SD Sharptails and Grouse

C

CowboyBirdDogs

New member
I'm heading to SoDak Nov 9-15th with 2 buddies. We have 6 dogs between us and have hunted Kansas pretty thoroughly the past 3 years and have decided to try our hand at SoDak this year. I keep up with reports, weather etc. in several states so I know the pheasant population is way down. I personally don't think it could be worse than Kansas because of the the horrific drought they had the past 2 1/2 years. We definitely don't mind hunting our butts off for what we find. But I'm also EXTREMELY interested in other species that SoDak has to offer. Mainly sharptails, huns, grouse etc. Now this may be a dumb question but since these birds stay in different kind of habitat, are their numbers down too or would they not be as affected? We're going to the Pierre area if that helps. I love pheasant hunting and we've had success in Kansas, I realize that SoDak is a different animal. But the first year I went to Kansas there were 900,000 birds harvested, I was thrilled with those numbers and had the time of my life, so if SoDak resembles that I'm ok. I would love to get into those other species as well, if not spend more time hunting them.
 
Not to deter you from hunting grouse in November, but they will be extremely hard to approach that time of year as they likely will have flocked up in large groups and will be very wary. Not to say you will never run into a stray bird or two that time of the year, but it will be the exception not the rule.

Not sure what your experience is with hunting grouse, but most guys that are tried and true grouse hunters get after them in the early season or first few weeks of the season. Basically that is Sept. - early October. It is then that they will be in small family groups and many times hold nicely for pointing dogs. Early season is also the time to hunt short native prairie grasses such as in the Fort Pierre National grasslands. You can also find them in Alfalfa fields, but you will rarely find them in typical Pheasant cover such as CRP.
 
Last edited:
I heard that hunting them late in the season is harder. I wouldn't mind trying my hand at them though. I have an experienced dog that has great bird manners and doesn't crowd. I know it'll be hard but it's just something I'd like to try. Plus with the pheasant numbers down, what the heck why not.
 
I hunted that area last week and will hunt this week also (rain for 2 days now). I can tell you that the areas I hunt each year, the grouse numbers are way down. Everyone I talk to that grouse hunted this year agrees. There are still birds out there but already getting spooky. As stated previously, the later in the season the harder they are to hunt. But come give em a try as a bonus bird to pheasant hunting.
 
PcolaGSP said:
I hunted that area last week and will hunt this week also (rain for 2 days now). I can tell you that the areas I hunt each year, the grouse numbers are way down. Everyone I talk to that grouse hunted this year agrees. There are still birds out there but already getting spooky. As stated previously, the later in the season the harder they are to hunt. But come give em a try as a bonus bird to pheasant hunting.
Click to expand...

Are you hunting public land?
 
Yes. All public land. Past years have been fair to good. This year poor. But still fun and beautiful country to run pointing dogs.
 
Forget about finding any Huns. They are nearly non-existent in SD anymore. If you do accidentally run into a small covey consider yourself very fortunate. When hunting Sharpies you will run into some Prairie Chickens in the Pierre area.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Forget about finding any Huns. They are nearly non-existent in SD anymore. If you do accidentally run into a small covey consider yourself very fortunate. When hunting Sharpies you will run into some Prairie Chickens in the Pierre area.
Click to expand...

go to ND for huns...
 
CowboyBirdDogs said:
So what species am I going to find around Pierre? I get confused on all the grouse/chickens.
Click to expand...

Pheasants, Sharptail Grouse and a few Prairie Chickens. The Prairie Chickens are much like a Sharptail and you will find them in the same type of habitat. You can tell the difference by the pattern of the feathers. PC's are stripped brown and white with a rounded tail. Sharpies are more spotted brown/white with a pointed tail.
 
CowboyBirdDogs said:
What about prairie grouse and safe grouse?
Click to expand...

There is no such bird as a prairie grouse. I would assume that if people refer to a "prairie grouse" they are talking about a Sharptail, possibly a Prairie Chicken.

You said "safe" grouse and I assume you meant Sage Grouse. You won't find any Sage Grouse. Their range is further west into Wyoming.
 
