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519vx

519vx

Member
I Drove straight thru from SE Wisconsin today. After the required stop at Cabelas in Mitchell, I started my own rooster road trip. It's just me and Sage, my five year old Golden. Initially went south of mitchell and I struggled. Headed back north and west.

I was disappointed with the walk in and GPA areas. Much of the cover was thin, including some of what had been cattle graze land. The further north and west was more ag land. Harvest is in full force but there is still a lot of standing corn.

Finally found a "good" looking ditch and finally got the gun out.sage was happy to finally get out of the truck (she and I are buddies and she rides up front in the truck with me, but I think my driving makes her nervous lol). About 1/2 way down she got birdy and worked a scent for probably 50 ft before the bird went into an area we couldn't go in.

Drove another 10 miles or so and found a real nice looking spot. Uncut corn with tall weeds and cattails in the ditch. The sun was starting to go down so I figured anything in the corn would be making its way out soon. I was excited and disappointed when I open my truck door that two roosters flushed wild. Sage was dialed in and we started to hunt. I have a slight physical issue so I don't move very quick and Sage stayed close where I like her. All of a sudden the tail starts to go. After about 30 feet, up goes a nice rooster over the corn. I pretty much stink at sporting clays so am here to brag about going 100% on the shooting today lol (1 shot, 1 rooster in the bag).

The bird dropped in the standing corn and she quickly located it and made a nice retrieve that made me happy.

700+ miles today for one nice wild rooster. Worth every second burned and every dollar spent. It ain't just about killing birds (although the mrs and I love eating phez).

More reports to come.
 
Definitely worth it!! I'll be coming from just about the same distance. Can't wait till I get up there in a couple weeks.:cheers:
 
I know it is about the hunt, but getting that bird kind of dotted the "I's" and crossed the "T's" didn't it?

Congratulations to Sage and to you.:thumbsup:
 
519vx said:
I Drove straight thru from SE Wisconsin today. After the required stop at Cabelas in Mitchell, I started my own rooster road trip. It's just me and Sage, my five year old Golden. Initially went south of mitchell and I struggled. Headed back north and west.

I was disappointed with the walk in and GPA areas. Much of the cover was thin, including some of what had been cattle graze land. The further north and west was more ag land. Harvest is in full force but there is still a lot of standing corn.

Finally found a "good" looking ditch and finally got the gun out.sage was happy to finally get out of the truck (she and I are buddies and she rides up front in the truck with me, but I think my driving makes her nervous lol). About 1/2 way down she got birdy and worked a scent for probably 50 ft before the bird went into an area we couldn't go in.

Drove another 10 miles or so and found a real nice looking spot. Uncut corn with tall weeds and cattails in the ditch. The sun was starting to go down so I figured anything in the corn would be making its way out soon. I was excited and disappointed when I open my truck door that two roosters flushed wild. Sage was dialed in and we started to hunt. I have a slight physical issue so I don't move very quick and Sage stayed close where I like her. All of a sudden the tail starts to go. After about 30 feet, up goes a nice rooster over the corn. I pretty much stink at sporting clays so am here to brag about going 100% on the shooting today lol (1 shot, 1 rooster in the bag).

The bird dropped in the standing corn and she quickly located it and made a nice retrieve that made me happy.

700+ miles today for one nice wild rooster. Worth every second burned and every dollar spent. It ain't just about killing birds (although the mrs and I love eating phez).

More reports to come.
Click to expand...



Good job. Thanks for the report.
 
Day 2- the struggle is real lol. My legs are tired. The dog is out cold. The one rooster in the cooler is still alone. Headed north today. Definitely more birds but in my opinion off from last year. Hunter density seems off but not by much. Hotel has open rooms during the week but they are full this weekend.

The walk in areas are better here than near mitchell in terms of cover. I hit some favorite right of ways that I found the last couple of years and a good spot is a good spot.

The only in-range rooster I flushed today was at about 10:30 when I let Sage out on a right of way to pee. That said we (Sage and me) probably put up 30 birds today. That includes those stinkin flush on the sound of a truck door. Darn it!! The birds are here, but they are super skittish. Keep that in mind for choke selection.

90% of the birds I saw today were relating in some way to standings crops, either corn or sunflowers. Keep that in mind if you plan to hunt ditches. Also when you are driving the section roads, watch the sides of the road for the yellow reflective markers on posts. Those mark culverts which can mean water and higher weeds which could hold a bird. No guarantees but watch for them.

They are actively harvesting but there's a lot of standing crops. It will be a different hunt in a few weeks as the standing crops will be gone. If when I come back, I may consider a later trip to avoid the crop harvest issue.

I also noticed at least a 4:1 hen to rooster flush rate today. That tells me there is heavy pressure on the birds but good hope for the future.

So, no birds in the bag for me today. Bad day you say? NO WAY!!! I still had fun and saw some birds.

Good luck to all that are hunting or are planning their trips.
 
519vx said:
Day 2- the struggle is real lol. My legs are tired. The dog is out cold. The one rooster in the cooler is still alone. Headed north today. Definitely more birds but in my opinion off from last year. Hunter density seems off but not by much. Hotel has open rooms during the week but they are full this weekend.

The walk in areas are better here than near mitchell in terms of cover. I hit some favorite right of ways that I found the last couple of years and a good spot is a good spot.

The only in-range rooster I flushed today was at about 10:30 when I let Sage out on a right of way to pee. That said we (Sage and me) probably put up 30 birds today. That includes those stinkin flush on the sound of a truck door. Darn it!! The birds are here, but they are super skittish. Keep that in mind for choke selection.

90% of the birds I saw today were relating in some way to standings crops, either corn or sunflowers. Keep that in mind if you plan to hunt ditches. Also when you are driving the section roads, watch the sides of the road for the yellow reflective markers on posts. Those mark culverts which can mean water and higher weeds which could hold a bird. No guarantees but watch for them.

They are actively harvesting but there's a lot of standing crops. It will be a different hunt in a few weeks as the standing crops will be gone. If when I come back, I may consider a later trip to avoid the crop harvest issue.

I also noticed at least a 4:1 hen to rooster flush rate today. That tells me there is heavy pressure on the birds but good hope for the future.

So, no birds in the bag for me today. Bad day you say? NO WAY!!! I still had fun and saw some birds.

Good luck to all that are hunting or are planning their trips.
Click to expand...


very cool honest hunt report... im sure ur hunt will only get better...

they still selling that special edition pheasant whiskey out there in sd pheasant land 519???
 
Day 3: had the privilege to hunt with fellow UPH member Reddog today. We hunted well south of the Pierre area. My quick assessment is there are less crops out than further north. Pheasant numbers were comparable.

There was a pretty good rain last night so scenting conditions were better than they have been. But today it was windy, 20 mph is guess at least. There wasn't much of any pattern on the birds, other than there none on the tops of the hills. I have a flusher that does her best work in heavier cover so I stayed lower and worked cattail sloughs when I could. Reddog has a fantastic young GSP who can cover ground well, so he worked the bigger brom grass fields. He ended up with two roosters and I got one and lost one.

Like yesterday, I saw probably 20 or more birds, but most were hens and a good percent of them flushed wild. I did have one of those fun moments that you flusher guys will be able to relate to. Sage was working some cattails along the side of a small pond. Windy as heck, working left to right and she suddenly stops and her ears go fully up and forward. She turns to left and is looking at a clump of cattails. Yep! She sticks her head in and a hen blows out of there, Sage trying to grab it as it takes off.

Good times, another good day in South Dakota.
 
Thanks for the update 519, keep after them buddy.
 
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