We're heading to NE/NC SD for our 2nd pheasant hunt ever in October. We're planning on hunting 10 days so should have the chance to scout and learn as we go to a certain extent. But..... there are so many different types of public access lands including CREP, WPA, WIA, GPA, school trust, etc. Which ones would you concentrate on or would you scout everything w/I an x miles radius of where you are staying and do a lot of driving around?
Which type of public access lands do you target?
- Thread starter TNBob
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dakotasj
Well-known member
I agree with Nasty.
There is no substitute for boots on the ground or actually looking at a particular piece of public land. Lots of variables that the gfp maps can't address. The maps give you info to start the plan. Things like what crops are close by and have they been harvested, is it flooded, etc.
My personal experience is generally WPAs can be very wet, but also very good particularly late season. My best experience on public is WIA, GPA and CREP.
Knock on some doors. After 25 years my best areas are places I have permission to hunt.
Also I use the morning hours before 10 am to drive and scout out areas. If I'm lucky enough to get a limit early I'll do more scouting.
My better public tends to be away from town and smaller in size, but not always.
Its a long drive for me from east TN, hope yours is a little shorter and good luck.
Bob Peters
Well-known member
They all can be equally good or bad. I do have a soft spot in my heart for CREP 
. I need to hit the hay, have to get up at 5:20am for work!
. I need to hit the hay, have to get up at 5:20am for work!
roadscholar
Active member
CREP is definitely my favorite. But I've done very well on WPA and GPA too. Most GPA's will have food plots planted. Mostly standing corn, which is fine. But sometimes you'll see milo food plots, and I've done well on those.
Like dakotasj mentioned above, spending the 8am to 10am time frame driving around and checking out spots is a great idea.
Like dakotasj mentioned above, spending the 8am to 10am time frame driving around and checking out spots is a great idea.
Dakotasj: I'm from Knoxville too. Give me a shout if you'd like. My email = dab9555@gmail.com
hunt it all
Munster927
Well-known member
GPAs for me if I had to pick just one. They're usually managed well. I'll echo on the School Trust lands. They're just pasture lands. Maybe fine for a prairie grouse but don't waste your time for pheasants.
Alaskan swamp collies
Well-known member
I've found some school trust lands in MT to be quite good and some in ND to be okay, but have never found a bird on one in SD. Might be just me, but I ignore them on SD maps.
OKhunter88
Member
There are a few tracts of school land in SD that hold birds, but they are few and far between. One of the best hunts I have had was on school land in the snow. I don't go out of my way to go look at school land, but I do keep an eye on them as I drive by. You never know.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
They kind of vary from one part of the state to another, but in general target the 4 you listed - WPA (non-tox), GPA (non-tox), CREP (lead OK) & WIA (lead OK). Not that other types never have pheasants, but typically fewer (and there are fewer of those spots), so your time is better spent focusing on the "big 4". Just need to find spots that have the habitat pheasants use at a particular time of day, during a particular weather pattern, given particular surrounding habitat conditions. In my part of the state, WPAs tend to be more productive than the other 3 during most parts of the season. They seem to have more varied & useable habitat.
Benelli Rooster
Member
This has been my experience as well, or at least 9 out of 10 of them. Not worth pursuing
Thinblueline
Member
I went to South Dakota once, I think in 2019, which admittedly and apparently was a bad year for many. My experience as I scouted the public spots in the particular region I spent a week in for the food, water, cover combination; was those spots that fit the bill had downright hunting parades through them. I saw very few roosters on what looked like good ground and what ones I saw, as I hunted alone with one dog at the time, with little or no verbal or whistle communication to tip birds off, were psychotic and would flush a couple hundred yards in front of us. I hunted five days and would get 0-2, maybe 3 shooting opportunities each day. I didn’t even see many birds on roadsides in the evening that trip so it really must have been a down year. It was a turn off to me and I left the state wishing I could have hunted some private property but I can’t justify spending that kind of daily money to possibly shoot three birds.
Uhh there was lots of birds around that year on public Benny & I got plenty. there was lots of water but it didn't make pheasants disappear. If your walking "good spots" & not seeing birds or are having to much compitition for your spot, the answer is pretty simple. Your either there at the wrong time or you gotta move.
I would decide what town or towns you want to stay in. Then get on computer with
South Dakota public atlas map in one window and have google earth on another. Look at each area, you be able to tell if it has water, cover and agriculture around. It will help limit a lot with unnecessary driving. Last I hunted area, I never been to. I had 34 different areas I want to look at, so broke it down into groups for each day I was hunting. I would start scouting at 8 am by 9 I knew where I want to start. My first field last year held 5 roosters, which I was to score on 2 of them. 10 minute drive to north that look good on google was drought waste land, I feel sorry for farmers in that area the corn was standing wasn't worth gas to harvest it.
South Dakota public atlas map in one window and have google earth on another. Look at each area, you be able to tell if it has water, cover and agriculture around. It will help limit a lot with unnecessary driving. Last I hunted area, I never been to. I had 34 different areas I want to look at, so broke it down into groups for each day I was hunting. I would start scouting at 8 am by 9 I knew where I want to start. My first field last year held 5 roosters, which I was to score on 2 of them. 10 minute drive to north that look good on google was drought waste land, I feel sorry for farmers in that area the corn was standing wasn't worth gas to harvest it.
Miforester
Well-known member
Pull up turn the dog loose and she what happens, only way to know for sure. Have hunted postage stamps that have been very productive and im sure overlooked because of size. Make sure your shot matches the regs and i agree most school lands are pasture.
OKhunter88
Member
I too killed plenty of birds all on public in 2019. To me the advice of being willing to move is very important. If I hunt a couple spots that look really good and don’t see much, I’m moving 20-30 miles. Last year, the first couple places we hunted a friend and I killed 4 birds and kept moving north. It was interesting how fast the habitat went from very good to just ok in a few miles. We turned around and went back south and found our last couple birds and we were done by 1:00. We hunted for 4 days and stayed in 3 different hotels moving around the state trying to find new areas that held birds.
Thinblueline
Member
Maybe it was 2018? Seems like there was a lot of talk about that being a bad year when I was there. I know I camped in a tent at the state fairgrounds in Huron and it was the first week of November, when we were hit with single digit temperatures and a little blizzard that dumped a few inches of snow. That was pretty unusual I guess for Huron for the first week of November.
Weimdogman
Well-known member
No blizzards in July and August are unusual,not unheard of , but unusual
