Home Forums Birds & Dogs Upland Game pheasant crop

while out and about over the last month or so, i have noticed a huge increase in the number of pheasants that i usually see. am i getting better at spotting them, or is their population on the rise? we had a pretty rough winter, so i am pleasantly surprised by this.<P>is anybody else noticing more pheasants in their area?

Ooh big time! Wish I were you. Just got back from my cabin in central Mn. and it doesn't look good. This is three weekends in a row that I've had to pull my docks and lifts (two of each, a man CAN have to many toys) closer to shore. My wife is getting quite good at pressing the entire dock while I dive below and block up the wheels. Wish I could keep the goofy mutts from standing at the end of the dock, tails wagging , licking your puss while trying to lift a dock in cold water. Point is, I've never seen water like this before, and you know what that means. I've got buddies who farm west of the cities, and their informal "roadside counts" are way down. These guys are like magic, typically being very close to seasonal reports. The state lands that I usually hunt are not quite as wet, but pretty close. The thing that has me nervous is that our water has never let up, so you can pretty much scratch both clutches of eggs. Dang, I hope I'm wrong. <BR>I don't know much about SD. hunting. Are there chances for good access to good land for folks who's wifes won't let them pay leased land prices? The out of state liscense fee is steep enough, if you know what I mean.<BR>Have you fished Oahe lately? Reports?

well, we had a lot of snow this winter, but a fairly dry spring as far as rainfall goes. there is plenty of water (so ducks will be great), but it's not as bad as it was first thought to be.<P>as far as access goes...i refuse to pay to hunt. my uncle owns a farm near me, but it doesn't take long to shoot that up, so it's off to public land. brule co. has some pretty large tracts of public land, where the bonus is that there is a healthy grouse population, too. lyman county is the same as brule. both are easy to get to (i-90), but the hunting is tough as it is river-bluffs. just about all public land east of brule county is very small, and overrun opening weekend. to the north, which had a pheasant population explosion last year, is very wet this year, and the hunting will probably be pretty cool this year. anything further west than lyman county (mo. river) are likely to be difficult to find pheasants, but grouse should be easy.<P>as far as trespass fees go...i'm not positive, but i believe some farmers are getting $100/gun/day. if you wait until later in the season when the initial craze goes away, access is usually easy. just knock and ask, and drop a bird off on your way out. a hint: get ahold of a car w/ sd plates...there are a ton of slob hunters, and most of them drive vehicles w/ out-of-state plates, or sioux falls plates.<P>i rarely fish, and if i do it is for catfish, so i don't have any firsthand reports of oahe. guys at work spend all weekend there, and they claim fishing is pretty good, w/ most of the walleyes being caught in deep water!

Howdy from Calgary! I've been involved with our local Fish and Game Club in planting raised pheasants into the wild. Our populations are not very high so we're trying to help out. Unfortunately the survival rates of the released birds are not good; about 20%. Too darn many coyotes and foxes. I'm working on that problem too as you can tell from my user name. Later.

hello, genek! don't forget the skunks and coons! they're hard on pheasant eggs!

Genek, Do you have a Pheasants forever chapter up your way? Pen raised birds almost never do very well upon release, and I think its darn near a miracle that they took hold when they did. The folks out in Oregon must have released tons! Obviously predation is a huge percentage of the failure of released birds (we in Mn. traded wild turkeys for wild pheasants with Sd.) but,as you probably know, there is no substitute for habitat. I think that is one of the greatest things P.F. does.