Uguide has an update on his website...

Admittedly, I know nothing about farming, but to me high grounds will get planted and low/wet ground cannot be planted right now, which in turn means it will go to grass/cover which can only be a good thing for the birds. Am I correct in my thinking, or way off?
 
Admittedly, I know nothing about farming, but to me high grounds will get planted and low/wet ground cannot be planted right now, which in turn means it will go to grass/cover which can only be a good thing for the birds. Am I correct in my thinking, or way off?

very little ground has been planted yet...very, very little...low or high ground. The problem is that crop insurance becomes void if crops are planted after a certain date, and in one of the counties I hunt, that date is coming up soon...5/25...then 5/31 in the other county. Beans are the next crop that gets planted after corn...prices suck...the idea of them taking their "prevent plant" crop insurance isn't such a bad thought, though it is barely a break even deal. Most of the farmers I know have not planted a single seed yet...very unusual...none of them have really ever seen this situation...wet out there this week again....
 
the daily republic has an article yesterday about this...it said 19% of the statewide corn crop has been planted vs. the 5 year average at this of 76%...where I hunt, which is to say most of S central and SE SD, virtually no corn has been planted...there is probably an area of the state that has been a bit drier that has gotten planted, such as W or NW SD...just a guess
 
extreme N Central SD looks OK, but it is a small area...like one county. S central from Pierre South through Chamberlain down to the border looks good...probably 4-8 counties...then, NW SD looks OK, but that isn't all pheasant country, but some of it is...but, the main corn belt of E SD has been really, really wet...
 
I am interested in the harvest info from his 6 or so camps...that was insightful over the past few falls. pure, unadulterated harvest data. pretty timely each week. Basically confirmed what I suspected, the camps that were in the areas hit with the terrible drought of 2017 had a tough go of it. What is there to know? It has been very wet, and quite cool...if that trend continues, there will be a lot of chick mortality. hens don't renest if they pull off even a partial hatch, so the weather over the period from around 6/1-6/20 is pretty critical...I believe the peak of the hatch is around 6/8. His report that he wrote on his site was somewhat helpful...nothing profound, but I talk to farmers in the areas I hunt often...weekly...about 5 farmers, give or take, and I get out there a fair amount. Was out there 4/25 when I picked up a pup. Will be back in the next few weeks. There is great weather data to be had on the internet...that is 99% of the info I want. By the way, there is a link to his site on the homepage of this website, along with a bunch of other pay to hunt operations. I think I did the math from his site last fall, and the average # of birds bagged per hunter across the whole fall of 2018 across all 6 of his camps was around 2 birds per day per hunter...may have been a smidge under that, but close to 2. The average cost of his hunts are about $1200 per hunter...you get 4 nights of lodging, and 3 days of hunting. Some of the early hunts are more like 1300, maybe higher, and some of the late hunts are more like 1000-1100. The camps that did the best last year, and maybe the year before, were the camps in NW SD...Lemmon, Timber Lake...he may have added another camp up there this season. Generally good areas, and there are grouse up there as well...many, including me, found his gamesmanship unacceptable...some guys defended him...whatever...I have always said that he has done way more for pheasants in SD than I have, and he has an interesting business that I hope succeeds...doubt I will ever be a customer of his, as I have my own ground out there, and plenty of time to do my own scouting which I enjoy doing...plus, in most years, a few guys with decent dogs can usually shoot their birds each day if they put in 2-4 hours of hard, smart hunting. But if I didn't have the time to scout and didn't know the state fairly well, I would look at an outfit like UGUIDE's.
 
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Too bad he was bludgeoned a couple of years ago. He would be a great source of info now

If people feel bad for Chris, and how he was treated, that is up to them...I hope nobody underestimates him; he is a very smart guy that can defend himself if he so chooses; he has posted here over 4,000 times. He decided, for some reason, starting in the late spring/early summer of 2017 to deviate from his normal mode here and chose to spread some wild, bombastic propaganda that many objected to, as it defied logic, scientific fact, and conventional wisdom. Then, once hunting season started, he quit posting here, and hasn't since. I am quite certain he was laughing his butt off at the controversy he played a role in creating here...the joke was on us, I guess;) He advertises here...maybe it made no sense to create a lot of chaos when he is looking for customers? Don't know. Like I said, he is a very smart guy, and has more than enough intellectual horsepower to accomplish whatever he wants...hey, differences of opinion are a fact of life, so are disagreements...but he promotes habitat and hunting, so he is an ally...
 
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[U guide from what I have seen was a wealth of information. He has commercial interests of course but his observations on current observed conditions were often ridiculed. Yes he slanted to optimism until proved wrong.. We all want a Big Hatch don't we? His essay on South Dakotas Roundup cycle has opened my eyes to why there are hardly any Birds except where the farmers chemicals cannot be rained down on Hens nests and chicks. No herbicides on CRP and Public WMAS etc. I cant blame a farmer who wants to feed his family but until habitat is greatly improved Half of South Dakotas harvested Roosters will be pen raised!
 
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