I've seen a few pc's in Kansas but never sharptails. Is there enough of them where you could spend all day hunting them and get into several groups or is it like pc's in Kansas and you just get lucky to find them once or twice a week?
 
all 3-4 species of prairie grouse are called prairie grouse its just not a particular bird just a general term used when talking about sharptail grouse & pinnated grouse AKA greater or lessor prairie chickens but there is prairie grouse...

when people say grouse in the prairie grouse country they are talking about sharptails when they say chicken u know what they mean... if they say partridge they mean HUN or gray partridge... sage grouse are only open like 1-2 days in SD if that any more go west to MT WY ID NV for that SD wont cut it...

you really should look at a species distribution map for SD & the area you will be hunting its on-line at SD game & fish or u can order 1 from them it will save you some time & give you a clue about wear you will be hunting & what species is there to be had its the very 1st thing i do when planing a trip 1st figure out wear what you want to hunt lives??? if you just wonder around wish n & hope n for prairie grouse to flush you will have a very frustrating trip...

prairie chickens live in more just prairie country they love crops sunflower soy bean corn in that order they are much more dark or brown in color when they flush they look like they have no tail... sharptails are much more white when they flush & look bigger due to the sharptail they can tollerate trees more then chickens & use more ruff hilly terrain not un common for sharptails to land in a tree much more then chcikens do... sharptails like crops to so dont over look EZ food but if there is bugs around both species will be stuffing them-selfs with grass hoppers...

i used to hunt MN chickens in late OCT around the 20th & them birds were virgin birds no body could hunt them or disturb them at all till the 5 day hunt even in mid-late OCT & no hunting pressure them birds were in flocks of 20+ & flushed way out of range just due to the amount of eyes constantly watching for predators... prairie grouse use there eyes more then any other upland species except a wild turkey... prairie grouse live in terrain that is at a hunters DISADVANTAGE all the time its short enuff for them to hide in
& tall enuff that you cant see them in it... late season the family groups start to gather into huge flocks of like 6-10 if not more familys so there is waves of prairie grouse that flush & u never get a shot because they flush out of range thats prairie grouse hunting late season if thats ok with you then have at it it will be fun... if you want to get them up at your feet hunt B4 OCT-20 id say if not just scout a little in the early early mornings & late into the evening & see if you can locate birds that way other wise walking aimlessly across the prairie is fun its not very productive late season or any time of the year...

get that SD public land atlas & it has the species distribution maps in it u need it if your going to SD get it ASAP & plan ur trip according to what species you want to hunt & then have a good time...
 
Thank you for the very informative post. Is there a certain time a day you can catch sharptails and pcs off guard such as sunrise or sunset to where they really don't want to get up and fly so they'll hold better?
 
prairie grouse

Last nov. around the middle of the month hunting pheasants we found and shot about 8 sharpies and pcs in what would be called crp type grass near cut sunflowers. So they do come out of the high prairies that time of year to some degree, most probably to feed acct. no insects during the winter in the prairies. although the crp type grass wasn't the quality it is this year but if you find them in that type cover you will have a lot greater chanch of them holding for dogs. And without a doubt the best time to hunt them is at the very first of the season in Sept, but even then if they are in short prairie grass they are very hard to approach. and that time of year what I call the high prairies or up on the highest hills in the prairie is where to look for sharpies. Pcs not as much, they can be found in the draws where the green vegitation is more prevailant and will hold better than sharpies. also when I first started targeting grouse only in sept. I was told by veteran grouse hunters to not even bother hunting before about 8 or 8 thirty in the am before they scatter out to feed. I would look for a little higher grass near cut crops, sunflowers, milo, etc. in nov. either way it is still better than work lol. and it it hasn't been said here if you flush a flock of grouse get the dogs back to hunt where they flushed and there a very good chanch there will one or two that sat tight still there.

here is two sharpies on the left and 2 pcs on the right shot this sept. not all that far from Pierre



here are some from last nov. and were shot in the type of grass you see in the pic near cut sunflowers

 
Last edited:
That's good advice from JFreeman. If you find them in tall cover, sometimes you can get closer because they can't see or hear you coming as well. However, they don't like tall cover at all and will only tolerate it if it's the closest cover to their food source or to gravel. You have no chance in short cover during late season, which is where you will mostly find them. I've seen the most careful dogs bump them 100-200 yds out. It's hard to believe the night and day difference between hunting them in September and hunting them in November until you see it. I'd focus on areas with pheasants and grouse and hope to get lucky on a grouse.
 
Thanks or the excellent posts and the especially for those pics jfreeman. Those don't look ok different than a hen pheasant. I'll definitely keep those tips in mind. If I finished my week with maybe 6-8 grouse and 5-7 pheasants in the bag I'd be thrilled. I'm looking forward to the dog work. Y'all's tips will definitely come in handy. I'm copying and pasting a lot of them lol
 
Most of my experiance with grouse has been down in NE, which imo is a real sleeper. Ive shot lots of grouse down there in Nov. The sandhills region. I always went to the lee side of the tallest hill I could find. Sneek over the top and the birds would be just off the crest sunning if availible. Anyone mention the rattlesnake issue. My dog is very interested in snakes and can find them regularly. Last year I checked into the vaccine. Its has to be boosted and is not availible where I live. I finally decided it was not fun anymore always worried about the dog getting bit, or me for that matter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top