Quick vote

Would you rather go public land in NW Iowa or South Dakota for early season?

  • NW Iowa

    Votes: 4 9.5%

  • South Dakota

    Votes: 38 90.5%
  • Total voters
    42
You guys might change your mind if the nearest wild pheasant was 500 miles away. I used to say the same thing. I averaged 100 wild quail and 10-15 grouse a year for around 20 years. Laughed at the preserve guys. My cousin owned a preserve for decades 10 miles from my house. I never went there. I said that preserves were for fat old guys who couldn't walk!! I said many times I would quit before I lowered myself to that. Then within 10 years most of the wild quail and all the grouse were gone. I went through a depression stage, was down to one old dog. I considered moving to pheasant land, but my roots here are do deep. I even considered deer hunting!! I hope you scoffers and thumb down guys never have to go through that. 🍻
 
Your dog will not care where the birds were hatched. Have fun, be safe and enjoy the dog. Take a new hunter out for the experience in a controlled release area. Better than talking about wild birds in a bar in the middle of SD. This is not a contest on who hunts the wildest birds. God Bless Dude. I would not trade a trip for a game farm, but probably will not turn down an invite for some dog work.
 
To get into wild birds I have about a 16 hour drive one way. If I could supplement with a preserve at a rate of 4 Rooster for 100.00. I would do it period. I have hunted wild birds for 60 + years. I was hunting Roosters at 7 years old
 
I typically do 4 to 6 Game Farm hunts from December through March.....a couple are for memorials or other special events and a couple are just for fun with the guys.
I have one this next weekend as a matter of fact.....which will be 2 months from the last time my dog was on birds in SD. My dog does not care......and it does not diminish his skills or abilities.
Some birds hold real tight, some run like crazy instead of flying, some flush wild before you ever get close, some run before you ever get close, some the shooters miss and they coast to the private lands, some get crippled and dump to be recovered, some get shot stone dead.
It is what it is.
Extends getting my dog on birds and he is happy.....he is hunting.... scents bird, works bird, points/flushes bird, retrieves bird.... repeat.
 
gimruis said:
100 bucks for 4 birds is cheap? 25 bucks/bird doesn't seem that cheap to me considering I can buy a resident small game license for 26.
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For what it is, yeah its cheap. Pheasants at the nearest DNR approved farm are $20 each plus tax, for dog training. The preserve is $100 tax included for 4 phez or 10 quail. Was lots of birds in the field to make up for the runners that got out, pretty much a guarantee to get your 4. Extra birds past your 4 are $20ea if a guy wants to keep shooting.

I would rather hunt wild birds, but not much of an option for that in feb/march here. I can assure you doing that will cost more than $100 😂

On opener you wont catch me there, but if the season is as rough as last year i may have to supplement with a trip over there every couple weeks to keep the dogs sharp and my mental sanity in check after just flushing hens all day.
 
KEOutdoors said:
For what it is, yeah its cheap. Pheasants at the nearest DNR approved farm are $20 each plus tax, for dog training. The preserve is $100 tax included for 4 phez or 10 quail. Was lots of birds in the field to make up for the runners that got out, pretty much a guarantee to get your 4. Extra birds past your 4 are $20ea if a guy wants to keep shooting.

I would rather hunt wild birds, but not much of an option for that in feb/march here. I can assure you doing that will cost more than $100 😂

On opener you wont catch me there, but if the season is as rough as last year i may have to supplement with a trip over there every couple weeks to keep the dogs sharp and my mental sanity in check after just flushing hens all day.
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I've had memberships to a Game Farm not far from where I live. Small family farm/business. Birds are always reasonably priced for members, a couple bucks more for non-members. Also, they had a deadline that all members had to have their birds used by the 3rd Saturday in December. The pens got emptied that following Monday and they were closed for business, but as a member you could still hunt the property for scratch birds until March 1st. Pretty decent deal. No fee for scratch birds.
The other place I hunt is similar.....doesn't do memberships, but no fee for extra birds as they are already paid for by someone. The owners are friends of mine, so I can hunt scratch birds out there on closed days too. And this place has really good cover aside from "fields".
Again, it's a means to get more birds in front of my dog.....Wisconsin doesn't have what the other states does for wild pheasants or habitat.....it could, but it doesn't. If you are hunting pheasants on public land here, I'd estimate that 1% maybe 2% may be carry overs from previous years DNR plantings......
 
