Pheasant Opener

[Rick]

PIERRE, SD – Today hunters across the state enjoyed opening day for the traditional South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Season. For many hunters – resident and non-resident alike – the tradition is a holiday in its own rights.

“Bird numbers are not what they were a few years ago, but our hunters were eagerly waiting for this day,” Tom Kirschenmann, Game, Fish and Parks terrestrial chief, said. “A chance to get out in the field with family and friends, to share stories, and to hunt pheasants is something South Dakota pheasant hunters cherish.”

The drought of 2012 and a wet cold spring combined with a loss of prime pheasant habitat, including Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres, has hampered pheasant reproduction, resulting in lower brood count survey numbers. While survey results are down, it hasn’t dampened the spirits of opening day pheasant hunters.

“For most people, opening day is more of an event, an opportunity to reconnect,” said Nathan Baker, GFP regional game manager for central South Dakota. “Hunters averaged about half to one bird each and found decent bird numbers in localized areas.”

“Groups were working hard in even the best habitat,” said Baker. “A majority of the crops are still in the fields because of the recent rains, but hunters were covering everything available from grass to crops to shelterbelts.”

“The nice weather made it a good day to be out. Most hunters knew that bird numbers were down but remained upbeat,” Baker said.

“Our CREP areas are very popular in the northeastern part of the state,” GFP’s Jacquie Ermer, game manager for that part of the state, said. “The crop harvest is a little further behind in many parts of the region and hunter numbers were down, but spirits were high.”

“Hunters in Mcphereson, Faulk and Spink Counties averaged one to one and a half birds per hunter. In the more northeastern part of the state it was about half a bird per hunter. Many groups we talked to reported seeing younger birds, “Ermer said.

Southeastern South Dakota hunters followed the trend of averaging about half a bird per hunter.

“Seventy percent of our corn is still in,” said Conservation Officer Supervisor Jeremy Roe. “Hunter numbers were down quite a bit but I talked to many resident hunters and landowners who seemed interested in doing what they can to increase habitat and bird numbers”.

Roe reported that Aurora county hunters averaged a bird per group.

“Resident and non-resident hunters are very tuned in to the pre-season pheasant counts and what is happening on the landscape,” said Kirschenmann. “While they are concerned with lower bird numbers, their enthusiasm for hunting pheasants remains high.”

With an elevated concern over the reduced pheasant population and changes to habitat, the Governor will be hosting a Pheasant Habitat Summit on Dec. 6 in Huron. For more information, or to register to attend the summit, go to www.gfp.sd.gov/pheasantsummit.

[lawdog]

The good old days aren't gonna be back for a long time when it comes to pheasant hunting. Not in MN, Not in IA and not in SD either. With farmers making record profits the past few years, its hard to keep ground in CRP. Without habitat, there will be no birds. Keeping adding people to feed and keep burning up the corn for gas and demand will stay way high, prices high, and land too valuable...

[UMC]

You can add ND to the list where the good old days are going away. Corn and soybeans taking over. Have gone to several public hunting areas that were good pheasant spots (quarters of crp or larger) that were plowed up and farmed this year. Noticed quite a few MN and WI hunters driving around this weekend with orange on, I bet a lot of guys will not keep coming back. Talked to one farmer this weekend who confirmed what we already all know - there won't be a bit of crp left in most areas in a couple years. Just "can't even come close" to competing with crop prices in his words.

[brittman]

UMC: I saw the same thing on a WPA or two in ND. Can understand a 20 acre corn crop on a real large WPA as a PF or local gun club sponsored food plot, but I saw huge areas in beans and other areas of grass simply tilled over.

Be nice to understand why - when private CRP acres are also being lost.

Can we assume this is to improve the long term stability of the acres and prairie grass will return next year ?

[UMC]

I haven't seen WPA's getting plowed up, just land that was in the PLOTS program that are privately owned.

[fivebucks]

Blame it on the seed companies. They have genetically modified the corn and beans to where a farmer in NoDak can get a good yield. Talked to a farmer between Bismarck and Minot and he said 15 years ago you would be lucky to get 50-60 bushel corn and now they can get 125 bushel corn. He was saying the corn is there to stay. We saw way fewer roosters than the past few years also but found a couple of honey holes to almost bring back our possession.

[Kyle]

I'm with you guys on all of this. I can't say I have seen any WPA's tilled up, but then again, I haven't seen a whole lot of WPA's with cultivated crops on them either. As an Agronomist I can tell you that if there was a corn plot on a WPA that was sequenced into beans it's probably due to an agronomic reason:

-fighting disease

-pest management(Weeds and insects)

-Nitrogen fixation = better soil condition for following CRP or other possible plots

Hunters need to stick together more than ever with all of the lost CRP and native habitat acres. WE CAN create new incentives and/or programs to bring back the birds we love to hunt and watch, guys. We just need to get the message out there in a LOUD way.

[TylerS]

To be quite honest, I hope you guys all get the chance to come up here and kill as many roosters as you can. Might as well do it now. My bones are aching, which leads me to believe we're going to get a doozy of a winter. Combine that with the saturated soil from a few weeks of rain and disappearing cover, and we're setting up for a complete wipeout. Eat 'em before they die of natural causes!

[Todd Caswell]

will be a great time to become a pheasant farmer, game farms should be busy and the pay per gun lodges are really going to have to seed there land with pen raised birds, not that they don't now..