When planning a pheasant hunt in South Dakota, you must first determine if your goal is to hunt on a pheasant farm or if you prefer to hunt wild birds and their native habitat for a more challenging experience. I prefer a wild bird hunt on public or private land. If this is your goal, there is more total acreage and overall better habitat outside the Indian reservations in my opinion. You are generally obligated to purchase a tribal license went hunting on the reservation. A South Dakota State small game license is insufficient.
If you are tech savvy, there is a fantastic iPhone app available for download from the Department of Fish and wildlife. It has a map keyed to your phone GPS . You can easily navigate from one public hunting area to another. Hunt around the Missouri River and you will generally have much better success than the far western area of the state.
