Lointer man
Active member
Goose, like you, I kinda get it and I most definitely did in my 20’s and 30’s, now I’m kinda thinking about the pay to play method.
Pay to Play rates in SD
- Thread starter PairOfLabs
- Start date
My first experience with SD pheasant hunting was in 2015. A buddy invited
me to join a group on their second year hunting with a guide outfitter on a private farm.
He and I decided to drive up from Mississippi several days early to take in Rushmore, Custer, and the Badlands before meeting the rest of the group on Thursday night to hunt Fri sat and Sun at the farmer’s operation. Thursday afternoon, we decided to kick around public land without a dog. We bagged 3 and, if it weren’t for poor shooting, we should have taken a two man limit that one afternoon without a dog.
In 2016, 2018 and 2019, due to travel plans, we only did the pay to play route and hunted the farmers place.
After experiencing the hunts on the private land, with a guide and over working dogs, I decided I’d like to one day have a dog adequate enough the join me on public land freelance hunts.
I got a lab puppy for Christmas 2020 and I worked her on pen-raised quail in spring and summer of 2021. In November 2021, I drove up to SD solo a week before the annual group hunt on the private farm. I spent 5 days kicking around public land with my own dog before meeting up with my regular group for the pay hunt that weekend. My dog flushed her first rooster on the second field we tried, and she had plenty of encounters over the next few days to make the freelance experience it worth the drive on it own. On the farmers place, she had many more encounter’s with birds, and started to get the hang of what was going on.
Obviously, the freelance route is more economical, and I enjoy the solitude of just being with my dog for a few days.
On the other hand, I also enjoy the annual group hunt with the guys that I only get to see a few times a year and we have a great time fellowshipping at the farm house catching up With each other while developing a friendship with our host.
The drive to SD is 14-16 hours one way for me. Due to work responsibilities and having older teenagers involved with extra curriculars, it’s worth it to me to pay the price to hunt on private land with my buddies at the farmers’ place over seasoned bird dogs every year or two. I also take the opportunity to explore new places and get the lay of the available public lands if work and family responsibilities happen to allow me to slip away for a freelance trip on a long weekend.
me to join a group on their second year hunting with a guide outfitter on a private farm.
He and I decided to drive up from Mississippi several days early to take in Rushmore, Custer, and the Badlands before meeting the rest of the group on Thursday night to hunt Fri sat and Sun at the farmer’s operation. Thursday afternoon, we decided to kick around public land without a dog. We bagged 3 and, if it weren’t for poor shooting, we should have taken a two man limit that one afternoon without a dog.
In 2016, 2018 and 2019, due to travel plans, we only did the pay to play route and hunted the farmers place.
After experiencing the hunts on the private land, with a guide and over working dogs, I decided I’d like to one day have a dog adequate enough the join me on public land freelance hunts.
I got a lab puppy for Christmas 2020 and I worked her on pen-raised quail in spring and summer of 2021. In November 2021, I drove up to SD solo a week before the annual group hunt on the private farm. I spent 5 days kicking around public land with my own dog before meeting up with my regular group for the pay hunt that weekend. My dog flushed her first rooster on the second field we tried, and she had plenty of encounters over the next few days to make the freelance experience it worth the drive on it own. On the farmers place, she had many more encounter’s with birds, and started to get the hang of what was going on.
Obviously, the freelance route is more economical, and I enjoy the solitude of just being with my dog for a few days.
On the other hand, I also enjoy the annual group hunt with the guys that I only get to see a few times a year and we have a great time fellowshipping at the farm house catching up With each other while developing a friendship with our host.
The drive to SD is 14-16 hours one way for me. Due to work responsibilities and having older teenagers involved with extra curriculars, it’s worth it to me to pay the price to hunt on private land with my buddies at the farmers’ place over seasoned bird dogs every year or two. I also take the opportunity to explore new places and get the lay of the available public lands if work and family responsibilities happen to allow me to slip away for a freelance trip on a long weekend.
Goosemaster
Well-known member
Doubt it
It’s pretty easy to tell if the bird is wild or not. When I last hunted the Winner area in 2019 just about all of the birds that we shoot were pen raised birds. We hunted different farms and paid $175 per gun/day.
