Good link, Tom7227. One word of caution...that is last year's atlas. The new one won't be out until mid-September, and some of the public areas change from year to year.

But that does give you a good start to see where there are significant amounts of public land, and where there are not.

I have been hunting North of Aberdeen for the last 3 years and the bird numbers are great IMO better later in the year too. I have not experience the real deal in the prime areas of South Dakota so I don't know much but you should find birds N, W, E, S of Aberdeen. Good Luck!

I would head out there around maybe the 3rd week in November. It should be warm enough yet for your dog to stay in the truck in a kennel if you cannot find a hotel. Otherwise, Ask for a end room on the lower lever where the office can't see you. That's usually what I do. Can sneak the dog in and out no problem.

Public land in Aberdeen is ok. I guess it will all depend how many birds survived winter and how the spring hatch went. My father travels a lot and he was recently up there. Said there were birds running around everywhere.

You should do fine hunting public land. Not only that you can road hunt in South Dakota as well. I would rather work hard at it all day and not get my limit than, pay someone to hunt and get my limit.

One tip I suggest to you is keep your eyes open for really small areas. Most people will look at an area that is small and think ah! there are no birds there. its to small we need something bigger. I have had more luck finding small spots. I recall a slough that was 30-40 yards in diameter. I sent the dog in and was blown away by how many pheasants were coming out of the slough! I actually sat down and watched the dog chase all the birds out for 10 minutes and didn't even fire a shot! There had to be literally 200 pheasants in this tiny slough.

Good luck! if you have any other questions let me know
Nick