pheasants: high hen count but fewer chicks per brood

From the Duluth News Tribune
published Sept. 14, 2008

Minnesota pheasant hunters will have fewer roosters to chase this fall than last year, but the state’s estimated number of pheasants remains the same as the 10-year average, according to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources news release.

August roadside counts, released Tuesday by the DNR, showed a 24 percent drop in the pheasant index. Biologists blamed the decline on a cool, wet spring, according to the news release.

The southwestern part of the state remains the best place to find birds, with many counties estimated to have more than 49 birds per square mile.

The annual August roadside count of wildlife showed a pheasant index of 81 birds per 100 miles driven. The index exceeded 100 birds in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The 2007 index of 106 birds resulted in a harvest of 655,000 roosters, the highest Minnesota pheasant harvest since 1964.

“Moderate winter weather throughout much of Minnesota’s pheasant range increased hen counts above the 10-year average,” Kurt Haroldson, DNR wildlife research biologist, said in a prepared statement. “But cool, wet weather from April to June resulted in only an average number of broods and fewer chicks per brood.”

This fall’s pheasant population could be higher than the 10-year average if nesting efforts were delayed and hens remained on nests — or were caring for young broods — during the first two weeks of August. That’s when DNR made its counts. Those nesting birds wouldn’t have shown up in the counts.

Minnesota’s pheasant season begins Oct. 11 and runs through Jan. 4, 2009. With the Minnesota corn and soybean crops behind schedule this year, a lot of corn is likely to be standing when the season opens. That means roosters will be harder to find in the early season. Once the corn is harvested, those birds will be more available to mid- and late-season hunters.

The pheasant bag limit was changed in the Legislature this past spring. The daily bag limit is two roosters, with three roosters allowed from Dec. 1 to Jan. 4. The possession limit is six through Nov. 30, with nine allowed from Dec. 1 to Jan. 4. Shooting hours are 9 a.m. to sunset.

SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota’s pheasant population is again at a record level, according to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department. Surveys that measure pheasants per mile from brood routes put the 2008 index at 8.56 pheasants per mile, a figure that’s 64 percent ahead of the 10-year average and the highest recorded since 1963.

The Chamberlain area had the state’s highest counts, at 22 birds per mile. Winner had 10 birds per mile, Aberdeen just under nine, Mobridge 12 and Mitchell about seven.

The South Dakota statewide pheasant season opens Oct. 18 and continues through Jan. 4. Daily limit is three roosters, and possession limit is 15 according to the daily limit (15 after five days). Shooting hours are noon to sunset from Oct. 18-24 and 10 a.m. to sunset thereafter.