Wow, that's really expensive. In MN and WI I'd say the going rate is 25 shekels a bird. Then maybe a daily fee if you're not a member, like 10 bucks a guy. However there are some with no fees/memberships at all.
 
I've tried to get to two preserves with the dog here in SW Utah but they all want groups, not one guy and a dog. I friend and i found a Pheasant breeder and bought some to work the dogs. I think last time it was $10 for hens, $15 for Roosters. I also keep wings and a whole bird in the freezer to give them something to find from time to time.
 
I grew up hunting wild birds and hopefully die hunting wild birds. I'm not saying that pen raised birds don't have their place in the bird hunting world. In my opinion pen raised birds are a lot like a bluegill pond or a brook trout stream when I was a kid. It was low skill high return with minimal investment. Game bird farms in my opinion are a great way to introduce folks to bird hunting and get them "hooked". That said, I believe those folks who get "hooked" need to be able to fledge to other opportunities and places.
 
Drew said:
I grew up hunting wild birds and hopefully die hunting wild birds. I'm not saying that pen raised birds don't have their place in the bird hunting world. In my opinion pen raised birds are a lot like a bluegill pond or a brook trout stream when I was a kid. It was low skill high return with minimal investment. Game bird farms in my opinion are a great way to introduce folks to bird hunting and get them "hooked". That said, I believe those folks who get "hooked" need to be able to fledge to other opportunities and places.
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Well said.
 
Drew said:
I grew up hunting wild birds and hopefully die hunting wild birds. I'm not saying that pen raised birds don't have their place in the bird hunting world. In my opinion pen raised birds are a lot like a bluegill pond or a brook trout stream when I was a kid. It was low skill high return with minimal investment. Game bird farms in my opinion are a great way to introduce folks to bird hunting and get them "hooked". That said, I believe those folks who get "hooked" need to be able to fledge to other opportunities and places.
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The problem is all them Gucci pretty boys at the high dollar lodges in Sd wearing unwrinkled brand new clothes with no blood stains make it a maximum investment, in my opinion minimal return. And they never fledged to other places like hunting wild phez. They don't have a clue & will swear on a Bible their shooting wild birds. To much grabass for me.
 
KEOutdoors said:
I finally visited a preserve local to me for the first time recently, had a good time and got the dogs some work. Birds held extremely tight or ran like chickens, with no in-between, but flew well and a good time was had by all. It doesn't give the rush of cornering and getting up a wild rooster, but it was fun. Good eating too, nice soft meat. Hundred bucks for 4 birds, which is 2 meals. Hard to beat a fun couple hours in the field plus two great meals for that price.
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It is $130 for 4 birds at my local preserve. I can also have him put out 6 chukar instead for the same price. Those a re great fun for the dog.
 
birddude said:
You guys might change your mind if the nearest wild pheasant was 500 miles away. I used to say the same thing. I averaged 100 wild quail and 10-15 grouse a year for around 20 years. Laughed at the preserve guys. My cousin owned a preserve for decades 10 miles from my house. I never went there. I said that preserves were for fat old guys who couldn't walk!! I said many times I would quit before I lowered myself to that. Then within 10 years most of the wild quail and all the grouse were gone. I went through a depression stage, was down to one old dog. I considered moving to pheasant land, but my roots here are do deep. I even considered deer hunting!! I hope you scoffers and thumb down guys never have to go through that. 🍻
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I really enjoy my trips to the local preserve. The dog gets a lot more enjoyment than I do. I love watching him work the field and make the retrieve. It is 8-9hr drive for me to get into good wild bird country, thus not a quick weekend trip. The preserve is an hour each way.
 
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