South Dakota is definitely the king for public land hunting for pheasants. No doubt about it. And generally speaking, there’s wild birds around because they have habitat too. I would argue they are literally the only state in the country that prioritizes something other than deer as their primary hunting market. I’m strictly talking naturally reproduced wild birds here, not flare nares at a game farm or a ranch that act more like domesticated poultry.
There’s also the fact that their season is much longer. A few years ago they extended their season all the way through January. It opens in late October and runs through January. That’s a heck of a long season.
The issue is they’re limiting days you can hunt. A guy should be able to hunt any of that open period if you buy a license. Not only for 5 days at a time.
