Pheasant Industry in SD

Tomahawker said:
Got a similar situation but way less acres. It is self sustaining but you can’t just keep blasting birds. We release 20 birds on Thanksgiving, the only day it gets party hunted. Everyone gets to shoot without worrying about killing the wild birds. We never get them all. This is the only day some shoot a gun the whole year. Not sure how many make it to breed or be around next season. I think very few. Over 6 years we’ve done this and the breeding resident population has been steady or increasing. This with shooting around 6 wild birds a year. Sans releasing birds, I would not feel comfortable with 4 guys showing up to hunt, possibly each shooting their 2 bird limit and wounding losing a couple more. That combined with a weather event and other natural mortality could really hurt. In a nutshell shell we get to enjoy a big hunt day, especially the rubes, without smashing the wild pop.
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I only hunt wild birds, but when I hunt I generally try not to take more than two from one place, or one ranch, and I usually don't let private ranches more than once per season, sometimes twice on certain ranches that are big. These released birds that the state releases, I don't just don't think that I've come across them except one time.
 
Tomahawker said:
Same, I’ve went to small spot, seen a couple hens and passed on the first cock. Didn’t see another one, and left out of there feeling pretty good about it.
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Good on ya, this time of year, I have a pretty good idea of how many roosters generally are on a piece of ground. You don't want to kill off all the roosters on a piece of ground, you have to leave some for seed.
 
Goosemaster said:
Good on ya, this time of year, I have a pretty good idea of how many roosters generally are on a piece of ground. You don't want to kill off all the roosters on a piece of ground, you have to leave some for seed.
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If I'm hunting a spot with lots of birds, sometimes I'll almost switch to duck hunting tactics. Pass shooting, jump shooting, I've even wondered about throwing out a decoy spread.20251208_140906.jpg
 
Watching ducks drop into a pond and then jump shooting them ... you know where they are ... it becomes a point of where they are in the pond (within or out of gun range).

Jump shooting pheasants after they fly into cover can be tricky if they have corridors or just the ability to run. Sometimes they burst out at your feet ... too often they run themselves into the next county. It always comes down to a decision ... do you chase them immediately or let them settle in for a bit ?? Both strategies work and both strategies fail.
 
Most of my December sharptails that I have bagged are passhooting.

Growing up in ND we would have some pretty good Hun jump shots. Drive, spot, and stalk. When we were late teens and early 20s we actually started to wear our goose hunting whites to aid our sneaks. One good day we had a red fox, coyote, and a half dozen Huns ...
 
Boy has this thread had its ebbs and flows... I like the way Bob and I are taking this thread vs. some of you other guys :unsure:
 
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