Will public be any good in SD this year?

UGUIDE

UGUIDE

Active member
Just curious what others think on this. I know just from ready other posts about public being hayed and grazed quite a bit, and looking like every road ditch in the state has been mowed with no much moisture to get any covered grown back in them.

Seems like the pressure on public lands could intensify this year and might cause a downturn in tourism as some could go home disappointed.

What are others opinions?
 
Chris,
I agree. I drove around 5 NE counties, all back roads, the last couple of days. EVERY ditch has been mowed, and most public areas as well with emergency haying. A few public areas still had some cover, but most potholes,sloughs, and creeks are bone dry. Worked the dog today on a big creek on a private ranch, and it also is almost dry. Guys better be lining up some private ground this year, as what few public spots with any cover left will be pounded daily. Only saw 1 bird the last two days. Crops are coming in early so birds will be concentrated in what cover is left. (Most all private from what I have seen. Gonna be tough, but hunting ain't for sissies.
 
After talking to a couple contacts who are starting their corn harvest next week I have some concerns. He told me this is the earliest he has ever started. He also said they have only had .45 since june 1st. He said they won't be planting winter wheat if that doesn't change, he said that would also be a first. He said there are a bunch of birds. That combination to me says that there will be lots of limits early, as there will be limited places for the birds to hide. Walk it all, I think even marginal cover will hold some birds. If you are lucky enough to have access to some good cover late, it could be phenomenal. As the season goes on, the public will be tough with not much cover. But my real concern would be for the long term health. A bad winter could be devastating. I am really concerned about our kansas crop. What I am hearing from my contacts there is not good.
 
Chris,
I'm coming regardless of the conditions. Y'all have something that we don't have in the south; places to bird hunt. If this year is down, then it will even out all the good years I have had recently. I will drive around and scout and plan for the future. It's the highlight of my year to come to South Dakota. I really think the SD game and fish department does it right for public areas, especially with the new CREP lands. I believe the CREP tracts are more suited for my setters and pointers. I might have to concentrate on areas close to larger bodies of water this year to find some birds. What are people saying about grouse this year? May go a little farther west and look for grouse and chickens.
 
anyone coming from far away, who is not informed is going to be highly disappointed.....this will affect some who may decide not to come back next season, based on having a bad experience with public ground this fall.....if the winter turns bad, SD could easily lose 60% or more of all their pheasants.
double edged sword.....need lots of moisture, but lots of snow would be devastating with little cover.....let's just hope for the best.:eek:
 
I’m with Carptom and Hunter on this……Chris I think this is one of your biggest issues too….It’s going to be the long term effects that we’ll see for a few years to come. There has to be shelter belts this winter to have any survival rate. Silage cut early with little to no waste (wasn’t much on the cob to start)…..beans will be out early…..so here’s the scenario…..We have birds that have a high mortality rate in frozen conditions with no food and no cover…….And we’re talking about no cover and you still have close to 40 days until the resident opener……there will be even less. ……I don’t think the road count is as accurate this year as maybe in the past because of the lack of cover on each route driven….however I said this in a post earlier….if you take away the 38% down in the western part of the state which is NOT generally the bird producing areas anyway. That leaves the central and eastern sections and those are 18% up……take the 38% down out of the equation and the central/eastern number looks more attractive. Without the necessary cover not only are we going to lose birds to the weather we have to worry about who’s higher on the food chain. Nowhere to hide. Cover is the key now and for the spring hatch…..I think this report tells the story.....Chris this is the one I posted earlier....http://static.ewg.org/pdf/plowed_under.pdf
 
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treedaddy said:
I believe the CREP tracts are more suited for my setters and pointers.
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You are right treedaddy, the CREP land is the bomb.

What is wierd this year though is that I think most of the cover in the CRP is leftover from last year as the green stuff never outgrew the deadstuff but still a ton of dead stuff standing since the lack of snow never packed it down.
 
I thought last year was supposed to be the worst year?

Sounds like you guys are getting the Colorado treatment. NO COVER.
 
I dont think anyone is disputing the bird numbers as a factor. The problems going to be the condensed population of hunters on a limited amount of real estate.

