Sleeper Pheasant States
Shhhhhhh. He's asleep....
Brian Lynn at Outdoor Life recently posted an interesting follow-up to Pheasants Forever’s 2010 Pheasant Hunting Forecast, titled Sleeper States: Beyond the Pheasant Forecast. Full post here, some highlights below.
> Spending a road trip dodging more hunters than a rooster on opening morning isn’t going to be much fun. And, to be honest, I don’t like people much, so my question for the folks at Pheasants Forever was: “Where the hell could I go for good hunting without running into everybody and their mother-in-laws?”
> Colorado – It’s a well-kept secret that the state has some good pheasant hunting. Bird numbers are excellent this year, and there are public access opportunities. Hardcore pheasant hunters are familiar with the “Golden Triangle” region of South Dakota (the storied pheasant hunting area from Gregory, Winner and Chamberlain, South Dakota), [and] Colorado has it’s own version of the “Golden Triangle”…the triangular area from Sterling to Holyoke to Burlington.
> Montana – There are birds to be had and there’s access (i.e. Block Management). From the openness of eastern Montana to the Rocky Mountain backdrop as you move westward, the vistas cannot be beat. Throw in Huns and sharpies as bonus birds while chasing ringnecks, and you’ll think you’ve died and gone to heaven.
> Western SD – Okay, so it’s still part of South Dakota, but…the eastern half is where most of the pheasant hunters go…. The statewide average is 6.45 pheasants per mile. The index for the Western Region of South Dakota this year is 4.27 pheasants per mile. It may be below the total South Dakota average, but…slightly below average in South Dakota would still be cosmic anywhere else. The crowds won’t be as bad, there’s still plenty of access and if you luck out, you might even put a sharpie or a Hun into your bag.
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