Reports from opening day in SD?

Back to the question by the OP, I hunted with a newbie "transplant" from Tenn. on a big GPA in the South central part of the state. We shot 5 birds in an hour and a half before leaving, due to way too much traffic. It looked like ads placed in Col. and Okla. magazines must have been successful, as the few residents in the field were outnumbered 4 to 1. I've never seen so many non-res. in one GPA in my 30+ years of hunting.
 
opening day for me: 12 hunters, 8 dogs, 3 hours harvested 34 roosters.
yep-numbers are down:cheers:
 
First time in 3 years that I did not shoot a rooster opening day. Saw 5 birds.
 
opening day hunting east of pierre on private land 5 of us had a limit by 5. Sunday, with better shooting, 5 of us had a limit by 3. We only had 2 dogs so we were a little lacking in that department. My 2.5 yr old lab was really out of sorts on sat around other dogs. Sunday he did much better flushing and making some nice retrieves. A lot of birds around Pierre. We got into many large bunches hunting waterways through uncut fields. They are combining a lot of corn.
 
Thanks for reports guys!
Seems like SDGFP reports are pretty accurate.
The guy we hunt with in SD said bird populations are "spotty"...but they came close to their limits both Saturday and Sunday with a large group!
I don't plan to cancel my November trip...just being in SD and witnessing the sunsets and sunrises are worth the drive.
Oh yeah....I wouldn't mind shootin' a rooster or two and seein' the old lab retrieving with a big smile on his face!
God bless,
 
carptom1 said:
opening day hunting east of pierre on private land 5 of us had a limit by 5. Sunday, with better shooting, 5 of us had a limit by 3. We only had 2 dogs so we were a little lacking in that department. My 2.5 yr old lab was really out of sorts on sat around other dogs. Sunday he did much better flushing and making some nice retrieves. A lot of birds around Pierre. We got into many large bunches hunting waterways through uncut fields. They are combining a lot of corn.
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Good to hear Sir! Thanks for taking the time to share with us:thumbsup:
 
Sunday we added one hunter for a total of 18 and limited out in about 3 hours. So two day total of 99 Roosters shot. 17 hunters opening day and 18 hunters Sunday. Now that the opener is over back to about groups of 3-10 hunters for me.
 
jeffstally said:
That sounds scary being around that many hunters!
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It isn't that bad when you make sure you have a saftey meeting before hunting and everyone follows the rules. Organization and communication are the keys. Plus everyone has to realize that it is just a bird and there is another one going to flush in a minute or two so there is no need to take an unsafe shot.

Had three new hunters in the group this year that had never hunted pheasants. We came to one honey hole and it exploded roosters and hens everywhere. The three new guys I looked over and they didn't even shoulder their guns, just stood there in awe.
 
Hunted Saturday and Sunday near Mitchell. Limited both days, but significantly fewer birds this year.

My opinion is that the hunting was actually better. Why? I really don't like being done in 90 minutes. This year we hunted until about 5:00 before finishing.

For those of you who'd like some sort of comparison of bird numbers, I'd say that this year is much like parts of Iowa when it was good (mid 90's), and better than Kansas on any day. I'm not saying that there aren't good spots in IA or KS, but this year in SD I still saw significantly more birds just driving though the state than I ever do in KS.

By the way, walked in to three public areas that had NO hunters on them....couldn't believe it!

Given the lack of pressure, I'll probably head back in a month or so.
 
Point! said:
Hunted Saturday and Sunday near Mitchell. Limited both days, but significantly fewer birds this year.

My opinion is that the hunting was actually better. Why? I really don't like being done in 90 minutes. This year we hunted until about 5:00 before finishing.

For those of you who'd like some sort of comparison of bird numbers, I'd say that this year is much like parts of Iowa when it was good (mid 90's), and better than Kansas on any day. I'm not saying that there aren't good spots in IA or KS, but this year in SD I still saw significantly more birds just driving though the state than I ever do in KS.

By the way, walked in to three public areas that had NO hunters on them....couldn't believe it!

Given the lack of pressure, I'll probably head back in a month or so.
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That is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear:cheers:
 
Point! said:
Hunted Saturday and Sunday near Mitchell. Limited both days, but significantly fewer birds this year.

My opinion is that the hunting was actually better. Why? I really don't like being done in 90 minutes. This year we hunted until about 5:00 before finishing.

For those of you who'd like some sort of comparison of bird numbers, I'd say that this year is much like parts of Iowa when it was good (mid 90's), and better than Kansas on any day. I'm not saying that there aren't good spots in IA or KS, but this year in SD I still saw significantly more birds just driving though the state than I ever do in KS.

By the way, walked in to three public areas that had NO hunters on them....couldn't believe it!

Given the lack of pressure, I'll probably head back in a month or so.
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better than ks you must not like hunting quail ?to each his own i guess
 
That's true, SD, for the most part, doesn't have any bobs. I focus on bobs here in KS, but enjoy the occasional ditch parrot. What I want mostly, is dog work.

In any case, I'll rephrase. The pheasant hunting was average by SD standards and was fantastic by KS or IA standards.

Point!
 
My buddy said 6 guys limited out yesterday in not very long at all. His first trip up there, the lucky bastage:cheers: Still on the bucket list for me.:cheers:
 
Wirehairs said:
Plus everyone has to realize that it is just a bird and there is another one going to flush in a minute or two so there is no need to take an unsafe shot.

We came to one honey hole and it exploded roosters and hens everywhere. The three new guys I looked over and they didn't even shoulder their guns, just stood there in awe.
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Oh, for those days again! It's been too long since I experienced that here in Iowa.
 
From your description the "hunt" sounded like just shooting...surrounding fields like they do in Europe and shoot what ever comes your way.

No thank you!
 
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