I'm thinking about doing some pheasant hunting this year. Would like advice on locations and outfitters.

Thanks in advance!

Rusty,

Chamberlain, South Dakota is about as close to the mecca of pheasant hunting as you can get. I don't know any operations out there but an internet search should get you plenty.

I have also heard good things about The Cannonball Company in western North Dakota.
They would be different experiences from what I hear. North Dakota being more casual and laid back.

Thunderstick Lodge operates out of Chamberlin and is a top notch outfit. South dakota also has public land bird hunting opportunites and has a book available to show you the locales.

If you are thinking family farm operation, I have some info for you. I have been hunting with these folks since '94. Great folks, great food, great hunting. The operation is a pheasant farm, some birds are pen raised (all of the outfitters do this) and they hunt from september through April.

In SD you can do self guided hunts. I know some old boys from TN who hunted with guides a couple seasons to learn how and where and now take off on their own. It was around Huron SD.

Another couple good places I've been to were Kansas and Iowa. For Kansas you can check their F&G website and get a pheasant forecast for each region. Other states may have something like that too. You can also call the F&G depts. and find someone with helpful info.

In Iowa the hunting was at Spirit Lake and was with a friend who grew up there and some of the locals who showed us the spots to try. It was a real fun outing. The local food was good too. So were the Kansas trips (Salina has what I thought the best pizza place I've ever been to - and it was cool seeing the Dodge City I'd heard about in all those Westerns). The hunting was either on public land or on farms owned by personal friends. And I would love to go back.

While the hunting end of it was OK, it was very much secondary to enjoying the companionship of old pals and seeing interesting parts of the country I'd never been to.

Hunting with commercial guides, be it pheasant, quail or duck, can and probably will get you your limit. But, those guys are never going to be your friends or buddies. With them you're a paying customer and that's all.

The totality of the experience is just not the same...

Thank you for your advice and information.

quote:

Hunting with commercial guides, be it pheasant, quail or duck, can and probably will get you your limit. But, those guys are never going to be your friends or buddies. With them you're a paying customer and that's all.

Not true!!! Maybe some, but the folks I mentioned are great people and I am proud to consider them friends.

Rusty, PM sent

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Kobe:
If you are thinking family farm operation, I have some info for you. I have been hunting with these folks since '94. Great folks, great food, great hunting. The operation is a pheasant farm, some birds are pen raised (all of the outfitters do this) and they hunt from september through April.

Jim,
I'd appreciate contact info on the above mentioned folks. Please send a PM or e-mail to
stepchild61@hotmail.com
Thanks,
Dennis

Believe it or not, we have some fantastic pheasant hunting in Baja California's Mexicali Valley. Its two hours from San Diego. A three day weekend hunt along with one or two evenings of dove costs around $1000. That includes food, lodging, guns, ammo etc. All wild birds and you'll shoot plenty. Chance for gambel quail too. Birds are pushed out of standing milo fields. Something different than a cold weather hunt. Aurturo Malo is a well respected outfitter/guide.

On the Pacific side of Baja we hunt California Valley quail in the San Telmo Valley with Alfredo and Esteban Meling (Rancho Coyote). A similar three day stay at their ranch with two full days of hunting, guns, ammo, food, lodging is around $700. We don't stop on a covey unless it has 100 or more birds. Again, all wild birds and something different. 5 hours below San Diego. Beautiful coastal drive. My son and daughter are ranchers in the area and we spend a lot of time down there. I license my own guns to take south. Easy to do but not necessary for a single trip.

I've enjoyed some spectacular pheasant hunting on private and public land in NE South Dakota, specifically the Spink County area.

Unfortunately the rancher we have customarily hunted with passed away recently so I doubt I'll be making a trip this year.