SD Pheasant Count Way Down But…
…Hunting Will Still Be Good?
The official South Dakota pheasant count is in, and it ain’t prettty: a 46% decline in brood numbers from last year. Before going any further, here’s our standard disclaimer about counts and forecasts:
> Use them more of an indicator than as the final word.
> Because you’re Serious, you’re going hunting anyway and aren’t gonna let some numbers stop you.
Moving on, here’s the headline from the SD DNR website: “Pheasant Counts Decline From Historic Highs, But Still Good.” So there’s the official spin, bearing in mind that it’s probably literally impossible for pheasant hunting to be bad in SD. Highlights from the state info:
> From 2003 through 2010, the statewide pheasant-per-mile index was at levels not seen in the previous 40 years. The index this year is 46% lower than the 2010 index and 41 percent lower than the average of the past 10 years.
> “We observed abnormally high mortality of hen pheasants during the brutal winter of 2010-11,” explained Jeff Vonk, secretary of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department. “The loss of that reproductive potential inhibited the ability of our pheasant population to rebound to the record levels that we have enjoyed in recent years.”
[How ’bout that? In every other state the gamebird biologist is the one quoted. For SD it’s the head man!]
(Source: SD GFP)
> Declines in the counts were consistent across the state and most pronounced in eastern South Dakota, where winter’s grip was tightest and grassland nesting habitat is diminished. “We knew this day was coming when important pheasant habitats provided by the cover in Conservation Reserve Program fields were lost,” Vonk said. CRP enrollments in the state are currently at 1.17 million acres, down from 1.56 million acres in 2007. The reduction equates to over 600 square miles of grassland habitat.
> “On the other hand, we were pleasantly surprised how well pheasants responded in central South Dakota, where abundant moisture from winter snow and spring rain allowed grasslands to flourish and provide the essential habitat for excellent pheasant production,” Vonk said.
> The counts in the main pheasant range are similar to or higher than the counts in 2002 when hunters bagged 1.2 million pheasants. Pheasant hunters harvested 1.8 million pheasants in 2010.
Click to see bigger. (Source: SD GFP)
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More details tomorrow. If you want to see the whole 2011 Pheasant Brood Survey Report, including local survey results for different areas of the state, click here.
Category: 2011, Forecasts/counts, Pheasants, SD
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