Snow birds…

I also got out with my farmer friend. Hunted sloughs on his properties. We were only out last 75 minutes and bagged 4 nice roosters. My 2 weims had a great time and performed well. It's hard to get the dogs in the thick stuff when there is fresh scent on the outside from birds running off. There were plenty of birds and a 6 bird limit should have been had. My friend missed 3 easy birds but connected with the last bird which snuck out of the slough only to have the dogs pin it alongside the road 50 yards away. Friend was super excited walking up to the pointing dogs. I was on the road and told him get ready as I am going to flush the bird , at least I hope it is a bird. He replied bird tracks going in so....

He made a nice shot and it was a quick retrieve. As we headed to a small town bar for dinner he thanked me for getting him outside to get a little exercise. We are both 60 but he is a big guy who isn't real heavy but hardworking on the farm has slowed his walking down.
 
Well I hunted with some of my pf guys today on private ground groomed for birds and deer. Ground gets zero legal pressure before the end of deer season. We moved hundreds of birds. We got 7 hunters limits from 10 30 till 2 45. 10 or 12 hunters and we would have probably got them limits too.
Good habitat makes a hell of a difference!
 
IdahoCountryBoy said:
That’s awesome. I’m curious to see what this weeks blizzard forecast will look like for South Dakota.
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Likewise have a trip planned for week of 19th to north central SD, concerned whether it will be doable.
 
Miforester said:
Likewise have a trip planned for week of 19th to north central SD, concerned whether it will be doable.
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I’m trying to sneak another trip in this coming weekend. I’m a perfect world I can leave Saturday the 17th and hunt five days and get back Friday the 23rd. Any of us who have hunted so dak after a blizzard know what roads look like when snow and wind pay a visit. However, it can be some dang good hunting.
 
Having grown up in the Dakotas ... Doable is a really big question, it is much different on the windswept prairies of the Dakotas. Snow drifts and extreme cold (especially with wind) can be a real deal breaker. Roads can and will shut down and many public areas accessed by minimum maintenance roads will be unreachable.

Doable now (next week or two) largely depends on this snowstorm moving in now and temps next week.

It is far different when you live in the area and pick a nice day (relative) and get out scout and hunt. I cannot imagine going out there for 5 days on a pure freelance ... hotels, etc... If you have friends, family or are hunting with a paid operation ... you at least have some backup support if the situation goes from difficult to Oh S____
 
There have been threads on this in the past... keep the gas tank full, and never pass by a station without filling up / topping off. Have emergency gear and sleeping bags in the truck. Make sure your battery, tires, and vehicle in general are in top shape.
 
BRITTMAN said:
Having grown up in the Dakotas ... Doable is a really big question, it is much different on the windswept prairies of the Dakotas. Snow drifts and extreme cold (especially with wind) can be a real deal breaker. Roads can and will shut down and many public areas accessed by minimum maintenance roads will be unreachable.

Doable now (next week or two) largely depends on this snowstorm moving in now and temps next week.

It is far different when you live in the area and pick a nice day (relative) and get out scout and hunt. I cannot imagine going out there for 5 days on a pure freelance ... hotels, etc... If you have friends, family or are hunting with a paid operation ... you at least have some backup support if the situation goes from difficult to Oh S____
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I totally agree with you Brittman, it is one thing to have the weather move in when you are already out there compared to traveling into the great unknown. I have already forewarned the place we are planning to stay and my farmer friend where we will hunt that I will be checking in to so just how much snow they have received. My last trip out it was forecasted relatively the same with heavy snows and that never materialized, this systems seems a bit larger.....appreciated the insight as well as your follow-up post regarding preparations, if traveling out.
 
if youve never driven in snow before. i mean 8+" on a road while still falling then dont go. Winds look to be pretty stiff so its probably not even smart to be out, but being on the back end of the storm looks to get COLD. I may make the trip out again Friday just to see what the public piece that I hunt does late season with snow and cold. Im still crazy for cold and snow at 40 year of age and stomping through cattail sloughs watching a rooster try and escape through it all still gets me
 
I just looked at the weather for South Dakota and it showed some areas were calling for up to 2 feet of snow and winds up to 50 mph. I was in Mitchell Christmas 2019 when they received the record amount of snow in one day and it was amazing to see what this type of snow did to roads and tree lines. I kid you not, the snow drifts that accumulated in those trees lines were taller than the trees themselves and my truck. The best part was just head to the cattails and you saw the 100+ bird flushes.
 

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BRITTMAN said:
There have been threads on this in the past... keep the gas tank full, and never pass by a station without filling up / topping off. Have emergency gear and sleeping bags in the truck. Make sure your battery, tires, and vehicle in general are in top shape.
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Oh yeah!! I got stuck one time out in the boonies. It was -20,dumping hard. Had to spend the night in my 72 ford. I had a propane heater, and a topper, and a good sleeping bag. I was warm and dry.The next morning, a rancher pulled me out.I gave him 6 birds.
 
Could be tough sledding after this rolls through. Next week looks bitter cold too, it will not be melting anytime soon. An inch of snow at a time is fine, but when it piles up into 6, 8, or 10+ inches at once, its brutal walking.

The silver lining in all this is that we are still in a major drought. This all helps in the long run.
 
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