SD pheasant hunt

[Bagel_7]

Hey everyone, I sold a job in Rapid City SD and will likely fly out there sometime in late October. Non-resident pheasant season opens up Oct. 17th and I'd love to hunt pheasant in SD. I've only hunted pheasant a few days last year so I'm a rookie. But I'd be out there without a dog. I'd scout on Onx and have done a little already. Any suggestions on where I should start looking, knowing I won't have a dog to hunt behind.

Would you focus on walk in areas where there could be active farms? Really any advice on where to find good habitat would be appreciated.

Thanks

Trevor

 

[Rbrok]

You would have to drive east quite a ways. S.D. pheasant range is the eastern half of the state.

 

[KurtR]

I would look for trees around agh fields and go early and late . Hope for bad weather. Farther East you go better the numbers . Fair amount from 40 miles west of the river then more as you go east

 

[Jxferg7]

IMHO either pay to go to a lodge to slam the shit out of some birds....usually run fairly reasonable. OR rent a pickup and drive the shit out of the gravel roads in central/Eastern SD and road hunt for birds. SD has more than likely some of the least restricted right of way hunting. Read the regs and Enjoy!

 

[Mountain_Life]

As others have mentioned, go east. Hit thick grass areas that transition corn fields if possible. Avoid anything wet. If you put some miles in road hunting, you'll notice quickly where the birds like to hang out. Flushing birds without a dog isn't hard, but keep your eyes glued to the spot they drop and get there asap. They either hit the ground running or burrow under the grass if they aren't dead when they land. If you wing em, hammer em again on their way down.

 

[Bagel_7]

Thank you guys for the responses. If I end up having a lot of time while I'm out there I will consider heading east past the river. I'm not sure what my schedule will look like when I go yet. I just know I want to get out and get a hunt in or two. I appreciate the responses regarding habitat that is all helpful. If I knock something down when I get out there I'll update the thread.

 

[tgus59]

If I were hunting solo, and couldn't bring my dog, I would look for narrower strips to hunt. E.g. A fencerow between two picked ag fields, tall grass between an ag field and timber etc. That will make it easier to flush birds, and ideally, they would fall dead in the picked field making them much easier to find without a dog.

I also wouldn't bother trying to shoot a double, get your butt to where the first bird falls!

 

[spur60]

Plenty of good pheasant hunting to be had west of the river, even without a dog. I spend every opener or the weekend after camping on the river around chamberlain. all we do is road hunt and hit occasional public spots and we shoot plenty of birds, often without a dog. find section lines that haven't been mowed and you'll have a shot at some birds. for public areas without a dog, I like to just sit and watch about 1.5 hours before sundown. You'll start to see birds moving back and forth from crops. watch a few go down and hustle as quietly as you can to the area, then make a ton of noise to get the birds to hopefully fly rather than run away.

 

[jmez]

You can get into them starting at Murdo. You don't need to go east river. Go to game and fish website and download the walk in area maps.

Don't be intimidated by large areas. Most of the pheasants will be within 50 yards of the edge of the cover. Walk about 50 yards at a time and then stand still for a few seconds. The birds will let you walk right past them if you keep moving.

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

 

[CHSD]

If you do end up heading east shoot me a PM I may be able to point you in the direction of public land that has been pretty good for me.

 

[Bagel_7]

You can get into them starting at Murdo. You don't need to go east river. Go to game and fish website and download the walk in area maps.

Don't be intimidated by large areas. Most of the pheasants will be within 50 yards of the edge of the cover. Walk about 50 yards at a time and then stand still for a few seconds. The birds will let you walk right past them if you keep moving.

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

I'll just use my OnX Maps app on my phone, that has the walk-in areas on there. But that's good advice about stopping and starting. The couple days I pheasant hunted last year I walked continually like I do when I quail hunt. Thanks

 

[Bagel_7]

If you do end up heading east shoot me a PM I may be able to point you in the direction of public land that has been pretty good for me.

If I head east I will shoot you a PM thank you for the offer.

 

[Lytro]

You won't find any pheasants near Rapid City, but there are plenty of grouse to hunt in the area. You won't have any problem finding birds once you cross the river.

 

[Eye_catcher]

Any luck?