South Dakota - Grasslands?

R

recurry

New member
Hi All,

I have an opportunity to spend a few days near the Ft. Pierre National Grasslands in SD coming up and was wondering if any of the gang here knows much about that area - I'm wondering what the coyote hunting is like in that part of SD. Can any of you guys give me your opinions as to whether it's worth hunting around there, and if so are there any areas you might say are better than others?

Also, I know you can get permits for the nearby tribal lands as well (lower Brule) so if that's a better choice I'd love to hear your opinions.

I'm really amped up about having a chance to get out to SD, beautiful country, so if you have any advice that might help me bag a dog or two while I'm out there, I'd really appreciate it!
 
I always hunt further west in SD. Along the river near Chamberlin was hit hard by mange a few years back. Not sure about the Pierre area though.
 
One of my Bros & I went up there around 7-8?yrs ago. Too hunt only coyotes in the late Fall. This was around Pierre/Chamberlin area. I bet I asked 75 or so ranchers to hunt, offered to pay them as well. Only "TWO" ranchers let us on their land.

Beautiful country, can't say I care about their frigid hospitality.
 
Kirby you must have hit some bad luck. Ive never had a problem with finding land around Chamberlin. Finding yotes is the bigger problem the past few yrs. Talked to several ranchers who use to have 50 different sightings over the course of a summer are now seeing a 1/10 of them. Mange hit bad a few yrs back.
 
"bad luck"? I don't believe so Monte. We stopped at every little ville/town in that area. When I walked into all of the little restaurants. I got the "stare" like I was from New York City LOL!
smirk.gif


I introduced our selves as being coyote hunters from Iowa[maybe that was a mistake?]Tough crowd...tough crowd.
I gotta say, that area in it's Fall colors. Was spectacular!
 
HAAAA.. That was your problem.....We south dakotians dont like our Iowa neighbors
smile.gif
Next time park your Iowa plated vehicle a couple blocks away and walk in.
 
Originally Posted By: kirbyOne of my Bros & I went up there around 7-8?yrs ago. Too hunt only coyotes in the late Fall. This was around Pierre/Chamberlin area. I bet I asked 75 or so ranchers to hunt, offered to pay them as well. Only "TWO" ranchers let us on their land.

Beautiful country, can't say I care about their frigid hospitality.

Hi Kirby,

One thing I've found about small towns / rural areas, is that it makes more sense to cultivate a relationship with a local business owner or two rather than going after direct contacts with people. If you have a chance to stay at a private campground, do business at the local hardware store, whatever, developing a positive friendly relationship with those business owners can unlock a lot of doors for you; if you can get a referral to even one or two landowners from those contacts, they are the key to building trust and subsequently gaining access to other property. I bet if you cultivated your relationship with those TWO ranchers who did let you on their property, you would ultimately get access to a good bunch of the other properties out there. It's important to take the indirect route, because it lets you work your way in slowly, rather than just getting all the doors slammed in your face in one shot...

I also send a thank you card, along with a picture or two of the hunt, just so the property owners remember me and understand that I appreciate their kindness in letting me on their land... that goes a long way towards being granted access the next time you swing by their neck of the woods. I try to think of any contact with private landowners as an opportunity to make a new friend, rather than just a chance to get access to a place to hunt...

Anyway, just some suggestions!
 
We only had 1-wk. Pretty short time to establish any type of friendly relationship? Big difference between Iowa farmers & SD ranchers.

In Iowa I've met farmers at their door or in their farmyard. A few minutes later I was hunting their land. BTW I've also NEVER paid any Iowa farmer to hunt, geesh.
 
Well i know there's more and more "guide services" showing up in this state. Mostly pheasant preserves, so yeah they can be a real pain to deal with sometimes. Some of the local farmers that live near them see and hear them making all this money so they want to get paid to hunt their land as well. Heck we have some land we can by a pheasant preserve and there is a ton of coyotes on it. We asked to hunt them, thinking we'd be doing them a favor... Long story short, they didn't want anyone hunting their land for free, even if it is just for coyotes. So they said they would take care of it themselves...
 
Originally Posted By: kirbyWe only had 1-wk. Pretty short time to establish any type of friendly relationship? Big difference between Iowa farmers & SD ranchers.

In Iowa I've met farmers at their door or in their farmyard. A few minutes later I was hunting their land. BTW I've also NEVER paid any Iowa farmer to hunt, geesh.

Hey Kirby,

Yeah - not trying to imply you're doing anything wrong, just thinking about my own experiences in some of the less hunter friendly parts of the country :) Here in Wisconsin people are extremely friendly and usually very receptive to allowing people to hunt on their land, but not so in some other parts of the country.

