South Dakota?
If I’m being honest, Jeff, nor any of our family, have been pheasant hunting in quite some time. We used to have great bird dogs, but those days are long gone. Also, in the past, we didn’t bowhunt as much as we do now. And now, with pheasant season falling in the middle of bow season, the times we head out to hunt pheasants have pretty much dwindled to non-existent.
Then Jeff got a crazy idea.
He started to look into pheasant hunts in South Dakota – the pheasant hunting Holy Grail of the U.S. – and he did manage to stumble on a few outfitters. There was one problem: the price. Some of these establishments want $900 and up a day, and we just don’t want to part with that kind of money – in these economic times – to hunt birds.
Then we found out that one of our cousins has a few contacts that have hunted in South Dakota before. They go a slightly different route though. First, they hunt private land, and most of the farmers out there will accept a much smaller fee and still allow access to their land. Bonus! Second, by not having to stay in a lodge, or hunt on a ranch, it will allow us a little more freedom to enjoy ourselves and know it’s not smacking us right in the pocketbook.
At this point we are doing a little investigating, and then we will decide what exactly we are going to do. The season doesn’t start until next October, so we have a little bit of time to figure out exactly what we want to do.
I’m leaning towards the private land option. We could camp, hang out, and then try our hand at shooting some South Dakotan pheasants. I hope the stories about 20 pheasants flushing at once are true.
Man would that be a blast.
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Hey I know a guy that does pheasant hunts in SD – fellow blogger, Cory from GotHunts. Anyways – I’m the same way…I grew up in prime pheasant country – in fact at that time, Eastern Oregon was pretty much every bit as good as anywhere in SD, but those times are gone and in Idaho, the pheasant hunting doesn’t seem to be as good – it’s been around 10 years probably since I last went on a pheasant hunt.
I have a friend who hunts out there every year. They just go out there and knock on farm doors until they find someone who will let them hunt. They stay in a motel, and it doesn’t cost them much at all.
I’d love to do this sometime. I’ve never had the opportunity to hunt birds very seriously. been out once in PA for pheasants, but didn’t get anything. I’ve only killed a couple of grouse. It sure is fun…but not much time to do it!
crazy money for a bird! Go shoot a pig cheaper and bigger! and taste better!
Dont overlook sw north dakota, the are just getting started in the fee hunt and are alot cheaper, it is not hard to find a place to hunt pheasant for under 200 bucks a gun, and that includes lodgeing. And the stories of 20 birds flushing at once is an understatement. Just something to look into
I love pheasant hunting… and pheasant eating
Good luck on making something happen!
Hey guys, we have some early bird specials for $250/gun for next year in South Dakota. That includes lodging and a guide to show you around on the first day of your hunt.
Sounds like fun. I have never been pheasant hunting but I bet it is a blast!
Pheasant hunting from what I can tell is a blast with fast action, though I’ve never been I have eaten pheasant and man are they delicious. Prepared right they’ll melt in your mouth.
Don’t forget about the public lands when talking about pheasant hunting in South Dakota. Over 1.5 million acres of walk-in areas, Game production areas and waterfowl production areas are open to the public, this in addition to School and public lands, grasslands and corp. of engineers lands. Go to http://www.sdgfp.info/Publications/Atlas/Index.htm to get a free copy of the hunting atlas.
Had an opportunity for a first-ever pheasant hunt this year and it was in SoDakota. We stopped nortwest of Pierre on private land of a friend and limited out in just over 2 hours! Unbelievable, will definitely do it again.