The good news: pheasant numbers are approaching historic highs this year. The bad news: the Conservation Reserve Program is on shaky legs in the current farm bill being debated in Washington. Read all about it here.
On the good side, last year's drought coupled with excessive heat killed off many of the chicks. But we have seen relatively pheasant friendly weather this year:
The survey indicates South Dakota will have a terrific pheasant season, Hansen said.
“It looks like it could be a really good year for pheasants,” Hansen said. “When we last saw numbers like this, it was in the early 60s.”
The annual survey is done by driving 110 routes of 30 miles each in parts of the state where pheasants are found in sufficient numbers to count. The number of broods that were seen increased 15 percent from last year, and the average number of chicks per brood increased 11 percent.
South Dakota's estimated pheasant population was 8.4 million last year and 9.5 million in 2005, which marked the highest population since the 1960s. In 1961, the state had an estimated 11 million pheasants, according to Game, Fish and Parks records.
But the push to put more land into production, especially corn production, is working against conservation programs:
The increase is due to good weather and habitat, and the habitat is provided by the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which idles about 1.4 million acres of South Dakota farm land, Hansen said. The state is due to lose about 296,000 acres of CRP in the next year in the current program, he said.
“That doesn't bode well for pheasants,” Hansen said.
Congress is working on a new Farm Bill, and hunters should encourage inclusion of strong conservation provisions that keep CRP acres at the level needed to support pheasants, Hansen said.
“When you've got a large number of acres left undisturbed in permanent cover, you've got (a lot) of pheasants,” he said.
The wildlife director encourages hunters to take advantage of this fall's expected good season. “We may not see anything like this again in the future, depending on how the farm program goes.”
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