I have a cabin booked for 5 days on Lake Norden SD in Hamlin county starting on opening day of pheasant Oct. 15th. I'm from WI where anything will be an improvement in hunting. I know all about early season crops hiding birds. So I have that going against me. I also know nothing beats scouting and luck. I believe you make you own luck by hard work and maybe a couple of good tips. Can anyone here supply the tips? I will fall back on walleye fishing to rest the dog after a couple of days but hunting is priority. Thanks in advance.
New on Forum/1st time to S.D.
- Thread starter freyguy78
- Start date
Ranger Rick
Member
I'm also from WI. Grew up in Burlington. Had the fortune to have relatives and friends with good ground to hunt. Hunted public maybe twice and hated it. Moved away for college in '76 and haven't hunted down there since.
My first trip to SD was amazing. Around Burlington we had a great day with a couple birds. We saw clouds of pheasants that first trip. The following year, same ground and we worked our tails off for a few birds. So from one year to the next, one area to the next, there can be a lot of variability.
But like most things, you get what you put into it. I've been invited by locals I've met to hunt their land, paid fee to hunt private land, worked public areas and one trip spent 4 days going from one end of state to the other, map in hand, exploring and having a blast.
Good luck with your first trip.
My first trip to SD was amazing. Around Burlington we had a great day with a couple birds. We saw clouds of pheasants that first trip. The following year, same ground and we worked our tails off for a few birds. So from one year to the next, one area to the next, there can be a lot of variability.
But like most things, you get what you put into it. I've been invited by locals I've met to hunt their land, paid fee to hunt private land, worked public areas and one trip spent 4 days going from one end of state to the other, map in hand, exploring and having a blast.
Good luck with your first trip.
@Ranger Rick
So you grew up in Burlington in the 70s? Did you happen to know a family by the name of Bogen? They moved from Burlington to Cambridge at that time and became good friends. Thanks for the insight. I may put an ad in the nearest Craigslist looking for a good pay to play hunting situation in Hamlin county. I have a 2 year old Chesapeake that needs this as bad as I do!
So you grew up in Burlington in the 70s? Did you happen to know a family by the name of Bogen? They moved from Burlington to Cambridge at that time and became good friends. Thanks for the insight. I may put an ad in the nearest Craigslist looking for a good pay to play hunting situation in Hamlin county. I have a 2 year old Chesapeake that needs this as bad as I do!
Highvoltage
Active member
Welcome! Be prepared for alot of rude competition on the opening week. People seem to lose all manors in competition for public land hunting. We have arrived a couple hours before noon by the area we intended to hunt, to have people pull in ten minutes before noon . Then when we all lined up for the start, they ran ahead of us to cut us off the rest of the section. This type of behavior has happened to often for me to bother hunting anymore SD openers. Just a heads up on what you may run into. Good luck.
small munsterlander owner
Banned
Welcome to the site & u should have no trouble finding birds outside of the 1st 2 wks of season...
That's opening day in any state with pheasants & on public land rude hunters non sportsmen like behavior...
Hunt the thick wet stuff nobodyelse wanna hunt will be ur best bet... Or find a lonely ditch to walk the public lands will be cut throat
That's opening day in any state with pheasants & on public land rude hunters non sportsmen like behavior...
Hunt the thick wet stuff nobodyelse wanna hunt will be ur best bet... Or find a lonely ditch to walk the public lands will be cut throat
Thanks Musterlander I'm used to hitting the no-mans-land terrain. The only problem there is I'm not as young as I used to be. I'm thinking about putting an ad in the local Craigslist looking for a place to hunt. Then maybe have at least one day of a decent private land hunt.
small munsterlander owner
Banned
Mite work the craigslist add.? Mite be kinda close believe it or not to opener to get on some decent land for opener? All I hunts public only herd don't ask a resident to hunt openers or thanksgiving WK ends???
That is MN pheasant opener same dates if u were there a WK or so later I mite could of joined u 1 day etc.
carptom1
Well-known member
At this stage you won't find land to hunt on opening day. If you do it will be at a price that will make you pucker a bit. I wish you luck. It will be an experience. If it were me I would get up and on the road at the crack of dawn. Find the birds and go to lunch. Go back where you found them a couple hrs before dark and shoot your limit. Then go to dinner. Repeat. Do this as far off the beaten path as you can find. The public on the opener can be insane in spots.
Dakotazeb
Well-known member
You have probably picked the worst possible time to come to SD to pheasant hunt. Highly unlikely you will find any private land to hunt that first week unless you are willing to pay a pretty hefty fee, and then it could even be tough. Most pay-to-hunt land during that first week has already been spoken for. In addition, the Lake Norden area in not one of the better areas for pheasants. I'd head further west out to Huron and beyond. Sorry to burst your bubble but those are just the cold hard facts. I wish you the best of luck and hope you find a few birds.