SD Pheasant Reports

[lindy rig]

Was the resident only opener last weekend?

[rundrave]

yes resident opener was last weekend.

I didnt make it out myself but heard of mixed reports and lots of young birds which would make sense with all the rumors of 2nd hatches.

As for harvest, beans should just about be done by the end of the this week and I would imagine good amount of corn should come out before the weekend yet, but there will still be alot in. Although the central parts of the state did recieve some rain recently, it has been so dry around here that it shouldnt slow harvest down much.

I wont make it out Saturday but will for sure on Sunday.

[Jarrod32]

I would agree with that analysis. Though...I think the harvest is a bit further along up here. Just about all of the beans are out, and the corn is coming along nicely.

Initial reports that I heard are that bird numbers are indeed down a bit, but they are still plentiful if you know where to look.

Not sure I wanna take part in the opening weekend circus...might go fishing this weekend instead...plenty of time to shoot the birds later in the year without so many other hunters around...

[reddog]

Good thing they got some rain in the central part of the state, or it couldve been very dangerous out there. I heard they had a fire at Fate Dam near Presho on the resident opener. Big fires out west, and near Lower Brule last weekend also.

Ive been hunting pheasants for the last two weekends (reservation).

There are quite a few very young birds. (some that I just couldnt shoot)

[mrfish1991]

Was the resident only opener last weekend?

yes it was.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

The orange invasion has started...drove past the airport at lunch; saw a few different lodges represented in the parking lot on the sides of the short buses.

[cold one sd]

I'm staying home from the first ten day circus and may try hunting after we get some snow. For some reason getting my rear chewed every time I pull over to the side of the road no longer thrills me.

[Jarrod32]

Well, it was a bit too windy to go fishing today, so I gave in and went hunting. Pheasant numbers do indeed seem to be down a bit. We still saw plenty of birds, but only got a couple pheasant between the two of us. Did have five ducks in the bag to go with 'em, though...

My highlight...a nice redhead pair, drake and hen, with one shot...

[rundrave]

Did not make it out Saturday, but got out this evening for a really short hunt the last 2 hours before dark. I hunted all public land and was very surprised with the number of birds I saw today in just a short amount of time. Lots of young birds as both of my dogs caught some today. I was able to bring home 2 roosters, could have easily had my limit but shot terrible.

All in all couldn't have asked for better weather. I was a little worried with the bird numbers being reported but was happy with what I saw today. It will only get better once the crops finish coming out

[Jarrod32]

Yeah...I know what you mean by young birds. We saw some that appeared to be roosters, but we weren't quite sure. Lots of young, smallish birds out there.

[rundrave]

I got out yesterday during the early afternoon. I would have preferred to hunt up until dark but my schedule didnt allow for that.

Between 2 guys and 3 dogs, all of our bird encounters were hens and we probaly saw around 15. Kind of unfortanate and we worked hard and did a lot of walking with nothing to show for. Thats just the way it goes sometimes. We didnt feel like walking corn and I am guessing thats where most of the birds were yet. Its almost like they were out there cackling at us, just laughing while we walked the grassy areas.

Conditions were brutal, it was much warmer than I thought it would be. Add no wind, and extremely dry conditions made it tough for the dogs to get scent. Went out of my way to keep them hydrated and their noses wet. But the conditions definately favored the birds.

The good news is that the combines are out in full force and there was crops coming out every where we went. I cant wait for colder temps and some snow.

[reddog]

Friday I hunted the Brule Reservation, and had lots of opportunities. Came away with 2 in the bag, and two lost birds. I even went wading up to my thighs in a stock dam to try to find the bird. Like rundrave said, hotter than anticipated, and dry.. I hunted from 8:30 (grouse)till 2:30 and called it a day.

Saturday, I was invited to hunt private ground north of Presho and we filled out for 6 people, not easily, but then again, its nnot supposed to be.

Today I hunted north of Plankinton and shot 2 birds. The 10 oclock opening time, helped the dogs out immensly.

Im home now, awaiting stitches in my new pup, and headed back out Tuesday afternoon. Gonna miss not hunting over the pup, as Im sure thats going to be the case.

The agricultural front is changing rapidly in South Dakota, both East and West river and my opinion, is that it is not for the good.

[rundrave]

I took a late afternoon hunt on some public land in Turner county today. Again it was warm and hard on the dogs but atleast had some wind today. Didnt have a lot of bird encounters but was able to bring home 2 birds.

Still lots of corn in and didnt see too many combines out harvesting today.

Reddog are you refering to all the tiling going on? It seems just about everywhere I look farmers are putting in thousands of feet of it. It makes sense though with as dry as it is I cant fault them for taking advantage of that but I also know its a few less fingers of cover getting replaced for crops.

