SD trip 2023

We used to go to the game farm more often. Now it's generally after the season closes if we have a free day. My buddy was talking about going to one mid December in Wisconsin. I was thinking in my head, "why the hell would we go to a game farm when the season is open on wild bird?" I know me personally I get more satisfaction on bagging one real rooster vs. Going to the game farm for a shootout at the O.K. corral.
 
We used to go to the game farm more often. Now it's generally after the season closes if we have a free day. My buddy was talking about going to one mid December in Wisconsin. I was thinking in my head, "why the hell would we go to a game farm when the season is open on wild bird?" I know me personally I get more satisfaction on bagging one real rooster vs. Going to the game farm for a shootout at the O.K. corral.
I hate game farms, but joined one this year to train a pointing lab. More interesting and fun to raise them (chuckers) myself, so one and done there. Barely used it even though it only 35mins away. Plus those chuckers I raise taste pretty darn good. However, my bro-in law uses a pheasant put and take operation often. Closest wild pheasant is 9 hours for him (4-6ish for me), so I understand why he utilizes that resource, he has some fun dogs and they don’t care if wild or “placed”. Honestly, they both rocked the opener, and I doubt he will get in on wild birds again this year. Runs the engineering dept. of a hospital and rarely gets more than a weekend off…. Life choices… I hunt way more then him, he makes waaaaaayyyyy more money then me… I feel im the”smart” one 😜
 
I live in Mississippi. I suspect the nearest ringneck is at least 9 hours away, if not further.

It’s been my experience that whitetail and waterfowl are the most popular species to hunt here at home.

Our state has about 600,000 acres of public hunting land, mostly in the form of Wildlife Management Areas on state owned lands or national forests .

The best public WMAs for large whitetail and Waterfowl have gone to draw hunting, and many of our resident hunters can’t deer or duck hunt their local WMA for years on account of not being lucky enough in the annual random drawings.

If you don’t own land and want to hunt deer and ducks whenever you want, the average sportsman is relegated to hunting in a camp/club that leases its land from corporate timber companies or families with large land holdings.

In Mississippi. the days of getting permission to hunt whenever you want without owning the land or leasing the land are long gone. The typical lease in the Mississippi delta or prime river bottom land is rarely less than $2000 per member. At top notch, closely managed leases, the annual dues can run over $5k per member.

The wild quail populations are virtually nonexistent in most of the state. There is hardly any upland wing shooting availability other than dove hunting when they are here.

I do enjoy wing shooting as often as possible. I also enjoy the fellowship with guys who make the trip to SD every year for what we would call a “guided hunt” on a private farm that manages its property for those willing to do the pay-to-play, all inclusive experience.

I also enjoy being able to make a trip or two a year with my dog and a buddy from home to try our hand at DIY freelance on the public access areas in SD. Lodging in dumpy motels and enjoying whatever “local flavor” I can find at the nearby restaurants.

I can appreciate the folks who feel their days of access to private lands are at risk of being lost to folks willing to pay big money to hunt the same land. Where I’m from, it’s not unheard of for someone being invited to hunt a prime piece of land who then ends up offering more than the current lease holder is paying when the current lease come up for renewal.
 
Hunting isn’t necessarily expensive, but it can be if you choose so. I have 10,000’s of public acres here in N MN that I can hunt, just like MT and the Dakota’s have all kinds of public land that can be accessed. One of my hunting pals lives in the Western suburbs of Mpls and takes a half day and drives less than an hour and hunts public ground…contacts birds regularly…$30 license/stamp. Many others on this board do the same thing. It’s like golf…play your muni down the road for next to nothing, or fly to Scotland to play St. Andrews…if you want to fish, hunt, golf, etc, you can…excuses aren’t allowed. BTW, I own land in SD…costs me about 3k annually for taxes, food plots, etc…not even beginning to address the needed burning that we‘ll do hopefully next year, which will require assistance from locals with the needed equipment. Do I pay to hunt? I’d say so. I could shoot more birds for less $ if I were engaging in the type of pay to hunt scenario that you’re so freaked out about…I enjoy owning land and providing habitat more than shooting the birds there, but I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon, taking a walk and hopefully bagging a bird or three…different strokes, it’s all good.
Farmers have always had pheasant. There are places they can't farm because of terrain,or access. South Dakota is basically flat.30 years ago, nobody charged people to hunt.Nibidg released these Dutch monkeys,these elitist sh##t show fancy places didn't exist.It was great. Now they want 100s of dollars to hunt.I say give them a 6 pack, or a pint of Jim beam.They will like that.
 
The ones I shot didn't have any tail feathers, and acted strangely. They saw me from 300 yards away on a road.
You should have marked the way point and saved that spot for your nephew when he comes out, he wouldn't know the difference. Either that or take him to Gregory.
 
You should have marked the way point and saved that spot for your nephew when he comes out, he wouldn't know the difference. Either that or take him to Gregory.
I can't afford Gregory!! I will take him out in Montana. This season every swinging dick who owns a gun has hit Montana!!
 
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