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Producing a pheasant population numbering in the double digit millions lays your claim as a world-class pheasant hunting destination. Giving hunters successful options keeps them coming back to South Dakota.

If you have the greenbacks, you can pay to hunt. Hire a guide and bird dog(s). Lease land. Pay private landowners to hunt. Stay in a lodge so luxurious that the absence of a moat is the only thing keeping it from being a castle. It's a special treat that some circle on their calendar and point toward all year.

Some hunters abhor this pay-to-hunt style. Others don't, but simply lack the money. And I know nonresident hunters who have the money, but draw the line at a $110ish license + fuel, food and a small-town hotel last seen in the movie Vacancy.

South Dakota isn't unique in privatization of hunting land, but does stand out in offering a successful counter-option. Its Walk-In Area program – the state leases private land and opens it to public hunting – last year created 1.2 million acres open to access for the general pheasant hunting populous, including yours truly.

A recent study (postal and email surveys to a random sample of hunters) by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department also states the Walk-In Area program helped boost South Dakota's economy by at least $15 million last year. Considering the state spent $2.2 million to lease the 1.2 million acres, and considering the tough economy, that's something to crow about.

South Dakota's Walk-In Areas Program Survey Results

  • The study found about 37 percent of residents and 29 percent of nonresidents surveyed used walk-in areas for part of their hunting last year. Residents spent about 10 percent of their total hunting time in walk-in areas. The Game, Fish and Parks Department estimates there were 69,959 South Dakota hunters and 97,350 from outside the state last year. Do the math, and that's more than 54,000 Walk-In users.
  • Most of the hunters who pursued pheasants and other game on the more than 1.2 million acres of land in the Walk-In Areas Program also said they were satisfied with it – 69 percent of resident hunters and 72 percent of nonresident hunters were satisfied with the program.
  • Most hunters said the program included good wildlife habitat and was important to their overall hunting.
  • Many hunters would like to see a list of what species are available at each specific Walk-In area.

Note

Kansas, Montana, North Dakota and Nebraska also offer some unique public lands access programs for bird hunters. In fact, last week's USDA "Open Fields" announcement also opens up $50 million more in federal money for states to create their own Walk-In program or add to existing lands.