SD Public Land Atlas?
- Thread starter Hobie1026
- Start date
Most states that have public hunting atlas' will normally release the coming years atlas in august.
You can find South Dakotas here.....
http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/areas/maps/default.aspx
:cheers:
You can find South Dakotas here.....
http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/areas/maps/default.aspx
:cheers:
small munsterlander owner
Banned
im pretty sure you could of just printed the map of what area u wanted off the SD game & fish web site??? always a good idea try to hit up the state you are interested in going too's web site prior to your trip??? or at least give em a call prior???
how did you find the public lands u wanted to check out???
like ivrgsp said all states release there public land atlas as close to the hunting season as they can so all the maps are up to date for us hunters you can get on mailing lists in the spring/summer month & have them sent to you most the time in most states ND/MT are a pain to get them to mail you anything prior to the hunt...
how did you find the public lands u wanted to check out???
like ivrgsp said all states release there public land atlas as close to the hunting season as they can so all the maps are up to date for us hunters you can get on mailing lists in the spring/summer month & have them sent to you most the time in most states ND/MT are a pain to get them to mail you anything prior to the hunt...
Hobie1026
Active member
long read....
Which is essentially what I did but the way things are I didn?t want to find a great field from the 2012-2013 WIA atlas only to come back in the fall and find it taken out of the program. Not that I let that stop me or anything?lol
These are my impressions, coming from someone who has never been to South Dakota before and is not a biologist or farmer. So take this for what it?s worth.
I checked out probably a dozen CHAP areas as well as the Ft. Pierre National Grasslands. We covered a rough triangle from Pierre, to Mitchell, to Aberdeen, and back down south to Pierre. First I loved Pierre the city. The people were great, the scenery awesome. I really hope I get the chance to go back to hunt there.
Once we got away from town, we saw a good number of pheasant, but all roosters. The entire trip we only saw one hen. I don?t know what that means but it was unusual. The cover was good and very green. All the stock ponds we saw held water and the majority of the creeks were wet. I have nothing to compare it to in years past but it looked better than anywhere I hunted last year. Saw some pay to play areas but lots of open space as well.
The National Grasslands looked to be in good shape. South Dakota has some impressive land management. Compared to the range-burnt grasslands of Colorado and Utah, Ft. Pierre NG was healthy. Didn?t see any pheasants there but lots of sharptails and several broods of chicks. We covered a very small part of it and it?s huge. But we saw lots of food, lots of cover, and a good number of sharptails loafing in the shade of hay bales. I won't have time to drive that far this year but if I was out that way I'd hit it.
Mitchell had a very different vibe. Lots more people. Harder to find public tracts and what we found didn?t look too good. And it was too hot to leave the dogs in the car so I couldn?t go browse the Cabela?s there.
We spent the least amount of time around Mitchell, it just didn?t look inviting. The people were different too. In Pierre folks stopped and chatted about where the birds were, good places to check out, how the weather had been. In Mitchell the people we tried to talk to weren't very receptive.
Anyhow we drove on a highway from Mitchell to Aberdeen so no birds were to be seen. Didn?t look any different from western Minnesota as I remembered it from when I lived there. Lots of corn, looked green but honestly we were trying to get Aberdeen scoped out and still make it back to Mitchell in time for dinner (yeah that didn't happen...) so we weren?t going down any side roads.
On to Aberdeen. We hit Aberdeen close to dusk as was the plan. If there was a drought up there you wouldn?t know it as a visitor. I saw more trophy northern pike coming out of the lakes there than I?ve seen in my life. Sorry, I was distracted.
We didn?t start seeing birds until we were south and west of town but once we got into the right area, we were seeing lots of roosters graveling up on the side of the roads. Lots of corn, but not as much CRP as I was hoping for. The farming was way too clean.
From the stories I?ve heard, if you can find a piece of public land on the opener that is unoccupied you?ll probably have a great hunt but there wasn?t a lot of space for 100s of hunters. After the corn comes down most of the heavy cover we saw was on private land. All the birds we saw were south of Aberdeen proper.
We made one last stop to see relatives in Yanktown. Turned the dogs loose in 2 CRP fields. No flushes but the relatives assured me there has been a good deal of crowing.
That?s about it. What I saw looked good enough to plan on hunting there this coming Fall for the first time. South central looked the best for a free-lancer on his own who only wants public land, north central a close 2nd runner-up.
South Dakota is a huge and beautiful state and this was a high-speed, quick glance sort of recon mission. YMMV depending on where you go. Thanks for the hospitality, especially the gal in Newell, SD who rescued us when we ran out of gas. You have a beautiful state, I hope I can get back again soon!
Which is essentially what I did but the way things are I didn?t want to find a great field from the 2012-2013 WIA atlas only to come back in the fall and find it taken out of the program. Not that I let that stop me or anything?lol
These are my impressions, coming from someone who has never been to South Dakota before and is not a biologist or farmer. So take this for what it?s worth.
I checked out probably a dozen CHAP areas as well as the Ft. Pierre National Grasslands. We covered a rough triangle from Pierre, to Mitchell, to Aberdeen, and back down south to Pierre. First I loved Pierre the city. The people were great, the scenery awesome. I really hope I get the chance to go back to hunt there.
