Off for SD tomorrow. Will post hunt report and pictures when I return. Me and my Llwellyn and 28 gauge Benelli.

I tried to make this hunt trip work but just could not because of the dates available to me maybe next year.

Have fun looking forward to the report

Sounds wonderful! pics and a report upon your return please!

The trip was less than expected for birds. Corn was still up in most of the area so birds were hanging out there. Private land was a waste of time and turned down repeatedly. Not a big deal and I understand the landowners view some guy coming from out of nowhere and wanting to hunt. Lots of the farms were being hunted by family or outfitted. State lands had droves of people. i hunted the ditches by the road and managed to scratch down 3 birds. You need to have a dog you can control or else they can become road kill quickly. Place I stayed at was excellent. Bobby has a nice house and good kennels. Company was great also and had a chance to bullshit and cook a steak dinner together one night. If I could do things different I would go later in the season when the corn is down and less hunters. Would do it again and I scratch this trip as a research hunt. Again place was extremely comfortable and had all the amenities. Town is also small and grocery store is not open on Sundays.

quote:

Originally posted by twilli:
The trip was less than expected for birds. Corn was still up in most of the area so birds were hanging out there. Private land was a waste of time and turned down repeatedly. Not a big deal and I understand the landowners view some guy coming from out of nowhere and wanting to hunt. Lots of the farms were being hunted by family or outfitted. State lands had droves of people. i hunted the ditches by the road and managed to scratch down 3 birds. You need to have a dog you can control or else they can become road kill quickly. Place I stayed at was excellent. Bobby has a nice house and good kennels. .

I always try to go after Nov. even then if some one doesn't have private land connections it can be a real bust.

quote:

Originally posted by twilli:
Place I stayed at was excellent. Bobby has a nice house and good kennels. Company was great also and had a chance to bullshit and cook a steak dinner together one night. Again place was extremely comfortable and had all the amenities.

Thanks Tom. I really wanted to set up the house for guys to come and feel at home and be comfortable. Dogs are a main priority so I feel I got them set up well.

Sorry you didn't find the hunting as expected. I think the SDF&G fudged the bird numbers after poor counts the previous couple of years. That always leads for disappointment when guys travel long distances and expect to see "bird farm" numbers of wild birds. The birds were defiantly not at a 42% increase from 2014 but I hunted there 25 days this fall and would say the hunting was at least still very good. I hunt 90% public land so I have to work at finding birds too. I'm working on some private land options for guys who come to my house this fall.

DuxDog also invited me to come out later in the season but I could not make it. Was appreciative of that.