South - Southeast SD bird numbers?

huntsem

Member
I am in Ohio and thinking about driving to SD with my 2 dogs to hunt the last week of the season. The SE / Souhern part of the state would be the shorter drive.
I am wondering how the bird numbers are in that region?
Any other info / hunting tips would be much appreciated.
Thanks
 
They are around, public birds have been hammered as such the rest of the state. Do you have a good dog? The birds have been running...alot in the last 2 weeks. Don't be afraid to hunt the ditches.
How far west are you thinking of going?
 
Last edited:
They are around, public birds have been hammered as such the rest of the state. Do you have a good dog? The birds have been running...alot in the last 2 weeks. Don't be afraid to hunt the ditches.
How far west are you thinking of going?
I have a lean healthy lab that is very good on birds, often tends to range out to far, I have to keep on him about that. Usually retrieves anything I knock down. He’s very good at hunting heavy cover, very good at tracking, scenting, finding birds. Half the reason I want to hunt is for his benefit.

I’d like to shorten drive if possible but an extra couple hours more west is ok.

Thanks.
 
I have a lean healthy lab that is very good on birds, often tends to range out to far, I have to keep on him about that. Usually retrieves anything I knock down. He’s very good at hunting heavy cover, very good at tracking, scenting, finding birds. Half the reason I want to hunt is for his benefit.

I’d like to shorten drive if possible but an extra couple hours more west is ok.

Thanks.
Try starting at least 30 minutes west of Yankton and move north/north west. You can find birds in between i29 and Yankton but there's more people
 
When you leave SC and head north on I-29, you see lots of the cattails and lower wet areas that SD is famous for. Cross the Big Sioux to the east into Iowa and that terrain/habitat is different, much more tillable. All these low areas I see, I have no idea if these are state owned or private. It would not surprise me if I learned they are often state owned. If you were a sportstman, I could see retaining/owning, but why would you want to pay taxes on something that you could not produce revenue from? I could totally understand if much of this went back to the state over the past years. Anyone here grow-up in rural SD and know about ownership of these numerous low/wet areas....if they are mostly private or publicly owned. These specific areas are right against the interest, not quite optimal hunting locations, but they must be present throughout this area. Maybe taxes are almost nothing on that type of land.
 
Well that clears it up completely. Sometimes I think your motto in life is, "if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."
I think he was in LeMars. For those of you not familiar with the area, that's Iowa.
 
Back
Top