Question about SD Pheasant Hunting

[bassinator]

Hey,
I'm new to the site and joined b/c me and my roommate, both college students from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, are planning do it yourself waterfowl/pheasant hunting trip to SD in October. I've been going yearly for about 6 years to Roscoe with my dad and his buddies but i wanted to do it all on my own this year. I was wondering what kind of public land is available/worth hunting or if anyone who had some property they'd "lease" while we're up there. Preciate it guys, this is a great site.

 

[UGUIDE]

Hey,
I'm new to the site and joined b/c me and my roommate, both college students from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, are planning do it yourself waterfowl/pheasant hunting trip to SD in October. I've been going yearly for about 6 years to Roscoe with my dad and his buddies but i wanted to do it all on my own this year. I was wondering what kind of public land is available/worth hunting or if anyone who had some property they'd "lease" while we're up there. Preciate it guys, this is a great site.

Bassinator, I can appreciate the ferver to "go it alone" but don't understand why of your pops has got it down why not just go with the flow??? It's a lot of work putting s hunt together. What up bro?

PS. If I was putting a combo pheasant/waterfowl hunt together it would not be in SD but in ND.

 

[birdshooter]

PS. If I was putting a combo pheasant/waterfowl hunt together it would not be in SD but in ND.

I would have to concur with Uguide on this. A good chunk of the best Pheasant hunting and Waterfowl hunting overlap in NoDak. With the exception of maybe the very northern tier most of the central and SE portions of the state has excellent hunting for both. I don't think we're trying to talk you out of SD if that's where you really want to go, just trying to give you ideas on the best bang for your buck.

P.S Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't SD have a lottery or a limited number of Waterfowl licenses for the non resident?

 

[UGUIDE]

P.S Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't SD have a lottery or a limited number of Waterfowl licenses for the non resident?

Birdshooter,

That's exactly right. I think you have to apply in July which is a big turnoff for guys looking for combo hunts. Same deal with whitetail gun.

ND has over the counter waterfowl and upland bird licenses and their zones are pretty big.

I can think of areas that have ducks, sharpies and pheasants. The caveat being this year with all the snow they had over winter. Not sure how dessimated the pops will be. On the contrary, should be good for ducks with all the ponded water and full potholes.

 

[birdshooter]

I hunt NoDak every year and stay in touch periodically with some of the folks i know out there. The Jury is definitely still out on how last years winter kill will affect the populations this fall. It most likely will be down in some areas. If they pull off a good hatch I think it will still be fine though. They had a very high population going into last winter.

One of the nice things about NoDak is the seemingly endless amount of Federal lands (WPA's) which are great for waterfowl or even late season Pheasants.