2025 Upland opener

[ianpadron]

Today was the most memorable opener of my life for a few reasons:

1) first hunt with our 10 month old daughter, she loved every minute, hilarious when she cheers on her puppies.

2) I've been recovering from a nasty knee injury that occurred in February, and missed a big chunk of summer scouting/fishing, and I'm just finally getting around well enough to get into my favorite spots, so being up top felt pretty dang special this year.

3) shot a limit, 2 blues and a spruce

lots of birds, grasshoppers and berries everywhere, fresh green-up... think it's going to be a banner year for grouse.

 

[MarlinMark]

That's a good hunt right there.

 

[ThreeOhSeven]

Opener success! Maybe my largest grouse to date.
Found this timber chicken at camp after a morning of chasing bugles. Shot its head clean off with my 20ga.

 

[Jason Snyder]

 

[TSAMP]

 

[jmez]

I got skunked last weekend!!! I hunted public and private. Spots where I killled a lot of birds last year. Zero, not nada! I didn't even have a point or flush a bird wild. All of the surveys indicate there are supposed to be more birds than last year. I didn't find them.

 

[jags]

I got skunked last weekend!!! I hunted public and private. Spots where I killled a lot of birds last year. Zero, not nada! I didn't even have a point or flush a bird wild. All of the surveys indicate there are supposed to be more birds than last year. I didn't find them.

Not sure where you were but I just spent 4 days in the grasslands around Lemmon, SD and found the similar relative to bird numbers. Very few, lots of singles and only 2 covey that spooked way ahead of us. My first time over there but everyone in the campground that had been there for years was saying it was the worst they had seen. Had fun though and love watching the dogs work that big country.

 

[TSAMP]

I got skunked last weekend!!! I hunted public and private. Spots where I killled a lot of birds last year. Zero, not nada! I didn't even have a point or flush a bird wild. All of the surveys indicate there are supposed to be more birds than last year. I didn't find them.

I got skunked literally on day 1 of a 6 day trip.

 

[jmez]

Around Sturgis and Union Center. All of the counts and info from Game and Fish say there are more grouse than last year. There aren't. I'm out all year with my dogs, there aren't as many grouse this year.

 

[KurtR]

I talked to guys around the mobridge area and they did really good on grouse