Hunting Guide 2023

2023

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2023 HUNTING GUIDE

2 | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023

38th Anniversary

Pheasant Country PF Chapter

38th Anniversary

BANQUET AND AUCTION Pheasant Country PF Chapter Largest PF Membership Banquet in US and Canada BANQUET AND AUCTION As seen on NBC Sports!

PHEASANT COUNTRY CHAPTER #872 PHEASANT COUNTRY Mitchell, SD

Largest PF Membership Banquet in US and Canada “Mitchell’s Pheasant Kickoff Celebration” As seen onOpener NBC Sports!

“Mitchell’s Pheasant Opener Kickoff Celebration”

At the World’s Only Corn Palace

CHAPTER #872 Mitchell, SD

At the World’s Only Corn Palace

FRIDAY, TH, 202 FRIDAY,OCTOBER OCTOBER TH, 202 Doors at5:00 5:00p.m. p.m.

DoorsOpen Open at

Includes served IncludesHor Hor D’oevres D’oevres served by:by: The Depot • DAR’S Cooking• •County County Fair Cheese withwith a cash The Depot • DAR’S Cooking Fair• •Dimock Dimock Cheese a bar. cash bar.

The Palace Corn Palace will decked be decked outininbeautiful beautiful fall and thethe Starfire Band Band will bewill playing.

The Corn will be out fallcolors colors and Starfire be playing.

OVER 13 GUNS TO BE GIVEN AWAY! OVER 13 GUNS TO BE GIVEN AWAY! Auction Includes:

Sodak-Gun • Round firepit • Hand Made Whiskey Barrel Table • Granite Springs Hunt, Mark Anderson, John Green, and Nicole Heitzman Original Artwork Finished at Banquet • Hand Carved Items by Troy Bollock • Allen’s Kennels Lab Puppy • Wagon Wheel “Welcome Hunters” Sign Bonnie Bullock Quilt • Matt Koop Pheasant mounts • Ruger Gold Plated over/under 12 Gauge Shot Gun • and many more unique items.

Numerous Raffles:

• Lucky 7 Gun Raffle • Wheel of Guns - 6 Guns -60 Chances- $100.00 per chance • Cabela’s Table • Blarney’s Raffle • Coca Cola Raffle • Silent Auction • $1,000 Case of Cash • 100 Gun Raffle Bash • Miller Lite Table • Shot Glass Raffle • Mystery Gun • Fast Draw Raffle and many more raffles!

Veteran’s Raffle, Free to all Veterans.

TICKETS:

Tickets can be purchased at the Corn Palace Box Office from now until the banquet starts, anytime at Sodak or Cabela’s on October 19th & 20th, or from any committee member. Tickets are sold on a first come basis.

We have had a huge response and apologize in advance for anyone who does not receive a ticket. Only 700 tickets sold and $60.00 per ticket includes membership and dinner. Big Gun tickets online also.

Contact:

Dave Allen, President (605)996-8649 or j_allen01@hotmail.com Doug Backlund, Banquet Chair (605) 656-0010 Kevin Bruscher,Treasurer (605) 770-9129 for more information

Order Tickets www.pheasant-country.org

Order Tickets www.pheasant-country.org

Pheasant Country Chapter 872

Pheasant Country Chapter 872

Make plans to attend Make plans

to attend

All are welcome!

All are welcome!

2023 HUNTING GUIDE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023 | 3

What to know about South Dakota hunting license and season information Here’s a list of what hunters need to know ahead of the hunting seasons in the Mitchell area.

Hunting season dates P hea sa nt esident onl ct tatewide ct to an

,

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Places to buy hunting licenses in Mitchell

,

Cost for licenses

mentored hunt.)

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*Habitat Stamps are required for most hunting, fishing and trapping in South Dakota. License holders can purchase one-time, good for the entire license year.

Purchase is not required for one-day licenses, any youth license, private shooting preserve licenses or landowner hunting licenses.

Prime Rib every Friday/ Saturday Great Nightly Specials with hand cut steak options nightly

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4

2023 HUNTING GUIDE

| WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023

Pheasant hunting season boasts big economic impact for Mitchell

By Marcus Traxler M i t c h el l R ep u b l i c MITCHELL — The start of pheasant hunting season in Mitchell brings out more orange around town and means additional green flowing through businesses and vendors.

