Pheasant update

If I lived in the Sioux Falls area I’d head to Iowa too…especially if I was sticking to a radius of 80 miles give or take…if for no other reason, you probably have fewer hunters you’re competing with…lots of people on the SD side of the border on that side of the state…not sure about Iowa, you’ve got Sioux City, some other cities as well…
 
benelli-banger said:
If I lived in the Sioux Falls area I’d head to Iowa too…especially if I was sticking to a radius of 80 miles give or take…if for no other reason, you probably have fewer hunters you’re competing with…lots of people on the SD side of the border on that side of the state…not sure about Iowa, you’ve got Sioux City, some other cities as well…
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If you were a public land hunter, you wouldn't. The opportunities in IA pale in comparison to those in SD, & I do mean PALE! They've only got a small fraction of the public ground, & it's as I've said before. Similar to MN, the public is the only game in town. Because of the makeup of surrounding ground, public is really about the only place pheasants can live in an area. Whereas SD usually has lots more public nearby, in addition to private ground that's suitable habitat. Consequently, SD has tons more pheasants & tons more opportunities to hunt them. How often have you heard me complain about hunting pressure around Sioux Falls? Nearly never. I experience very, very little direct competition. Are my spots being hunted a lot at other times? Yes, but it has little effect on my hunting. Practically all my hunting is within 60 miles of SF; the vast majority of it is 40-50. Some folks think I shoot almost my share of pheasants & don't work all that hard to do it.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
If you were a public land hunter, you wouldn't. The opportunities in IA pale in comparison to those in SD, & I do mean PALE! They've only got a small fraction of the public ground, & it's as I've said before. Similar to MN, the public is the only game in town. Because of the makeup of surrounding ground, public is really about the only place pheasants can live in an area. Whereas SD usually has lots more public nearby, in addition to private ground that's suitable habitat. Consequently, SD has tons more pheasants & tons more opportunities to hunt them. How often have you heard me complain about hunting pressure around Sioux Falls? Nearly never. I experience very, very little direct competition. Are my spots being hunted a lot at other times? Yes, but it has little effect on my hunting. Practically all my hunting is within 60 miles of SF; the vast majority of it is 40-50. Some folks think I shoot almost my share of pheasants & don't work all that hard to do it.
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Good to know. All theoretical, I won’t be in either area more than likely…heading to SD now…scoping things out, been 5 weeks…finally got rain where I’m at…🙏🏻🍺
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
If you were a public land hunter, you wouldn't. The opportunities in IA pale in comparison to those in SD, & I do mean PALE! They've only got a small fraction of the public ground, & it's as I've said before. Similar to MN, the public is the only game in town. Because of the makeup of surrounding ground, public is really about the only place pheasants can live in an area. Whereas SD usually has lots more public nearby, in addition to private ground that's suitable habitat. Consequently, SD has tons more pheasants & tons more opportunities to hunt them.
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I generally agree, however, SD also limits you to hunting 10 days total per annual license as a non-resident and they have to be two 5-day events or one 10 day. Whereas Iowa allows you to hunt whenever and how often you want to hunt for the entire season which is the same as MN. For people who want to spread their hunting out throughout most or all of the season, Iowa may be a better option. The selling point now in SD is that their season also runs all the way through January, if the weather permits.

I really have no interest in hunting for 5 or 10 days in a row. I'd rather hunt a day here, a day there when better conditions present themselves. But that's just me.

Comparing the two public hunting opportunities isn't even comparable. SD wins that every time.
 
Good to know. It’s all theory for me, won’t be hunting either area. On my way to SD now, had some rain over the past few days…huge! Gorgeous drive through W MN! Looking good…
 
gimruis said:
I generally agree, however, SD also limits you to hunting 10 days total per annual license as a non-resident and they have to be two 5-day events or one 10 day. Whereas Iowa allows you to hunt whenever and how often you want to hunt for the entire season which is the same as MN. For people who want to spread their hunting out throughout most or all of the season, Iowa may be a better option. The selling point now in SD is that their season also runs all the way through January, if the weather permits.

I really have no interest in hunting for 5 or 10 days in a row. I'd rather hunt a day here, a day there when better conditions present themselves. But that's just me.

