South Dakota Brood Counts

http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasant-brood-trends.aspx?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GFP%20News&utm_content=

http://www.gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasants.aspx

http://www.gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasant-outlook.aspx

Yep up 76% from last year but still down over 50% from 10 year normal. The areas I hunted were all plowed under in the last couple of years and still down more than 70% from the 10 year average this year. The tilling and draining is just sickening to watch. My dog is now to old and I don’t think at 50 something I will get a new pup as my MN haunts are plowed under as well.

Mwal

Yea. Pheasant hunting is quirky and totally man dependent. Also a land owner controlled sport in many areas including Minnesota as far as I am concerned. I’ll continue to chase them in Iowa and elsewhere for now.

The biggest detriment to SD bird numbers is the loss of cover. I’m hoping cheap corn slows the rush to to plow and cut down every tree in sight.

I sure miss the S. Dakota good old days…We started going to S.Dakota about 5 or 6 yrs ago when the population peaked and it sure was good. I have noticed the population decline every year now. After going out there I gave up Minnesota pheasant hunting all together.

Anybody ever try just walking the ditches?? We got these birds a few years just walking ditches both with and without a dog. Not “road hunting” but rather walking public right of ways, section roads, and ditches. It can be pretty productive hunting without a dog or private land access.

I plan on going out there again this year and it is really the only hunting I do anymore.

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Nice haul. You can also hunt any school ground that isn’t grazed or hayed off. We had a quarter next door to us last year that never got mowed. It was crazy how many birds were in it and it never got walked once last fall. Those little gems are hard to find of course. I did A LOT of walking on section lines as a kid since we didn’t own the farm back then. I also hunted the railroad tracks a lot but I’m told they frown on that now days apparently??

Its definitely good news but we do have a long ways to go on the habitat side of things.

There has been a lot of interest in CRP this year due to the drop in commodity prices, especially in the northern counties. Next year may have even more interest. Only problem is that the new farm bill significantly caps the National acres allowed to be enrolled. So we’ll have the interest but no acres available.

Last year was not supposed to be a banner year for birds but I was totally impressed the yield on the public grounds we hunted from Aberdeen to Mansfield. The only thing that stopped us from filling the freezer was the fact that I couldn’t hit’m We’re going to try it again this year. Our family grounds barely got touched last year. We’ve decided to start with our private grounds and then go to the public stuff. Far and away not at all like the good old days when doubles weren’t uncommon, but personally, I burned thru enough ammo to justify my trip- – -jerr

WE did ok last year hunting mostly public land and ditches the railroad tracks that we hunted other years were posted last year

Forgive me for not doing any research before posting but where is the best place to find a map or listing of public ground to hunt? I would like to fit a trip in.

You’ve got a couple options.

http://gfp.sd.gov/images/WebMaps/Viewer/WILMA/

You can also download the app. I love it. I take my tablet in the truck with me and start driving around(3G service of course). It shows my location relative the public land. Killed a few coyotes this way out there.

http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/

I down load the maps to my Garmin nuvi. We’ve found some nice hunting that way.

After a week out in SD, I’m quite confident hunting is going to be much better this year. I saw many, many different size/hatches. I saw birds everywhere too. This was no the case last year.

Should be another good year in SD. I’ll be back for opener, but I’m not going to hunt birds. My focus is solely on deer and coyotes.

Thanks for the good report Kooty. Were heading out to Plankington a week later this year. I’ve been reading that nothing is being harvested yet. It might work out good for us.

That area of the state tends to be behind my turf but those farmers can get a lot done in a week. Talked with my cousin last night, his corn is ready but the new bins aren’t just yet. He said they will be going on corn the week of the 20th most likely.

I’ve always thought the second and third weekends in SD were the best early season hunting. More crops out, less chance of hot days etc….