The traditional pheasant hunting season starts on Oct. 21 for all hunters and runs through Jan. 31, 2024. About $5 million in hunting dollars spent is calculated to take place in Davison County from now until the end of pheasant season, according to South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks data.

Davison County was one of six counties in 2022 to have a rate of 45 birds harvested per square mile or higher, based on hunter surveys, at 51 birds per square

mile. (Nearby Aurora and Brule counties shared the state high at 64 birds harvested per square mile in 2022.)

Mitchell benefitted from the hunting success, as well. In 2022, third-penny sales tax collections in Mitchell which are derived from entertainment sales such as lodging, prepared food, entertainment ticket sales and alcohol sales, totaled more than $367,000 over the final four months of the year. The tax collections in the final four months of the calendar year — which covers most of the annual pheasant hunting window and other hunting seasons that start in the fall — accounted for nearly 40% of the city’s annual entertainment tax collections.

ECONOMIC: P ag

e 7

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2023 HUNTING GUIDE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023 | 5

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Pheasant facts to know W ei gh t : M al e ri n g- n ecke d p h easa n t s w ei gh 2 t o 3 p ou n d s, w h i l e h en s ave rage 2 p ou n d s.

•

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MITCH ELL, SD

ABERDEEN, SD

•

S u rvi va l rat e: mi l d w i n t er, p oor h ab i t at , 8 0 p erce n t .

515 E Spruce Street

850 S Highway 281

S u rvi va l rat e: se ve re w i n t er, p oor h ab i t at , 2 0 p erce n t .

M- F 9am-7pm / Sat. 9am - 6pm / Sun. 12pm - 5pm

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Two wo Locations in Pheasant Country Countr 605.996.0316

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| WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023

2023 HUNTING GUIDE

New Pheasants Forever hunting access program sees early interest

By Landon Dierks M i t ch el l R ep u b l i c SIOUX FALLS — Pheasants Forever’s new Public Access to Habitat program, announced in late August, is already seeing success in the early weeks and months of its existence.

On Aug. 23, Pheasants Forever unveiled its Public Access to Habitat program, or PATH, with the goal of enrolling 10,000 acres per year in South Dakota. Since the program’s official inception on Sept. 1, the organization has already registered nearly 1,000 total acres spread between 13 landowners in the opening five weeks (as of Oct. 6), according to

Matt Gottlob, Pheasants Forever’s South Dakota state coordinator.

“We’ve had a good start to the program,” said Gottlob, who works out of Sturgis. “There has been a lot of good interest. We have more applications coming in on a weekly basis, so we’ve been staying very busy, and I think it’s going to continue to snowball.”

The PATH program aims to “accelerate the statewide enrollment of lands in long-term conservation programs while bolstering participation in South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks’ Walk-In Area program.

In return for 10 years

of undisturbed habitat and access to private lands, PATH provides an additional sign-up incentive of up to $25 per acre on top of what’s offered by the GFP Walk-In Area program.

Per the GFP’s website, the Walk-In Area program currently has over 1.25 million acres and 1,400 landowners enrolled, accumulated over more than 30 years.

The first year of the PATH program is already fully funded at $250,000 through sponsorships from the South Dakota Department of Tourism and onX Hunt, a GPS hunting maps service.

Though the PATH program’s focus is on the “pheasant core” of

P hea sa n ts F orev er photo

A l l l an d s en rol l ed an d i mp act ed b y t h e Ph easa n t s Foreve r Pu b l i c A c ess t o H ab i t at p rogram w i l l b e reco gn i ze d w i t h a PA T H si gn i n ad d i t i on t o t h e S ou t h D ako t a G FP W al k- i n A rea si gn on t h e p rop ert y .

South Dakota, Gottlob stressed that the program was designed to stretch to all corners of the state and include many different types of wildlife and habitats.

“The No. 1 limiting factor to sportsmen and women across the country is access,” Gottlob said. “Pheasants Forever recently added ‘public access’ to our

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PATH: P a g e 7

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023 | 7

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2023 HUNTING GUIDE

IF YOU SEE A VIOLATION, REPORT IT.

PATH From Page 6

According to the August release that announced the program, 1.4 million acres, nearly 30 percent of the state’s huntable grounds, are accessible through agreements such as those to be facilitated by the PATH program. Gottlob said some of the land enrolled in the opening weeks of the program already opened to the public on Oct. 1, with more to become accessible on Nov. 1.

