Part 2 of Hunting Pheasants on SD Public Land

Golden Hour

Golden Hour

Well-known member
I did a part two on the intro to public land video where I talk a bit the different types of public land I encounter. It is by no means complete or comprehensive, just a brief overview.

It is also worth mentioning that while we did get a couple tenths of rain yesterday, northeast SD is under a freeze warning for tonight. Should it freeze hard, the corn harvest will begin in earnest and, barring any setbacks, should be mostly done by the end of the month.

 
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as long as it is dry with no storms predicted a lot of corn will still be in up to Thanksgiving. got to get that moisture content
down to 12% or less.
 
Thanks for this! I'm coming from UT for my first SD Pheasant hunt and it's nice to have a visual of what these map references look like.
 
In this area, most WMA's have been sown with Big Blue Stem...pretty darn hard to hunt, and, I question its value to prairie birds? Why do these areas, purchased with sportsmans money, need to be converted to natural prairie...the state of Minnesota has plenty of state park (no hunting) land they could convert to natural prairie to give tourists the nineteenth century experience.
 
Rogue Hunter said:
In this area, most WMA's have been sown with Big Blue Stem...pretty darn hard to hunt, and, I question its value to prairie birds? Why do these areas, purchased with sportsmans money, need to be converted to natural prairie...the state of Minnesota has plenty of state park (no hunting) land they could convert to natural prairie to give tourists the nineteenth century experience.
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Although the answer to your question eludes me, I've noticed the same thing here in SD. Big bluestem & other "tall" prairie grasses may be OK for winter cover, until there's enough snow to completely knock it down & sock it in. But I don't believe it's very good nesting cover. If there's anything SD public land lacks, it's good, varied, short/medium nesting cover.
 
Good job Lucas. It's a credit to your character that you try to educate other hunters in a sport you pursue.
Sincerely,
Mike
 
Looked like switchgrass and bluestem in your video both great grasses but the problem with most crp and a lot of state wildlife plantings is every acre is planted in the same thing. Birds like varied cover and edges a big sea of the same thing will never have near the potential as if they had strips or blocks of different cover and heights. Also great advice on controlling your dog and checking the handbook. I see lots of illegal road hunting on my land and when out and about working.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
Although the answer to your question eludes me, I've noticed the same thing here in SD. Big bluestem & other "tall" prairie grasses may be OK for winter cover, until there's enough snow to completely knock it down & sock it in. But I don't believe it's very good nesting cover. If there's anything SD public land lacks, it's good, varied, short/medium nesting cover.
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There has been a pretty good push from both the states and feds to convert a lot of the low diversity seedings AKA warm season planting into a high diversity seedings. They are 100% better for wildlife. They just take time and a lot of money.
 
3car said:
There has been a pretty good push from both the states and feds to convert a lot of the low diversity seedings AKA warm season planting into a high diversity seedings. They are 100% better for wildlife. They just take time and a lot of money.
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I've seen basically none of that in my (relatively small) area of the state. That said, all the grass at one of my favorite WPAs was burned recently, so it'll be interesting to see what they do with it. Just let it grow back, or re-seed it? It was VERY homogeneous bluestem. Little to no diversity.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
I've seen basically none of that in my (relatively small) area of the state. That said, all the grass at one of my favorite WPAs was burned recently, so it'll be interesting to see what they do with it. Just let it grow back, or re-seed it? It was VERY homogeneous bluestem. Little to no diversity.
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what county?
 
Golden Hour said:
Sorry to hear about the pup. Hoping for a quick recovery.
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Thanks. It looks like Thanksgiving, if the vet gives the ok. I may hunt with her a little on leash in mello country.Hope she doesn't pull me over!! I saw a big gobbler 2 weeks ago, so I may be able to call him in, and I will use this old sweet 16 on him.(If I can find some good lead amo!).
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
I've seen basically none of that in my (relatively small) area of the state. That said, all the grass at one of my favorite WPAs was burned recently, so it'll be interesting to see what they do with it. Just let it grow back, or re-seed it? It was VERY homogeneous bluestem. Little to no diversity.
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Generally the RX burn is done to stimulate native species and setback the cool season exotics. Its possible that area is planted to High Diversity but the Big Blue has taken over. What month was the fire done? No need to reseed after a fire either. The plants don't die. The USFWS office in Lake County is kinda the leader of SD in the high diversity seedings. They have a native grass harvesting crew and barn to store, dry and clean the seed. If your looking for better stuff maybe reach out to that USFWS office in Madison. Kyle is who your looking to talk to. Great people in that office too.
 
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