IdahoCountryBoy
Active member
I flew out on Friday the 19th into Sioux Falls and my dad picked me up. He was already in South Dakota and hunted a couple days before I got there. We stayed in Mitchell and should've could've had limits every day we hunted. Saturday we went north of Mitchell and ended up with 3 roosters. Missed some really easy shots that got right up under my feet but that is the way it goes. I guess that's what happens when it's your first day hunting in SD. Second day (Sunday) we went south of Mitchell and got our limit. Took the whole day and got the last bird at 4:30 PM in 4 fields. Got one in a walk in area, 2 in a WPA, 1 in another WPA, and the last two in CREP. It was a great day. Felt good to get a limit and felt good to take the whole day getting a limit. The third day was a little tougher. We usually start heading west to get home to Idaho so we went north of Mitchell towards the river. Ended up with 2 birds but should've had a limit. Didn't shoot our first bird until 3:30 PM. Missed a couple easy shots in the morning and then did a little scouting around lunch time. Monday was a little warm and the truck said around 50 degrees. Wanted to go easy on the dogs. Found a WPA north of Mitchell that I really liked. Should've gotten 6 roosters but ended up with 2. Lousy shooting but what do you do. Had 3 roosters get up right in front of me and missed. That night we stayed in Chamberlain and planned to hunt a full day Tuesday and half day Wednesday between Chamberlain and Presho. We were able to do a short walk Tuesday morning and got 2 birds and then got a call my brother passed away that morning of a heart attack so we packed up the truck and drove home. So 2 guys hunting, limit for 4 days would be 24. I think we brought home 13. All in all I thought it was a success. Easily could've brought home 3 days of limits and then the two the last day for 20 birds but that is the way it goes.
In conclusion I was going to share a couple of things. I would agree with several of the comments I have seen on this forum. Going to SD I was worried. Some people made it sound like I wasn't going to find any standing grass.There were definitely some mowed fields but what was interesting was the ones I hunted were stripped out for lake of a better word and was able to find some birds in them. Made it a little easier for the dog and I to hunt rather than a big expansive section of grass. Now is this good for winter habitat, probably not. Will this grow back in the spring in time for nesting cover? I hope so. Second, if you want a limit by noon, yeah, I would stay home. My dad and I hunt long and hard. If we are lucky to get a limit early in the day, we start scouting a bit for the next day. We get up and eat a hotel breakfast and hit the road before 8:00 if we can. We drive around half dozen areas and then decide which one to hunt. We are always looking around for new areas to hunt and seeing what's out there. Sometimes we hunt the areas we have in the past and sometimes we hunt new areas. We also do a lot of walking. My Garmin doesn't tell me mileage but it tells me steps. Saturday 16,173, Sunday 24,996, Monday 21,062, and Tuesday 8,992 (Probably all in that first walk because the rest of the day sat in the car).
I know some other comments were made about hens and rooster ratios. The first day was the only day I really only saw roosters. The other days I hunted I saw a good mix of roosters and hens. So this wasn't a huge concern for me like some other guys posted on the forum.
One last thing I would add was it seemed handful of my opportunities came from the back corner of a property where people are not willing to walk to. We hunt all public land. I have two labs, one is 6/7 and the other is 1 1/2. I was a little disappointed the younger lab wasn't able to find a rooster but she is still getting things figured out. She did get up some hens so that was good. What I really need to do is leave the experienced hunter in the truck and give the young one some opportunities. The older one is a hunting machine and doesn't stop.
I have mentioned this before but I work in education so I'm hoping I can sneak back at Christmas Break. We'll see how the weather holds up. Need to be able to get there and back safely and everybody knows South Dakota always seems to get a white blizzard Christmas or at least they have the last 2-3 years. I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving and I hope we can all make it out just one more time before January 31st.
In conclusion I was going to share a couple of things. I would agree with several of the comments I have seen on this forum. Going to SD I was worried. Some people made it sound like I wasn't going to find any standing grass.There were definitely some mowed fields but what was interesting was the ones I hunted were stripped out for lake of a better word and was able to find some birds in them. Made it a little easier for the dog and I to hunt rather than a big expansive section of grass. Now is this good for winter habitat, probably not. Will this grow back in the spring in time for nesting cover? I hope so. Second, if you want a limit by noon, yeah, I would stay home. My dad and I hunt long and hard. If we are lucky to get a limit early in the day, we start scouting a bit for the next day. We get up and eat a hotel breakfast and hit the road before 8:00 if we can. We drive around half dozen areas and then decide which one to hunt. We are always looking around for new areas to hunt and seeing what's out there. Sometimes we hunt the areas we have in the past and sometimes we hunt new areas. We also do a lot of walking. My Garmin doesn't tell me mileage but it tells me steps. Saturday 16,173, Sunday 24,996, Monday 21,062, and Tuesday 8,992 (Probably all in that first walk because the rest of the day sat in the car).
I know some other comments were made about hens and rooster ratios. The first day was the only day I really only saw roosters. The other days I hunted I saw a good mix of roosters and hens. So this wasn't a huge concern for me like some other guys posted on the forum.
One last thing I would add was it seemed handful of my opportunities came from the back corner of a property where people are not willing to walk to. We hunt all public land. I have two labs, one is 6/7 and the other is 1 1/2. I was a little disappointed the younger lab wasn't able to find a rooster but she is still getting things figured out. She did get up some hens so that was good. What I really need to do is leave the experienced hunter in the truck and give the young one some opportunities. The older one is a hunting machine and doesn't stop.
I have mentioned this before but I work in education so I'm hoping I can sneak back at Christmas Break. We'll see how the weather holds up. Need to be able to get there and back safely and everybody knows South Dakota always seems to get a white blizzard Christmas or at least they have the last 2-3 years. I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving and I hope we can all make it out just one more time before January 31st.