Pheasants Forever and Gottlob

ECONOMIC From Page 4

“Local businesses eagerly await the surge of visitors during this season, offering a warm South Dakota welcome to all hunting enthusiasts,” said Mitchell Convention and Visitors Bureau marketing lead Johanna Allen said.

“Accommodations, restaurants, sporting goods stores, and related businesses prepare to cater to the needs of the influx of hunters, enhancing the overall experience and promoting tourism in the region.”

both described the PATH program as “ambitious” in its goals to enroll 10,000 acres every year. However, Gottlob feels the organization’s aims are ultimately attainable through a strong base of experienced personnel shared between Pheasants Forever and the GFP. “The way we’re going to reach our goals is by tapping into our network of farm-bill biologists and working with Game, Fish and Parks staff,” Gottlob said. “We’re going to be working with everybody out there who has face-to-face interactions with the landowners, farmers and ranchers of the state.”

Mitchell’s hunting season entertainment tax collections were up 1.74% over the four-month period in 2022 compared to the same period in 2021.

For the entire year of 2022, entertainment tax collections were up 4.83% over 2021 in Mitchell.

Across the state in 2022, more than 127,000 people are estimated to have participated in pheasant hunting for at least one day, with more than 1.1 million pheasants taken in by hunters.

Visitors to Mitchell can expect to see businesses decorated

with signage and decorations welcoming hunters to the region starting in October, as the city’s visitors bureau welcomes individuals ready to enjoy the outdoors.

“The pheasant hunting season in Mitchell is a cherished event that not only celebrates the thrill of the hunt but also nurtures the economic prosperity of the local community,” Allen said. “With the upcoming season approaching, both hunters and the community eagerly anticipate a fruitful and rewarding season ahead.”

» Do not confront the violator. » Get a license plate number. » Get a description of the violator. » Get a description of the vehicle. » Get the location of the violation. » Be able to describe the violation.

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8

2023 HUNTING GUIDE

| WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023

Sportsmen Against Hunger fills key role in helping feed SD Donations helped serve more than 70,000 meals in 2022

By Ron Fowler S p ort s men A gai n s t H u n ger Donations of game meat to families in need through Sportsmen Against Hunger (SAH) again included a variety of game this past year.

The largest amount of processed game meat came from donated deer but also donated were antelope, elk, Canada geese, pheasants and walleye. In the past, turkey and bighorn sheep

have also been donated.

In terms of numbers of game donated in 2022, there were 455 deer, 1,499 pheasants, 2,466 Canada geese, two antelope, two elk and 518 walleye. Processing of the deer, antelope and elk by 25 participating game processors around the state resulted in 13,164 pounds of venison burger, and processing of the Canada geese resulted in 3,030 pounds of goose burger. When adding in the 842 pounds of cleaned pheasants, 356 pounds of cleaned walleye and 630 pounds of game meat from a food drive and from processor unclaimed

meat, the grand total was 18,022 pounds of donated game meat. This translates into more than 72,000 meals of meat provided to families in need through food pantries associated with Feeding South Dakota.

Not only have a number of different kinds of game been donated but it has come from a variety of sources. The donated deer came from not only

hunters but also city deer reduction programs in Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Ellsworth Air Force Base. The South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks provided salvageable deer from game violation confiscations and depredation control programs. Donated Canada geese were taken by hunters during the August and September Canada goose seasons while pheasants were donated by private shooting preserve hunters and hunters in the Governor’s Pheasant Hunt. Participants in the Governor’s Cup walleye tournament donated

all of the walleye. Other donated game meat was provided by a game meat food drive in Rapid City and from game processors who provided unclaimed processed meat.

As SAH continues to look for a variety of donated game from a variety of sources, the primary focus of SAH is still to encourage hunters to donate game, especially deer and Canada geese.

In cooperation with GFP, incentive for hunters to donate harvested antlerless deer and Canada geese is provided by having processing certificates

available from SAH game processors for hunters to fill out and give back to the processor to pay for most or all of the processing fee. For any charge above the value of the processing certificate, or for donated bucks and other game, the hunter will need to pay the fee.

With hunting seasons approaching, SAH anticipates another successful year of game donations. The donated game meat is in great demand and much appreciated by food pantries and their clients who depend on the pantries as a source of nutritious game meat.

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2023 HUNTING GUIDE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023 | 9

As you head out hunting, remember that some of us live out here

By Jenny Schlecht A gw eek

A

friend wrote a scathing Facebook post recently about how a duck hunter had fired his gun by her house multiple times. She confronted him about being inconsiderate and about the need to pick up the shells he left laying in the road.

