Any Pheasants?

[lindy rig]

I know the early reports are bad... pheasant populations down 50% in South Dakota. But is it really that bad? Anybody seeing any birds? Any crop or habitat indications?

[rundrave]

its hard to say, I can't say I have heard or seen much to indicate anything positive anywhere in the state.

With that said I have been doing some scouting and been roading my dogs daily. As always with crops still in its hard to judge numbers based off what you can see visually. I have come across a couple broods and they are still really small (late hatch)

I have seen very few combines out, and only a small margin of beans are being harvested. I haven't seen any corn coming out yet. Crops got a late start, and with the drought they are a little behind. It will probably be tough going first couple weeks with crops still in.

The numbers are going to be low because of multiple factors: drought, ice storm this spring, wet spring, and loss of habitat.

[lindy rig]

Thanks Rundrave. I forget... crops came out early last fall didn't they?

[rundrave]

going back through the old threads last year, they were more than 50% done with harvest by this time last year.

[arrow]

I was just in NE SD duck hunting. We scouted a ton for ducks and geese and its really sad for pheasant. I saw zero birds and never even heard a rooster in 4 days. Now granted this has never been the top area of the state or even close for that matter but we always saw and heard pheasants on our prior trips to the area. I also saw first hand how much land is being converted to crops. I think we are entering a new era in SD and for wildlife its not going to be pretty.

[lindy rig]

That's what I thought. I usually hunt end of October in N central part of the state and I think all the crops were out at that time.

Not a good report Arrow.... bummer

[Bureaucrat]

I know this thread went dead about a month ago, but for the sake of breathing some life into this forum:

I drove up and down I-29 this week and didn't see a bird. Not much for crops left standing, but a lot of ground that hasn't been worked yet.

Only pheasants I've seen this fall were on the shoulder of the road on the edge of Bismarck.

[lindy rig]

I posted a report in the other main SD hunting forum. We had some success, but also found it tough going in many places.