# South Dakota or Kansas?



## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

A friend and I are going on a two person/one dog pheasant adventure next year. We have always wanted to hunt one of these two states but would love some of your opinions. We want a DIY hunt and neither of us want the big gang-bang shoots. We do realize we may not shoot limits and that is ok. Would anyone care to share any experiences of walk in areas, state areas, etc. that may provide the type of hunt I am looking for. We will be in a 4X4 suv so terrain will not be a limiting factor.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Kansas. Walk in areas are GREAT. South Dakota has more birds but also more hunters.


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## gooseblaster (Sep 2, 2009)

My uncle goes to Kansas every year and always invites me to go but i can't because of college. Anyways they do very well. Nothing like South Dakota, but they bag enough pheasents and see enough to make it worth while! Good luck!


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks guys, any County recommendations?


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Hmmm, two guys, one dog... Better get that one dog into the best shape of it's life. Even if he is in the best shape of his life you'll have that one dog worn to a shred in two days. I promise! I take TWO sometimes THREE dogs with me out there on a week long hunt and when I come back every one of them is plumb pooped! Plus, I don't take anyone who doesn't own a dog, so we've got more than my two or three in tow as well. This year I'll have three dogs and my buddy will have his dog. That is big, open, mean country. It ALL looks good from the road, but you'll soon find out that 90% of the roosters inhabit only about 10% of the huntable areas. The trick is to find that 10%. KS's public walk-in access is great, and you can defiantly kill limits of birds on public ground, but it aint all loaded with birds. In fact, you may drive to and hunt ten spots before finally finding a bunch of un-fudged-with birds. Traditionally the north central part of the state is the best hunting but I've killed birds in that state from stem to stern and no one county is better or worse than the others. They all have good opportunity if you know what to look for. Basically, if a spot doesn't SCREAM roosters, don't even park the truck. FOOD,COVER, and WATER. That is the formula. If a spot doesn't have all three in abundance, there wont be many birds. Call the KS game and fish and they will send you a bird hunting packet with everything you'll need to plan your trip.

Good luck. 

P.S. Get another two or three dogs! You'll need em!


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## Lefty (Sep 20, 2008)

South Dakota is way too commercial. The people are not very accommodating. I have never been to KS, but I probably will not go to SD again. 

I usually go two guys, one dog. We do fine, always limit up, although my dog does get dead tired.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks Tex and Lefty,
I have a good dog in the prime of his life. I hunt Utah and most days limit on wild ****s. That said though, I don't want to kill him.
My buddy and I are going to set this up for next year and he may or may not have his new dog yet. Unfortunately he had a great dog but it passed away last month.
If either of you go this year please let me know how you did.
Good luck, Shane


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## sharpshooter25 (Oct 2, 2007)

Well, since I served my mission in the midwest I can tell you probably one the best places to go in SD is in Huron. It is a small town, but a ton of places to hunt birds, and they are everywhere. I have never hunted KS so i can't speak for that, and yes, SD is pretty big commercially, but if you go to Huron, you will not have to fight off too many hunters except the locals, and there are pheasants in abundance out there. I also agree with Tex, you had better take more than one dog.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Would anyone happen to have a contact to know how the bird counts are holding up in Kansas?


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## DR_DEATH (Sep 10, 2007)

shaner said:


> Would anyone happen to have a contact to know how the bird counts are holding up in Kansas?


Most sections have more birds in them than the entire State of Utah or you could try a google search of Kansas Fish and Game


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## FootinUT (Jul 9, 2010)

Depending on the time of year you want to go, I would argue South Dakota to be about as good of pheasant hunting that you can have, even on public land. I will agree, it is probably one of the most, if not the most, commercialized pheasant hunting states, so you will battle the orange plague for most of the year. I just moved to Utah from SD, and have killed plenty of pheasants on public ground. You'll have fun no matter which state you choose.

One thing to think about... SD non-res license is good for 2 5-day hunts, and they cannot be back to back 5-day periods. So if you want to hunt for more than 5 days in a row, you might not want to venture to SD.


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## Gordon (Sep 11, 2007)

> One thing to think about... SD non-res license is good for 2 5-day hunts, and they cannot be back to back 5-day periods. So if you want to hunt for more than 5 days in a row, you might not want to venture to SD


You CAN have a license for back to back 5 day periods but you can only have 5 days worth of birds in your possession.


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## FootinUT (Jul 9, 2010)

Gordon said:


> You CAN have a license for back to back 5 day periods but you can only have 5 days worth of birds in your possession.


My apologies, this must have changed at some point in the last few years since I had some family try to do just that about 5 years ago.


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## bigthree (Nov 28, 2009)

Ive been going S.D. since 06 and have done good on public and private no problem with taking limits on both


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