The Good Ol' Days are not completely gone at least not in South Dakota and in regard to pheasants. Some good friends and I converged in central SD for just two days and this picture is an understatement of weather and birds seen and taken. All used 12 gauges from O/U to SxS, auto's and pumps with "6's" and "4's." We had guys who had swung a scattergun a time or two and the birds who got up in range ended up in coolers. But the birds that got up wild and caught the wind were uncountable and were as fulfilling to the spirit as those bagged.

Yours in deed and fact on the far left.

I miss corn fields and pheasants. thanks for the picture!

Keith, it was outstanding!

Impressive....reminds me of my group that hunted eastern Nebraska when they had birds to hunt. I sure miss those hunts. My last hunt was 2002, after that the bird count was so bad it was not worth the gas to get there.

Doc

It's been a long time for me since the number of pheasants getting up far and high against a blue sky was more reminiscent of a huge flock of mallards leaving a corn field than the expected singles and doubles.

Nice thats a blast for sure!

Looks great.

Unfortunately 2 days is little more than a tease.

Very true but it's only a three and a half hour jaunt for us and made for a nice semi-impromptu trip.

I will say SD's non-resident licensing has to be the spawn of a "paronoid Big Brother" but they have the game and the folks wanting to come so...

I love the country of the middle third of the state though, a mix of breaks, patched with crop land, stock ponds, shelter belts, and the Mighty Mo - a haven for all kinds of wild life.

How did you handle land access? Was this state or gov. land? Looks like fun. I need to take my Brittany

We hit private land. You can do this in degree from relatively high end lodges with their guides and dogs and include everything to the tune of $1k/ day to farmers who farm with an eye to keeping birds around and who grant access for, say, $175 per gun per day. At this level they may or may not have a dog(s); we had our own. We went this latter way and had tremendous shooting.

There are also public walk-in areas which of course are free. One thing for sure if you are willing to risk the vagaries of December weather is to go later in the season as things are winding down. Everything is more casual and relaxed and though the birds have been to school there are still plenty of them to be had.

3.5hours and I would be there enough they may ask me to buy SD plates.


Congrats again, on a great trip.

Yea, I should be made an "honorable resident" for what I've contributed to the SD economy over the years including the Cabelas in Mitchell.

I've done this off and on through the years but hope to make it a more frequent occurrence. I'm almost always amazed.

Thats's no kidding and I grew up in SD

I thought about going later. Too many other seasons in Oct and Nov. thanks

Nice George, very nice. I enjoyed my first trip to SD earlier this season and will be back.

Agree on the birds. We were there in November, saw a goodly number, killed a goodly number. Walked ditches.

Very cool George, looks like some awesome pheasant hunting!


Our season ends at the end of the year, need to get in 1-2 more walks.