I've had luck on public land hunting the 2-3 week of the season. I usually hunt the sloughs or cattails on public land. I've seen a lot of hunters work the pretty grass patches and walk out empty handed, while I've had luck hunting the cover that others won't. I've also had a lot of luck on warm days in dry years hunting the cattails around a body of water.
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Which type of public access lands do you target?
- Thread starter TNBob
- Start date
I found that pheasants are like deer- they are where you find themI've had luck on public land hunting the 2-3 week of the season. I usually hunt the sloughs or cattails on public land. I've seen a lot of hunters work the pretty grass patches and walk out empty handed, while I've had luck hunting the cover that others won't. I've also had a lot of luck on warm days in dry years hunting the cattails around a body of water.
GetTothePoint
Well-known member
Part of the fun for me is driving around and seeing new country. We used to scout and game plan hard and something always threw a wrench in the plans lol, now we just go, relax and enjoy the adventure.
Mike Tyson once said "everyones got a plan til they get hit in the mouth." Public hunting is about the same, all plans are great til somebody beats you to the spot.
Mike Tyson once said "everyones got a plan til they get hit in the mouth." Public hunting is about the same, all plans are great til somebody beats you to the spot.
You've got to find reliable sources on the ground for what areas had good survival rates and then accept you may need to travel when you get there to the public ground in that area. Far more important that what type of public ground you chose. Bird numbers vary greatly within 20mi due to hail, floods, rains at the right time. I've got local farmers with dialed in reports within 50 miles of where we stay. As long as you are asking about general areas and not specific hotspots, you should get some good information- bar tenders, gas station clerks, waitresses, grocery check out clerks right after you spend some money at their establishment are good sources as they hear a lot of reports. I only go out for the opening week so I report here where we found them since I won't be back out and it will be new birds in new locations next year anyway.
In 2019 they weren't in all the old spots within the 50mi we normally hunt so we road hunted an arc from Mitchell to Mobridge and found numbers in Gettysburg by the river that had water and rain that year. We circled that ground hunting ditches and roadways and limited out for the three of us with no dog. There were few public ground areas with fancy acronyms but we never hunt them unless you include names like CoRD19 left ditch. I do- and I consider ditch mowing restrictions as my own private habitat program. It was 75 miles one way to get there each day but it was an oasis in the desert. Finding that new ground was an adventure for us and the general notion of getting a limit everyday pushed us to hunt hard and keep at it despite the long ride. We rolled back into town pretty late everyday but worth it for bragging rights when few others managed to pull it off.
In 2019 they weren't in all the old spots within the 50mi we normally hunt so we road hunted an arc from Mitchell to Mobridge and found numbers in Gettysburg by the river that had water and rain that year. We circled that ground hunting ditches and roadways and limited out for the three of us with no dog. There were few public ground areas with fancy acronyms but we never hunt them unless you include names like CoRD19 left ditch. I do- and I consider ditch mowing restrictions as my own private habitat program. It was 75 miles one way to get there each day but it was an oasis in the desert. Finding that new ground was an adventure for us and the general notion of getting a limit everyday pushed us to hunt hard and keep at it despite the long ride. We rolled back into town pretty late everyday but worth it for bragging rights when few others managed to pull it off.