Originally Posted by
cataraft
Some people might have a problem with it, but it is legal to hunt the road right of way in SD. That equals a lot of public acres of prime habitat. Not very sporting in the traditional sense, but you can get a lot of shooting in that way. Make sure you close the car door and don't cross the ditch or the fence and you're legal. Stay away from houses too. A lot of birds move to the roads for the gravel and if you got a good eye and are quick on you're feet, you can really clean up.
I know I deserve all the comments I get for this, so don't hold back guys. I admit it, I've had my fun.
The first time I hunted SD was in 2007. A buddy and I actually
walked alot of road ditches. We ended up getting most of our 23 birds hunting this way. I admit we did get a couple the way described above the legal way. There were alot of pheasants that year. I hunted there in 2008 and 2009 and its whole different ball game now. Most ditches are cut for hay and there seemed to be alot less birds (where we hunt anyway). We've hunted the same area 3 seasons and have made a few connections. We usually get access to some private land without paying the big bucks. We've also found a few good public spots. I enjoy pheasant hunting, but I cannot afford to pay upwards of $150 to shoot 3 birds. I'll save that money for big game hunting. It takes a little work and you may not be guaranteed your limit, but you can still have a good hunt the old-fashioned way. I've found that what most consider a bad day of hunting is SD is better than a good day most other places.