South Dakota Pheasants

[ness]

Ouch. That's a pretty long trip for nothing.

I don't know a thing about SD, but in KS -- WIHA can be hit or miss wherever they are. Some of them you look at and wonder what they were thinking (or, who they are related to!) Google Earth can be somewhat helpful, but nothing like boots on the ground.

Haven't heard boo about NE, but NW KS was sposta be less sh*tty than the rest. Might be a good year to take up waterfowl hunting.

[Quillback]

Yep I can deal with WHIA that is hit or miss, and I expect some of it to be bad, but not ALL of it. And you would think that whatever state employee goes out in late summer or early fall and puts up the WIHA signs that if they were putting them up on a barren cow pasture that they would have a process to report it back to the powers that be that it is worthless for WIHA and have it removed from the program. But maybe it is too much to ask that SD DFG employees look after the interests of hunters, makes their job too hard I guess.

[Quillback]

Just talked to the DFG folks who work in the Mobridge office, and they confirmed that in a "normal" year the farmers will leave some cover, but because of the drought they harvested it all. Apparently under the WIHA rules they will pay $1 per acre for WIHA even if there is no habitat on the land. They'll pay $5/acre for land with habitat. So I guess a farmer with a 600 acre field can enroll it in the program, have his cattle graze it down to bare earth, and still get a check for $600. What a country!

Talked to a SW NE regional DFG habitat manager, and he says that their is increased harvest of habitat on walk in areas, but they stipulate that the farmers leave 50% of the land unmowed, so there's not as much as last year, but still land available to hunt. He also claims bird numbers are good. (That may bode well for NW KS). So, I still plan to head up to SW NE next week.

[Justin Spencer]

Didn't mean to imply you hadn't done your homework, just saying anyone else going anywhere this year should check before they drive. As far as cut fields go unless they have already disked it the wheat, milo and corn stubble can hold birds better than you think, I've not run across WIHA land that has unharvested strips, wish I would though. Usually they are in the stubble feeding on waste grain and I've had good luck with them holding in it from time to time (or across the road where they run on to CRP). I skipped my Kansas trip last year and probably will again this year, only have one private place to hunt and the rest is WIHA, which can be good, but lots of walking for few birds after the first field of the day.

[Quillback]

Yep I have no doubt that they get out in that stubble, I saw some in private fields. I did walk some of the stubble, but the dog never got birdy and I didn't see any birds running or flushing. And I would love to hunt the cover near these WIHA fields, but it's all on private land. There's no cover on these WIHA harvested fields, zero, nada, zilch. And the birds will move into that stuff and feed early in the AM (you can't hunt until noon the first week of SD season, then 10 AM thereafter) or in the evening, but it's pretty iffy to get within shotgun range of those birds. Oh well, it is what it is, and I'm moving on.

[Gilly]

As mentioned above the drought has a lot to do with it. The farmers around us have barrened many areas that would typically hold wildlife. I'm not certain what the rules are but a lot of the bales are going on trucks and headed down the highway. Not certain if they're selling it or what.

[Jeff Olson]

Well,I got back to Hollister tue pm the 30th after 2 - 5 day hunts in SD, first 5 were in the Aberdene area,and the 2nd-5 days were around the miller,sd area. both areas were quite a bit slower than normal years.we did ok,I shot 23 pheasants in 10 days,so I guess a 2.3 bird per day avg. but I usually avg my 3 bird limit out there. the total #s of birds saw were down alot ,but we got most of the birds flushed, mainly because you had to find thick cover to find some birds,and they held tight thus most flushes were nice and close! thick ditches,fence lines,creek bottoms and shelter belts were the best. and if you can find that cover near crops or water,all the better! and I agree with Quillback,there sure was alot of very bare fields out there,and crp fields that were not renewed. almost all the crops have been cut also. overall still a very nice hunting trip with family and some old friends,saw more deer than ever before and I wish SD did not have the lottery draw for waterfowl licenses,as there were alot of ducks all over! and I saw alot of migrating flocks of specks! now looking foward to our duck season down here in southern mo.! good hunting to all!

[Quillback]

Thanks Jeff, did you hunt any of the WIHA areas around Aberdeen? Curious if they've all been cut like they were around Mobridge. I might go back to the northeast part of the state next week, but it depends on what shape the WIHA areas are in that part of the state. I'm going to call the regional offices to see what they have to say.

[Jeff Olson]

Hey Quillback, we did not hunt anyWI areas in aberdeen,although we were hunting right next to some and noticed hunters in them getting some shooting.we have always hunted them in the past and usually do ok.you just have to cover alot of area on the public land because they are so spread out because of the pressure.I assume you got a free sd hunting atlas to show all the different types of public land to hunt.if not they are at most places that sell licenses. most of the areas I noticed really cut off were the WIA,CREP&school and public lands.IMO the best cover areas and usually left alone cover wise are the green shaded,waterfowl production areas,and then the red,game production areas. especially now with the drout,the birds are around water! hunt the long grass and cattails around the lake and creek shores,especially if it is near any crops. im not to familiar with the NE part of the state but on page 10 of the atlas it looks like there is alot of green and red areas to hunt.I used to hunt the watertown area about 15 yrs ago, you could check out the Dry Lake area,or stop at the cowboy store in watertown and ask the guys there where to hunt.nice guys and they have very good prices on shells. good luck and let us know if you go! just a little more info,in miller,sd after I left we had 7 new hunters come out and they hunted 4 days,on private land and had only 21 birds total. so it is just a tougher year!

[Quillback]

Thanks Jeff for the info, I'm looking at the map and there does appear to be quite a bit of Game Production areas in the NE part of the state. I may take a drive up there next week, depends on the weather. Left a message for the local wildlife officer in Britton, I'd like to talk to him and see what he has to say.