By Andrew Johnson
I'm a public land pheasant hunter. But I didn't start out that way.
Growing up in South Dakota in the 90s, I was lucky enough to hunt some premium private acres where habitat and birds were plentiful. Over time, however, my access to private land has dwindled. As a result, my pheasant hunts have increasingly taken place on nearby public acres within an hour's drive of my home in the southeastern part of the state.
In fact, one of my favorite hunts happened on public ground last November. It was a late Sunday afternoon after the Vikings game ended, and I drove west to hunt the golden hour on an 80-acre patch of CREP land that was adjacent to a recently combined cornfield. A half-hour into the hunt, my yellow Lab, Gauge, locked on a bird in a clump of big bluestem, and a quick "Get 'em!" sent him deeper into the cover, boosting a cackling young rooster skyward.
With 15 minutes of light left and a bird in the bag, I had a decision to make: head deeper into the CREP area or back along the fenceline next to the cut corn. I chose the fenceline, betting that a bird or two would be making its way from the corn back into the cover.
About 50 yards from the road, my bet paid off. Gauge made a hard left, and the chase was on back through the short grass toward heavier roosting cover in the middle of the field. The rooster didn't flush until five minutes and 150 yards later, but watching Gauge bring the mature, long-tailed rooster to hand as the sun shimmered red on the horizon painted a scene I won't soon forget.
To that end, I've discovered that success on public land exponentially increases when you go it alone — or with just one or two trusted partners. While many hunters gravitate toward large group hunts for the social aspect (which definitely has its own place in South Dakota's pheasant hunting tradition), I've found that hunting alone or in a smaller group consistently puts more birds in the bag on public land.
Numbers Don't Lie
South Dakota's public hunting opportunities are second to none, and the numbers don't lie. With over 1.3 million pheasants harvested statewide last year, you'd expect every acre of public ground to be swarming with hunters. However, no matter what you hear or read on social media, I can assure you that's not the case.
Sure, some areas consistently draw crowds for a variety of reasons: close to town, easy to access, word of mouth or they just plain look "birdy." But last year I hunted more than 20 days on public land, and only once did another group beat me to the public spot I planned to hunt.
Worth mentioning is that roughly 58,000 residents and 82,000 nonresidents hunted pheasants in South Dakota last season, with hunters averaging nine birds apiece. Despite this apparent pressure statewide on both public and private land, keep in mind South Dakota features over 5 million acres of publicly accessible land, with 1 million of those acres nestled in the heart of pheasant country. And thanks to continued efforts of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department (GFP) and conservation organizations such as Pheasants Forever, those totals continue to grow each year. For example, the Public Access to Habitat (PATH) initiative has created 70,000 acres of additional public access on private lands in the state in just two years.
What it all boils down to is that vast expanses of Game Production Areas, Waterfowl Production Areas, Walk-In Areas, CREP areas and other public lands remain lightly hunted throughout the season. The reason is simple. Most hunters either overlook public ground in favor of private access or wrongly believe that the best areas are already claimed. These assumptions create incredible opportunities for walk-in warriors willing to do the work.
Why Small Groups Rule
A group of three or fewer hunters can accomplish what a large group cannot, and here's why: stealth, better dog work, efficiency and flexibility.
Noise discipline becomes critical when hunting pressured public birds. A large hunting party sounds like a small army, causing educated, wary pheasants to flush wild or simply run out the opposite end of the field. On the other hand, three or fewer hunters can move through habitat much more quietly, raising the chances of sneaking within gun range of more birds.
Hunting in smaller groups is also beneficial to good dog work. Smaller groups allow a dog or dogs to focus on the task at hand, whereas the confusion and clamour of a large group and competition from too many other dogs can overload their already heightened senses.
Small groups can also efficiently target overlooked slivers of cover that larger groups of hunters might ignore. That narrow strip of cattails on the back side of a large GPA? Perfect for two hunters, but cumbersome for eight. The ring of mixed habitat surrounding a stock dam or slough? Ideal for a solo hunter willing to work methodically. These small, but prime areas often hold birds precisely because other hunting parties pass them by.
Flexibility is probably the most underappreciated aspect of hunting solo or in small groups. When I'm hunting solo or with a partner or two, we can quickly assess whether the cover holds birds and move on if it doesn't. Larger groups often feel committed to working entire sections of habitat even when birds are few and far between, simply because regrouping a bunch of hunters takes considerable time and coordination.
The Hole-Hopping Strategy
Being flexible leans into one of my most effective hunting strategies — "hole hopping," a term I borrowed from fishing lingo. Just as an angler might hit multiple fishing spots searching for active fish, I identify clusters of public hunting areas where I can quickly move from spot to spot until I find birds.
The key is targeting areas where multiple public parcels exist within a short drive of each other. This assures me of a couple things. First, if another hunter or group of hunters are already at one public area, I can quickly move on to the next. And second, if the dog doesn't get birdy or if I'm not seeing pheasant sign (think fresh tracks in the snow or droppings in roost areas), I can hop to the next spot and see if my luck changes.
That was the case a few years ago during the second weekend of South Dakota's pheasant season, when my son, Gavin, and I only had time for a quick hunt to close out the day. A blast of winter had descended across the Upper Midwest, and the combination of snow flurries and cold temps made it feel more like December than late October.
The first area we hunted was a half-section of CREP with cut corn bordering its western edge. After only kicking up a couple hens and the dog acting disinterested, we hopped a couple miles down the road to another public spot with more thermal cover.
Our decision was immediately rewarded, as Gavin dumped a big rooster almost immediately after leaving the truck. A couple minutes later, Gauge pinned another bird in a mat of knocked-over cattails. The rooster tried to flush twice before it finally was able to break free from the thick cover. And just like that, we had two birds in the bag. We were able to shoot and retrieve a third rooster — we actually heard it fly in to roost in the heavy grass — to cap off a quick, successful hunt.
The beauty of hole hopping is efficiency, enabling a solo hunter or small group to sample multiple areas and focus on public areas where birds are actually present. Relocating larger groups takes much more work and coordination and is simply not as efficient.
Hole hopping is easier than ever thanks to resources such as GFP's Public Hunting Atlas (both paper and online) and apps like OnX. They're invaluable in helping hunters identify clusters of public ground and create a game plan. The Public Hunting Atlas with full GPS functionality is also available on the GoOutdoorsSD app for both Apple and Android mobile devices.
The DIY Way
I've already accepted that some of my most memorable hunts will likely happen not in the company of a large group, but in the quiet solitude of a public hunting area where it's just me, my dog and the birds.
South Dakota's public lands hold some of the wildest, most challenging roosters in the world. They're survivors that have weathered harsh winters, avoided predators and given other hunters the slip. And when you finally earn one of these birds, you'll understand the allure that only hunting public land birds can provide. So get out there, the season is still open through January 31st!