Second Trip to SD

Lee192233

Lee192233

Active member
Hey all, Thanks for all the reports that are coming in. My good friend and I are heading out to Arlington again this year. Last year we did pretty well with 11 birds in 3 days hunting. I'm pretty revved up to get out there. We had a great time, the people are awesome and the hunting was pretty good. I have one question, are porcupines common in the eastern part of the state? Seems to be lots of reports of them. Thanks for any input!
Lee
 
I have been hunting out in that area for 27 years, never encountered one...just spent 8 days there, returning Sunday and never even thought about porkies...
 
Thanks guys! That's what I thought. There were a bunch of reports on the SD forum. Must all be from further west. We don't have to worry about them here in WI, either. I really enjoyed hunting out there last year. We're heading out Sunday and coming home Saturday. Any thoughts on good places to eat? There's a couple good spots in Arlington. We're going to the Lake Poinsett DU banquet on Friday. We went last year and it was a hoot. Got to know some locals and gave back to an organization that puts grass on the ground. Thanks again.
Lee
 
Carptom's report revealed several encounters with porkies and skunks. Three years ago my Max learned a hard lesson and tried to bite a porky - $180 vet bill to remove the quills.

We are hunting west river and I'll admit, this is a banner year for critters. Hopefully the dogs have learned their lesson, although one of our dogs (3-yr old) was hit twice. Fortunately we could remove the few quills from his mouth.

Max is a pointing Golden, learning this tactic at an early age. He'll lock on anything. Most of the time he won't move and I can grab him...but not always!

My suggestion: keep an eye on your dog and don't let him stray too far. If the dog is birdy and nothing flies, move to another area.
 
I shouldn't even say anything, but my dogs haven't been sprayed by a skunk yet. I know it's going to happen some day. Thanks again for your advice and insight guys. Any ideas on a good place to eat within an hour of Arlington?
Lee
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
Mad Mary's in Flandreau.
Pheasant Lounge in Brookings.
Click to expand...

Thanks A5! We'll give at least one of your suggestions a shot. I'm going to bring my laptop and hopefully provide you guys some pics and reports as our hunt progresses.
Thanks again,
Lee
 
The trucks loaded, headed your way after church. Excited to get out there! I'll try to do a daily update. Thanks again everyone.
Lee
 
Just returned from a two day trip hunting public in the North Central area. Birds were up from the past two years and hunting was good (weather even better!). Meet a real nice warden yesterday and chatted for a while, said most he's talked to are pleased with the hunting this year. Crops were coming out fast until the rain yesterday. The further North and West you go the more that has been cut. Once again, had a great time and can't wait to do it again.
 
Hey guys, Sorry for not posting anything yet. It's been a tough 3 days. Only 1 bird to show for it. Hunted hard every day. Monday the birds flushed wild, Tuesday it was windy as hell and we only flushed hens except for a rooster that was a crossing 45-50 yard shot, missed him. Yesterday got one about 50 yards from the truck. Thought this will be awesome and I proceeded to miss two more opportunities. At least we're seeing birds! Having a great time though!
Lee
 
Lee192233 said:
Hey guys, Sorry for not posting anything yet. It's been a tough 3 days. Only 1 bird to show for it. Hunted hard every day. Monday the birds flushed wild, Tuesday it was windy as hell and we only flushed hens except for a rooster that was a crossing 45-50 yard shot, missed him. Yesterday got one about 50 yards from the truck. Thought this will be awesome and I proceeded to miss two more opportunities. At least we're seeing birds! Having a great time though!
Lee
Click to expand...

Hey, that sounds exactly like our hunt the last 3 days. Snowing now and no wind so we are hoping today is better.
 
Got here on Saturday and have had some decent luck, although the conditions have been tougher than we can recall over the last 15 years or so. Two guys and my GSP have shot 20 in 5 days so far but we worked hard. Rain Saturday, rain Monday, high winds Tuesday. The birds were easy to find in the rain but getting them out in the wind Tuesday was really tough, next to impossible without some flushers. They just ran on my pointer.

Probably only going to hit it today and tomorrow and then hit the road. Even in tougher conditions, it's been a pretty good trip. Lots of birds, good to see. REALLY tempted to come back in a few weeks when more corn is gone. There's just so much corn not harvested yet.

Lastly, more deer than I can ever remember seeing. They're everywhere.
 
Finished up with 8 birds for the two of us. Was a fun trip. We were skunked the first two days. Got one Wednesday and the rest in the last two days. Figured out that we had to be within 100 yards of a crop field in good grass. Last year we found all our birds in the cattails. So we went off experience and wasted time where there weren't birds. Went to the DU banquet in Lake Norden last night and I won a rifle! That was fun. Good luck all!
Lee
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top