This year, be where the birds are!!

This autumn hunters in South Dakota will enjoy pheasant numbers that continue to be some of the best in the state’s history. The 2010 brood survey count shows a small increase from the 2009 survey, and those the GFP stated as "the good old days are now", and that the bird numbers are the best overall in 40 years! The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department completed its annual pheasant brood survey in mid-August, and tallied a statewide pheasants-per-mile count that is up about 3 percent from last year.

The  GFP reports that the last few years were the best numbers in 40 years and the outlook for this year is again very good. We knew we were seeing exceptional numbers of birds and South Dakota's GFP's official count verified that the pheasant numbers in our part of the state were be the best in 40 years! The GFP states that 2008 was 64% ahead of the 10 year average.

The GFP stated "On over 100 survey routes, GFP staff counted more than double (120 percent increase) the pheasants in 2003 than in 2002 and the report was that birds were up state-wide with their number counts showing as much as a 243% increase in places, and the numbers remained high, increasing each year.

The pheasant population in 2001 was 6,000,000 statewide, increasing to 8,100,000 in 2003 and up to 11,900,000 in 2007 and was up yet again in 2008 and 2009.

As an example of how South Dakota's hunting compares to other states:
2004 Harvests per state:
1,500,000 South Dakota.
Iowa 750,000
Kansas 685,000
North Dakota 587,000
Nebraska 400,000

More information on the season, visit:

http://gfp.sd.gov/hunting/small-game/pheasants.aspx