There are a TON of birds in SD, but it's not as easy as just showing up and shooting a limit. The days of old when you could walk up to a farmers house and ask to hunt their land are all but over. Now it takes a little led work and planning. The good thing is that the state is more than willing to help. Here's some things to remember. Early season there are more birds, but the roosters might not be fully colored yet and you can't start hunting till noon. If the crops aren't out your gonna have a hell of a time finding birds because they have too much cover. Later on in the season the crops are typically out and you can really narrow down where the birds are holding. The problem then is the birds have been shot at a lot and there are fewer birds, and they can be skidish as hell. However, the crowds really die down in the late season as well, and a couple inches of fresh snow will really hole the birds up and slow them down. The entire state isn't necessarily good for hunting either. Most guys head towards Winner, Chamberlin, Pierre, and towards Miller. Those cities are more or less in the pheasant "triangle". There is a lot of public ground to hunt in those areas, especially near Pierre, Chamberlin, Himore, and Miller. But, not all the grounds will hold a lot of birds, and some sections (640 acres) will winter 3000-4000 birds. Learn which walk in areas hold the birds and you will be in the money. We hunt a combination of private and public land every year and obviously we do the best on the private land. But, there is some damn good public hunting as well. The first year we went to SD I talked to the local bio/wild life manager for the area we wanted to hunt. He actually met us for breakfast in Highmore and laid out the best pheasant walk in areas, and also the best areas for grouse and Huns. Those maps and the notes he gave me are now a family heirloom to be passed down from generation to generation. :-). I've hunted near Chamberlin, Pierre, Highmore, and north of Miller. My trainer summers outside Winner. I've spent quite a bit of time in SD hunting and running dogs for pheasants and grouse. If you know where the birds are the hunting is legendary and it's not uncommon to move a couple hundred birds at once. If you don't, hunting can be tough.