Of course, as ThanksGuys points out, some places have gotten really bad in terms of everybody wanting money. No matter where I go, I always try to keep thing in perspective - anytime I have a hard time finding places to hunt, I just think back to the few years I lived in TX. That entire state is private land, which is pretty sad - I remember moving there from NM and thinking, wow, NM is such an awesome place for public hunting, I can't wait to see TX. Boy was I in for a surprise; I'd never even heard the term "hunting lease" before moving to TX. On the other hand, like 2/3 of NM is public land (ok, I'm exaggerating a little, but not by much) which is awesome.
 
In Iowa, if your after coyote only. Most all farmers will let you hunt, no charge. As for Deer & pheasant hunting, you had best know someone who farms good hunting land. Otherwise it's slim pickens getting on good deer or pheasant land. As it is often taken already.

Since 1968, we were not allowed to hunt coyote on maybe a handfull of farms. Otherwise it has been a green light all the way.
 
I had about the same experience as you Kirby when I lived in SD. Heck, I even had ranchers try to run me off PUBLIC land, they tried telling me they owned it!

I lived in IA too and never had trouble finding a spot to hunt deer or turkeys, didn't do much coyote hunting there.
 
Kirby,
YOU RIGHT RIGHT.
My wife and I were born and raised in Alabama( we both speak perfect southern english with the proper accent)
10 years ago we came to South Dakota bird hunting. We fell in love with the wide open spaces, wildlife and remote- low population. Before we left we purchased a spot 40, yes 40 miles down a dirt road from the BIG CITY of Pierre.
As we approached the property for the first time, a flock of turkeys were crossing the road, alittle closer to the property deer were standing on the side of the road, antalope were in a wheat field 200yds from the prpoerty. We got out of the truck and flushed over a dozen pheasants out of the draw. WE THOUGHT WE HAD FOUND HEAVEN.
We purchased that little spot of land that day.
My wife dreamed of a log cabin, so I went about trying to find a contractor to start construction. No one would give me the time of day. I had one contractor quickly tell me he would not even consider building a cabin for a "Eastener". Not to be denied we took every vacation and holiday time and came to South Dakota and built our cabin just me and my wife.
COLD, CRUDE and VOLUGAR can not discribe the way the locals have treated us. They look at us as space aliens.(there are 10 people in 10 square miles) Every time I open my mouth they know I am not from South Dakota. If you are not born and raised in South Dakota you will never be accepted.
I had A nieghbor(use that term loosely) last year come to my house after dark and tell me I was trespassing on his property and that he was going to shoot my bird dogs next time he saw me on that piece of property. This is state owned public hunting ground!!!!!
Its been 10 long years of this kind of BS. Day after day .
So my little slice of heaven has turned into THE FIREY RING OF H-LL.

If I were to come to South Dakota for the first time to hunt I would travel a couple hundred miles more and cross the Wyoming line were there is more National Forrest,BLM and public land and hopefully the people are friendlier .
That being said if you still would like to hunt around this area PM me and I will be happy to hunt with you and share the public land that I hunt.

Good Luck,
Jack
 
Last edited:
In my 8 years of hunting coyotes, I have NEVER been turned down. It does help to be a farmer also. I make a lot of connections at the local elevator during harvest.
 
Kirby,
YOU RIGHT RIGHT.
My wife and I were born and raised in Alabama( we both speak perfect southern english with the proper accent)
10 years ago we came to South Dakota bird hunting. We fell in love with the wide open spaces, wildlife and remote- low population. Before we left we purchased a spot 40, yes 40 miles down a dirt road from the BIG CITY of Pierre.
As we approached the property for the first time, a flock of turkeys were crossing the road, alittle closer to the property deer were standing on the side of the road, antalope were in a wheat field 200yds from the prpoerty. We got out of the truck and flushed over a dozen pheasants out of the draw. WE THOUGHT WE HAD FOUND HEAVEN.
We purchased that little spot of land that day.
My wife dreamed of a log cabin, so I went about trying to find a contractor to start construction. No one would give me the time of day. I had one contractor quickly tell me he would not even consider building a cabin for a "Eastener". Not to be denied we took every vacation and holiday time and came to South Dakota and built our cabin just me and my wife.
COLD, CRUDE and VOLUGAR can not discribe the way the locals have treated us. They look at us as space aliens.(there are 10 people in 10 square miles) Every time I open my mouth they know I am not from South Dakota. If you are not born and raised in South Dakota you will never be accepted.
I had A nieghbor(use that term loosely) last year come to my house after dark and tell me I was trespassing on his property and that he was going to shoot my bird dogs next time he saw me on that piece of property. This is state owned public hunting ground!!!!!
Its been 10 long years of this kind of BS. Day after day .
So my little slice of heaven has turned into THE FIREY RING OF H-LL.

If I were to come to South Dakota for the first time to hunt I would travel a couple hundred miles more and cross the Wyoming line were there is more National Forrest,BLM and public land and hopefully the people are friendlier .
That being said if you still would like to hunt around this area PM me and I will be happy to hunt with you and share the public land that I hunt.

Good Luck,
Jack


All I can say is WOW!!!
 
