New to South Dakota new to bird hunting

Scoutnsodak

Scoutnsodak

New member
I’ve hunted a few preserves in Colorado with guides I moved up to South Dakota recently and I have a Brittany . Looking forward to the upcoming season, I’ve been using onX to scout not looking for specific locations just curious as to what type of cover and where are some good areas for a first time public land bird hunter
 
Scoutnsodak said:
I’ve hunted a few preserves in Colorado with guides I moved up to South Dakota recently and I have a Brittany . Looking forward to the upcoming season, I’ve been using onX to scout not looking for specific locations just curious as to what type of cover and where are some good areas for a first time public land bird hunter
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Welcome to the site and to pheasant hunting. It is addicting and a blast. What part of the state did you move to?
 
gimruis said:
I think that its safe to say that unless you want to potentially encounter an army of other hunters, I would avoid at least first 5 days of the season on public land.
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That gives the crops another week to be gotten out of the fields too.
 
Scoutnsodak said:
I’ve hunted a few preserves in Colorado with guides I moved up to South Dakota recently and I have a Brittany . Looking forward to the upcoming season, I’ve been using onX to scout not looking for specific locations just curious as to what type of cover and where are some good areas for a first time public land bird hunter
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The James River valley to the MO river is a good place to start. Find tall grassy/weedy cover near crops. Cross off school ground on the map (South Dakota Trust Lands) as 95% of those are moonscape.

Since you are local, drive and scout before the season starts. South Dakota is notorious for haying or planting crops on most of the public acres they like to brag about having available. Keep good notes on what you see.

Hopefully you can get a resident license. If so, you might want to just focus on 'golden hour' (last hr or 2 of the day) early in the season when crops are still in. Find good cover near corn and hunt the last hour of the day. And if you are able to hunt the resident opener, definitely do that as the birds will be uneducated and easier to hunt.

Get this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811732274/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
The following was posted by PeteRevvv just a few weeks ago on another thread. Pete gave great info and advice on how to hunt opening week and avoid the crowds. Reposted below.

PeteRevv "I have hunted that general area once a year for a number of decades. There has been good numbers within 20 miles to the north of Huron, especially in dry years where you will still find water near James River and Lake Byron. However even better numbers of birds have been found 40 miles to the north and west that have had more favorable crop rotations and weather in the last 5 years. Those are also pockets of country with less concentration of paid hunting outfits. I do believe that many hunters sign up for a day or two of guaranteed paid land and fill out the rest of the 5 days with public land sections nearby so the pressure is higher right near to towns like Huron. Like sjohn, I also walk the "minimum maintenance" section line roads which are primarily for field access but still public roads as well as ditches by the gravel side roads in between. I hunt exclusively opening week and I get the advantage of the max number of birds and most of them dumb for the first couple days when they don't know to stay in the crops. I see and get birds regardless of the harvest progress during opening week. Since I am never at the few main walk-in areas, I never see another hunter and rarely another vehicle on the roads. I stay away from fields being actively harvested until the tractors are done so I don't get in their way and that is the only traffic I see normally. If it's too hot to run the dog all day long, I take shorter roads and cool the dog in air conditioning in between spots. Well defined ditches with another guy to be a blocker are nearly as effective as using a dog as long as you are willing to get into the thick stuff every once in a while. I hunt half the time without a dog and still get all our birds every day with the numbers in these areas above."
 
Some details on above: I would encourage every hunter new to SD to start out with scouting drives during hunting hours opening week until you see them on the road or in the ditch and then get out to do short walks in those ditches. They will hold in ditches for a single walker, or a dog flushing them out or two people with one blocking up at the next road approach. Even mowed ditches this year can work as the birds are either in the grass under the fence line or they are holding tight to the ground in the bottom of the ditch. They can disappear in about 12 inches of grass when they need to. It's a versatile approach for any situation and gets you hunting regardless of whether you can find private or public fields to walk. Birds are going to and from feeding in these cases so staying in front of corn fields is key. Bigger the cornfield, the better. The more corn fields in the area, the better. This year in dry conditions, finding water sources next to corn fields will likely really concentrate the birds. Bird numbers vary a lot within 10 mile so you need to get out of areas where you see just a few and find areas that do have numbers- and then keep circling that area.

