SD upland bird info needed

S

stinkbelly

Member
We are headed to SD to do an upland hunt this season. We are after pheasant, quail, prairie chickens, partridge, and grouse. I have hunted pheasant, quail, and chickens before, but never partridge and grouse. What tips can you provide that will help us with our hunt? What type of habitat do they like? What do you look for in a flush to properly identify them? Are they in coveys or singles usually? Any tips are appreciated.

Also how does your dog react to these different birds? In low to no wind, my dogs will point a quail at 5 yards, pheasant at 10 yards, and a chicken at 20 yards.

I am not looking for your honey holes. I am looking for general information that would help someone who is new to these birds. We will be traveling around the state.
 
Wish I could help you more. First year to Sd last year. Had many grouse or chickens get up only to pass because I thought the were hens. Seems like they would get up or get a point in very thin cover, that you wouldn't think would hold a pheasant and were not paying attention to to get to next cover area. Had some luck find partridge in tree lines, which they would promptly fly bind!
 
Thanks for the info.

All the chickens I have found in the past have been in really short grass. It always would take one or two to flush before I realized they were chickens. I always saw the rounded tail, not pointy like a hen pheasant and once they flew away I always said to myself it flew like a quail.

What do the grouse and partridge look like in flight?
 
In SD quail are almost non-existent so don't plan on finding any of those. Most sharpies and chickens are closer to the Missouri River or west of the river. You may run into a hun once in a while but they are few and far between. Good luck.
 
Thanks. I always worry about what shot to use when I am hunting quail in pheasant territory or hunting pheasant in quail territory and both seasons are open. I guess I won't worry about it on this hunt and just go with the larger shot.
 
stinkbelly said:
I bought a new SxS 20 ga for this trip. I will get some #6. What chokes do you recommend?
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I assume your SxS probably came with 3 tubes. IC, Mod & Full. It depends a lot on conditions, type of dog (pointer or flusher), the birds you are hunting, etc. I would probably start out with IC/Mod. If you find the shots are a little on the longer side I'd probably switch to Mod/Full. Putting the most open choke in the barrel that fires first.
 
The SxS came with 5 chokes (C, IC, IM, M, F)and I am hunting over two Deutsch Drahthaars (versatile dogs). They will point.
 
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yes very few public lands require steel or non toxic shot in SD only some refuges & WPAs otherwise use what u want to...

dAkotazeb said it best head to the the areas around the MO river for prairie grouse & huns are few & very far between MT is the hun state... pheasants are in the thick stuff & near water like any wear prairie grouse are in the prairie grass very simple... huns are found just about any wear from cut cropped fields to native prairie grass they like it short & dry they thrive in drought years... bob white are all but gone in SD chances are if you get into any they were released or you found the 1% of the habitat in the state they still live in wild...

take a look at the SD hunting land atlas & it shows the upland game bird distributions in SD then just pick wear u want to hunt be it different areas for different species or wear they all over lap???

i have seen grouse chickens & pheasants & even turkeys all in the same general area but there was not tons of any except species except turkey & prairie dogs... did hear way more prairie grouse then pheasants this past spring there so???

id say a 5#-6# would be fine could go smaller if shooting hevi type shot but no need & to much $$$ for upland hunting for me at least... im a 3-4 shot per bird guy my-self so... lol

& bring good pair of boots you will be put n on miles if u plan to get into a mixed bag hunt & just hunt the habitat wear the species you want lives you will be fine...

the sound of the flushing birds is different im talking prairie grouse sound different then a hen pheasants when they flush also pheasants tail look much longer then prairie grouse even sharptail chickens have the short round tail that make em look like they have no tail in flight... sharptails have a little longer tail then chickens & pointed but they are much lighter/whiter in color on there under belly then a chicken or a hen pheasant... plus they chuckle or cackle when they flush & sound different like i mentioned above...

if your in doubt just dont shoot i have birds & have hunted & enjoy being able to tell different species apart & hunt different species on a hunt it just take a little practice & take the time to identify you target if your in the prairies i doubt you will get into pheasants & if you in pheasant habitat you will not get into prairie grouse they need prairie cover not thick cattail/wind break pheasant cover...

you may run into huns on the prairie grouse hunt thow thats common in some states including SD

good luck
 
Thanks for the great info.

I have been reading the regulations, but I missed the steel shot part. What areas require non-toxic shot?
 
Hi. You have to use non-toxic shot on state game production areas and waterfowl production areas (the red and green patches on the public hunting map). You can use lead on walk in areas (the yellow patches), but we use non-toxic all the time so we don't have to worry about it.

I find that when sharptails flush they make a tuk-tuk-tuk sound and they fly a bit differently than hen pheasants. They usually, but not always, flush as a covey. After you have seen a few, you'll have no trouble telling them apart.

You'll start seeing sharptails and a few chickens about 50 miles west of the James River. East of there, its all pheasants.

Sharpies and chickens like wide open spaces. If you look on the public hunting map, regions that have roads marked on most section lines are generally farming areas that will hold mostly pheasants. Areas that have few roads are generally pasture land and ranch country where you will find the sharpies and chickens. Some areas will have both.

We used to shoot more partridge than pheasants when I was a kid. But the partridge have pretty much disappeared. In 35 years of hunting in SD, I have seen one covey of quail - so I'd forget about them.

Good luck!
 
stinkbelly said:
Thanks. This is a great forum with very helpful people.
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I believe I told you that a long time ago :D

Guys, Stinkbelly has hunted Kansas hard for years. He's got great dogs and is a lot of fun to hunt with. I bet you guys do great up there. I'll be there about a month after you. But remember you're going opening weekend so it's gunna be PACKED.
 
Cowboy turned me onto this forum. I am way too excited about this trip for it to still be a month away. Did I tell you I have another rescue dog that may tag along for this trip. She is an english pointer.
 
Good luck and have fun.

I rescued a 8 year old lab just after last year. She has a great nose and retrieves nice. This I knew when I brought her home. Then I opened the gun safe to clean a gun and she disappeared under the kitchen table ... the other room ... the basement. Anywhere to be away from the gun. Gun shy before I could ever fire a shot.

Oh well. I still have my GSP.
 
I have 2 rescue dogs and luckily they are good hunters that aren't gun shy. Honestly one of them I just took in and I am looking for a home for her. She is an english pointer.

I have a few more questions.

I have been looking over the rules and I can't seem to find the rules for the Corps of Engineers land. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Also, I see some of these State Refuge areas in the Hunting Atlas. On page 4 I see the State Refuge numbers 1-4. Are those the rules for the Refuges and the numbers coorespond to the areas throughout the map?
 
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