This year might be a zoo!!!!

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dodgeboy75

New member
Last year when the bird numbers tanked everybody stayed home, I had almost every spot to myself, the towns were almost quiet and even the campground was EMPTY, and that was before Nov 1.

Just being nosey I've been searching online hotels and it seems they are all booked up from opener to second week on November. Unless I'm missing a huge event I can't believe things are getting better. The winter had to be hard on what birds were around, heck there were 2 snow storms before the opener last year. I'll keep my head up and continue to make plans.
 
What area are you referring to? I hunted the Pierre area the second weekend last year and it was plenty busy. One small remote wia there were two other groups besides me. Tons of ditch hunters near any good cover. There is all kinds of rooms available for this year around Pierre around opener as of about a a week ago. While the hunters I talked to out there last year said bird numbers in the area were waaay down, most guys did average 1 to 2 birds a day per guy.
 
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The birds in north central SD came through the winter in great shape. It was cold but they never had any trouble finding food. The nesting cover is in great shape since we did not have a drought last year. If the weather will avoid extremes we should have a good chance at making a comeback next year.
 
Our group did not go last year. By the reports from our area we feel we made a good decision. I did receive a post card from our rental house asking if we would consider coming back. I think they lost a lot of housing / hotel revenue last year.
If birds numbers are up this fall we will be back. Need good nesting.
Fingers crossed.
 
Haymaker - thanks for the winter summary. That is great news! We've had a terribly cold and snowy winter here in Wisconsin. It's too early to tell, but we are expecting winter kill on both turkeys and deer. I'm glad most of SD fared better.
 
519vx said:
What area are you referring to? I hunted the Pierre area the second weekend last year and it was plenty busy. One small remote wia there were two other groups besides me. Tons of ditch hunters near any good cover. There is all kinds of rooms available for this year around Pierre around opener as of about a a week ago. While the hunters I talked to out there last year said bird numbers in the area were waaay down, most guys did average 1 to 2 birds a day per guy.
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I stay in Chamberlain and everyday drive 1-2 hours to spots. American Creek Campground was an awesome place to stay and I had the place to myself. The owners said even opening week was bare. There are alot of WPA in the area and little CRP. So thats why I make the drive to spots north and south of Chamberlain. Did alot of driving last year and didn't see much in the way of pressure. This year I might head down to Platte.
 
haymaker said:
The birds in north central SD came through the winter in great shape. It was cold but they never had any trouble finding food. The nesting cover is in great shape since we did not have a drought last year. If the weather will avoid extremes we should have a good chance at making a comeback next year.
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Glad to hear and hope things keep looking up. I'm making a trip out again regardless!!!!
 
Dodgeboy,
I think a lot will depend on the counts as far as hunter numbers are concerned. If I was you I would stick with the same set up you had this past year. Sounds like you are a dedicated hunter and not afraid to go the extra mile. If I was you I would not worry to much about the competition but hope for some nice spring weather.

Haymaker, I was in your neck of the woods towards the end of the season and there was not much for snow but it was the coldest temps I have ever hunted pheasants in. Sounds like the snow never did add up which is good for the birds.
 
Headin west said:
Dodgeboy,
I think a lot will depend on the counts as far as hunter numbers are concerned. If I was you I would stick with the same set up you had this past year. Sounds like you are a dedicated hunter and not afraid to go the extra mile. If I was you I would not worry to much about the competition but hope for some nice spring weather.

Haymaker, I was in your neck of the woods towards the end of the season and there was not much for snow but it was the coldest temps I have ever hunted pheasants in. Sounds like the snow never did add up which is good for the birds.
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Yes the week after thanksgiving was brutal. Week 9 was perfect, 2 degrees with a cool east breeze, snow on the ground and a little snow falling. It did get cold at the end of the season too, thats hunting. We never had alot of snow or a blizzard. It was a very cold winter but a lot of other people had a much tougher winter than we had.
 
We saw FAR more hunters last year than in previous years.... The hotel we stay at was absolutely booked solid and tons of bird hunters.
 
I have hunted Iowa during the pheasant haydays. SD, MN and North Dakota all on opening week during their peak pheasant years. Lots of hunters right!
Last year in the Medicine Lake area of MT,thats where the mobs of pheasant hunters were, not kidding, nothing like it anywhere! like going to Disney Land for crowds. :eek:
CRP was way down # of hunters way up, I got the Heck out of there.
 
I have had little reason to leave MN much over the past few years. Skip opening weekend. After that the hunting has simply been consistant - well at least for smaller groups or hunts on my own.

Only negative is I often spend more time driving than hunting.

ND trips have focused more and more on waterfowl, because I can work pheasants in MN anytime mid Oct 'til the end of December.
 
We booked our dates for 2014. The homeowner of the house we rent said the Winter was brutal in North Central SD. Not sure if that meant cold, snow or both. I'll be praying for a perfect nesting Spring but I'm feeling confident as we saw well over a 1,000 birds on our December trip.
 
It was a cold winter for sure here, but not that much snow. The pheasants could always find food so they came through the winter in great shape. Now we will see what kind of nesting season we have.
 
519vx said:
What area are you referring to? I hunted the Pierre area the second weekend last year and it was plenty busy. One small remote wia there were two other groups besides me. Tons of ditch hunters near any good cover. There is all kinds of rooms available for this year around Pierre around opener as of about a a week ago. While the hunters I talked to out there last year said bird numbers in the area were waaay down, most guys did average 1 to 2 birds a day per guy.
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I agree we hunted Pierre area second weekend and no shortage of hunters! We did well on birds and got to hunt all day ;)
 
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