We asked one of the farmers about him releasing birds and he said he released a bunch of birds early in the year…but probably he released them that same morning.
One farm we hunted I’m 100% sure he didn’t release any birds, but we still shoot a good amount of pen raised birds on his farm because so many are released in the area.
Back up until 2007 or so, 8-9 guy limits of wild birds happened all day every day in 2-3 hours at most.
We asked one of the farmers about him releasing birds and he said he released a bunch of birds early in the year…but probably he released them that same morning.
One farm we hunted I’m 100% sure he didn’t release any birds, but we still shoot a good amount of pen raised birds on his farm because so many are released in the area.
Back up until 2007 or so, 8-9 guy limits of wild birds happened all day every day in 2-3 hours at most.
carptom1
Well-known member
You truly don’t know what your talking about. I have done it more than once around Blunt and Draper.
Winchester30
Active member
Not hunting the same fields every day.
carptom1
Well-known member
Yes we hunted the same 20 acre patch every day for 5 days. He said the birds came back every night. Oh and he also said his place was special because we could shoot hens. But he assured us they were all wild
Speaking of pay to play rates…I’m currently en route to South Dakota to hunt a farm about an hour south of Miller. I hunted the farm from about 2000-2015 until the farmer decided he was no longer going to have hunters.
As a trespass fee and to be able to hunt this farm again…two guys in our group went out to the farm and worked for a week last summer.
As a trespass fee and to be able to hunt this farm again…two guys in our group went out to the farm and worked for a week last summer.
birddude
Well-known member
Totally agree. I don't have to prove anything anymore! I'm old and tired, my glory days are behind me. If I want to pay for some easier hunting or anything else, I want, I will!! I've earned it with blood and sweat. Not much impresses me anymore because I've seen the best. And no one will make me feel bad about paying !!
cheers my friendsbenelli-banger
Well-known member
Watching the dogs get crazy birdy is my reward…source of the birds means less to me, but I don’t hunt game farms much, could see doing it in the future if time or health were issues.
Winchester30
Active member
If you’re going to “pay to play” not much sense in traveling to SD, as most states have private game farms.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
If you can hunt wild birds in SD in real habitat, it’s much different than having a preserve put out 10 or 20 birds. Seeing what can happen when a few sections of land is good habitat is pretty awesome! Some years better than others, but it’s spectacular…but beware of too much ag land with food plots or corn strips and minimal grass…may be a hoax. I’d say you need a big % of actual habitat to carry big #’s.
Tuckr2
Active member
Having hunted release sites in Washington state the majority of my life, my trips to North Dakota bring immense pleasure. While we may not limit every day we see so much beauty in the area and the wild flushes make this pure enjoyment.
I try not to knock anyone who would pay to hunt on areas that have supplemented birds. After all many of us pay tons of money to drive and stay in different states and we do want to bring home birds too. Seems for me as I get more gray hair I find myself enjoying the friendships, remote views, friendly locals, and most especially seeing my dog learn from working wild birds in the field.
Nodak last week and it’s back to Washington fields this week. The dogs and I had a blast.
I try not to knock anyone who would pay to hunt on areas that have supplemented birds. After all many of us pay tons of money to drive and stay in different states and we do want to bring home birds too. Seems for me as I get more gray hair I find myself enjoying the friendships, remote views, friendly locals, and most especially seeing my dog learn from working wild birds in the field.
Nodak last week and it’s back to Washington fields this week. The dogs and I had a blast.
Goosemaster
Well-known member
People on here are missing the point.Pay hunting is not a good thing, in any form.
benelli-banger
Well-known member
That train left the station 30 years ago; but the important thing is I was just hunting public land the last 2 days within 150 miles of mpls/st Paul, 3.5 million people, and close to many other decent sized towns, and had all the land to ourselve’s and shot our MN limit both days, and drove by dozens of public spots that looked good and no hunters! End of the BS!
gimruis
Well-known member
I have hunted within 60 miles of that metropolis and routinely filled my bag limit for over 20 years. Sometimes I spend more time driving to/from than I do hunting.