South dakota pheasent hunt

wallydrifter · 11-05-2009, 07:29 PM

Anybody here make it S.D pheasent hunting could ya please let me know on where to go i.e. towns, that would have the best number of birds. some buddies and I are planning a trip there in a couple of weeks and would love some feed back thanks

columbus_area · 11-05-2009, 10:57 PM

I spent 4 years in SoDak going to college. Most of the NonRes guys head out to winner SD. lots of birds out that way. Lots of birds up around Mitchel as well, but you will deal with more people there. Go online and look up the public lands map unless you are looking to do guided hunts. I've been very successful around Pierre too. if youre not looking to drive quite as far, there is good hunting around Platte as well, but that area gets hunted pretty hard. I'll be up there the 3 days after thanksgiving hunting up near miller/wessington/aberdeen/ipswitch but its all private land. To be real honest with you, before you start driving north, call somebody up there and find out what crop situation is. they have gotten a lot of moisture up there the last 2 months. My buddy who sells John Deer told me today that only about 10% of beans are out and only a little more corn. Soil is still very wet as well.

fishman · 11-06-2009, 12:34 PM

How do you hunt up there if you don't pay per gun and on private land? Is road hunting allowed or is public land your only choice. I've never hunted pheasants in SD and probably won't just wondering how they govern with that many pheasant up there. Two years ago while Fishing Lake Thompson, we counted over 50 roosters in just a short stretch one morning.

wallydrifter · 11-06-2009, 03:30 PM

from what ive heard road hunting is legal, but ya can only hunt from 9 am to 4 pm and that the farmers are more than happy to let ya hunt there land. well let me clarify (how ever ya spell it) you can shoot from the road, not from a moving vehicle, but ya have to leave your gun in your truck if ya have to cross a fence to get yur bird seen some vids. on you tube and holy cow birds gettin up every where flocks man i cant wait

sodaksker · 11-06-2009, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallydrifter

from what ive heard road hunting is legal, but ya can only hunt from 9 am to 4 pm and that the farmers are more than happy to let ya hunt there land. well let me clarify (how ever ya spell it) you can shoot from the road, not from a moving vehicle, but ya have to leave your gun in your truck if ya have to cross a fence to get yur bird seen some vids. on you tube and holy cow birds gettin up every where flocks man i cant wait

You might want to double check that with the SD regs here:
http://www.sdgfp.info/Publications/HuntingHandbook.pdf

Hunting times now are 10 am to sunset. Also check out the general hunting laws on page 34 about hunting the roads.

I hunt mainly public land and can find a fair amount of birds on them. This year has been the exception due to all the crops still in the field.

North and west of Watertown has good amounts of birds and public land available. The crops will be your biggest challenge and of course other hunters. We have found our best opportunities right at sunset when the birds are coming back to roost.

good luck.

DiggerDog · 11-06-2009, 07:22 PM

There are a lot of excellent public hunting areas in the Highmore, SD area.

Grab a map and look for public land in the vicinity. You'll love it.

columbus_area · 11-07-2009, 11:14 PM

You can road hunt, however, like said above, 10am is the LST. no hunting state highways or interstates or anything like that. not sure if county roads are even legal. stay to gravel if you're going to do that. Also cant shoot within 200 yards of a dwelling. The shooter must be outside the car with all the doors on the car closed. You may have NO loaded guns in the vehicle as well. But to be honest, you're best bet is not to road hunt. regardless of what you hear, you'll kill more birds walking fields. most birds wont sit in ditches once they've been shot at a time or 2. Do some homework and map out some public areas you want to hunt as there are PLENTY of them. SoDak does a great job of managing their public lands, plus IMO, not shooting birds off the roost at sunrise really helps keep the population up. if you can find public areas that have a H2O source near by, I'll put money on it that there are birds around.

RINGNKS · 11-10-2009, 09:12 PM

I'm hoping to make the trip later in the season. I've been looking at their website and you can download GPS coordinates of their public land and load it to a GPS. I've been wanting to hunt in SD for a while but hate the thought of paying a bunch of money to hunt. If I wanted to pay, I'd save the drive time and pay someone closer to home.

This summer we were staying in a covered wagon at the Ingall's Homestead in DeSmet and the area around there was loaded. I took my little boy into a patch of meadow and about 10 flushed from under us. Boy did he jump! Just driving around we saw tons of birds. I just hope I can get the time off.

columbus_area · 11-11-2009, 11:43 PM

true about having to pay to hunt, but it could be a heck of a lot worse. Some states are a lot more expensive than SD.

DiggerDog · 11-12-2009, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RINGNKS

I'm hoping to make the trip later in the season. I've been looking at their website and you can download GPS coordinates of their public land and load it to a GPS. I've been wanting to hunt in SD for a while but hate the thought of paying a bunch of money to hunt. If I wanted to pay, I'd save the drive time and pay someone closer to home.

This summer we were staying in a covered wagon at the Ingall's Homestead in DeSmet and the area around there was loaded. I took my little boy into a patch of meadow and about 10 flushed from under us. Boy did he jump! Just driving around we saw tons of birds. I just hope I can get the time off.