Once we got away from town, we saw a good number of pheasant, but all roosters. The entire trip we only saw one hen. I don?t know what that means but it was unusual. The cover was good and very green. All the stock ponds we saw held water and the majority of the creeks were wet. I have nothing to compare it to in years past but it looked better than anywhere I hunted last year. Saw some pay to play areas but lots of open space as well.
The National Grasslands looked to be in good shape. South Dakota has some impressive land management. Compared to the range-burnt grasslands of Colorado and Utah, Ft. Pierre NG was healthy. Didn?t see any pheasants there but lots of sharptails and several broods of chicks. We covered a very small part of it and it?s huge. But we saw lots of food, lots of cover, and a good number of sharptails loafing in the shade of hay bales. I won't have time to drive that far this year but if I was out that way I'd hit it.
Mitchell had a very different vibe. Lots more people. Harder to find public tracts and what we found didn?t look too good. And it was too hot to leave the dogs in the car so I couldn?t go browse the Cabela?s there.
We spent the least amount of time around Mitchell, it just didn?t look inviting. The people were different too. In Pierre folks stopped and chatted about where the birds were, good places to check out, how the weather had been. In Mitchell the people we tried to talk to weren't very receptive.
Anyhow we drove on a highway from Mitchell to Aberdeen so no birds were to be seen. Didn?t look any different from western Minnesota as I remembered it from when I lived there. Lots of corn, looked green but honestly we were trying to get Aberdeen scoped out and still make it back to Mitchell in time for dinner (yeah that didn't happen...) so we weren?t going down any side roads.
On to Aberdeen. We hit Aberdeen close to dusk as was the plan. If there was a drought up there you wouldn?t know it as a visitor. I saw more trophy northern pike coming out of the lakes there than I?ve seen in my life. Sorry, I was distracted.
We didn?t start seeing birds until we were south and west of town but once we got into the right area, we were seeing lots of roosters graveling up on the side of the roads. Lots of corn, but not as much CRP as I was hoping for. The farming was way too clean.
From the stories I?ve heard, if you can find a piece of public land on the opener that is unoccupied you?ll probably have a great hunt but there wasn?t a lot of space for 100s of hunters. After the corn comes down most of the heavy cover we saw was on private land. All the birds we saw were south of Aberdeen proper.
We made one last stop to see relatives in Yanktown. Turned the dogs loose in 2 CRP fields. No flushes but the relatives assured me there has been a good deal of crowing.
That?s about it. What I saw looked good enough to plan on hunting there this coming Fall for the first time. South central looked the best for a free-lancer on his own who only wants public land, north central a close 2nd runner-up.
South Dakota is a huge and beautiful state and this was a high-speed, quick glance sort of recon mission. YMMV depending on where you go. Thanks for the hospitality, especially the gal in Newell, SD who rescued us when we ran out of gas. You have a beautiful state, I hope I can get back again soon!
small munsterlander owner
Banned
i assume you went to SD in mid-early july??? hens would of been on the nest at that time with such a late spring this yr...
out in the ft. pierre NG did you see any prairie chickens??? i love the prairie chickens just check n on them a little... see any huns while out in SD???
also them blue red purple pink yellow/black striped & light/dark green colored lands in the SD atlas do not change from yr to yr
cant wait till the brood counts come in then we can compare the crow/brood counts to the habitat & figure wear to hunt...
i seen as many if not more sharptail grouse out on the SD prairies this spring turkey hunting just outside the primary pheasant range or triangle in SD wear i have seen loads of birds yrs prior i hope i just missed the birds & didnt see them hope the brood survey will tell whats really going on out there im thinking of heading back out there some time soon for a mixed bag hunt???
thanks for the report
out in the ft. pierre NG did you see any prairie chickens??? i love the prairie chickens just check n on them a little... see any huns while out in SD???
also them blue red purple pink yellow/black striped & light/dark green colored lands in the SD atlas do not change from yr to yr
cant wait till the brood counts come in then we can compare the crow/brood counts to the habitat & figure wear to hunt...
i seen as many if not more sharptail grouse out on the SD prairies this spring turkey hunting just outside the primary pheasant range or triangle in SD wear i have seen loads of birds yrs prior i hope i just missed the birds & didnt see them hope the brood survey will tell whats really going on out there im thinking of heading back out there some time soon for a mixed bag hunt???
thanks for the report
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Hobie I think you did a very good job and I believe you pretty well understand the way the state is. The pheasants are moving west. Mitchell used to be in the heart of pheasant country. I now think it is on the eastern edge, as is Aberdeen. There is no drouth now but we could use a rain. The cover well be very good. There are some late hatches out there, some still hatching. I believe the corn harvest will be late, so I think late season hunting will be good. Thanksgiving and right after should be excellent. I hope you have a great hunt.
small munsterlander owner
Banned
also from my travels in SD & NE better have a GPS or have a few pics printed out of the roads well better said trails that lead you to some of the walk ins other wise you will spends a lot of frustrating time spent looking for access to areas that are marked on in the atlas... many SD WIA are on the map atlas but there is no road/trail marked on the atlas so very hard to figure out how to get to them if you dont look at the area roads prior or have a GPS in car...
them spots that are hard to get to seem to hold more game what do you know?
hope the late season is good out in SD im trying to work in a late season hunt there after turkey day my-self??? mite just head back to ND thow???
them spots that are hard to get to seem to hold more game what do you know?
hope the late season is good out in SD im trying to work in a late season hunt there after turkey day my-self??? mite just head back to ND thow???