West River

[BirdDoggin]

I'm planning a 4 day trip to SD just after Christmas and am considering hunting West of the river for a couple of days, with Pierre as my home base. I have not traveled that far west for birds in the past so not familiar with conditions, bird numbers, accessibility, etc. I'll be targeting public land, road ditches, and knocking on doors here and there. Are the water levels and flooding any more or less severe in the area(s) west of Pierre? There appears to be less snow on the ground in this part of SD, compared to snow totals North and East. Any general advice regarding conditions, land, numbers..suggestions would be appreciated. Perhaps I'm over thinking this and don't need to travel that far west, but I have the time and have always wanted to pursue birds in the more remote areas west of the river. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[randywatson]

We hunt west river. lots of wide open spaces. The national grasslands are huge. We hunt private ground west of pierre and in and around the Presho area. Lots of cover out there this year. water levels werent as abundant but still had record rains for the area. it's big country out west of pierre. lots of gravels roads that hold lots of ditch birds. All crops are out and the last hour of road hunting will be great.

just go you wont regret it.