2011 pheasant hunting

Pheasant season 2011, Day 6:

We've hunted 87 hunters and have bagged 261 roosters.  Clients have been very happy! 

We've been getting quite a few calls from hunting parties that were scheduled to hunt the eastern part of the state and have been told the bird numbers are very poor this year.  It's a shame for the most part about east-river bird numbers, but hey, it's good for business here.  On a positive note for east river--they've had nice weather!

Have you hunted South Dakota this year?  If so, where and how was it?

Success

The opening day of the 2011 South Dakota pheasant season was a great success.  The weather was beautiful, the birds were bountiful and the good times...priceless!

We had 4 groups today and all shot their limits...so many stories about not believing all the birds and Jim's story:   "I pulled up to shoot, then another flew up closer, so I turned my aim on it, by that time there were two more flying up the other direction and now they were closer.  This went on and on to my amazement.  To make a long story short, I didn't even pull the trigger, but I did see enough roosters to fill our group's bag for all 3 days."

South Dakota Pheasants

South Dakota is split in the middle by the Missouri River, and the east half has a more fertile soil, higher precipitation and many more people.  Other than Tripp County (Winner area), the east side of the State has been, historically speaking, recognized as the area to hunt pheasants.  However, over the past decades the pheasant population has shifted west.  The pheasant population in the eastern half of the State has suffered by weather but, moreso, by the loss of CRP habitat.  With the price of grain these past years being, on average, twice as high as the past decades, farming is much more attractive, so as CRP contracts expire, landowners are not removing so many of those acres to make more off the land by farming it.  As we all know, the CRP acres are the largest influence on the pheasant populations.  On the west side of the river, there has also been a reduction in CRP acres, but much less significantly than on the eastern side.

Another reason this year that the eastern half of the state's bird counts are significantly lower is due to a snow storm around February/March in which one storm fed into another with no reprieve in between, thereby filling up the shelterbelts and foodplots.  Once that takes place, bird mortality follows quickly.  During that same time, west of the river saw sunshine and snowmelt in between storms, and the snow didn't get to those death levels as seen across the Missouri. 

Follow that up with an extremely wet spring and early summer.  Once again the eastern side, as always, received much more rain.  That half of the State also is more flat.  The heavy flooding was very difficult on the nesting on the eastern side.  West of the river, the land is more rolling.  That, in conjunction, with lesser flooding, allowed for a drier and more successful hatch.  The extra rain led to thick cover for the birds to hide better and a great hatch of insects, which the chicks rely on nearly completely for their diet, so the chicks thrived.

Look at the chart at www.ringneckshuntinglodge.com/pheasant.html to see a breakdown of the State's pheasant population.

South Dakota Pheasant Season

Should South Dakota open its hunting season a week earlier to include the Columbus Day holiday weekend?

Booking a successful pheasant hunting vacation

If you are planning on travelling to South Dakota for an all-wild pheasant hunt, check out our population page at www.ringneckshuntinglodge.com/pheasant.html

Ringnecks Hunting & Lodging is located in Presho, SD where the pheasant hunting is the best in the world.  We have the highest pheasant population in the country, a large lodge with all the amenities and a professional and courteous staff.

Due to a last minute cancellation on opening weekend, we are offering the lodging for free with your paid hunt.