doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com South Dakota hunting regs.

Yes sir- I hunt cackle birds in NE MT as a side light to deer hunting-so we see more trees than other hunters- but I just re-read Steve Grooms' great paperback book on pheasant hunting, and your great advice, like his, comes from years or wearing out the Russell Birdshooters- right on-want a great pheasant story-took place near Yankton SD (a WW11 POW camp-right on the river bend-) Jack Cuirtis GSJ Fall 1977- "The Prairie Queen"- have fun, birds, like $, that you work hard for, mean more- and don't shoot the radiator in the return vehicle-long march home!! RWTF

SW SD is not part of the main pheasant range - you need to get to the first tier or two of counties west of the Missouri before you start getting to real pheasant country.

Guys, I'm heading out the week of November 16th to hunt for two weeks through Thanksgiving, believe you me our wives are glad to see us gone they don't have to cook,
We're taking a buddy's English Setter, hopefully she holds up, but anyway, I think I order that Atlas already but it hasn't arrived yet, should I order another???

Wow! David covered that pretty thoroughly. Like David, I prefer the weeds and reeds and slews to the cornfield bird drive type hunts. Unfortunately, I am part of a group that hunts that way on private land. The good part is that often our group is too large to be compliant with the max limit of hunters in a field and the landowner knows several of us like to hunt in small groups with our dogs and he sends us off on our own.

SD Game & Fish dept identifies the areas of the state and the bird counts. Most of the birds are in the eastern half of the state with some really hot spots along the I-90 in the central area.
http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/hunting/Pheasant/BroodReport.pdf

Late Nov. is a good time to go - public spots shouldn't be too crowded, at least mid-week.

If you're only going to have 1 dog for a 2 week hunt, make sure he's very fit before you go, and limit the number of hours per day for the first few days until you see what he can handle. Also try to limit the amount of time in the real heavy cover as it really beats the dog up as the days go on. I keep my dog pretty thin, but if I were going to try to hunt him every day for 2 weeks I'd probably start out with a touch more flesh on his ribs than usual - mine at least generally can't eat enough to keep up if they're hunting all day every day.

If it were my first time out there and I had 1 dog and 2 weeks, I'd probably not stay put in one area but would cover a lot of ground, maybe even hunting both N and S Dakota and spending a few days in western N Dakota chasing huns and sharptails - that way you can see a bunch of nice countryside, hunt the choice looking spots you come across, and not beat the dog up too much.

Treblig, make a stop at Cabela's in Mitchell or Scheel's in Sioux Falls, assuming you're coming west on I-90. You can pick up an atlas at either place.

Also, consider a glycogen supplement for your dog...and maybe yourself as well. For a good read on the subject, click this link. http://www.purina.com/company/press/2004/PerformanceBar.aspx

George Hickox recommended a glycogen supplement for dogs in heavy training and hunting multiple days.


BTW, the performance bars from Purina are discontinued now, but other companies have glycogen supplements out there. I purchased a brand called "Elements".

Good info. I am headed out next week to hunt the Grasslands and chase some prairie birds. Hopefully, the weather won't be too warm. I can't wait as this will be my first early season hunt.

Alright Mr. Brown, THANK YOU!!!!

And a hearty THANK YOU to all, Chuck, Davidm, Larry, Bob, RWTF for the information and sound advice!!!

I need to send Dave a check, I don't know where else I could have received such good advice!!!

And Good luck Kevin!!!
What gun(s) are you taking???

I am taking my CSMC 16 gauge Fox and a Samuel Mathews hammer gun as a backup. I plan to use B&P #7s for most of the birds and maybe some #6s in the left bbl. if needed.