Hunting in South Dakota: Do you have to go with a big group?

bobspheasant · Post by **bobspheasant** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:25 am

There are four of us in our normal hunting party, can we do a guided hunt in South Dakota without being joined by a bunch of strangers? Any sugestions for spots in central SD?

Bowhunter20 · Post by **Bowhunter20** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:25 am

nasally if you call ahead and tell them you prefer not to hunt with other people they will respect that but it might cost a little more.

larue · Post by **larue** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:08 pm

I dont know about 4 people,usually it is me and 12 gsp's and one horse,makes for a quiet hunt and good time,might have to cut down the gsp numbers as they are getting old,hiedi is 13,max is 11 along with a bunch at 10ish.The good news is eva can go all day,like max used to.
I hunt public lands,so I dont have anyone telling me what I can do,it is worth it.
Pierre alone has 110000 acres of public land.

prairiefire · Post by **prairiefire** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:39 pm

I'm booking a trip at Oak Tree Lodge for my husband. One of the big selling points for me, was that they don't combine groups. It's in Clark, SD (which is east SD) though...

3Britts · Post by **3Britts** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:35 am

It also helps if you know any landowners who will let you hunt their land. If you contact the local farm co-ops, they might know of farmers who allow hunting on their lands. They generally want to keep the larger groups out of their fields.

ldhuber · Post by **ldhuber** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:42 am

Checking with landowners is a good suggestion, but most of the time you'll have better luck with a face-to-face than with a phone call. Depending on what time of season you're around, they'll be in the field harvesting anyway. If you're one of the people that hunts public land...just stop and ask when you see them out in the fields...assuming you're a nice guy/gal, you'll probably be surprised how many of them will let you on their land, especially if they know it's a weekend deal rather than you showing up every afternoon for the rest of the season

Make sure to get their name and address and send them a thank you when you get home! That's always been the key for me getting on the next year and year after...after awhile it's amazing how many spots you'll have in your 'hunting bank'