A group of us will be coming out to sd for 10 days the second week of november. We will be staying at mina lake a little west of aberdeen. Some of us would like to take a day to try sharpies and or prairie chickens. Where would be a good area to try. We are only going to spend one day on them on public land. Any advice on areas to hunt or how to hunt them will be apreciated. Probably 4 to 8 people and about the same number of dogs. Thx in advance
Sharpies and prarie chickens
- Thread starter MAJTSHR06
- Start date
Gettin Birdy
Member
I'm not an expert on sharpies/chickens but we have shot several over the years when out pheasant hunting. We have found them in grass knee high all the way down to just above the ankle. the shorter grass made it tough as they would see us coming and flush early. We would walk the grassland spread out about 30yds apart and let the dogs work close. On private land we find them mostly in the shorter grass and around the sunflower fields. They are great eating as well, medium rare on grill with salt and pepper. Good luck!!
3car
Active member
If I was trying to shoot grouse I would head to the national grasslands SW of Pierre, SD. They have sharptails and chickens. If you looking for grouse a little closer I would look at central McPherson county on the larger WPA's. Grouse hunting is pretty tough in that area let alone that time of year. They get jumpy!!
Good luck
3car
Active member
yea. Almost to the point were the few true grouse hunters I know of hate it that the grasslands are being overrun by pheasants. I did one trip to the grasslands to shoot a prairie chicken. It took me 45 minutes to find a flock of over 100. I shot my 3 chickens and left. Tons of birds.
3car
Active member
grasslands, overrun by pheasants??really??
That particular term "overrun" was a word used by a diehard grouse hunter that hates pheasants.
1pheas4
Moderator
mnmthunting
Banned
With a mild and mostly open Winter. Combine a couple three of these Winters in a row, favorable nesting.
Appsolutely! pheasants move into the grasslands. In some pretty significant numbers. How awful.
And no harm done to the natives, the Sharpies do even better.
Appsolutely! pheasants move into the grasslands. In some pretty significant numbers.
How awful. And no harm done to the natives, the Sharpies do even better.
quail hound
Moderator
My brother and I hunted the grasslands during our trip in December. We saw plenty of sharps (50 at least) in just a few hours, though they were flushing well ahead of the dogs, and even flushed a few pheasants around some hard cover near a pond. Definitely a fun hunt even though we didn't harvest a bird. I would not say those hills were overrun with pheasants.:cheers:
1pheas4
Moderator
I've only had a few chances at sharp tails. The only one's in gun range were either off of first-light or last-light of the day. Other than that they'd start to fly and just keep flying and flying! Cool sight to watch.
Nick
Gspranger2244
New member
I'm heading out for the first time this fall Im going to try to hunt sharp tails. Are they hard to get into range. The more I read the more excited it get
3car
Active member
Yea, but the earlier you hunt them the easier they are to get in range. A lot of the birds I have shot over the years were held up in snow berry bushes or silver berry during the heat of September. Those shrubs provide good shade and the sharpies like the berries too. If you can find some ridge lines with native prairie they will be just on the down wind side of the hills. After November they get spooky as all get out. If you can get them in range its like shooting a really slow and large balloon.
quail hound
Moderator
Yep, the dogs put up one single in range that I know for a fact I shot in front of with both barrels.
3car
Active member
There is a bunch in the National Grasslands by Pierre. Other than that there are a few in the sand hills in NE sd and SE ND. Not really enough to hunt though. You can hunt sharpies in that area and you may be lucky enough to come across a chicken. Sharpies are getting tough to come by even.
I do a lot of off roading and really do not see many sharptails. I am hearing rumors that the neonictinoid chemicals on GMO seeds may be contributing to it.
Gspranger2244
New member
When you say hunt earlier do you mean in September when the season opens or just a week or a couple days before pheasant season and there is a lot of preasure in the fields?
jfreeman
New member
sharpies and pcs
They will, with out a doubt hold better at the first of the season. And the sharpies tend to hang out like was said before on the down wind side of the hills and are found more often on top of the highest hills around. I find lots of pcs down in the lower parts of the hills and in the draws where the greener grass is. I have had hunts in sept. where the the majority of the grouse shot were pcs and pcs seem to hold a little better. In Sept. I have more luck hunting the high prairies, like the grass lands as opposed to the lower crop land you would hunt pheasants in. When you point a group of grouse and after they flush, hang around and let the dogs work that area again because a majority of the time there will be one or two that didn't flush. Sharpies and pcs like a little shorter cover than Pheants use. This Nov. while going and comming from Pheasant hunting we saw tons of grouse (sometimes 100-150) in a day, in 5-6 years hunting in Nov. we have never seen anywhere near that many so maybe they had a very good hatch like the Pheasants did last year. The weather was snowy and very cold and windy the whole week we were there and that might have run them out of the prairies down to the lower farming land, don't know, but there were a lot of them. Either way its still more fun than working, lol. and good luck
They will, with out a doubt hold better at the first of the season. And the sharpies tend to hang out like was said before on the down wind side of the hills and are found more often on top of the highest hills around. I find lots of pcs down in the lower parts of the hills and in the draws where the greener grass is. I have had hunts in sept. where the the majority of the grouse shot were pcs and pcs seem to hold a little better. In Sept. I have more luck hunting the high prairies, like the grass lands as opposed to the lower crop land you would hunt pheasants in. When you point a group of grouse and after they flush, hang around and let the dogs work that area again because a majority of the time there will be one or two that didn't flush. Sharpies and pcs like a little shorter cover than Pheants use. This Nov. while going and comming from Pheasant hunting we saw tons of grouse (sometimes 100-150) in a day, in 5-6 years hunting in Nov. we have never seen anywhere near that many so maybe they had a very good hatch like the Pheasants did last year. The weather was snowy and very cold and windy the whole week we were there and that might have run them out of the prairies down to the lower farming land, don't know, but there were a lot of them. Either way its still more fun than working, lol. and good luck
