Question on traveling with my future lab to South Dakota for pheasants?

[Randy Starks]

A black lab is as common in a truck in sd as a seeing a Subaru outback in Colorado, sd folks are good salt of the earth people and around the Missouri river know hunters butter their bread

 

[PA Hunter]

Thanks for all the great replies a nice member on here invited me to rent his house for a week so I am South Dakota bound very soon and so looking forward to this.

 

[DuckDogDr]

Did that trip 2 years ago. As stated most hotels are pet friendly, usually 10-20 bucks extra an evening.
I personally don't like the idea of leaving my buddy in the truck and refuse to do it.
There's alot of people with sticky fingers where I live and I've had a dog stolen.

 

[soupcan]

Dog friendly accommodations will be a non issue.
As to public,get the Game Fish Parks Atlas’s. 99.9% of all public there in color.

Solid info here

 

[PA Hunter]

Thank you all for your great replies, I ended up staying at a private residence December 8-12th with heated dog kennels. The temp was negative 3 lowest to a high of 9 hunting my week and the birds were all bunched up and terrain was very flattened from snow on public land almost like a desert wasteland where I could clearly see no birds in sight.

Next question If I would go to South Dakota lets say earlier like first or second week of November would the pheasants be more spread out and would the public land be better to hunt.

I couldn't hunt any road ditches as they were complete snow drifts like 4 ft deep of snow.

 

[SoDaky]

Yes early November would have the birds spread out.Fewer pheasant hunters as well most likely.A year can be drastically affected by the harvest.This year we still have massive fields of standing corn.That spells trouble.Quite a bit has come out the past week or so and more daily now despite the snow.This weekend is warm and hunting will be great.
PA sorry about your experience,wish I had known,could have directed you to birds east of Aberdeen.

Edit to addo NOT come during deer rifle season in late November.Access limited and public hunted hard for deer.

 

[KurtR]

Thank you all for your great replies, I ended up staying at a private residence December 8-12th with heated dog kennels. The temp was negative 3 lowest to a high of 9 hunting my week and the birds were all bunched up and terrain was very flattened from snow on public land almost like a desert wasteland where I could clearly see no birds in sight.

Next question If I would go to South Dakota lets say earlier like first or second week of November would the pheasants be more spread out and would the public land be better to hunt.

I couldn't hunt any road ditches as they were complete snow drifts like 4 ft deep of snow.

pm me if you want some out of the way spots that most over look for pheasant hunting. Its kinda like mule deer every one thinks harding county is the place to be but there are alot better less pressured areas

 

[dukxdog]

Here is the bunkhouse I built for the dogs staying at my pheasant hunting house in South Dakota. It's set up for ten dogs. The kennels are built inside of the barn. Dogs are comfortable there. Works great.

Hunters staying here are comfortable too. Really nice after days spent in the field.

 

[KurtR]

Here is the bunkhouse I built for the dogs staying at my pheasant hunting house in South Dakota. It's set up for ten dogs. The kennels are built inside of the barn. Dogs are comfortable there. Works great.

Hunters staying here are comfortable too. Really nice after days spent in the field.

That old brick building behind the dog kennels looks familiar. What little town is it in