doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Them Black Hills of South Dakota??

Planning a hunting trip with my Ithaca, Native American word for "No back-up necessary", I'm surprised Walt didn't mention that in his great book, well anyway, any birds up there in them hills guys???

You will probably find more birds closer to the eastern boundary of the state than on the Wyoming border. Look around Mitchell.

I'd take a back up.

A friend of mine has lived near Pringle in the southern hills for several years. He tells me the locals know where to find huntable numbers of pheasants in some of the plains country surrounding the Black Hills, and there are a few ruffed grouse in the hills, but this isn't the most promising bird hunting destination for visitors.

Turkeys on the other hand are abundant!

Jay

Thanks guys!!
Joe, After the last gun show in Monroeville its the only shotgun I have now .
I hunted around Chamberlain last year seeing about a few million birds on the first day but I'm looking for more public land to hunt.
Is there more public land in the Black Hills??

Generally speaking, there is more public land and "walk-in areas" the farther west you go. Also, generally speaking, there are fewer pheasants as you get very far west of the Missouri.

I'd recommend you either hunt the public road ditches in the southeast part of SD or get some names and numbers to call in that area. There's also a small number of public land parcels in the area north of Mitchell.

Go to the SD Game & Fish Dept. website for last year's report of pheasant counts, which shows how the bird population is distributed geographically. Or wait a few weeks for the 2010 report. There are virtually no pheasants in the forests of Black Hills, and relatively few in the nearest surrounding counties, most of which is grazing land.

jay

By "birds", if you mean pheasants, there is almost nothing in the Hills themselves. There's a few in the creek bottoms surrounding the hills, but it's mostly private ranches. If you want the native sharp-tails and prairie chickens check out the Ft. Pierre National Grasslands, about two hours to the east near the capital Pierre (SoDaks pronounce it "peer"). You will also run into a few more pheasants there along the Missouri River. There can be lots of birds in places and the country is simply beautiful.

I live in Denver and hunt North Dakota several weeks a year during the pheasant season. Due to the route of the drive I go right through the black hills several time a year.

The black hills are a great place to visit, vacation & live, but it's not an upland bird hunting destination location. There are lots of places with-in three hours drive of the black hills that are some of the best upland hunting in the world. Plan your trip for one of these locations.

My motto about trip planning is:

"Go Where the Birds Are"

Your dog will be glad you did!