Pheasant Hunting in South Dakota
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If you like to hunt ring neck pheasants, than you would love hunting them in South Dakota. I enjoy hunting pheasants in my home state of Illinois but there are no places to hunt wild pheasants. Sure there are the public hunt areas and the local clubs to chase these beautiful birds but hunting the ones that reproduce naturally in the wild are much more of a challenge. As much as I love to hunt wild turkey, hunting the cagey ringneck pheasant is sure a lot of fun.
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I was lucky enough to get a chance to take a trip to the vast farmlands of South Dakota two years ago to experience first hand the toughness of these wild pheasants in their natural habitat. Let me tell you, tough they are. I spent three days in Mitchell S.D. and loved every minute that I spent chasing these birds. Any one that loves to hunt pheasants just has to go there to understand what I’m saying. When you get there, during hunting season the whole town looks like hunter orange, as there are welcome hunters signs all over and there are many hotels to stay at or camp if you like. |
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| The first day was the most exciting for me as I never seen so many pheasants flush from one field before as I did then. They hunt a little different there than we hunt here in Il. There were about sixteen hunters walking in a straight line through the field with a couple of hunters on the side of the field and a few more at the end of the field. These hunters are called blockers. They keep the pheasants from running out of the field to the next one until we reach the end of it. That is when the floodgates open up with flushing and cackling birds. All of the hunters have to keep safety in the front of their mind so no accidents happen. None did. |
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The guides also use their dogs, all of which were Labrador retrievers in yellow and black. They are used to help flush the pheasants during the walk through the field with great success. This was a little different than I am used to, but it was fun just the same. The guides suggested that we all use full chokes as the pheasants are very tough to knock down and most shots will be about 30 to 40 yards which is longer than the shots I take in the public hunt areas around home. We were also told to use #5 or #6 shot, anything smaller and the birds would not fall. I followed all of the suggestions and I shot my limit everyday for the 3 days that I was there. It pays to listen to your guide.
I was allowed to bring my dog, (a Viszla ), along for the hunt and I was pleasantly surprised as how he adjusted to the different way of hunting than he was used to. I managed to meet and become friends with a couple of doctors from Missouri , but I really think that they just wanted to hunt with my dog. Kidding aside , they were very friendly as most hunters in the field are. I am planning another trip to South Dakota for the hard to hit, beautifully colored pheasants this fall in November. As November gets closer and closer I will be getting more excited and visiting the
outdoors sports store for all of the gear I’ll need more frequently. Until then I’ll have to be satisfied reliving the first time I went pheasant hunting in South Dakota.
Briley Sporting Clay Extended Choke Tubes - Beretta/Benelli/Franchi 
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