South Dakota Pheasants

[kooba]

A group of 4 of us are heading to the Webster area this Thursday through Sat. Weather looks cold. Above 0 on thursday then below for the rest of the week. They should be bunched up you would think. Anyone else going out this weekend or are you thinking it is going to be to cold?

[Bryce]

Never too cold. Still watching weather to determine when and where.

[Bryce]

Everyone bailed. Unexpected work, planning the wedding, early christmas with the inlaws..... Me and the dogs got ourselves a license to burn. Gonna do a goose hunt in the Rochester area Thursday afternoon and then head out early Friday. Anyone up for the adventure?

[Roscoe16]

We were in a red Ford extended cab P/U, red topper, no trailer. Hwy 27 is much faster than 28, only 3 towns to go thru versus 7-8 on 28.

It would have been fun to get together for a hunt and a beverage. We were at the Wolf's Den for their costume party when we were out there Halloween weekend. It was pretty crazy in there. One guy kept singing karaoke so bad my buddy started throwing ice cubes at him. We had planned to eat dinner at the Legion and hit the Den after on Saturday night but that changed when we decided to skip town early.

Roscoe

[timbuk2]

I'd be careful where you walk section lines and where you road hunt. The only reason I say this is....i've been "approched" about both issues.

The first was hunting section lines in Pierre area for geese...guess what?....GF&P will not back u up on some of those issues. Some land owners know how to work it.

The second is shooting a pheasant (while road hunting) when it is "technically" over the vertical plane of the fence line....there are actually land owners out there that watch this sort of stuff (usually around the pheasant camps and pheasant farms).

This is not a threat by any means, just a heads up. Just a couple of experiences I have had.

[lenny7]

I'd be careful where you walk section lines and where you road hunt. The only reason I say this is....i've been "approched" about both issues.

The first was hunting section lines in Pierre area for geese...guess what?....GF&P will not back u up on some of those issues. Some land owners know how to work it.

[timbuk2]

That is true of the ROW....legally. However, the land owners are fighting this, and guess who has the upper hand at the moment.

Keep an eye on the legislation this coming year.

Again, not trying to make a threat....after all, I am in the same boat. I am not a farmer, I love road hunting, and this affects me as well.

Every year this subject gets heated between the GF&P and land owners. Hopefully the rules don't change any time soon.

[reddog]

Alot of this controversy is fueled by the pay to play places, rather than the existing farmer stock in SD.

If road hunters would just stay away from the places that raise birds for their pay to play, then things could be alot easier, but many times, road hunters target these areas/roads for two reasons, first off, they can by law and secondly, there are alot of birds hanging around the road ditches in those area.

My feelings on thisis that originally the lodges and guides and a few landowners were after the complete banning of road hunting all together, then, when it became apparent they werent going to win that battle, they went after the airspace above their property. That ended up not being able to enforce, because that gets encroached upon every day anyway.

So, they ended up with a law that says that any bird that orginates in the right of way is fair game and if dropped outside of the right of way, it can be retrieved if you go unarmed.

That decision resulted in a ton of more mowed ditches than South Dakota has ever seen in its history.

That is just my take on it

I am a non resident, on my 3rd license this year, who is blessed with some prime private ground, both east and west river. I dont road hunt, but certainly would, if I didnt have acces to the ground I have. Of the 3 licenses, my days to hunt went like this:

2-2-5-2-1 and I still have dates open for 08/09, which I was going to use this weekend, but am wimping out, I'll probably go for a couple days after Christmas, as the weather looks better.

It truly amazes me how much ground out there goes unhunted.

[timbuk2]

Sounds right on reddog. It is more of an issue with the pheasant ranches and farms and those that charge to hunt. A majority of farmers that just farm couldn't care less.

I hear that there is something brewing this year for changes.

[lenny7]

If road hunters would just stay away from the places that raise birds for their pay to play, then things could be alot easier, but many times, road hunters target these areas/roads for two reasons, first off, they can by law and secondly, there are alot of birds hanging around the road ditches in those area.

[lenny7]

That is true of the ROW....legally. However, the land owners are fighting this, and guess who has the upper hand at the moment.