The post led to a long string of other people talking about similar run-ins with hunters.

Some had experienced having hunters shoot toward their homes.

More than one person simply expressed a general dislike for hunting season because of these issues.

So, here’s the deal.

Most of us who live in rural areas have no problems with hunters.

Many are hunters themselves. We allow hunters on our land, and we understand the need for population control in some species, most notably deer.

Last year’s rough winter meant that our farmyard was constantly crawling with deer enjoying the feed supplies set out for our cattle.

Our communities also are happy to host hunters. I live in — so I’ve been told — a prime waterfowl hunting area. Hunters from in and out of state fill our hotels, eat at our restaurants and bars, frequent our stores. That’s fantastic!

It’s a huge piece of the local economy, and we welcome them.

But we also need to remind some that our fields and pastures and

roads are not no-holdsbarred playgrounds for their pleasure.

If you’re planning on hunting this year — especially in a rural area where you don’t live or work — these are some simple rules that will make us appreciate your presence a lot more: 1. Ask permission. I grew up in Montana where signs proclaiming, “Ask and the gates may open,” were everywhere. You don’t go on someone else’s land without permission there, by law and by custom. In North Dakota, state law requires landowners to put up signs or register electronically to say their land isn’t open for trespassing. I am of the camp that very much dislikes that law, but it is the law.

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However, it doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t still — out of basic human dignity — ask for permission to be on someone else’s property. Last year, I sometimes felt like our house was on a parade route given how many people stopped to ask to hunt. And you know what? I don’t think we turned many down, though we did ask a few to wait a day or two until another group was done or to stay out of areas where we have cattle.

2. Be aware of your surroundings. We live here. We raise children here. We work here. We pasture cattle here. We very much do not want stray bullets flying at us, our loved ones or our valuable assets just because you got excited that a duck flew up or

a deer ran by. If you would be bothered by a bullet shot toward your house, make sure you’re not shooting at one of ours.

3. Obey the rules of the road. This should be self-evident. Drive on the right side of the road. Drive at a moderate speed. If you need to pull off the road, pull all the way off the road in a safe spot. This time of year is hunting season, but it’s also harvest season. If your pickup is sitting halfway on the gravel road, there may not be room for a combine or a tractor or other equipment to get by. Plus, it can be hazardous for even those of us just driving by.

4. Be polite. Many of us have had great interactions with

hunters, even to the point of looking forward to them coming back. But every year, we also hear about negative interactions.

The people who get drunk at the local bar and act like fools. The people who leave their hotel rooms a mess.

The people who are rude and inconsiderate to people working in local establishments.

Don’t be those people.

Please enjoy your time in our great outdoors. Be safe. Be considerate. Spend some money in our towns. And make sure that you’re one of the ones we’re happy to see come back next season.

J e n n y S c h l e c h t i s Ag w e e k ’ s e d i t o r .

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2023 HUNTING GUIDE

10 | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023

Gunfire from hunting can hurt hearing forever Hearing protection, suppressors and subsonic shot all can reduce damage caused by blasts

By John Myers Forum News Service HERBSTER, Wis. — The first thing you notice about Mike Amman’s new grouse hunting gun is that it doesn’t look anything like a grouse hunting gun.

Far from a fancy Italian double-barrel with fine wood and an ornately carved receiver (he has something like that), his new pump gun is black and plastic and made in the U.S. And it has this thing on the end of the barrel that looks very strange.

That thing is a suppressor, a device that quiets the blast noise, just part of the concerted effort Amman is making after suffering hearing loss due to shotgun

blasts while hunting.

Amman, 45, of Ashland, Wis., a county forester by trade, has significant hearing loss and profound tinnitus — ringing — in his left ear, a malady often called “shooter’s ear.”

“It’s not so much that I can’t hear the high frequencies anymore that’s so bad — it’s that ringing that drives me crazy,’’ Amman said.

“It’s getting worse every year.”

Since being diagnosed with gunfire-induced hearing problems, Amman has gone to great strides to reduce his exposure to those blasts. He didn’t want to quit hunting, so he ordered custom-made electronic ear buds from ESP America (more than

$1,000) that not only block part of the noise by about 25 decibels out of a 160-decibel blast, but also amplify ambient sounds and allow him to hear people talk.

