Cold, wind make for tough South Dakota pheasant opener
Many hunters were happy with the number of birds they saw, but it was tough to shoot them in the weather conditions, one conservation officer reported.
South Dakota Game Fish and Parks
Coyote hunting presents challenges to longtime hunters
Furbearing species that can be hunted in Pennsylvania include coyotes. (Photo by Bob Drieslein)RAPID CITY, S.D. — To John Cooper and Jerry Pier, a coyote hunt is not a shooting gallery. So you won’t find any high-capacity, fast-firing, military style weapons in their coyote-hunting arsenal. What you will find are some smooth-handling, accurate, bolt-action rifles, along with a commitment to…
In South Dakota, Custer State Park bighorn population back from the brink
“It is a success story what the agency has done here, We’ve brought back a population to where we can now have a season again. That’s pretty remarkable.”
Nonresidents would feel brunt of South Dakota archery deer-hunting changes
The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission proposed three changes that would impact nonresident archery hunters for the 2019 deer hunting season. In addition, one change was proposed that would impact resident archery hunters. The Commission’s proposal would first impose a delayed start date for nonresident archery deer hunters on public lands, including private land leased by the department…
Lowest number of mountain lions killed in Black Hills in 10 years
But largest was a bruiser that tipped the scales at over 160 pounds.
Black Hills bighorn sheep tag won with $89,000 bid
Last year, the largest hunter-killed bighorn sheep with both Pope and Young Club and Boone and Crockett Club was taken by a bowhunter in the South Dakota Badlands.
Mountain lion caught on video in far-eastern South Dakota, near Iowa border
The closest breeding population of mountain lions is about 400 miles away, in western South Dakota’s Black Hills.
South Dakota TIPs arrest numbers highest in program history
PIERRE, S.D. — As summer comes to an end and hunting seasons ramp up, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) is asking citizens to make the call to the Turn In Poachers (TIPs) hotline if they observe illegal hunting, fishing or trapping activity – as they have, and in force, in the last year. This past year 261 citizens…
In South Dakota, Custer State Park eyes CWD testing in deer, too
Proposal is similar to a current requirement for elk killed in the park.
South Dakota game commission sets elk seasons, reduces licenses
RAPID CITY, S.D. — South Dakota’s game commission has rejected giving fewer landowners an advantage for licenses to hunt elk in the Black Hills. The Rapid City Journal reports landowners still need at least 240 acres and 500 elk-use days for a preference license. An elk-use day is any day an elk feeds or waters on private land. One landowner…
Cutback in elk hunting licenses could be coming in South Dakota
Antlerless licenses would drop from 1,150 to 700.
South Dakota’s waters mediator ‘bridging that gap on both sides’ in non-meandering waters issue
For about two decades, South Dakotans battled the public vs. private non-meandered waters issue that led to new legislation and, eventually, the creation of Robling’s main duty.
South Dakota makes switch to catch-and-release only for muskies
PIERRE, S.D. — The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission changed the harvest restrictions for muskellunge and tiger muskies from a statewide 40-inch minimum length limit and a daily limit of one fish to catch-and-release only statewide. Currently, South Dakota has five lakes that are managed for muskellunge: Lynn and Middle Lynn in Day county, West Highway 81 in Kingsbury county,…
South Dakota officials hoping for late-season pheasant hunting surge
License sales down, however, for the state’s highly regarded hunt.
South Dakota rejects expanding use of hounds in public-land mountain lions hunts
It’s not unheard of for a mountain lion to travel such long distances.PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) Commission did not adopt a proposal that would have expanded the use of hounds to hunt mountain lions, the agency said in a news release Tuesday, Nov. 7. The initial request, through the citizen petition process, asked…
South Dakota man turns ranch into wildlife haven
“This is my way of giving back to nature.”
South Dakota bulking up Black Hills walleye offerings, opportunities
PIERRE, S.D. – For the first time, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks recently stocked walleyes in two Black Hills reservoirs. GFP fisheries staff stocked 14,000 fingerlings in Sheridan Reservoir and 9,500 fingerlings in Stockade Reservoir. These young walleyes averaged five inches in length and came from natural rearing ponds in the northeast part of the state. “Adding walleye into…
Poor Dakotas pheasant seasons could impact states’ economies
The worst drought in recent memory this past summer has depleted the population of the popular game bird in the two states, where pheasant hunting is big business.
New species of trout found in South Dakota
The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks officials have found small numbers of Snake River cutthroat trout during sampling. Where they came from a mystery.
In South Dakota, first documented hemorrhagic disease deer deaths in 2017
EHD was recently confirmed by laboratory analysis in a white-tailed deer in eastern Harding County and a white-tailed deer in western Butte County.
In South Dakota, mentored hunting program teaches safety to youngsters
South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks has been providing a way for children ages 10-15 to try the sport before investing in a license and a hunter’s safety course.
In South Dakota, prairie bird numbers decline due to drought
Extreme heat, extreme dryness, grass that’s too short and a lack of bugs all conspire to make being a baby bird of the prairie a losing proposition.
South Dakota to get more private shooting preserves for pheasant hunts
Nearly 20 more preserves this year will cover an additional 18,000 acres of land.
For first time in half-century, breeding peregrine falcons found in South Dakota
Two pairs of peregrines successfully nested in the Black Hills earlier this year, and a third pair was spotted but didn’t appear to have a nest.
South Dakota pheasant picture slowly coming into focus
Hunters should hope for figures better than the 5.91 to 6.17 average brood sizes seen in 2016 and 2015, respectively. Can it happen?
South Dakota: More pronghorns, more hunting licenses
Wildlife agency will issue resident hunters more than 900 more buck-antelope hunting licenses and 1,400 more doe-antelope licenses in 2017 and 2018 than it did last year, when hunter success reached 70 percent.
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