Planning for 2015

H

hunter94

Well-known member
just wanted to share my thoughts.......i spent 9 days in SD last season, around Oct. 24-Nov.2. i knew hunting that early was going to be tough since most of the corn would still be in......and it was, some days were really frustrating, temps up to 76 degrees as well.

my buddy had planned to make his trip a few days before Thanksgiving, so when i got back home i was sure i had picked the wrong time to go, as the corn would be gone and cooler temps would be on tap at that time....well, we all know how quickly the snow and cold hit SD in November and he had a really tough 4 day hunt, roads drifted shut, birds bunched and jumping wild and colder than hell! i was suddenly very grateful i had gone earlier...that kind of weather really changes things, not that hunting in the snow can't be good, but how much and temps and wind can monkey things up in a hurry.

this year i have Oct. 29 thru Nov. 7th planned....... and i won't be complaining if it is warm and dry. hunting in a T shirt and driving trail roads with no worries is not that bad! :thumbsup:
 
Hunter - you gotta love SD in the fall. "its like a box of chocolates...". I hunted opener last fall and had to quit after a couple hours because it was too hot for the dogs. Two weeks later, my son and I quit because of the windy sleet. Opener 2013 was cold windy with light snow. I have been gotten sun burned and frozen hunting in October in SD. If you go mid-end of November at least you can count on it being cool-cold and not worry about over heating.:)
 
Hunter- I am planning to meet my son in SD this fall for the opener. He will come from Denver and me from Iowa. I look at it as a tune up for the Iowa opener. This will be the third time we have made the SD opener. We have always had pretty good luck and yes it can get hot but we just take more breaks and it all works out. I hope you see a lot of birds and I hope the weather works out for you.
 
i will take the excessively warm weather and crops being in over slick, snow covered roads and impassable county roads + bunched birds and wading snow drifts.....my buddy was pissed and had a real tough time......saw lots of birds, way out of shotgun range. :eek:
 
Might be easier on humans to hunt when it is 75 degress and sunny, but its not easier on dogs. I'll take cold and snow over heat and sun any day if my dogs are happy. As far as birds being tougher and bunched up later, I find that better than having standing crops which spread the birds out and provide so much cover...IMHO.
 
here's my point.......just my opinion. it takes me 13 1/2 hours to make the drive on dry roads, one way.........ice/snow covered roads make it miserable.

when the snow gets deep, the birds bunch up so much that when one sees you and takes flight, they all get up for a quarter mile around....you might catch a few sleepers after you wade through the cattails and snow that's ass deep to a camel.....good luck getting the dog through the deep stuff too....i don't like the heat and platoon my dogs and water them when it is too warm, but i can get down any road i want and the birds are scattered out and i enjoy watching my dogs work single birds to a point......freezing my ass off to maybe jump a bunch of birds in the cats and calling it a day has little appeal for me...just sayin. it's interesting to see how others see it.....i like snow, prefer it, but it doesn't take a lot with some wind to really ass things up...a little goes a long way!
 
Last edited:
I'm heading out this fall for my first trip. I'm hoping to get into some sharp tails are the hard to get into range. The more I read about the trip the more excited it get
 
hunter94 said:
here's my point.......just my opinion. it takes me 13 1/2 hours to make the drive on dry roads, one way.........ice/snow covered roads make it miserable.

when the snow gets deep, the birds bunch up so much that when one sees you and takes flight, they all get up for a quarter mile around....you might catch a few sleepers after you wade through the cattails and snow that's ass deep to a camel.....good luck getting the dog through the deep stuff too....i don't like the heat and platoon my dogs and water them when it is too warm, but i can get down any road i want and the birds are scattered out and i enjoy watching my dogs work single birds to a point......freezing my ass off to maybe jump a bunch of birds in the cats and calling it a day has little appeal for me...just sayin. it's interesting to see how others see it.....i like snow, prefer it, but it doesn't take a lot with some wind to really ass things up...a little goes a long way!
Click to expand...

Hunter,
Our group is in the same boat. Nice weather / roads with endless standing corn or the possibility of tough weather / travel conditions. We are planning on 11/2-11/6. If some corn is out that's a huge bonus. Our best hunting is grass fields adjacent to standing corn the last hour of the day.

Bob
 
Almost every year we go near Winner the 1st or 2nd weekend of December.
2014- 70's on Friday, 60's on Saturday, 30s on Sunday
2013- Trip got cancelled due to group conflict
2012- Saturday, low teens and snow, Sunday, huge snowstorm and had to stay till Monday morning due to gravel roads drifted shut & I-90 closed.
2011- Don't remember the exact temps, but looking through pictures it was t-shirt weather for everybody.
2010- Sideways sleet and snow, wind chills around -20 the entire time. Air temp in the negatives as well. That Sunday morning was the same day that the Metrodome roof collapsed.

So, it looks like it's been an every other year thing for our group. I guess 2015 should be some nasty weather for us if the trend continues.
 
Jackrabbit - Great post! What you just described (in a very factual &realistic way) is the kind of weather we all hunt pheasants in no matter where we hunt them. We can cuss it, discuss it and prepare for it but we can't change it. If we don't prepare ourselves and our dogs to hunt in the extremes then we have no one to blame but ourselves for a poor outcome. I go to SD for the opener because pheasant hunting is my passion in life and I can't wait that extra week for the Iowa opener. I am blessed to have an understanding wife and the financial resources to be able to pursue my passion. I personally give the weather very little consideration when I decide to hunt other than how I am going to dress for the day and where the pheasants will be located. My philosophy has always been, any time I spend hunting pheasants is going to be more fun than anything else I would be doing. Well almost anything...
 
Thank you! You can adjust to anything out there. With enough walking I usually work up a sweat, if dressed right, even a sweat in the negative temps. My lab hunts A LOT better in temps from about 30 on down as opposed to 50+. Conditioning the dog year round, providing water, etc. all goes a long ways towards the fall. Having light boots and thick winter boots, light shirt or heavy jacket, allows us humans to hunt in any condition pretty comfortably. Walking through brush in 0 degrees I stay a lot warmer than sitting on a bucket ice fishing in 0 degrees! The last day of the season this year I went out because the dog deserved one final outing, it was brutally cold, I actually wore ski goggles and it worked out okay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top