You get to see lots of the countryside, put an eye on walk-in locations to come back to later in the season and you are guaranteed to have miles of open country to yourself. Keep in mind I am an out of state hunter, frequently without a dog and only hunt opener so I have a different set of conditions to deal with than many frequent posters on this board. They are after a different experience since many are local to SD or nearby so they have many weeks to pick and chose for hunting, have hunted a long time in the area and have fields picked out to bring their skilled hunting dogs that have benefitted from regular exposure to birds. They tend to be older, want cool weather for easier walking, big open fields to run their dog/s and no crops in the field so the birds are concentrated in the grass. They can wait until the crowds leave and enjoy the controlled conditions of hunting alone without the complexity of other dogs or hunters in the mix. I may kid them a bit about our differences but what they have is a very good thing and I don't begrudge them for encouraging more people to achieve what they have going. I have the same desire for novices to get out and have success early on so they some day can get to the position that they skip opener and wait for the crops to come off too.
 
Haven't hunted SD yet but will this November. Have hunted pheasants for many years. If I was going solo with just me and the dog I'd focus on edges if possible. Also, I'd work into the wind and trust the dog. Be quiet with doors/unloading and hollering at the dog. Go SLOW. Even an old rooster will let you walk by sometimes. Also, if that dog gets on a bird stay with him. Dog may track that bird quite a ways before it either holds for a flush or finally flushes out of range. I quail hunt a lot down here in Oklahoma and always felt it took my dogs a bit to realize we were doing something a little different and that the birds acted different. But the dogs always seemed to slow down and figure it out as the day went along.
 
akp said:
Haven't hunted SD yet but will this November. Have hunted pheasants for many years. If I was going solo with just me and the dog I'd focus on edges if possible. Also, I'd work into the wind and trust the dog. Be quiet with doors/unloading and hollering at the dog. Go SLOW. Even an old rooster will let you walk by sometimes. Also, if that dog gets on a bird stay with him. Dog may track that bird quite a ways before it either holds for a flush or finally flushes out of range. I quail hunt a lot down here in Oklahoma and always felt it took my dogs a bit to realize we were doing something a little different and that the birds acted different. But the dogs always seemed to slow down and figure it out as the day went along.
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Thanks for the insight
Good luck in November
 
PeteRevvv said:
Some details on above: I would encourage every hunter new to SD to start out with scouting drives during hunting hours opening week until you see them on the road or in the ditch and then get out to do short walks in those ditches. They will hold in ditches for a single walker, or a dog flushing them out or two people with one blocking up at the next road approach. Even mowed ditches this year can work as the birds are either in the grass under the fence line or they are holding tight to the ground in the bottom of the ditch. They can disappear in about 12 inches of grass when they need to. It's a versatile approach for any situation and gets you hunting regardless of whether you can find private or public fields to walk. Birds are going to and from feeding in these cases so staying in front of corn fields is key. Bigger the cornfield, the better. The more corn fields in the area, the better. This year in dry conditions, finding water sources next to corn fields will likely really concentrate the birds. Bird numbers vary a lot within 10 mile so you need to get out of areas where you see just a few and find areas that do have numbers- and then keep circling that area.

You get to see lots of the countryside, put an eye on walk-in locations to come back to later in the season and you are guaranteed to have miles of open country to yourself. Keep in mind I am an out of state hunter, frequently without a dog and only hunt opener so I have a different set of conditions to deal with than many frequent posters on this board. They are after a different experience since many are local to SD or nearby so they have many weeks to pick and chose for hunting, have hunted a long time in the area and have fields picked out to bring their skilled hunting dogs that have benefitted from regular exposure to birds. They tend to be older, want cool weather for easier walking, big open fields to run their dog/s and no crops in the field so the birds are concentrated in the grass. They can wait until the crowds leave and enjoy the controlled conditions of hunting alone without the complexity of other dogs or hunters in the mix. I may kid them a bit about our differences but what they have is a very good thing and I don't begrudge them for encouraging more people to achieve what they have going. I have the same desire for novices to get out and have success early on so they some day can get to the position that they skip opener and wait for the crops to come off too.
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Thanks for all of the valuable info.
 
You have a Brittany. Hunt the grass. Birds are there. Yes - many are in the corn until the last hour, but not all.

You have a Brittany. Do not fear walking something just walked ... especially if your dog can stretch out a bit. You would be surprised at the birds that run around, off to the side and even back behind hunters.

SD resident you get the weekend or so before the general opener.
 
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