You don't have to pay money to hunt in South Dakota. They have a lot of unbelievable public land up there. Grab a map and hunt around the Highmore, SD area. A friend of mine recently got got back and they limited out three days in a row with eleven guys hunting each day.

columbus_area · 11-12-2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiggerDog

You don't have to pay money to hunt in South Dakota. They have a lot of unbelievable public land up there. Grab a map and hunt around the Highmore, SD area. A friend of mine recently got got back and they limited out three days in a row with eleven guys hunting each day.

He's right. Just dont shoot all the birds up there before thanksgiving weekend. well, actually, shoot at them and push them onto the neighboring private fields. I'll just catch them there. haha. No, in all honesty, that's a great area to hunt in. and the people around those parts are really pretty good about letting you hunt as long as you ask.

11-05-2009, 07:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
wallydrifter wallydrifter is tryin to delete his profile Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 47 Thanks: 17 Thanked 20 Times in 11 Posts	South dakota pheasent hunt Anybody here make it S.D pheasent hunting could ya please let me know on where to go i.e. towns, that would have the best number of birds. some buddies and I are planning a trip there in a couple of weeks and would love some feed back thanks

11-05-2009, 10:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
columbus_area columbus_area has no status. Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 71 Thanks: 13 Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts	SoDak I spent 4 years in SoDak going to college. Most of the NonRes guys head out to winner SD. lots of birds out that way. Lots of birds up around Mitchel as well, but you will deal with more people there. Go online and look up the public lands map unless you are looking to do guided hunts. I've been very successful around Pierre too. if youre not looking to drive quite as far, there is good hunting around Platte as well, but that area gets hunted pretty hard. I'll be up there the 3 days after thanksgiving hunting up near miller/wessington/aberdeen/ipswitch but its all private land. To be real honest with you, before you start driving north, call somebody up there and find out what crop situation is. they have gotten a lot of moisture up there the last 2 months. My buddy who sells John Deer told me today that only about 10% of beans are out and only a little more corn. Soil is still very wet as well.

11-06-2009, 12:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
fishman fishman has no status. Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Council Bluffs, Iowa Posts: 189 Thanks: 0 Thanked 19 Times in 13 Posts	pheasant How do you hunt up there if you don't pay per gun and on private land? Is road hunting allowed or is public land your only choice. I've never hunted pheasants in SD and probably won't just wondering how they govern with that many pheasant up there. Two years ago while Fishing Lake Thompson, we counted over 50 roosters in just a short stretch one morning.

11-06-2009, 07:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
DiggerDog DiggerDog is Looking forward to skiing with my family and friends Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: At home, in the field, in a blind, in a boat, at our cabin, on a plane, or in a hotel room Posts: 1,438 Thanks: 71 Thanked 197 Times in 146 Posts	There are a lot of excellent public hunting areas in the Highmore, SD area. Grab a map and look for public land in the vicinity. You'll love it. __________________ "When you have shot one bird flying you have shot all birds flying. They are all different and they fly in different ways but the sensation is the same and the last one is as good as the first." - Ernest Hemingway

11-07-2009, 11:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
columbus_area columbus_area has no status. Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 71 Thanks: 13 Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts	SD land You can road hunt, however, like said above, 10am is the LST. no hunting state highways or interstates or anything like that. not sure if county roads are even legal. stay to gravel if you're going to do that. Also cant shoot within 200 yards of a dwelling. The shooter must be outside the car with all the doors on the car closed. You may have NO loaded guns in the vehicle as well. But to be honest, you're best bet is not to road hunt. regardless of what you hear, you'll kill more birds walking fields. most birds wont sit in ditches once they've been shot at a time or 2. Do some homework and map out some public areas you want to hunt as there are PLENTY of them. SoDak does a great job of managing their public lands, plus IMO, not shooting birds off the roost at sunrise really helps keep the population up. if you can find public areas that have a H2O source near by, I'll put money on it that there are birds around.

11-06-2009, 03:30 PM	#4 (permalink)
wallydrifter wallydrifter is tryin to delete his profile Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 47 Thanks: 17 Thanked 20 Times in 11 Posts	from what ive heard road hunting is legal, but ya can only hunt from 9 am to 4 pm and that the farmers are more than happy to let ya hunt there land. well let me clarify (how ever ya spell it) you can shoot from the road, not from a moving vehicle, but ya have to leave your gun in your truck if ya have to cross a fence to get yur bird seen some vids. on you tube and holy cow birds gettin up every where flocks man i cant wait

11-10-2009, 09:12 PM	#8 (permalink)
RINGNKS RINGNKS has no status. Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Omaha Posts: 95 Thanks: 1 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	I'm hoping to make the trip later in the season. I've been looking at their website and you can download GPS coordinates of their public land and load it to a GPS. I've been wanting to hunt in SD for a while but hate the thought of paying a bunch of money to hunt. If I wanted to pay, I'd save the drive time and pay someone closer to home. This summer we were staying in a covered wagon at the Ingall's Homestead in DeSmet and the area around there was loaded. I took my little boy into a patch of meadow and about 10 flushed from under us. Boy did he jump! Just driving around we saw tons of birds. I just hope I can get the time off.

11-11-2009, 11:43 PM	#9 (permalink)
columbus_area columbus_area has no status. Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 71 Thanks: 13 Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts	SD true about having to pay to hunt, but it could be a heck of a lot worse. Some states are a lot more expensive than SD.

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