U-GUIDE South Dakota Pheasant hunting

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U-GUIDE South Dakota Pheasant hunting

posted Jan 13, 2010 11:57 PM by Michael Freeman [ updated Feb 23, 2010 4:31 PM ]

After getting an e-mail from a friend about a chance to go for a late season pheasant hunting trip to South Dakota, I couldn't wait to get out there and experience what I've been hearing about from friends for a long time. We were going to be privileged guests of the owner of U-GUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting services. UGUIDE offers a unique service for upland bird hunters as these are all self-guided hunts. Once you arrive, the landowner will show you around or provide you a map of the land he owns or leases, but you are on your own to find the birds and cook your meals. There are several different camps to choose from, and thousands of acres to hunt. We were hunting strictly wild birds and they were said to be plentiful, despite the 2009 South Dakota Brood Survey indicating that the Pheasants Per Mile (PPM) was down 26% from 2008. Licenses can be purchased online or from agents throughout the state, and non-residents are charged 110$ for a 10-day license that can be split in half.

When we arrived early Friday afternoon, 1 week before Christmas at the Aberdeen camp, we were greeted by the landowner who showed us the bunk house we would be staying in. There were 3 bedrooms with 4 bunks in each room, a living room with a flat screen TV and DirecTV satellite connection, Internet, common area, full kitchen, plus 2 bathrooms with showers. The lodging was top notch and the landowner was happy to show us around, we all definitely felt like we were at home. There was even an extra large chest freezer for bird storage, and a tub sink to wash cleaned birds.

Video courtesy of UGUIDE SD Pheasants

For 2 and a half days we hunted vast fields of CRP grass, strips of corn, food plots, sloughs, and groves. The action was fierce in the cattails, and the nervous birds in the CRP fields challenged our shooting abilities. We had at least 6 of the 13 dogs we brought along hunting with us at any given time, and they were all top notch. It is a sight to see good hunting dogs working birds, and even more fun to hunt over. Since there were only 2 weeks of the season left, most of the birds in the area had been hunted and the fields were difficult to approach without displacing hundreds or sometimes thousands of pheasants. At first most people might assume there would be no point in walking through these fields trying to flush a rooster, but it didn't take our dogs and hunters long to find the ones trying to outsmart us by holding tight in cover. We often had birds flushing right at our feet and easy shots, and even when the weather turned we were still able to find plenty of action.

Video courtesy of UGUIDE SD Pheasants

We filled our 6 man limits on all 3 days and headed back home with our dogs and birds and memories of an epic adventure in the heart of South Dakota. All of the people invited on the trip agreed that this was a stand out hunt and for many of us, something we just don't get to experience very often. I am looking forward to booking a trip and returning next year, if you are interested in learning more information or booking your 2010 hunt with U-GUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting, please check out their website at

http://www.uguidesdpheasants.com/.

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