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Only made it out for one day for resident opener this last weekend but we had a great hunt. Took the day off and got out yesterday and battled the heat. I almost chose to call it quits early but went slow and took our time but had to take lots of breaks in the field. It was 74 degrees out and if I found water the dog got dunked. Was pretty slow day didn't see a single bird or shoot my first bird until 3:30pm. Ended up shooting all 3 of my birds in the same WIA in the span of an hour. Dog pointed a group of 3 hens in the same spot and then another by itself. Went about 30 yards further and dog locked up. Flushed bird it was rooster and dropped it on the first shot. As I shot 2 other roosters got up in gun range. With just one shell left in my O/U I rushed a shot going for a double, doh. Focused on where downed bird went down and sure enough another rooster gets up in the same spot it went down. Rushed both shots thinking it was the same bird I already knocked down. doh x2 Fortunately dog was able to retrieve first bird so was nice to put one in the vest for our first bird of the year. Took a water break and regrouped as that was a lot of excitement in a short amount of time and dog was overheated. Sat there for about 20 mins and let dog catch his breath. Started working field again and we no more and got started and dog locks up. Flush bird and its a rooster and he only needed one shot before he folded. Retrieved to hand and continued on. Continue working to end of the property and saw a few more hens and one other rooster that I didn't want to drop over the water and thick cattails. He didn't fly far and hoped to get him on the way back as we walked side we hadn't covered yet. Dog locked up again on the other side and I let the bird get out a ways. Dropped it on the first shot and figured we were done for the day as it folded hard. It ended up being a runner and took off straight for the mud and thick cattails. We tried to track it, found some feathers so thought we were right on it. But once the dog got buried deep in the thick stuff it was just too warm. No scent going through there and he was getting way too overheated so I called him off the track. We did end up getting our 3rd bird of the day with another nice point and retrieve. Was a good day to be out despite the heat. I spend the rest of the day scouting out other areas to hunt. Put about 350 miles on the truck and other than that one walk didnt see anything else. Did shoot a couple coons though and found a great set of antlers. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my gopro and only took a couple pics.

from SD GFP: More details and Information: 2017 Public Hunting Opportunities: http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/areas 2017 Pheasant Outlook: http://www.gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasants.aspx 2017 Brood Survey Report: http://www.gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasants.aspx 10 Year Brood Count Trends: http://www.gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasants.aspx numbers don't look good at all......down 50% from last year.

fyi if your going to be doing some fishing in SD: http://gfp.sd.gov/fishing-boating/courtruling.aspx I am not sure how I feel about this yet, but what I am most concerned about is losing access to bodies of water where gfp stocked fish. From article "GFP cannot facilitate access to these waters until the State Legislature acts." I would suggest many of us to contact our state legislatures and voice our opinions

2015 Resident opener is this Saturday through Monday. Supposed to be really warm out this weekend so I will probably be limiting my hunts to later parts of the day not to risk working the dogs to hard in the heat. As for harvest, I have seen lots of beans going out the last few days and this morning as I drove in to work I saw my first corn field being harvested. I know the central portions of the state saw some moisture recently so it may take those areas a littler longer for the crops to dry out. I would expect the warming trend to help with that. If its going to be warm and hot I will probably not be hitting it to hard until the temps cool off. I like hunting late season better anyway. I have some time off of work scheduled around halloween so hopefully be getting a good fix of hunting then Good luck to those that make it out and be sure to report back here with reports and pictures of your hunts. Rooster!

PIERRE, SD - The walleye population in Lake Oahe is still struggling to rebound from the 2011 Missouri River flood, but one bright spot is that the fish that are in the lake are getting bigger. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks senior fisheries biologist Mark Fincel said walleye and other game fish in Oahe are getting a boost from large numbers of baitfish such as young white bass, perch and shiners. The average fish caught by anglers this year on the Dakotas reservoir was about 16 inches, an inch bigger than last year's average. Another positive sign for the fishery is that numbers of smelt and lake herring baitfish have been slowly increasing since 2013. Those baitfish provide the fatty food that sustain older, larger walleyes.

http://gfp.sd.gov/news/news/august/27.aspx good news I guess, about what I expected with the mild winter and good spring. Glad to see an improvement despite numbers still below the 10yr avg. Wont be long now until season starts. This is my favorite time of the year. Good luck to everyone this fall! ROOSTER!

Here are some pics from SD fun!! Avid Trolled cranks in 4-12 ft depending on weed line depth. Windy shoreline. Pretty simple.