South Dakota report

[BLACKJACK]

Just got back from South Dakota, five of us hunted west of Redfield. It was great, birds everywhere, we had always saw lots of birds in past year, but this year there were even more birds. It was warm on Sat and Sun, and its very dry out there, alot of the water tanks were dry, so no cooling off the dogs there, so we were resticted to short runs, shelterbelts, small grass sloughs, small cornfields and water the dogs at the end. Lots of birds!!! We filled out one day in 50 minutes and filled out in 35 minutes the last day. We'd start into a spot, three posters on the end and two guys pushing with dogs and everyone would get shooting. Fantastic. Lots of corn and sumflowers still standing which bodes well for our November trip. Its a different type of hunting out there, the dogs go nuts and are used more for finding the downed birds. If you ever have a chance to goto SoDak, do it, its amazing to see the birds waving out of the cover!!

Then back to reality, went hunting yesterday in MN, saw 8-10 birds, should have had shooting at a couple of roosters, but didn't follow the dog close enough. Oh well, a slow day of pheasant hunting is always better than a day at work!!

[rundrave]

great post black, sounds like you had a blast. Hopefully your november trip will be just as succesful, and probably a little cooler for the dogs

[Tyler Holm]

Nice post Blackjack. I'm from Aberdeen and know all about great pheasant hunts in that area. Glad to hear you had success. I had similiar success hunting north of Ipswitch (50 miles from Redfield).

[Gadgetman]

Hey Blackjack, were you hunting public areas or private land out there? I was out in Redfield Thurs-Sunday and had pretty good luck also. Tho we did waste a lot of time as we hadnt been on the public areas out there before so we drove up to a lot of crappy places-which you dont really kinow until you pull up to them. We have no mapped a bunch of places that we know we dont need to go back to and also some good places. Didnt seem to be a lot of other people around that area. Lots of fun!

[Mille Lacs Guy]

Tyler-

I will be hunting west of Ipswich from Wednesday through Sunday of this week. I have been hunting the area for years so I know the area quite well. Since I can't start hunting until noon Wednesday through Saturday I am going to bring a fishing rod along. Are there any areas west of Aberdeen that are good for shore fishing? I am going to hit Waubay on the way out for walleyes but that is too far to drive back to fish on the other mornings. Walleyes would be the preferred target.

Thanks.

[BLACKJACK]

Tyler, we go thru Ipswitch and get our last gas fillup at the Buffalo Station, and buy a little buffalo jerky.

[BLACKJACK]

Gadget, we hunt mostly private land but have been known to take a few forays on public land. Like you say, not many hunters out there. We were also duck hunting out there on public land and had to keep our dogs leashed so they wouldn't keep busting the pheasants! Some of the public land got hunted on opener and that was it. Versus in MN, on a public area you can see a different truck every two hours.

[Tyler Holm]

Mille Lacs Guy,

Sorry if this response is tardy, but I'd recommend Richmond Lake. Its NW of Aberdeen about 10 miles. Lots of bluegill action and its possible to pull limits of walleye out this time of year from shore. Nothing really big, but good eaters are common.

Mina Lake is 12 miles west of Aberdeen on Hwy 12. That lake hasn't produced like Richmond has, but I've had great action in the years past.