camelcluch

I am looking to go to S.D. for the first time this year. The furthest I can go is around the Mitchell. Any ideas on what cities or counties would be good for us to hit? We would like somewhere with good public access. Thanks guys.

camelcluch

where is all the help?

mtfreezer

I am not sure about good public area as I haven't hunted in the mitchell area before. I have hunted public ground around Miller which is to the west a little ways. That was pretty good pheasant hunting as was the Huron area but that was on private land. The state's game fish and parks website has a listing of all public hunting areas and directions to get to them. I wouldn't advise coming too early. Wait until at least the third week of the season. That is when the hunter numbers are starting to fall and there are still a ton of birds to hunt.

If you are coming from colorado, Mitchell is about as far east as you want to go. Numbers are best around the central part of the state. The Chamberlain area has had the best number the last few years and is right on the river. If you like walleye fishing, don't forget your pole. The walleye are really biting during the early part of pheasant season. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask or PM me.

camelcluch

Now that's what I'm talking about! Thanks for the info!

camelcluch

Anyone know how the Pierre area is?

donm

just about any were there is water and cover I hunted out of big als oaisis in chamberlain for many years we hunted the dirt roads and just made the sections (lots of walking) i also all most always went the 3rd or 4th week i didnt hunt the public land to much to many sand burrs!!

mtfreezer

It's not too bad. A lot of tame birds are released to the north-east of Pierre. Those are pretty easy to kill but they always seem to be skinnier than wild birds. There are still a lot of wild birds around but they are harder to get a shot off at. I lived in Pierre for a couple years and did some road hunting a few times. We always did fairly well and we usually only stayed out for an hour or two. If you like shooting at Canadian Geese, you can try some pass shooting by the dam north of Pierre. There are some trees that over look the river on the west side of the river, just north of the dam. We had a little luck taking a few from there. Or if you are tired of shooting, you can go the State Capitol building and try to catch the geese with your hands. The geese come to Capital Lake right next to the Capitol building. People feed them and the water is warm. a lot of them stay they whole winter.

I am kinda of spoiled though. My family farm is near Winner in Tripp County and hunting is really easy around our area. I nearly took out a few pheasant chicks with my pickup yesterday while driving around some of our ground. Seems to be a lot more birds this year. I might have to go out more this year and knock the population down a little.

camelcluch

How is the public access around Tripp County? Is Mitchell worth the drive or is there better a bit closer then Mitchell. I saw that Tripp Co. is about 2 hours closer. I can hear the birds and see my lab pointing already. Yes, I said, "Lab pointing." She is a pointer!!!

mtfreezer

http://www.sdgfp.info/Publications/Atlas/Index.htm

Here is the states game fish and parks website with maps and directions to public access.

There is very very little public access in Tripp County. I don't know if very many people or any people hunt them though. I've never seen anyone hunting them. Most of them are the areas around small lakes and have very good cover. I think they hold a lot of birds. Our farm is around the Hamill area in the north east part of the county. There are three small lakes within a few miles that have really good cover and the road hunting is great in the evenings. One of my buddies and I used to limit out every day after school was out for the day in highschool by road hunting. I blew my knee out in football so I couldn't walk fields. We would just drive around and blast birds we saw along side the road.

One word of advice, mark where your birds drop really really well before shooting another bird. One of my buddies from college dropped 5 birds in just a couple seconds but didn't mark where they dropped. I think we found one of them. Dogs are nice but is doesn't rain much and there are a lot of birds so there is scent every where. If it is dry and hasn't rained in a while, the birds will be stacked up where ever theycan find water.

If I wasn't so busy myself, I would take you out on some private land for no charge. I plan on doing a ton of deer hunting with my bow this year and won't be around much. I think I only hunted pheasant once last year and that was with a group of friends on one of those guys land. Didn't even hunt our land. If you decide to hunt Tripp county, let me know. I might be able to help you with any questions.

YellowQuailDog

I hunted Pierre last year...We found plenty of public land to hunt...We hunted mostly to the south of town...I had a great time hunting in Pierre