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Help For First Hunt in South Dakota Walk in Areas!
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 6:39 am
by Onk
Can any of you give me a general area or atlas area # for some of the more productive public walk in areas in SD? Lodging and plenty of productive hunting in walk in areas are what we are going for, we are rookies making our maiden voyage to SD, any help would be outstanding! There will only be 2 to 4 of us going, so lodging is not for large numbers and any dog friendly motel/hotel would do. Thanks for the help!
Re: Help For First Hunt in South Dakota Walk in Areas!
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 8:11 am
by ACooper
When are you going?
Re: Help For First Hunt in South Dakota Walk in Areas!
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 8:43 am
by vols fan
One thing we found out was that the WIA areas were either cut for hay or cattle in them. Andy and i hunted together and were glad we had private land to hunt on. Only one area was good and had cover and birds, all others were not.It was frustraiting to get to a piece and all the land around the WIA was good looking land but the WIA was not worth running a dog on.
Re: Help For First Hunt in South Dakota Walk in Areas!
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 9:16 am
by ACooper
vols fan wrote:One thing we found out was that the WIA areas were either cut for hay or cattle in them. Andy and i hunted together and were glad we had private land to hunt on. Only one area was good and had cover and birds, all others were not.It was frustraiting to get to a piece and all the land around the WIA was good looking land but the WIA was not worth running a dog on.
I would suggest getting there a day or so early to scout ground places to hunt. Or just expect to drive and look at several places.
Re: Help For First Hunt in South Dakota Walk in Areas!
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 6:30 pm
by nhachman
Are you targeting any particular region of the state? All of my experience is in north central SD, nearly to the ND state line. We have hunted some WIA up there that was productive. Most of the WIAs around there are native grass, so you need to be intelligent about when you hunt them. Pick the ones that are within 1/4 mile of a decent crop field. Will you be hunting the opener or later in the season?
Re: Help For First Hunt in South Dakota Walk in Areas!
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 5:37 am
by Onk
We are going the last 3 days of Oct thru Nov. 3rd so it will be the second week of the season.
Re: Help For First Hunt in South Dakota Walk in Areas!
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:40 am
by bumper52
http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/areas/maps/default.aspx
go to the above site....find the counties with the most walk in areas......these walk in areas change a lot from year to year as far as crops and cover..it's a roll of the dice, but if you go to a county with several areas, you greatly increase your odds. I have been to South Dakota probably 30 times and have only hunted public areas. It's never been too much of a problem getting on birds.
Re: Help For First Hunt in South Dakota Walk in Areas!
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:10 am
by ACooper
If you havent already I would start looking for a Hotel now, SD will still be pretty full on the dates you are going.