How many birds each season?

30-50 birds. Hunt SD 8-12 days, hunt NE and Iowa on weekends as much as possible. The more we hunt it seems that my buddies are getting more competitive on who got the bird. Gotta shoot fast and be the first to yell “ Gott’em”. Back at the truck I just say I got in on that one to stroke egos. That’s why hunting alone if fun, less pressure to shoot fast, makes for better shot and you know if you got the bird or not. I’m a man, I’m in my 40s, my hips bother from high stepping in thick grass now. I sleep good the nights after huntin.
 
As I may have mentioned earlier, I think days hunted is a bit better way to quantify things…pheasants only, I’m at 3 days in ND and just returned to SD yesterday, will hunt 3 days on this trip…I will be at 17 days in SD after this trip, totaling 20 days in the Dakotas so far this year…no day have I been skunked, and I have a couple days where I shot 5…most days 3, some 2, some 1 when it was hot or rainy, and several at 4…3 has been average. I’m in the mid 40’s thus far. 85% private land. I have several farmers that let me hunt their ground, and I own my own ground as well. Weather permitting I’ll get 40 days of Dakota pheasant hunting in before it’s done…
 
I hunt wild birds and I guide at some local game farms, so yes I cheat on total birds shot over my dogs. That being said I will probably spend 30 days chasing my dogs around the field this fall. Right now there has been over 200 birds shot over my two Goldens this fall. My best year was 1048 birds shot over two dogs. (Lots of game birds that fall!) But boy were they machines in the field! I wish I had more opportunities to hunt wild birds but life seems to fly by. Take advantage of every opportunity you get guys, you never know when this might be your last hunt or your last season.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
If my math is correct, I average right around 1,000 roosters a season & my best year was 1,049 (all public land; wild). Jeez, Joel, that's a ton of fun & work for those dogs!!
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You lowballer!! You told me you shot 716 last year. Not tough to do when you're the largest landowner in eastern South Dakota. Just make sure you and Ace save some for the rest of us.
 
benelli-banger said:
I’ve asked the moderator to delete the benelli-banger handle here, I’m done here. Haven’t heard back yet, hope to soon. I’ll be active elsewhere. Best of luck to you all this season.
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Are you the same guy thats now here talking about how many birds you shoot and how many miles you walk and how many days you hunt?
 
Smasher said:
Are you the same guy thats now here talking about how many birds you shoot and how many miles you walk and how many days you hunt?
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Yes, been back…he never deleted my existence…can’t help it, it’s my life…but he’s welcome to delete me…I do get sick of aspects of this board.
 
Been a fairly active member here for 15 years? Quality of the content has changed, IMO…tone is much different, IMO…still some good stuff…
 
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Bob Peters said:
This reminds me of a conversation I had at the local watering hole last week. When the guy found out I'd been pheasant hunting in MN that morning and I told him I got one bird and lost another in a heavy marsh, he told me I needed to go to Mitchell SD, best pheasant hunting around. The conversation continued and found out he goes out to some high $$$ "hunting lodge." I held my tongue. Then he said with pride and a touch of arrogance, "I've got the best bird dog in the world." I'd had enough truth serum ? and don't suffer fools gladly, so I asked him, "how do you like shooting pen raised birds over your fat house dog?" Things went south from there?.
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I had some awesome ground to hunt in north central Kansas. Several hundred acres of crp and milo. Used to be a pheasant Mecca. A few years ago for whatever reason the birds became harder to come by. I was at my kids Boy Scout meeting several years ago shooting the bull with a few of the dads about how three of us with six well trained dogs only shot 10 birds in a weekend out there. One of the guys whose dad is a big deal here chimed in that him and his dads group shot 180 roosters in three days not two miles from where we were. Same type of deal. House dogs and pen birds. He kinda of scoffed at us like he knew something we didn’t.
 
