blabs
Member
First I would thank all who responded to my earlier post about land access in the Winner area.
My group of 6 guys and 5 dogs hunted for 5 days in the winner area last week 11/12-11/16.
Day 1: tried some of the WPA & WIA, one was in great shape but half was hayed, another was in good shape, and the last one we tried was in poor shape and the cover wasn’t very good. It took us about 4 hours to walk all three. We flushed a few out of the first 2 but the last we didn’t see a bird. In past years at the same point in the season we see many more birds in all three of these areas. One the WPA we have always shot a few. For the last walk of the day we walk 2 patches of Kosher on private ground. With only six guys we couldn’t circle these patches well so we watched fifty or so birds flush out of each but we did manage a few. Day one total was 7 birds in the bag.
Day 2: We hunted only private ground and some very good cover. A 3 large CRP fields and 2 separate stands cedar rows. 2 of the CRP fields were good and we shot birds, the other one didn’t have a bird in it. Same with the cedar rows one had some birds the other didn’t. Over all it was a good day with good dog work. Ended the day with 11 birds in the bag.
Day 3: We hunted the Kosher weed and one of the large CRP fields that we had already hunted. These were much more productive and we bagged 15 birds by 3pm. We seen a good number of birds but the hen to rooster ratio was at least 6 hens to 1 rooster. It made for good dog work. We were able to circle the kosher better and had a good shoot out of those patches. Day 3 total 15 birds in the bag.
Day 4: We hunted another CRP and three more cedar rows. We flushed and killed 1 bird out of each of the cedar rows. The CRP field produced a good number of birds but few flushed close. We ended the day walking grassy fence lines bordering cut corn and shot a few more. We ended the day with 13 birds in the bag.
Day 5: We hunted cattails and small patches of kosher. The cattails provided a couple great retrieves by my young lab, Very happy. We seen the most birds of the week in the cattails possibly 200. Very nice to see but they were wild. We ended the day early at 2 with 14 birds in the bag and 1 lost. Only 1 of the trip.
Overall very good trip to South Dakota, it was much tougher hunting this year than years past. Not many young birds taken but lots of hens for stock. The drought and haying/grazing took a toll on the cover. Bird numbers are way down, didn't see as many on the roads. Lets hope for a mild winter and rain in the spring and summer. I’ll be back next year same place and time.
Kirk
My group of 6 guys and 5 dogs hunted for 5 days in the winner area last week 11/12-11/16.
Day 1: tried some of the WPA & WIA, one was in great shape but half was hayed, another was in good shape, and the last one we tried was in poor shape and the cover wasn’t very good. It took us about 4 hours to walk all three. We flushed a few out of the first 2 but the last we didn’t see a bird. In past years at the same point in the season we see many more birds in all three of these areas. One the WPA we have always shot a few. For the last walk of the day we walk 2 patches of Kosher on private ground. With only six guys we couldn’t circle these patches well so we watched fifty or so birds flush out of each but we did manage a few. Day one total was 7 birds in the bag.
Day 2: We hunted only private ground and some very good cover. A 3 large CRP fields and 2 separate stands cedar rows. 2 of the CRP fields were good and we shot birds, the other one didn’t have a bird in it. Same with the cedar rows one had some birds the other didn’t. Over all it was a good day with good dog work. Ended the day with 11 birds in the bag.
Day 3: We hunted the Kosher weed and one of the large CRP fields that we had already hunted. These were much more productive and we bagged 15 birds by 3pm. We seen a good number of birds but the hen to rooster ratio was at least 6 hens to 1 rooster. It made for good dog work. We were able to circle the kosher better and had a good shoot out of those patches. Day 3 total 15 birds in the bag.
Day 4: We hunted another CRP and three more cedar rows. We flushed and killed 1 bird out of each of the cedar rows. The CRP field produced a good number of birds but few flushed close. We ended the day walking grassy fence lines bordering cut corn and shot a few more. We ended the day with 13 birds in the bag.
Day 5: We hunted cattails and small patches of kosher. The cattails provided a couple great retrieves by my young lab, Very happy. We seen the most birds of the week in the cattails possibly 200. Very nice to see but they were wild. We ended the day early at 2 with 14 birds in the bag and 1 lost. Only 1 of the trip.
Overall very good trip to South Dakota, it was much tougher hunting this year than years past. Not many young birds taken but lots of hens for stock. The drought and haying/grazing took a toll on the cover. Bird numbers are way down, didn't see as many on the roads. Lets hope for a mild winter and rain in the spring and summer. I’ll be back next year same place and time.
Kirk
j/k.