Comparing the two public hunting opportunities isn't even comparable. SD wins that every time.
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You're right, Iowa's non-resident license is superior. SD's is dumb. FWIW, you can buy as many SD non-resident licenses as you want. Can start to add up quickly, but some people buy several.
 
Got to SD…looking good, saw lots of birds, hearing a lot crowing now that I’m not driving…found 16 gauge #5 lead, 1 1/8 oz, 1300 fps, $16.50…fiocchi…decent deal. Saw a rooster and a hen freeze in an open area and flatten themselves…very cool…ran away after 10 seconds.
 
benelli-banger said:
Got to SD…looking good, saw lots of birds, hearing a lot crowing now that I’m not driving…found 16 gauge #5 lead, 1 1/8 oz, 1300 fps, $16.50…fiocchi…decent deal. Saw a rooster and a hen freeze in an open area and flatten themselves…very cool…ran away after 10 seconds.
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Do you think they froze together last winter? I heard some farmers had to scrape their carcasses of the fields so they could even plant.
 
gimruis said:
I like to pheasant hunt, but not THAT much.
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4 licenses, roughly $500…40 days…I don’t gamble, but know lots of people that lose that in 30 minutes. I’ll take $13/day…5-10 miles of walking with my dogs, thousands of dumb, pen-raised birds stumbling around…priceless! I
heard in the next election year Kristi instructed GFP to leave the blinders on the roosters, she’s gonna have campaign slogans printed on them. 🥳🍺❤️
 
benelli-banger said:
4 licenses, roughly $500…40 days
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You are a rare breed, indeed. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that very few hunters are willing to fork over buying 4 separate licenses of the exact same variety in order to full fill a hunting need. In fact, I would say that most non-residents don't even buy two of them.
 
gimruis said:
You are a rare breed, indeed. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that very few hunters are willing to fork over buying 4 separate licenses of the exact same variety in order to full fill a hunting need. In fact, I would say that most non-residents don't even buy two of them.
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I buy 2 ND licenses as well…sometimes MT…I hunt around 50-55 days from early Sept to mid/late Jan…and that was before I retired! And I travel to SD several times each spring/summer…like right now…tons of fun! Maybe I’ll find other passions that compete for my time…no, won’t happen! 😆
 
benelli-banger said:
And I travel to SD several times each spring/summer…like right now…
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I was in the Brookings area all last week for work. It was hot, dry, dusty, and 90+ degrees every day. Crops look terrible. Locals were already complaining about the heat and lack of rain. Had to wash my work car three times because of the dirt, dust, and bugs. I won't be going back unless I'm forced to. The drive there is terrible, and coming home is just as bad. Musta hit at least 15 road construction zones. If I traveled there this time of year for "fun," I'd re-think my trajectory in life right now lol
 
gimruis said:
I was in the Brookings area all last week for work. It was hot, dry, dusty, and 90+ degrees every day. Crops look terrible. Locals were already complaining about the heat and lack of rain. Had to wash my work car three times because of the dirt, dust, and bugs. I won't be going back unless I'm forced to. The drive there is terrible, and coming home is just as bad. Musta hit at least 15 road construction zones. If I traveled there this time of year for "fun," I'd re-think my trajectory in life right now lol
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We got 2” of rain here last weekend, things are looking great. I have lots of good friends here, always a highlight for me and my dogs…gonna smoke chickens today and feed my friends tonight. I have land here, wanted to check on the food plots, and settle up with my farm pal who planted them. Love the drive out here, including much of the MN portion…beautiful! I’m retired as of a few months ago, but if I’ve got XM radio, my phone, coffee, my dogs, I’m happy and productive…I chose this timeframe, not hot here…humid and hot isn’t my thing.
 
gimruis said:
I was in the Brookings area all last week for work. It was hot, dry, dusty, and 90+ degrees every day. Crops look terrible. Locals were already complaining about the heat and lack of rain. Had to wash my work car three times because of the dirt, dust, and bugs. I won't be going back unless I'm forced to. The drive there is terrible, and coming home is just as bad. Musta hit at least 15 road construction zones. If I traveled there this time of year for "fun," I'd re-think my trajectory in life right now lol
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I live in Brookings and some on here have doubted my assessments of how dry this area is.
As for the road construction , S.D. has 2 seasons- winter and road construction.
 
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