Just wondering how the pheasants are doing? I see the brood survey says it's down 17%.

Mitchell, Huron, Miller, Gettysburg, Polo, Mobridge, Highmore, Redfield

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

I got to believe any natural hatch is very limited. I hunted a 50,000 acre farm in SD last year and they said all pen raised birds, no natural hatch.

We are seeing lots of broods near Mitchell. The brood survey is going to be very flawed this season. The water sitting in the ditches and low areas near the roads is keeping the birds off the roads. The survey actually says that ,but they put it way at the bottom.

Numbers seem to be way up in the middle parts of the State I have seen more this year then past seasons the brood count might be off from the amount of cover we have, its tall and thick. Made a court run yesterday Winner to Plankinton and back seen a good numbers of birds I would not put much faith in that survey I can't believe they said it was down! LOL

Might be a year to take a run at it maybe a lot of hay might never get cut lot's of muddy ditches still out there and closed roads along with new lake beds holding water and cover.

I hunted 800-1000 acres last year and saw nothing BUT wild birds. I think if they survived the wet spring they should be ok. What might make hunting difficult is a lot of late standing corn

How to tell a pen bird from a wild one it's easy, if the nostrils are a even slit they are wild bird, if it's a pen bird the nostrils will have a round look where they blinders were at when chicks.

What pheasants? We have pheasants?

This is a great way to tell pen raised pheasants from wild pheasants.

I have seen a fair number of guys claim they shot a wild pheasant cockerel because of the tail feathers being perfect or because of how the saddle looked, but when you look at the nostrils, you can see the damage left by the blinders or bits. You can see it on taxidermy too.

Keith

So you mean to tell me they put blinders on every bird the raise............ meaning 10,000 of thousands? Wouldn't it be esaier to clip the beaks?

Thanks for the updates, guys!

I make my trip in December and I only hunt public land. It's a great trip even on bad years. And, I much prefer wandering around trying public land rather than paying to hunt pen-raised birds on a ranch.

My old girl is 11 and my young dog is 3, so I have a pretty good team working for me. It's a real challenge hunting late-season, wild roosters!

KRE: There will be lots of heavy cover this year so if you get some snow to move them Into cover you should do well. With those conditions, however, be careful of the old lady. Her heart may overload the rest of her body.

Yep the blinders allow the hunters to think they are wild birds even if they know better the cut beak is to much of a reality for them. LOL Nobody will pay good money for a pecked up no tail feather bird so blinders are very common.

Hey SD Guys...

So, my brother is out NW of Huron right now. He's having a heck of a time. Too much water and it isn't frozen enough to walk on. Lots of standing crops.

I'm wondering...I'm coming out December 7th...how much progress can be made with the harvest in that amount of time? I'm guessing all of the standing corn is holding a lot of birds. The corn and beans are almost completely gone by the time I come out in December.

I know the weather is a complete crap shoot, but should the ice be walkable by December 7th? Normally it is...but it was only a couple years ago that everything was completely dry...no water at all.

He was really down when I talked to him last night and he was hinting that he might not want to go back with me in December. I sure hope they get into some birds.

I've hunted SD for years and have fun every year. Good friends, good whiskey young and old dogs working together, never a bad time regardless of bird pop.

Have already made one trip this year and as said, all the corn in made it tough hunting but still a good time.

There are no pen raised pheasants in this state outside of pay-to-play pheasant hunting places, and even those places on many years rely on their habitat management to draw wild birds. The only pay hunting places that have to release birds are those that are open outside of the SD season, i.e. those that open in Sept and close in March. They must keep records of the birds taken and I think its a 2-to-1 release ratio. If your just open for business during the regular season, I don't believe they have to keep records of the number of birds harvested, just their sales tax license tallies. The pay-to-play for pheasants and releasing birds on some of that ground is a fairly recent phenomenon. It didn't really exist before the late 1970s and out-of-season pheasant lodges didn't exist until maybe the 1990s (can't remember the dates). Away from such operations, all other birds, except maybe an occasional place that may release some, are wild.

Bryce's link to the crop harvest report said that 56% of the corn is out in SD, although that's at the state scale. Its supposed to be a nice weekend but also warmer, so its a trade off if soft ground that was frozen (or at least the surface) will be muddy again. A lot of slough edges probably have 2+ inches of ice (I know I busted through some rat trapping last week) but individual wetland conditions can vary, a lot of anaerobic decomposition can slow good ice formation. By the end of the first week of Dec., who really knows but hunting conditions will probably be better than now, unless a big blizzard packs in the cover. Good luck!!

My ignorance shows here. I was under the impression that there were lots of pheasants in states like SD, IA were high due to very good native and wild populations that were sustainable. I know it is not easy to calculate but if any one from SD could give me an estimate of what percent of the birds or bird hunting land in SD is stocked with penned birds I would appreciate a general idea of what that would be. It changes one's thoughts in my opinion to drive 1500 miles round trip, buy licenses, live away from home etc. only to shoot birds that were used to being fed.

Bryce

Paid hunting killed the old traditional hunting ways and in a short time at that. Opening day here was like deer hunting in WI orange everywhere, you look around now you seldom see many guy hunting birds in any numbers. Opening day sounded like a war now it's really quiet even the first weeks, most shots a guy picks up on is at the paid places now.

Lodges are leaning more towards supplying everything hunts, lodging, bar and meals all in one package at steep prices most cannot afford to pay.

They have been running silage trucks all week around here so that's how far they are behind still a big factor in the brood survey lots of roads closed and many crops still in the fields here.

I live a mile from a public hunting area small but it has cover I have not heard much for shots this year and I know there are birds in that area just less hunters then in the past.

Bryce- You'd have to ask the SD GF&P pheasant biologist(s) that question but I'm sure the majority of the birds shot each year in this state are wild. They used to estimate over a million pheasants killed each year. If you stay away from a hunting lodge,especially those that are open Sept through March, the birds you'll see are wild. The state does no "stocking".

Like nonPCfed mentioned above, registered preserves have to release birds, which there are a fair amount in the state. There are also some private landowners that release a pen raised birds as well in hopes that it will help boost the population, though studies continually show that this isn’t an effective practice. Realistically it’s probably only 1% of the state’s pheasant range or less that is actually stocked. If your hunting public land and not next to a commercial hunting preserve you should be hunting nearly 100% wild birds.

I’m not surprised your brother is having trouble right now. Between the water, crops, and lower bird numbers it’s kind of a perfectly storm for tough hunting. That said it should be better later in the season.

I’d be shocked if things weren’t froze over by December and harvest should be much further along. I did pretty well on a couple hunts last year after thanksgiving and I plan to do the same this year. A decent dog is worth it’s weight in gold and if your dog gets birdy you better keep up(safely) with him/her because those pressured late season wild birds are runners. You need non toxic shot on public lands and a heavy load of steel #2’s is my ammo of choice.

License sales are way down this year and that may mean a lot of the birds won’t experience the pressure they normally would If you have some good dogs and the trip is on your bucket list I’d say come out and have an experience. The glory days might be gone for awhile but it’s still probably the best state in the country for numbers and opportunity.

I would recommend keeping tabs on the snow reports and be flexible where you choose to hunt. A little snow can help, a lot of snow just plain sucks to walk through.

Shoot some snows they are around now.