I've pass shot pheasants on public probably 7-8 times, back when the bird numbers were really strong 12-15 years ago. I wear camo, and yes, if you stood straight up, the birds would see you and immediately flare - their eye sight matches that of a turkey! Never felt this to be dangerous. Once we had another hunter approach and asked if he wanted to join, which he did; another time two hunters were walking towards us, and we were standing to make sure they could see us, from + 200 yards away; the other times there were no hunters in the area. we were never in a place where hunters could walk over a rise and be in our laps. if there were hunters, then they showed up after we were parked and in the field.. It was an amazing experience, and even saw a hunting operation line up their hunters on public - adjacent to their property - & do the same. That was a WIA north of Wessington on the east side of the road...........which has been out of the program for a number of years now.....& back when the access map didn't have road numbers......I yearn to see those type of bird numbers again, but don't see it happening. To each his own, I guided for over 35 years, always gave a safety speech before the hunt, so safety is, and always has been #1 in my book. it was a very unique experience, and not as easy as one might think, those birds are flying full bore. It also really speaks to the bird numbers SD had 15 years ago.....................................and of course I would much rather work my dogs and flush birds - dog work to me, is the best part of the hunt...............
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- Thread starter mikeP
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I've done this multiple times. Best plan we ever came up with is sit there and let them land. It's pretty tough to keep the dog still and silent with all that action. Try to keep your eye on a rooster. Then we would head toward where it landed and try and get the dog on him. Seemed a lot of times when the birds hit the ground they are running full bore deeper into cover. Best tip for shooting them is let them fly by and then shoot them while they are flying away from you. It's a tough shot to get used to if they fly directly over top of you and then away. You have to aim under them.
Hammerhead
New member
I have been going to South Dakota for the last four years. 3 years to private land but in 2020 went and hunted all public land. Saw a ton of birds in 2020 on public land, well worth the trip. I did have a buddy and we took to dogs but with the weather conditions not a lot of points, but did help slot on retrieves. I say go, well worth the trip
I have hunt almost exclusively public right of way ditches for 30 years with 1-2 people and most often without a dog. We limit out on opening week just working ditches and driving so I recommend it without exception, especially to first time hunters. So much bird action and empty boxes of shells. From that perspective, I can skip trying to find the best public walk in areas in the atlas or getting private ground permission and focus on going to what area has the highest number of birds to increase my odds. My most recent introductory post on this method is here-
forum.ultimatepheasanthunting.com
Types of cover
All really good information, and encouraging to those of us without a dog. Having never been to South Dakota how would one go about finding these gravel roads prior to getting there, and how do you know which are legal to hunt? Can you identify them on satellite maps or are they designated a...