Planning a trip this year

J

Jeff Rath

New member
My buddies and I are trying to put together a trip to SD this year for a pheasant hunt. Are we too late? Here is what I have so far. We have a group of 4 guys. We may grow in numbers by then but only by 1 or 2 maybe. We do not have dogs and have never hunted pheasants in this area before. We are not novice hunters but new to a densely populated wild bird area. We aren't looking for the high dollar lodge experience. We would like to keep our budget to between $200 - $350 per person per night. We would be open if someone local had dogs and would like to join us. We are also not opposed to be added to another small group if that makes the numbers work. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. You can post here or email me at jeff@jeffrath.com
I guess I should add, we will be driving in from Central Ohio.
 
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I can't help you with the details of a potential trip, but without a dog and potentially having up to 6 hunters doesn't sound like a recipe for success if you are hunting wild birds. You will be making noise with that many people and wild birds wise up pretty quick.

If I were you and didn't have a dog, I'd divide and conquer. You'll do much better in small groups of 2 or as singles making less noise. Especially without a dog. You can still harvest roosters without a dog, but it will be more difficult and you might lose more cripples too. Target areas of thinner habitat and use posters if you need to.

I hunted for years without a dog because I didn't have the means of owning or taking care of one. I still got roosters. And I will just add that no dog is better than a poorly trained one.

I'm sure someone will chime in on advice on where and when to hunt in SD. There are a lot of posters here that hunt there.
 
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Jeff, I am not sure where you live but I would recommend you find a guided hunt where your success will go up because you will be using dogs. The next two weekends in the town I live in in Minnesota there is a big outdoor festival called Game Fair. Check it out they have tons of resources at the event.
 
goldenboy said:
Jeff, I am not sure where you live but I would recommend you find a guided hunt where your success will go up because you will be using dogs. The next two weekends in the town I live in in Minnesota there is a big outdoor festival called Game Fair. Check it out they have tons of resources at the event.
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I would love to attend. Unfortunately. I am in central Ohio.
 
I agree with above comments, hard to hunt birds without a dog, not impossible but hard. Small groups will be better but my suggestion is to hire a guide with dogs, you will be much happier and way more successful. Good luck
 
Last year my dad and a couple friends hunted SD for 4 days and the first 3 days we shot 6-8 birds a day on public. At the end of the 3rd day my dog put a stick through is foot and couldn't hunt....we were lucky to shoot the 2 birds birds we did.
 
Define "densely populated wild bird area". ;) What you see on YouTube is mostly preserve "hunting" (using the term loosely), & they're shooting mostly flare nares (pen reared pseudo roosters). It's important to remember that whereas SD does have far more wild pheasants than any other state, they're not just spread out all over the place. At any given time, a localized population of pheasants (for the most part) uses relatively small, specific pieces of habitat, & they use them for specific reasons. If you don't hunt the right spot at the right time, you'll see very few birds (with some exceptions, where you might just get lucky). That's the hardest part, but it gets easier with experience. What makes it harder in SD is that there are so many options (some just a tad bit better than others; therefore holding more birds), whereas in other states, there's just way less habitat, making any birds in an area much easier to find.

If you end up on public land with no dog, then VERY small groups, like 1 or 2; 3 at most. So be prepared to split up your larger group. It can be done though. Absolute silence before hunting (getting out & loading up & stuff) & while hunting. Use hand signals. Hunt into the wind as much as possible. Hunt small pieces of cover where escape routes are minimized &/or you can pinch birds (which can include 2 hunters hunting right toward one another). Try to hunt a spot in a direction somehow different than the last 20 people/groups that hunted it. Try to anticipate escape routes, & silently position a blocker there. Hunt slowly, in an irregular pattern (like zig-zaggy), & stop often (like for up to a minute or 2). If a pheasant is nearby & you stop (still maintaining silence), this is when he's likely to get nervous & flush, or when you take the 1st step again. Hunt the lightest cover possible that pheasants might be likely to use, given a particular time of day & weather conditions. You have to be the dog, so you have to kick through as many square inches as cover as possible, while still covering ground. It's a learned balance. All in all, it's much like hunting SD public land with a dog, but you have to be even more vigilant about the details if you want to see/shoot a few pheasants. Hunting ditches would be another good option, hunted in a similar fashion. Leap frog. One guy gets out to hunt, while the other drives up the road a distance & blocks (yes, pheasant will sometimes escape simply by running down a ditch). Alternate walking & driving/blocking.
 
