private land to hunt in day county

M

michpheasant

New member
My brothers, dad, and I will be in the area and would like to hunt some private land in Day county over thanksgiving (nov.25-nov.28) Does anyone know if there is someone to contact for some private land to hunt? We are lookig for some pheasants to hunt in that area. thanks!
 
Day County is not in what you would call "Prime Pheasant Country". But there are areas that hold birds. I can't help you with any private land but there is a lot of public land in Day County. I've found a few birds on some public land south of Webster. Hopefully someone else on this site can help you out.
 
Thanks for the reply..One of the reasons we go in that direction is due to all the public land to hunt! We have had great bird seasons there in the past, but didn't find much the last time we were out there ( 2 years ago) We are just trying to see if we could pay someone for some fields that haven't been hit to hard.
 
How far away are you from Day county? We will be traveling from michigan and don't mind exploring other areas besides Day county.
 
I'm about 50 miles SE of Webster in Watertown (Codington County). But don't head in this direction. Some of the worst pheasant hunting in the state around here.
 
The Day County Inn used to advertise/broker hunts on private land but that was mid-2000's when there was lots more big field (1/4 section & larger) CRP in that area. I never did it so can't comment on the quality of the hunts.

Also used to see some locals leading large hunts on private land to the north of Webster during the same timeframe. Have not seen that happening lately either.

As said above there is lots of public hunting land to explore in that part of SD but it has not been overly productive in recent years. I still spend a couple days in the area each year and do find enough birds for this solo hunter but it is long days & hard hunting. IMO it would be hard to put up enough birds to keep a big party happy.

I mostly still do it because I've built up a decades worth of useful local knowledge and because the area holds a lot of good memories with my now past lab. 10-years ago it was probably SD's best kept secret in regards to good bird numbers and low hunting pressure. Nowadays not so much. Over the last 5-years I have found myself exploring farther west and south to fill out my 5-day hunts.
 
I live in Webster. (day county) I personally wouldnt waste my time here pheasant hunting. We have very few birds at this point. Still haven't rebounded from poor winter/spring from few years ago. If your coming from long ways..make it worth your while and go little further west. We just don't have a good population of birds here. Also public maps are deceiving here. They may be public but...many are under water or hayed 3 times and it's like hunting a parking lot. Your welcome to come but it will be tough. Good luck either way.
 
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