UPH Interviews UGUIDE on the 2014 Pheasant Season Outlook
August 03, 2014 by Ryan Trask - 3plains
Ultimate Pheasant Hunting talks with UGUIDE on 2014 South Dakota pheasant season outlook
By Ryan Trask
Ultimate Pheasant Hunting talks with Chris Hitzeman, Owner/Founder of UGUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting on the upcoming pheasant season, bird numbers, habitat, farming, spring hatch, self guided hunting and the future of pheasant hunting. UGUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting offers 40,000+ acres, across 11 separate unique private-exclusive South Dakota pheasant hunting properties, offering 3-day hunt/4-night stay or 4-day hunt/5-night stay, self-guided pheasant hunts for groups of 4-17 hunters.
Q: Chris, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. Let’s get right to it. Last year, the South Dakota Game Fish & Parks 2013 report indicated an index of 1.52 pheasants per mile, down from 4.19 pheasants per mile over the previous year. Did you find that spooked people and scared them to come to South Dakota to pheasant hunt?
A: Yes, these Game and Fish counts hit the media fast, good or bad, and for many hunters this is their only source of info relating to what they might find in the field this fall in South Dakota. We do know license sales were down dramatically in 2013.
Q: I think a lot of people see the South Dakota Pheasant Brood Survey negative percentages and get scared off when in reality, it’s incremental and localized - http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasant-outlook.aspx Can you talk about this survey and what it means?
A: The survey is the best historical, biological and systematic approach to measuring bird numbers, statewide, that we have available to us currently. Game and Fish drives the same routes under the same conditions each year and tries to keep the measures as close to the same each year as possible. The issue is that the habitat along these routes can change and the routes do not account for this change. We find that those that have habitat have birds and the survey does not accurately report numbers based on localized habitat.
Q: Typically I hunt 4 to 5 times a year in South Dakota, but I only found myself out 1 time in late December 2013 in Gregory County South Dakota. I had heard the pheasants were down by the owners of the property I was hunting but as I hunted I was surprised by the amount of birds. The thing is, they farm for the birds so with their farming practices, I think the reports that South Dakota puts out are skewed and does not take into account private land owners that take care of their land like this. I’ve been hunting that same property for the last 8 years and I didn’t notice much of a change - I saw big flushes of 200 birds and even a day where we saw 3000+ pheasants. Personally for me, it’s my opinion that these South Dakota brood reports are telling me farmers that were taking CRP payments are now finding more money in the farming so they are tilling up their CRP and planting crops because cash rent prices are higher. What is your opinion?
A: Certainly the conversion of non-crop land back to cropland has been big news. That was driven by $7 corn. Today corn is $2.73/bushel. To your point though some of the best hunting came at the end of the season last year due to the late crop harvest. Our tier 1 pheasants camps posted an average harvest per person per day of over 2+ pheasants a day. Across all our camps were at between 1.5 and 2.0 pheasants per person per day. On top of that our customer repeat rate went from 42% in 2012 up to 50% in 2013 and that is our best single measure over hunter satisfaction.
Q: Your unique self-guided hunting model offers 11 different hunting properties in several areas of South Dakota. Have you found that the bird numbers are consistent in each of your properties?
A: Things like weather can vary widely between properties and so do bird numbers. That will always be the case with Fair Chase Pheasants. The better pheasant managers usually produce the most birds
Q: Is South Dakota truly the state to pheasant hunt in or is it just well marketed by the State of South Dakota?
A: South Dakota’s season end harvest numbers of ring-necked pheasants certainly support the claims. Year after year.
Q: There are several pheasant hunting operations in South Dakota that are preserve status. A lot of out of state hunters equate South Dakota preserve status like their local state preserve. In reality they are completely different. Can you touch briefly on South Dakota preserves and what it is?
A: The main difference is that licensed preserves in South Dakota are much, much larger than the average hunter's hunt club in their home state. To that end, the preserve experience in South Dakota can produce significant numbers of wild birds as well as released birds.
Q: Let’s talk about private land vs. public land. When I first started pheasant hunting, my friends hunted only public land so I didn’t have the opportunity to hunt on private land or even to know what it was like or what to expect. Personally, I was not real crazy on hunting day after day and only to kick up 1 hen and walking for several hours at a time. If this type of individual called you, what would you tell them about private hunting vs. public hunting?
A: Good hunting can be had on public ground in the state. The issue is that it requires a significant amount of homework and perseverance to be successful. Many hunters do not have the time or interest in “hunting for hunting land” so they contact an outfitter. The one drawback about hunting public is the hunting pressure is not managed so you have no control over who has been hunting that ground before your arrival.
Q: What do you see being the biggest threat to pheasants and pheasant hunting? Declining income, inflation, farm bills, government policy, farming practices, weather, etc?
A: Looking back on states that used to have pheasants in the Midwest, I would have to say that the top factors are: Conversion of non-crop land to crop land due to higher grain prices. Additionally, intensive agricultural practices have had a major impact along with GMO crops technology and higher land prices.
Q: Let’s talk about your business now. There are 1000’s of options and places to go pheasant hunting, what makes UGUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting unique?
A: There are 3 key elements that separate UGUIDE from the pack. The first is Fair Chase. We define Fair Chase as the lawful ethical pursuit of pheasants raised naturally in nature. There are many outfitters in the state that release pheasants and tell their hunters they are “wild” because they are “now in the wild”. This simply is not what our hunters are looking for and it is not fair chase. The other key features that have existed since day one at UGUIDE are the aspects of “private-exclusive” and “self-guided”. The first means we will never combine your group with another nor allow anyone else on your property for the time you have it reserved. Self-Guided simply means that the hunters simply request to have the landowner help them get familiar with the property they are hunting and then leave them to hunt the way that they want to hunt.
Q: (from previous question if you mention it) So you are saying if I’m a Do It Yourself style of hunter, that this is more of a hunt for me?
A: That’s correct.
Q: When did you decide to start UGUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting and why? Do you enjoy your business and how long do you see yourself doing this?
A: I never dreamed this one up. In 2001, after hunting pheasants on public ground for 20 years and staying in motels on those hunts, that it was time for a different experience. I knew you had to have control over those acres in order to augment the landscape to give you that kind of experience. The land hunt started in Iowa but I quickly learned that prices were too high and the realtor I contacted in Iowa just happened to have a parcel of land for sale in South Dakota that suited my requirements very well. Slowly I started managing for pheasants by improving habitat and since I was still employed in the Information Systems field, I could only enjoy the property for 2 weeks a year due to vacation limitations. With all the pheasants around, I thought it was a great resource going to waste so I decided to share it with the public and have them help invest in the improvement of habitat. I built my own marginal little website and started marketing the property and UGUIDE was born. It has truly become apparent that habitat has become my passion. We have been at this 10 years now and I would enjoy doing this for as long as possible.
Q: If I want to research about potentially booking a hunt with UGUIDE, where can I go? Walk me and our users through the process.
A: There is a little learning curve with the UGUIDE process but the best way to get information on the options is to spend some time on the UGUIDE website which can be found by Googling “UGUIDE”. Once there, you can: Check availability, rates, and run your own quotes. If an interested party does their diligence on the site and still has more questions they can get in contact with me by completing the Information Request Form found on the site.
Thank you for taking the time to talk with Ultimate Pheasant Hunting Chris. We look forward to your updates as the 2014 season progresses.
Ryan Trask
Ultimate Pheasant Hunting
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