South Dakota Pheasant Hunting

You are working a cattail, a long CRP field or marching through rows of corn, you shoot a bird and the last thing you want after all that effort is to loose it.

Some days you will loose birds no matter what you do.   However, at Maple River Pheasant Hunts, we have found there are some things you can do to lessen your losses.   Here are some things to think about when you shoot a bird.

• Bring something along to mark the downed bird ; a cap, scarf, flagging tape, etc.
• When you see the bird get hit:   mark the spot you shot from before you move to the bird, as you may have to go back to that spot to reassess.
• mark the spot where the bird dropped/ note how the bird fell (is it wounded or dead?)  use landmarks in the field  i.e. it fell in the green area, it fell by the longest cattail, it was in line with the telephone pole, etc.
• if possible don’t take your eyes off the spot until you have gotten to it.
• when you get to the area you saw the pheasant drop, mark the spot again before you start to look for the bird. Once you start wandering around looking, it’s easy to loose your starting point, if you don’t have it marked.  It’s amazing how easy it is to loose your place as everything begins to look the same.

If there is a lot of bird action and you want to finish your push, mark the spot the bird dropped.  Then you can continue your drive knowing you can return later and look for the bird in the right area.

There are other factors that will affect you finding the bird.  If you have a dog that saw the bird drop and it get’s to the spot right away, your chances of finding your bird are greatly increased.  But if you are in heavy cover, you will need to do some things to help your dog out.   Mark where the bird dropped and get your dog to the spot as soon as you can.   If the bird is dead your dog should be able to find it quickly. However, if the bird is wounded and on the run, getting the dog to the scent asap will increase your chances of your dog tracking the bird.

The other thing that helps is not only you marking the bird but your fellow hunters can be a big help too.   Ask them to mark the bird for you as you walk to it and have them guide you in to where it dropped.  

Don’t give up!   Some birds just get away, but a hunt without many lost birds is a great hunt!  We always encourage folks to spend time marking, looking and finding their birds before moving on.