Recent content by SDroosty

Late season, had two birds and was headed home. Had to pass a WIA that I had shot many birds at in past seasons but hadnt walked it this specific year. Thought I'll jump in, walk 100 yards and see if we can get lucky. Had a one year old lab and 8 yo shorthair. They get birdie right away and head...

Don't mean to highjack the thread but also had few questions re: quail and along these lines. Pheasant hunt SE SD hard for the last 10 years, pretty much exclusively public. Have moved one covey total over that time period until this year. I've moved 3 separate coveys with between 10-15 birds...

It's getting worse all the time. In SE SD its averaging out to be about 4/10 WIA are huntable. The rest have been either totally rolled up, full section of crop ground with nothing else, or have been or currently being grazed. Obviously then congregates everyone to a limited number of pieces...

Cool thread and enjoyed reading the first two. Was walking a min maintenance with my brother. He was up on the road and i was down in the ditch. Dog went on point and a group of birds jumped up, he dropped one on the road, another in the ditch and i swung behind and dropped one behind. We...

Really appreciate you guys taking time and sharing insight. I much prefer hearing personal experience and success stories from here rather than googling online. I'm likely to do something with her this spring as its hard form me to watch her hobble around. Maybe leaning towards the TPLO. Will...

Hey guys just looking for any personal experience or advice. Had a great year here in SD chasing birds, but also had a very unfortunate event for my GSP. Long story short she was on point and when released let out a high pitched yip. Very weird, thought maybe she stepped on something as she...

Yes, that's my point. Either they are clueless or just don't care. Or both

Been a bizarre year to date hunting public in SD. Obviously opening day you expect the encounters, you just hope everyone stays reasonable and logical. Got to my spot 1.5 hours early and only one there until 9:45. At 10 I walked into the field with 3 other separate groups. Was a big field, a...

Speaking of habitat, I've been on the road covering ground in SD and am shocked at how many WIA pieces have been hayed. Yesterday I went to 10 and 6 had been totally rolled up. Didn't leave strips, nothing. Huge bummer. Its my understanding the landowner has the ability to do that every so...

I would echo these sentiments. I hunt a similar area and its been a very interesting year. Starting with water in places and fields I've never seen before and the harvest extending late into the year (still quite a bit of corn up around me it seems). The sloughs were not walkable early and...

I've seen this quite a bit recently too. Question, more curious than anything, would you be able to push a piece labeled safety zone without your weapon? One piece I'm thinking of has very good cover around a farmstead which is marked "safety zone". It connects directly into WIA piece. I...

We walked a mix of shrub/tree draws, large grass tracks and slough draws. No snow on the ground in the area we were. Tough sledding!

I'll start by saying I'm an SD resident (right on border of SD & IA) but with the SD season over i was looking to get my dog on a few more birds. Called up an extended family member of mine in IA and asked if he'd like to go out and be the gun as i work the dog. Walked some GREAT looking...

Thanks for the post, love the pictures! Which kind/brand of dog boots are those? Have you been happy with them?

Agree 100% with previous posters. Numbers seem to be very similar to last year, at least in SE SD, but the last 3 weeks or so have been increasingly difficult. Younger birds have been harvested, no cold weather to bunch the remaining birds up and still quite a bit of unharvested corn if you...