Keep an eye on the legislation this coming year.

Again, not trying to make a threat....after all, I am in the same boat. I am not a farmer, I love road hunting, and this affects me as well.

Every year this subject gets heated between the GF&P and land owners. Hopefully the rules don't change any time soon.

My understanding...and I could be wrong...was that the last time they clamped down on road hunting it was the locals that screamed because they were messing with a SoDak tradition.

What part of SoDak are you in?

[311Hemi]

Hwy 27 is much faster than 28, only 3 towns to go thru versus 7-8 on 28.

[Roscoe16]

We were at the Den on that Friday night. It was packed. They pour very good drinks there! We thought about going to the DU banquet but had brought food for a big dinner on Saturday night so we passed.

We had 6 trick or treaters at the place we rented. Two came to the door and 4 others had to be coaxed to come over from across the street.

Roscoe

[Bryce]

Birds not too smart with the storm. Easy pickings in the Huron area. Are starting to migrate to no shooting zone groves. Will post pix after New Years. Living the sportman's dream right now.

[brittman]

Quote:

Are starting to migrate to no shooting zone groves.

Nows the time to get acquainted with those farmers

[Rost]

This wind and snow will be tough on our pheasant population. I drove around yesterday after the blizzard and saw several dead birds. I spotted 6 dead on one hillside near the road. It looked like they simply hunkered down and sufficated or froze to death.

I also saw a hawk feasting on a dead bird as well as a few right next to the road half drifted over.

It's not unusual to lose 50% of our birds during a harsh winter, but if this winter continues on the path it's headed, our birds may be in trouble.

[Fishing Realtor]

What have people seen as far as the total snow accumulation currently on the ground? Just got back from SW MN - of course the drifts were incredible, but I'd say the average snow depth everywhere was 10+ inches. Almost impossible to hunt in. Still have a trip to Watertown/Redfield planned with the old man after Christmas and we're wondering if we'll even be able to walk... any areas have less snow?

[brittman]

As much as I would like to say let's poll it. Too many internet scouts even late season .... If someone speaks up ... it maybe they are cut off from a return engagement at their favorite spot.

Based on this weeks forecast, about to get even tougher....

Recommend calling the farmer and if you are staying in a hotel - call them too. They will be hearing from other hunters how tough it was.

[1runhotshot]

Out in SD now, I have never seen this many birds....

[rundrave]

ive been out over the holidays and this weekend. I have to agree with Rost ive seen dead birds that couldnt survive the weather. However there are still a lot of birds around. I hunted public land over the weekend and the birds are really piled up. However they are pretty educated and spooky.

I have been making a good effort to be as quiet as possible but they know your coming regardless. My best success over the last couple of days is to watch where they go when they flush wild and work that area. Some birds just keep running but there are several who seem to sit after they flush.

Less than a week to go before the season ends and I plan on hunting atleast 4 days yet.

[coyote36]

Just got back from SD hunting was very good.most birds held real tight.Seen more birds than ever before some feilds had 700 to a 1000 birds in them. Have picture but do not know how to post.

We ended up with36 birds in 2days.6 guys 1 dog.

[Bryce]

Go to the photography & photo sharing section. Right at the top is a sticky topic that will explain it clearly.

Hope you have better luck than I did. 16 birds (4 SoDak limits + 4 MN birds taken while traveling to and from) all spread out on garage floor with dog on each side holding one. Both batteries dead on digital. Grabbed a disposable out of my work truck, resituate the hounds (by myself), and snap 6 or 7 shots. Developed them yesterday and got a bunch of shots of road construction but no pheasants. Who knows. Not enough light or camera got too hot. Second time this has happened to me. Guess pics of Sodak limits are not in the cards for me. Got pics of 4 Rochester geese shot the day before I left, no deer taken over Christmas bow hunting to photo, hope to get some pics of LOW walleyes over New Years trip. Wife is along and her pics always turn out.

[Tom7227]

I am trying to get out there but one concern is the fact that I only have a 2 wheel drive F150. To those who have been out recently - go or no go?

[coyote36]

unless you are driving off road ,the roads were great shape .We drove in some fields in 2 wheel drive no problem.