My Lab pup Moses and I just got back from South Dakota pheasant hunt. We hunted north central part of the state and man oh man they have not harvested hardly any corn yet and the farmers are not in any hurry to get it done, moisture still very high in the grain!! We saw a lot of birds, but they were mostly out of range, hunted 3 days with an outfitter, all the fields had been hunted hard every week since opening day, birds very wild had hard time getting close. Hunted public walkin areas and farmers land rest of time. Weather almost to nice when I was there, everyday near 60 degrees, nice to live in that weather but not real good phaesant weather. Those S.D. pheasants love to RUN!!!,and it is always hard getting close to large groups of birds, BUT a good time was had by all!!! and very good first wild bird hunt for Moses, he had a lot of reteives for the week, which was a very good thing for him. Maybe back to Iowa around Christmas, that 1000 mile one way trip to S.D. could be a very long trip in Dec.

Hope all of ya all have good hunts this fall!!!

I was in NE South Dakota the the last week of November thru the first week of December. The corn was mostly in the first couple of days but by the time we left I would say that about 80% of the corn was out....made for some exceptional hunting once the corn started comming out. Seems like every year is different, just have to play close attention to harvest reports and weather. Cheers.

Smokepole, I agree. The unfortunate side is that often times we plan our trips (at least I do) many months in advance and we don't have the flexibility to change that easily. Do you live near the Dakotas or did you travel in? I'd like to hear more of your trip.

Welcome to the forum. Great to have you on board.

Yep I agree that most of the time we don't have much option choosing specific hunt dates as most of the planning is done in advance. However, my job alows me some flexibility so I try to keep good tabs on the best times to go....generally for south dakota, Thanksgiving week and the week after have been best for me (not too much snow, crops moslty out, and less hunting pressure). To answer your qurstion, Yes, I make the 1100 mile trip every fall and I would put it near the top of my favorite hunts for the year. Generally, we stay in Watertown and hunt mostly west and norh of town but this year we stayed in Clark at the Pheasant Hotel which I hightly recommend ($49.00 night for two beds and dogs are welcome in the room). I hunt a mixture of public and private lands to keep things interesting. I did hunt one afternoon around Selby on my way out and wasn't too impressed. I didnt spend too much time exploring but it seemed like lots of Walk in Areas had been hayed are were pretty sparse...think I will continue hunting the Watertown area. Take care.