“They are a hassle sometimes. Sometimes they come loose. When I’m out on the prairie I still use the electronic ear muffs. (Muffs) do a better job of staying in place out in the open, but not so much when you are moving around in the brush here,’’ Amman said.

Amman decided he needed still more protection and so started looking for a suppressor — sometimes called a silencer even though they only suppress part of the noise — that could be used on a

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Mike Amman, of Ashland, Wis., has experienced hearing loss and profound ringing in his left ear after years of hunting with shotguns. He uses an electronic ear bud that cuts off shotgun blasts but allows him to still hear ambient sounds, such as people talking. shotgun, a pretty rare thing. He couldn’t find anything on the market that would work on his double-barrel gun, so he purchased an

inexpensive Winchester 20-gauge pump and custom ordered a suppressor.

At more than $1,000 and a little ungainly at

the end of a grouse gun used in heavy cover — it sticks out about 5 inches past the end of the barrel

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2023 HUNTING GUIDE

HEAR ING From Page 1 0

and adds some weight there, too — the suppressor may be farther than most people are willing to go to protect their hearing. But Amman said anything that will help stop the ringing, or keep it from getting worse, is worth it to him.

He’s only shot it a few times so far but has managed to hit a few birds. It’s not a perfect solution, “but maybe someone will see there’s a need and come up with a better option for shotguns,” he said. “They are pretty common for rifles but not shotguns.”

Amman has even sought out subsonic shotgun shells, nontoxic steel-shot loads that travel at less than 1,200 feet per second and make less noise than faster loads.

“I figure anything I can do to help, I should,’’ Amman said.

“I have friends my age or even older who shoot more than me and haven’t had any major problems yet. But I do, so let’s see what works.”

Amman said he hopes more manufacturers will work to produce more hunting-friendly suppressors that can be used for shotguns in the field as well as more subsonic shotgun loads.

And he’s hoping more people use hearing protection to avoid the problems he’s had.

“If only I had known, and I should have, I would have done something sooner,’’ he noted.

Ev e r y b l a s t c a n d o d a m a g e

A gunshot produces

Tips

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023 | 1 1

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a loud burst of sound, causing a concussive energy that rattles the eardrum, the little bones in the inner ear and the cochlea, a fluid-filled, snailshaped organ with thousands of tiny hairlike structures that convert sounds from the outside world into electrical impulses the brain can understand.

All it takes is a single blast to cause permanent damage, experts say, and years of prolonged, unprotected shooting in the field are almost certain to cause hearing loss.

Even brief exposure to noise greater than 140 decibels can permanently damage hearing, and almost all firearms are louder than that. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders says hearing damage occurs with noises of 85 decibels or louder. Higher-caliber guns produce a louder sound than their smallcaliber cousins, but any shot fired next to an unprotected ear can be damaging.

Even the crack from a small .22-caliber rifle can produce noise around 140 decibels while big-bore rifles and shotguns can produce sounds over 175 decibels. A little

.410 bore shotgun can hit 150 decibels while a 12-gauge can top 156 decibels.

The combination of steps Amman is taking could reduce his exposure from roughly 160 decibels or more down below 100 decibels, a considerable reduction although still far from perfect.

Statistics show that people who use firearms are more likely to develop hearing loss than those who do not.

Firearm users tend to have high-frequency permanent hearing loss, which means that they may have trouble hearing speech sounds like “s,” “th” or “v” and other high-pitched sounds.

Another common malady for shooters is tinnitus, or ringing of the ear, and some shooters get it so bad they have to quit hunting or target shooting.

As in Amman’s case, the left ear (in righthanded shooters) often suffers more damage than the right ear because it is closer to, and more directly in line with, the muzzle of the firearm. The right ear is partially facing away from the shot and protected by the head’s “sound shadow.”

31.17 acres currently zoned as Ag / Residential / Kennel. Located 3.25 miles west of Mitchell, SD on a paved highway.

Presently used for AKC Labrador retriever breeding facility, with brome and alfalfa hay ground.

CONTACT DOUG ALTMAN AT 40468 254TH ST., MITCHELL, SD 57301 PHONE: (605) 999-7149 EMAIL: labguy14@gmail.com WEBSITE: www.southdakotayellowlabs.com

1 2 | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2023

2023 HUNTING GUIDE

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1800 North Main | Mitchell, SD 57301 coborns.com | (605) 996-5593

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