the winter the difference maker in the habitat of the farming in North Dakota?
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Check that....need more habitat on private ground. Sorry
 
I hunted once out of Scranton ND and saw gobs of pheasants. I remember driving past scanty stubble fields and seeing dark objects in the middle. "What are those?" I asked my local host. "Pheasants," he answered. This was over 20 years ago so may have no bearing on today.
 
BritChaser said:
I hunted once out of Scranton ND and saw gobs of pheasants. I remember driving past scanty stubble fields and seeing dark objects in the middle. "What are those?" I asked my local host. "Pheasants," he answered. This was over 20 years ago so may have no bearing on today.
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it was like that 20 years ago in ND and SD.
 
Much of SD private land is groomed for $300 - $500 / day NR hunters ... they can afford to idle crop land for cover. If the birds have a tough year ... pen reared birds are sprinkled in. Cover is actually designed and manicured to facilitate it being hunted.

The areas you mention above have pretty good cover on private land (well many areas do). Some places the cattails have flooded over and that cover is lost.

Until it snows, pheasants need about 2 feet of grass cover (actually less) to move about undetected.

Many of the areas you mention are very prone to winter kill.

If you look at a winter map ... Dickinson, ND has winter temperatures similar to say Mitchell, SD (average Jan high 24) and it is probably drier. Now go north to Devils Lake, ND ... temps plummet both in average cold (Jan average high 14) and length of sub zero temps. Snow stays on the ground much longer (on average).


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