Goosemaster said:
.Well yeah that's right.Im not going to support the end of free hunting access to private land. Eventually, every farmer will charge people. Sad.
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Sorry I just saw this, I have been busy. I have no problem with people hunting for free. What I would like you to understand is that people that pay me to hunt are helping to create habitat. I am in the process of trying to buy approximately 210 acres that will cost about a half a million dollars, If I am going to pay for that it needs to generate enough income to pay for it. Hopefully I can pay for that with corn, beans, wheat and cattle. Or maybe I can pay for it with corn, beans, wheat, cattle and pheasant hunting which would mean that there would be habitat for not just for pheasants but many kinds of wildlife and song birds, which do you think would be best? We just wrapped up hunting for this year and I explained to each group that because of general inflation and the increase in commodity prices that I would have to increase my rates if I was going to stay in the business. The general thought was that they wanted me to stay in the business even with a 25% increase. If I can get this land deal done I can create a little more habitat instead of wall to wall corn and beans. So Goose which do you think is best? Should I end the hunting, get rid of the habitat or continue to be in the pheasant hunting business?
 
carptom1 said:
I had some awesome ground to hunt in north central Kansas. Several hundred acres of crp and milo. Used to be a pheasant Mecca. A few years ago for whatever reason the birds became harder to come by. I was at my kids Boy Scout meeting several years ago shooting the bull with a few of the dads about how three of us with six well trained dogs only shot 10 birds in a weekend out there. One of the guys whose dad is a big deal here chimed in that him and his dads group shot 180 roosters in three days not two miles from where we were. Same type of deal. House dogs and pen birds. He kinda of scoffed at us like he knew something we didn’t.
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As far as I'm concerned, pen raised pheasants don't count on a bird total. I don't know anybody who hunts those.
 
haymaker said:
Sorry I just saw this, I have been busy. I have no problem with people hunting for free. What I would like you to understand is that people that pay me to hunt are helping to create habitat. I am in the process of trying to buy approximately 210 acres that will cost about a half a million dollars, If I am going to pay for that it needs to generate enough income to pay for it. Hopefully I can pay for that with corn, beans, wheat and cattle. Or maybe I can pay for it with corn, beans, wheat, cattle and pheasant hunting which would mean that there would be habitat for not just for pheasants but many kinds of wildlife and song birds, which do you think would be best? We just wrapped up hunting for this year and I explained to each group that because of general inflation and the increase in commodity prices that I would have to increase my rates if I was going to stay in the business. The general thought was that they wanted me to stay in the business even with a 25% increase. If I can get this land deal done I can create a little more habitat instead of wall to wall corn and beans. So Goose which do you think is best? Should I end the hunting, get rid of the habitat or continue to be in the pheasant hunting business?
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If you put cattle on it, it won't be any good for pheasant hunting. Think of another way to make money, other than pheasant hunting.
 
The district conservationist I work with from the NRCS wants to put cattle on my WRP easement in lieu of burning it in order to regenerate it…grazing by cattle, at the right time, is a healthy thing for prairie grass stands…I believe bison were present on much of the prairie for a lot of years, as were sharptails and chickens.
 
I’ve killed close to 50 so far, I have 9 in my freezer, 4 with me at the moment, and licenses from ND and SD (27 possession). I send my hunting pals home with their legal possession limits. I give cleaned birds to my dad, several coworkers, and a few clients. I’ve cooked about 15-20 already…pheasant wild rice soup/casserole…I bring it to my mechanic, my office, a few friends/clients. It’s not hard to shoot 100-125 pheasants over the course of 3.5 months and not have any/many in the freezer. I prefer to use them before they’re frozen.
 
benelli-banger said:
I’ve killed close to 50 so far, I have 9 in my freezer, 4 with me at the moment, and licenses from ND and SD (27 possession). I send my hunting pals home with their legal possession limits. I give cleaned birds to my dad, several coworkers, and a few clients. I’ve cooked about 15-20 already…pheasant wild rice soup/casserole…I bring it to my mechanic, my office, a few friends/clients. It’s not hard to shoot 100-125 pheasants over the course of 3.5 months and not have any/many in the freezer. I prefer to use them before they’re frozen.
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I guess if I lived in SD, and hunted almost every day, I could get 100 birds. It would depend upon access issues.
 
Goosemaster said:
If you put cattle on it, it won't be any good for pheasant hunting. Think of another way to make money, other than pheasant hunting.
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Cattle and birds have a great symbiotic relationship. Well managed grass is beneficial to both birds and cattle. A silage pile is a great winter food source. If you really want me to think of another way to make money other than pheasant hunting that will mean 200 acres that have been dedicated to wildlife production will be in corn, beans, wheat and cattle. Those 200 acres could be rented for $30000. I can't afford to donate that much. The people who hunted here disagree with you as we are almost booked up for next year already. I guess I will go with the people that have been here. Have a fun season.
 
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