The wife and I friends with a couple in Souix Falls who've been inviting us out there for years. The guy says I should hunt while there but he's not a hunter so he's probably not a great source of info. I know squat about SD hunting techniques. Maybe a local ARBB member answer a couple of q.s.

I've hunted eastern grounhogs (.223, 17 HMR) & killed a couple of VA coyotes (.223 and 7mmMag)I know from reading Varmint Hunter that things are very different out west: What are good times of year for SD varmints? What for varmints are there to kill on public land? In general what techniques should I consider?

holzauge,

Sioux Falls is in the far SE corner of SD. Varmints are pretty much prairie dogs and coyotes. And can be taken year round. I don't think you'd need a 7mm Rem Mag for either one of those.

I hunt up there every October..well, about 160 miles west of there...we do prairie dogs in the mornings, pheasants/grouse/prairie chickens in the afternoon, and depending on how well we do, can be back on the 'dogs late afternoon/early evening. And sometimes get to drop the occasional coyote who comes to dine on the downed 'dogs.

Calibers I shoot are 22 WMR and 223 Rem. Both are viable for 'dogs depending on range, and the size of the 'dog town. Probably add something in 204 Ruger for the 2007 season.

A lot of information can be found at www.sdgfp.info on public lands, access to it, and locations. Additionally, if your friend has a friend that hunts, that would be a great source of LOCAL information. And he might have access to some private land where you can have some fun with the prairie dogs.

Hope this helps....

John

Thanks John. Two good ideas. The website is very interesting and I guess I shouldn't have assumed my friend knows no land owners. His family has been there for years. I'll give him a call and maybe he can put me in direct touch with a hunter.
I only used the 7mm mag on the coyote because I was deer hunting over a big open field had that's what I had with me. It do work though.
DL

Not from the Sioux Falls area, I am actually way up in the northeastern corner of South Dakota. The time of year you are planning on venturing to South Dakota will have an effect on what species will be plentiful to hunt. Obviously the Winter time would be the best for Coyotes and Spring or early Summer would be the best for Prairie Dogs. Now this is not to say you couldn't find some Coyotes in the Spring or Summer mind you.

Most of the Prairie Dog towns are located west of the Missouri River, but as far as I know Coyotes are plentiful throughout the state. From the Pup activity I have seen the past month or so I am thinking that this is gonna be another good year for Coyote numbers (at least in my part of South Dakota).

In the western part of the state it is extremely dry this summer. I have heard from some Ranchers I know that they are not allowing any hunting until they get some rain. Grass fires has been a problem out there also this summer.

Larry

Larry,

You must be up around Sisseton or close to it. My annual pilgrimage is close to Pierre..about 40 miles east of there and not too far from the Missouri River. Lots of prairie dogs around there, and coyotes.

Unfortunately, rain has not been falling too much in central SD, and my friend whose farm we hunt on has had a couple of fires started in some of his grassland from dry lightning. Hopefully they are going to get some rain soon, and enough to green up the area before pheasant season starts. Don't want to be thought responsible for starting a fire on his, or anyone else's land.

John

Yep I am a little northeast of Sisseton in Rosholt (5 miles from the North Dakota border and 8 miles from the Minnesota border) way up in the corner of the state. Yes it is extremely dry out west. We did get some rain here last Thursday night (about a half inch), but I am not sure if they got any out west.

Today I heard it was over 100 degrees in the central part of the state again, and it looks like the next few days are going to be hot as well.

September can not come too fast for me, I hate the heat.

Larry

Here August is like a sauna. I spent a summer in Sierre Vist AZ once when we had 60+ days when it never fell below 100 degrees, with highs to about 113. At Yuma it reached 118. But of course it was a dry heat. Yeah! Like a pizza oven and freaking miserable. For the Frau and I life begins after the first frost.

Every single year I get one year older and like the heat about 10 times less. I totally agree in that the best time of the year starts after the first frost of the year. Seasonable temperatures and no BUGS. It has been in the 90's here all week and humid ta boot. Sounds like Tuesday the heat wave is gonna break, well at least for a little while.

Larry