South Dakota Pheasants

[SDSmacker]

There is something like 800,000 acres less of CRP in SD than during those halcyon days of 2003-2007. Add in all the pasture and other nonprogram grassland converted to cropland in that time and you'll understand why SD quit doing its roadside surveys. The decline of pheasants hurt marketing.

Pretty sure SD has the most CRP its ever had by a ways. But the loss of pasture, slews, weedy fence-lines and other 'junk' land that grew up to grass/weeds has certainly decreased. Every acre seems to be managed to make a profit more-so than it used to.

 

[jmichaelberg]

Hunted there 2021 on the way back from a Wyoming Antelope hunt, it was O.K. but I will never do it again, the hunt was with a guided outfit spent more time drinking coffee than hunting, for me its overrated. To be fair we limited on the birds but really had my doubts if they were true wild birds. When younger I would hunt the wild birds around my grandparent's farm and the Dakota birds acted nothing like them. Enjoy your hunt at least you can say you hunted phesants in the phesant

Thanks, guys. Really looking forward to it. I’ll be out there the first week of November with my 2-year-old field bred springer. He did phenomenal on our local grouse and woodcock last year so really looking forward to this fall. I’ll be sure to do a post-hunt report.

You don't say where you are hunting but you should be aware that much of SD is subject to emergency haying and grazing rules allowing producers to hay and grazr crp acres. That will affect Walk-in and CREP lands. If the public land you intended to hunt included a lot of CREP or Walk-in, don't be surprised if those areas are next to useless.

 

[KurtR]

From faith to Aberdeen no emergency haying this year. None around Watertown. Driving from Mobridge to eagle butte the last two weeks been dodging birds all over. You know it’s been wet when it’s still green west river.

 

[jmichaelberg]

Pretty sure SD has the most CRP its ever had by a ways. But the loss of pasture, slews, weedy fence-lines and other 'junk' land that grew up to grass/weeds has certainly decreased. Every acre seems to be managed to make a profit more-so than it used to.

Over 1,000,000 acres are enrolled in grassland CRP, which is a working lands program, that was created in 2014. It pays ranchers a nominal fee for pasture and range land, which is still grazed. These acres aren't "set aside" acres of undisturbed grass that we think of when we think CRP and pheasants. It has a value but it's not the CRP you're thinking of.

 

[jmez]

I never thought I would see the day when there would be corn and soybeans all over the landscape around Kennebec , SD.

Yes there are still a lot of pheasants in SD. There are areas in SD that used to be meccas that aren't anymore. We used to drive roads in Kennebec area in the evenings to work puppies. There were pheasants everywhere. The guys I go train with have seen 2 pheasants in the last 4 years on the road. They are here for a month every year since the early 2000's. They can't remember the last time they actually pointed a pheasant from Kennebec north to Pierre. They are running all age dogs off horseback. One of them is in the bird dog hall of fame and just won another National Championship last weekend. These guys aren't hacks. They find some when they get on the south side of the White River, none north.

One of the ranches they lease does commercial hunting. They have been buying and releasing birds for the last several years because there aren't any. The guy that runs it straight up told me, I either buy and release birds or I shut down the hunting operation. There is virtually no CRP left in that part of the state. Anything not being farmed for profit is farmed for pheasants. What guys farm for pheasants is enough to hide a bunch of released birds long enough for corporate groups to go slaughter them, not enough to maintain a wild population.

 

[160andup]

Bird seasons are just starting to open up for us here, a few more days before they open for me locally. As long as we stay healthy and injury free we’ll be tuned up and ready for SD by November.

 

[spur60]

That was the case last year with the drought, but I'm not seeing much, if any cut up here near Aberdeen. I think last year was actually a special emergency permit, I don't think they are normally allowed to cut CREP. I'm not sure if CRP is any different.

Tons of CRP and CREP got hayed in the southern part of the state. Made for easy duck hunting though on sunday morning with the sheet water in the cut CREP though. Bet 50 hunters drove by that spot and never saw the birds hiding there.

 

[spur60]

It didn't look up the numbers, but maybe you are thinking of CREP? CRP from what I understand is mostly federal, I think with the farm bill, and it is down in acreage overall from what I heard. CREP is the state leasing program, similar to CRP in structure, but it is high in acreage right now. I think we are at the maximum the state set for the program. There is not much CREP land enrolled around Pierre, it's definitely a lot more prominent in the NE part of the state. I don't know why that is.

CREP is a federal CRP contract, targeting specific watersheds (James, Big Sioux).

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiat9TH3M2BAxWkGDQIHWXbDSkQFnoECB8QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhabitat.sd.gov%2FCREPfacts-2021.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2_wHig8q870wHNeBzM29nH&opi=89978449

 

[justinspicher]

Can a guy without a dog be successful?

I didn’t have a dog and hit my limit each day I was up there.

 

[jmichaelberg]

It didn't look up the numbers, but maybe you are thinking of CREP? CRP from what I understand is mostly federal, I think with the farm bill, and it is down in acreage overall from what I heard. CREP is the state leasing program, similar to CRP in structure, but it is high in acreage right now. I think we are at the maximum the state set for the program. There is not much CREP land enrolled around Pierre, it's definitely a lot more prominent in the NE part of the state. I don't know why that is.

CREP is a CRP program with Federal CRP payment coupled with state dollars. In SD, it is targeted to the James and Big Sioux basins and there are about 85,000 acres enrolled and part of the Walk-in Area Program.