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Stay up to date with the latest news, hunting reports, and events from UGUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting.

September 19, 2026

2026 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Season Forecast - Fall Outlook Report

All the fall reports are out. Pheasants Forever has there 2026 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Forecast as does the State of South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks. Both are good and educational and indicate a good season ahead. The savvy hunter will need to dive into local farmer knowledge as well as weather patterns across the year. Most would agree the state all shared a mild winter which is essential to high bird numbers. That needs to be combined with average May and June temperatures with average precipitation which some areas also got. July is the divergence into record heat and more so in the north than in the south. Some areas had over 8 days in July with highs over 100 degrees. That kind of heat decimated hatch numbers in 2021 but is unknown the impact of birds hatched in June. Some feel they can weather that kind of heat when more than 3-4 weeks old. Counter that with reports from my neighbor who raises cattle 2 miles to the south of me, "I've seen more birds than I have in 25 years". I hope he is right. Another factor for hunters is the knowledge of drought status across the state and region. One staggering view is 3% drought in August of 2025 as compared to 90+% drought in August 2026. This will result in Emergency Haying which will open up CRP acres and more to haying up to 50% of the acres. Be aware of that as your favorite spot may not have any bird holding cover. This does bunch birds up in the remaining cover, however. And lastly it is expected that crop harvest will be well ahead of schedule. I saw 3 combines in one field beginning soybean harvest on Sept. 15th. Once beans are done (about 2-3 weeks) they will start on corn (about another 2-3 weeks). Wet weather will slow things down. It looks like the economy is a little soft so we are offering our last 3 open hunts at 40% Off. Week 5 & 6 at Meadow Creek and Week 6 at West River Adventures. These can be hunts of a lifetime. See more details in related 40% Off Pheasant Hunting Sale.

September 14, 2026

2026 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting SALE!

Now Offering! 40% Off. Our Last 3 Hunts of 2026 at drastically reduced minimums. Meadow Creek - 4 hunters for 5-nights lodging and 4-days hunting or 6 hunters for 4-nights lodging and 3-days hunting. 100% to book. Week 5 dates - Nov. 11-14. Week 6 dates - Nov. 18-21. Total Hunt Price = $9,000 (tax is included) West River Adventures - 6 hunters for 4-nights lodging and 3-days hunting. 100% to book. Week 6 dates - Nov. 18-21. Total Hunt Price = $9,000 (tax is included)

July 21, 2026

2026 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Season Forecast

The 2026 South Dakota Pheasant Season should go down as one of the top ranking hunts. If you can stack good post season numbers from the previous year, along with a mild winter and some moisture and warm spring temps you are staged for a good pheasant hatch in South Dakota. Based on all reports from local neighbors and farmer friends, this is what we believe has happened. Once you get to the mid-point of summer the bulk of your hatch will be complete and well on their way to maturity. I encountered good flyer chicks in the first week of June so that means they hatched in mid May. It's not unusual to see newly hatched chicks around May 20th each year. Brood sizes have been reported as large in the 10-12 range at various UGUIDE Pheasant Camps. Early morning drives on dewy mornings and the amount of road kill pheasants also supports strong pheasant numbers abroad. The current heat wave has sent corn skyrocketing to maturity and it would not surprise me to enjoy an early corn harvest. Possibly ahead of beans which usually lends itself to better early season pheasant hunting. We currently have 3 open camps available for booking in 2026. Week 5 & 6 at Meadow Creek and Week 6 at West River Adventures. These can be hunts of a lifetime. We have had hunters at our camps in the same week for up to 20 years and our average repeat customer group is 7.7 years across all UGUIDE Pheasant Camps.

May 23, 2026

2025 Pheasant Season End Conclusions - Final Report

2025 will go down as a great year but off the highs of last year. We saw really cold spring weather in the northern camps that hampered grouse and partridge numbers more so than pheasants but were a great indicator of the hatch overall. Our measure of success, this year, is a 2.0 pheasant per person per day average across the season and all UGUIDE camps. The previous high mark was 2.4 which we hit in 2024. The all-time low was 1.3 in 2017. Some Camps hit new records while other were down a bit. Our Average Harvest Per Group Per Camp Per Week was 67 Roosters per Group per Week average. Our total rooster harvest for the season was 2,285. A lot of memories were made this year and the hero of it all was mother nature because we have learned she is a majority share partner in our endeavor.