[reddog]

rundrave,

Not so much the tiling going on in the areas I've been blessed to hunt, but more of a clear cutting on the ground, to make more acres available. That, and just farming further and further out into the fencelines/ditches than ever before.

Im sending you an email explaining further.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

The agricultural front is changing rapidly in South Dakota, both East and West river and my opinion, is that it is not for the good.

Truth.

[rundrave]

had the holiday off from work today so spent the afternoon hunting.

1st public WIA I missed a rooster on a great point from one of my dogs. It held forever and I missed twice. Moved a few hens there but not much else.

2nd public WIA I got into 5 roosters and only 1 hen. First 2 flushed and got me by surprise and I wasn't able to get a shot off. 10yards further I flushed another rooster and got him on the first shot. After a retrieve from one of the dogs I struggled getting the bird into my vest as it was still flapping pretty good. While I was fumbling had another bird get up well with in gun range but with my gun broke open and bird in my hands it flew off but not very far. With my 2 dogs we were able to cut it off and after another great point I drew my gun only to have left my safety on and didn't manage a shot, Oh well. We moved another rooster but missed him and he flew near the area where we parked. As we made our way back I should have paid closer attention to my dogs as they tracked him down but I wasn't in a good enough position to shoot him.

3rd WIA I got a bird right away and missed another easy shot on another. Also saw a few hens but not much else.

4th WIA missed another easy one trying to rush things to fast. Seems that 3rd bird to limit out wouldn't come my way today.

It was a great day, still warmer than I would prefer and it showed on the dogs. Saw lots of birds yet which is encouraging considering I wasn't in prime hunting areas. But the birds are starting to bunch up which makes it fun at times.

I am terrible at remembering to take pics:

[lindy rig]

Very nice report and pic Rundrave!

[tori's dad]

Just got back yesterday of two days hunting- got two man limits both days around brookings area- had to work all day for the birds but high winds messed with scent for the labs working and you had to shoot quickly or they were gone when they flushed- all the birds came out of the thick wet cattails - great trip once again birds no doubt are down but they are there hope for a mild winter and dry spring- good luck to all stay safe.

[rundrave]

if you were able to do well in the Brookings area you lucked out. I would say that was probably one of the hardest areas hit with harsh winter weather last year.

Glad to hear you had a great hunt, to bad it was only 2 days. Nice to see you took full advantage of your limited time.

[rundrave]

got a late start today and the weather put me in the field much later than I would have preferred.

The roads were quite the surprise and very very slick. I saw a lot of bad wrecks today, some bad enough that I almost decided to just head back home. It almost wasn't worth the risk. I knew my time was limited but knew I couldn't rush my driving.

Birds were hard to come by today. I figured with the sudden change in weather and temperature drop, on top of the bad road conditions would have kept a lot of other hunters at home. But the public WIA's were getting hammered today and I had to drive by several as they were already occupied.

I was only able to walk 3 areas today and I wouldn't be surprised to find out if they had already been trounced through prior to my arrival based off the number of bird encounters we had.

The only rooster I saw today met his maker. He was an old boy, 25" tail feather and 1" long spurs but he sure didn't act like a seasoned bird. Not my personal best but a nice bird none the less. He held for a great point, and instead of flushing up with the 30mph winds and taking off at mach1 speed, he opted to fly right into it and made for a very easy 1 shot kill.

Going to let the dogs rest up and hit the Huron area hard over my Thanksgiving break for a few days.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

How can anybody think about pheasants right now with all these mallards around?

[rundrave]

How can anybody think about pheasants right now with all these mallards around?

I am not a waterfowl-er by any means. I am not a person who likes to sit so its just not a good combo lol. Someday I need to make an effort to at least try it. I just enjoy going out and walking behind the dogs, not walking to put out decoys lol.

I didn't put 2 and 2 together when I was out this weekend, I completely forgot it was East River deer opener thus the reason for the pressure on the public lands.

[rundrave]

sorry this report is so short. The pic below is from Fridays hunt, got my limit in less than 2 hours. All birds came on public land, and its a bummer we had to call it an early day as we were really on the birds and having a blast.

Saturdays hunt with the wind was tough. On top of that I hurt my quad/hamstring and just wasnt able to get around quick enough to keep up with the dogs and the birds were extra wild.

Sunday I didnt want to make my injury any worse so I gave the dogs and birds a day off.

[Wild Thing]

Nice report and pix Rundave!

Can you briefly describe the kind of cover you found the birds in? Are the sloughs frozen over?

We're headed out Thursday for a trip. Hoping the wind stays down!

Thanks for the post?

[MuleShack]

Nice Job with the triple, D...