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A5 Sweet 16 said:
Define "densely populated wild bird area". ;) What you see on YouTube is mostly preserve "hunting" (using the term loosely), & they're shooting mostly flare nares (pen reared pseudo roosters). It's important to remember that whereas SD does have far more wild pheasants than any other state, they're not just spread out all over the place. At any given time, a localized population of pheasants (for the most part) uses relatively small, specific pieces of habitat, & they use them for specific reasons. If you don't hunt the right spot at the right time, you'll see very few birds (with some exceptions, where you might just get lucky). That's the hardest part, but it gets easier with experience. What makes it harder in SD is that there are so many options (some just a tad bit better than others; therefore holding more birds), whereas in other states, there's just way less habitat, making any birds in an area much easier to find.

If you end up on public land with no dog, then VERY small groups, like 1 or 2; 3 at most. So be prepared to split up your larger group. It can be done though. Absolute silence before hunting (getting out & loading up & stuff) & while hunting. Use hand signals. Hunt into the wind as much as possible. Hunt small pieces of cover where escape routes are minimized &/or you can pinch birds (which can include 2 hunters hunting right toward one another). Try to hunt a spot in a direction somehow different than the last 20 people/groups that hunted it. Try to anticipate escape routes, & silently position a blocker there. Hunt slowly, in an irregular pattern (like zig-zaggy), & stop often (like for up to a minute or 2). If a pheasant is nearby & you stop (still maintaining silence), this is when he's likely to get nervous & flush, or when you take the 1st step again. Hunt the lightest cover possible that pheasants might be likely to use, given a particular time of day & weather conditions. You have to be the dog, so you have to kick through as many square inches as cover as possible, while still covering ground. It's a learned balance. All in all, it's much like hunting SD public land with a dog, but you have to be even more vigilant about the details if you want to see/shoot a few pheasants. Hunting ditches would be another good option, hunted in a similar fashion. Leap frog. One guy gets out to hunt, while the other drives up the road a distance & blocks (yes, pheasant will sometimes escape simply by running down a ditch). Alternate walking & driving/blocking.
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By densely populated I mean more than 500 wild birds (possibly the total population of wild birds in the entire state of Ohio LOL). Great advise. appreciate all of the tips.
 
It really comes down to your expectations. Hunting public land without a dog while challenging could frustrate some in your group if someone hunts for 10 days and doesn’t fire a single shot because lack of opportunities. A guided preserve while much more expensive would allow everyone shooting opportunities.
 
hyresmack said:
That's true. But I'll rather work my tail off for a chance at 1 night with Selma Hayak then pay money for a week with a trashy knockoff. Some 'dogs' might not care if they hunting the real deal but mine does. LOL
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I've heard a lot of analogies regarding pen raised vs. wild, but this might be my new favorite. lol
 
hyresmack said:
That's true. But I'll rather work my tail off for a chance at 1 night with Selma Hayak then pay money for a week with a trashy knockoff. Some 'dogs' might not care if they hunting the real deal but
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Now the question is will the OP being willing to spend his two weeks of vacation, drive over 2,000 miles and spend $3k on gas, food and lodging (and is dogless) be willing to only hunt wild birds because the potential guide’s dog(s) knows the difference between wild and preserve birds and doesn’t want to hurt the dog feelings?
 
Glock said:
Now the question is will the OP being willing to spend his two weeks of vacation, drive over 2,000 miles and spend $3k on gas, food and lodging (and is dogless) be willing to only hunt wild birds because the potential guide’s dog(s) knows the difference between wild and preserve birds and doesn’t want to hurt the dog feelings?
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Just because your dog wouldn't know the diff between slammin Salma & a warm can of tuna. It's a joke bro..lighten up, OPP will do what he does & won't effect any of us.
 
Jeff Rath said:
My buddies and I are trying to put together a trip to SD this year for a pheasant hunt. Are we too late? Here is what I have so far. We have a group of 4 guys. We may grow in numbers by then but only by 1 or 2 maybe. We do not have dogs and have never hunted pheasants in this area before. We are not novice hunters but new to a densely populated wild bird area. We aren't looking for the high dollar lodge experience. We would like to keep our budget to between $200 - $350 per person per night. We would be open if someone local had dogs and would like to join us. We are also not opposed to be added to another small group if that makes the numbers work. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. You can post here or email me at jeff@jeffrath.com
I guess I should add, we will be driving in from Central Ohio.
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Jeff, email me and I'll point you in the right direction! I have hunted in North & South Dakota for almost 30 years. I've had a few side stops in Montana, Nebraska & Kansas as well. I may be able to help you if you are still looking! mroffshore77@comcast.net
Bill
 
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