This will further divide the have birds (habitat)from the have no birds..(lack of habitat)

Factor in that the available (non mowed) cover is going to be significantly lighter this year as Chris alluded to when he said that the new growth hasnt even exceeded last years height (knocked down).

That is the way it is throughout the midwest, its not South Dakota specific...
 
My wife and I are planning on making our first trip to South Dakota this year. I have English Setters and will be hunting public land. My approach is to try and keep my expectations in check and treat it as an exploratory exercise, gather some information, see some new country and hopefully get the dogs into some birds. The frustration of not finding birds or not getting into a lot of birds is a risk that comes with hunting but as long as I get decent dog work I will be okay.
 
Dog Gun Time said:
My wife and I are planning on making our first trip to South Dakota this year. I have English Setters and will be hunting public land. My approach is to try and keep my expectations in check and treat it as an exploratory exercise, gather some information, see some new country and hopefully get the dogs into some birds. The frustration of not finding birds or not getting into a lot of birds is a risk that comes with hunting but as long as I get decent dog work I will be okay.
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I've got the same philosophy, haven't been to SD yet, I plan to give it a shot this year, get the dog on the ground, scout things out and see what happens. Getting into some birds will be a bonus.
 
Ask

If you are going through all the planning/time/expense of going to SD, you really need to find some private ground to hunt. Go to a local bar, store, etc. and ask. Local folks will point you in the right direction. You will be glad you did!

Lock and Load1 :D
 
I'm out here now.. Id say 40% of the corn drop is gone west of Mitchell..

Beans will probably be two weeks yet to come out. All the crops will be out by opener for sure, barring some unforseen weather event..


It will be interesting for sure how this season shakes down. There will be extreme competition for anything public, and private will be locked down tighter because of conditions..


There wont be any cheap rides this year if your going to opt to pay to play..


The guides are ramping up their lease agreements, because of the limited ground left to hunt an the land they already have..

They see the writing on the wall, and have hunts booked, so theyre scrambling to find acres..
 
reddog said:
I'm out here now.. Id say 40% of the corn drop is gone west of Mitchell..

Beans will probably be two weeks yet to come out. All the crops will be out by opener for sure, barring some unforseen weather event..


It will be interesting for sure how this season shakes down. There will be extreme competition for anything public, and private will be locked down tighter because of conditions..


There wont be any cheap rides this year if your going to opt to pay to play..


The guides are ramping up their lease agreements, because of the limited ground left to hunt an the land they already have..

They see the writing on the wall, and have hunts booked, so theyre scrambling to find acres..
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Do you think rates will be raised because of the drought? I s that what you are hearing?
 
Stopped at Menards on the way home and purchased a few items that I felt were needed for this years hunt.. I bought 2 multi purpose fire extinguishers just in case, as they were on sale..

I also purchased a couple different multi tool pliers, because last year I was completely unprepared for an encounter with a porcupine...

With the condensed cover available, it will also condense the critter factor this year.. skunks, and porks most notably..

I do think the mowing will help a person avoid some snake encounters.. but I could be wrong...

Going back out Thursday afternoon..

I read on Kelo Land website an interesting article about the pheasant numbers. If you are currently hunting Brown County, you may not like what it says.. Ill see if I can dredge it up..
 
Really bummed out! Just got a dog ready and got back into hunting last season, was really hoping to go hunt SD. Just canceled opener this weekend and I'm worried about not having a chance to hunt there at all this year...and I have never even hunted there!

:(
 
GPowers said:
Really bummed out! Just got a dog ready and got back into hunting last season, was really hoping to go hunt SD. Just canceled opener this weekend and I'm worried about not having a chance to hunt there at all this year...and I have never even hunted there!

:(
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There is still going to be birds in SD!!. Dont forget you live in MN one of the most underrated states for Pheasants in my opinion.:)
 
It's just when you have never been and were looking forward to it.... then it all falls apart.:(

I will still shoot tons here, got 5 last weekend up North at the game farm. Got a field with just me and the dog, one that nothing was cut and no one had hunted.

:thumbsup:
 
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