Last edited:
Holy Mackeral Jack! I'd tell them all to kiss my rump. I've had people threaten me, no big whoop. I'm ready for a fight or gun fight, I don't really care.

Over my yrs hunting. I've had two Iowa farmers on different occasions. Come driving right up to me like a crazy nut. Then stop along side of my truck. Then they commenced to screaming, cussing & threatening me[I was parked on a public county gravel road at the time]. I loaded my rife unknown to them waiting for the crap to hit the fan. They got the same varbal lashing they dished out. Had either of them brandished a weapon "at me". I would've shot them dead as a stinken feral cat.
 
HMMMM. I must be getting lucky here...I live in eastern SD looking to move to western SD soon. But Ive never been turned down unless they had family hunting the ground.
 
Fellows.

That was just one experience. The next day the fellow that RENTS the property just to the East came at me the same way. I quickly backed him down. but its a fight every day.
I would like to relate one more experience.
In the state of South Dakota the road right of way is considered public hunting, I know this is hard for some hunters to believe but the road ditches are public ground.Well public for everyone but an outsider. I was walking a road ditch with one of my brittanys, my truck was parked at an intersection of two dirt section line roads. I was 300 to 400 yards from the truck when I heard a engine revving up I look back and here comes a black chevy truck swings in front of my truck in the ditch and is racing h-ll bent for leather toward me and my dog. This guy is going to run over me. I raise my shotgun and aim at the drivers side. Now let me say right here I would never aim a firearm at someone unless in self defense and I think this was justified. 20 yds before impact the driver swerved back on the road went passed me and my dog then back down in the ditch for another section running the pheasants out of the ditch in front of me. Then he goes over to the other side of the road and runs down the ditch for 2 sections then back up on the road and goes parks at his house, he is a farmer that lived 3 sections away from where I was.
I contact the sherriff, fish and game and aybody else that would listen.Nothing was said or done and nothing ever came of it.
I made a mistake in investing in South Dakota, but I have have alot of time and money in my property and I have to live with it for now. One day I will be able to recope my investment and I will never cross this state line again.
Moral of the story: Do your home work before your vision of paradise.
good luck,
Jack
 
To bad on your luck up there, Jack. I wish you well.
But as you probably already know. There are people like that in many places, not just SD. Indifferent, cruel, mean spirited, unfriendly, bullying, ect.

Three Winters ago[central Iowa] I was sitting on a gravel road glassing hills looking for coyotes. I seen a 4x4 sitting behind me a city block or so in my rear view mirror. Slowly that truck creeps up along side of mine. I roll my window down.

Big burly guy sitting in the 4x4. He says, "Don't be hunting on MY LAND!" I said, "Im not...I'm sitting on a county road, in which you don't own because it is a public road" He gave me the stare down & slowly drove awy, then turned around then came back by me, STARING HARD. I loaded my rifle. He moved on.

The next Winter[2 Winters ago], I'm sitting on the same road. I look in my rear view mirror, as I hear a vehicle coming hard & fast my way. It is him, & he swerves missing my parked truck by a few inches. My truck buffeted from the near miss. I had evil thoughts towards him, I loaded my rifle for a gun fight.

I then called the local IDNR CO on my cell et told him what was playing out right now. I also told the CO, if he points a firearm at me, I'll shoot him dead. CO called him later on & the harassment/intimidation stopped.
 
Last edited:
i don't know much about iowa, but i know a little about s.d., so i'll speak to that...

so... what did you guys think was going to happen? you come to s.d. and post pics and all sorts of information on what farmers, ranchers, cities, towns, and diners to go harass to get hunting access, and now after years of doing that (that stuff has been posted on internet sites for at least 11 years now) you're upset because the farmers and ranchers figured out that the popularity of hunting on their patch of dirt is in huge demand... how long did you think the free, unrestricted access was going to hold out? now i am starting to see this same info posted about n.d.... again... how long before the n.d. farmers and ranchers get it figured out? of course they are going to begin to restrict access, and then charge for it, and then enforce the restrictions even more because they got someone coming up from [name your state] and they pay [$x,xxx) per day per gun as long as they have game to shoot...

seriously fellas... if you find a great honey hole maybe freely broadcasting the information across the internet is not in your best interest long term.

as one of those hostile s.d. people, i used to grant unrestricted access for any game animal to anybody that had the decency to at least call and ask. some knothead decided to broadcast the information on the internet, and now i can't tell you how many requests for access we get. if we granted even half of the requests, the critters would be gone in year 1. my hunting and my kids' hunting would cease due to lack of game, and what happens to the non-residents? they leave - and we are left w/ no hunting on our own land, ruts in our fields and access roads, etc...

jack... i have always maintained that if a situation you're in is not making you happy, then it is time to change that situation. whether the situation is a job, a house, a marriage, or whatever makes no difference. i suggest you get serious about changing your situation w/ where you are. i wish you the best of luck in whatever you do.

but, i'm telling you guys, broadcasting specific location information on the internet is not the road to hunting access happiness...
 
Back
Top