Record birds 2024. I only read half the article
- Thread starter That1uncle1776
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dawgs14
Active member
Sounds about right for the area my crowd hunts. This is another article:
2024 Pheasant Season Harvest Highest in Over a Decade |
| 2024 Pheasant Season Harvest Highest in Over a Decade Pierre, S.D. - The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) today announced the 2024 pheasant season harvest numbers. Over 1.3 million roosters were harvested across the 2024 season, which is the highest harvest in 13 years. An additional 380,000 pheasants were also harvested by hunters within a defined private shooting preserve. "The 2024 South Dakota pheasant season was absolutely spectacular," said Governor Larry Rhoden. "Hunters come from across the world to enjoy South Dakota's pheasant season because they know they are going to find, and harvest birds, which makes South Dakota truly the greatest state to pheasant hunt.” This claim is supported by these harvest numbers, with South Dakota harvesting more roosters in two weeks of October than any other state during their entire season. A deeper dive into the hunter harvest data indicates how strong the pheasant season was, with approximately 9 birds per hunter averaged for the season. “Habitat and access have been a top priority for the department, and that has played a key role in both abundant bird numbers and ample locations for hunters to target them," said Kevin Robling, GFP Secretary. "We are extremely pleased with the success of the 2024 season and plan to build on this success for 2025." This is accomplished by partnering with landowners and ag producers through habitat programs offered by the State of South Dakota, the federal government, and multiple conservation groups working together to put more habitat acres on the landscape. Approximately 80% of South Dakota is privately owned, which means landowners and ag producers are at the front line of habitat management. “Conservation is a team effort, and South Dakota’s conservation delivery team is truly amazing,” elaborated Robling. “Taking care of the land is important to us as South Dakotans, and this land ethic mindset is what results in abundant wildlife populations.” One example of these programs would be the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) on the James River and Big Sioux River valleys, which provides the benefits of CRP with the additional component of access. “These CREP lands are directly in the primary pheasant range and provide high quality grassland habitat and access as well,” added Robling. “This is just one example of the many great habitat programs offered, and ultimately what makes South Dakota such a successful story for conservation as a whole.” The combination of landowners and ag producers who are willing to set a few acres aside for wildlife habitat, a great conservation delivery team, and help from Mother Nature resulted in a fantastic 2024 season, with all signs pointing towards even better results in 2025. “We are seeing great numbers of birds on the landscape currently and are in the heart of nesting season at this moment,” concluded Robling. “As successful as the 2024 season was, the ingredients are there for 2025 to be even greater.” The 2025 South Dakota Traditional Pheasant Season will take place October 18 to January 31, 2026. Individuals can purchase their small game license through Go Outdoors South Dakota and are encouraged to make plans and take part in what should be another fantastic season. |
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Fwiw, I think that's a 2023 number for Iowa. They were anticipating 350k-400k last season based on lower roadside counts in August. I haven't seen a 2024 IA harvest guesstimate yet.
The SD harvest report agrees with what I experienced in the small areas of the state I hunt. I hunted 34 times last year, so feel like I got a pretty good handle on numbers. Very close to the same as 2023, which was a really good year. Unless we have a major catastrophe, I expect this season to be better yet.
The SD harvest report agrees with what I experienced in the small areas of the state I hunt. I hunted 34 times last year, so feel like I got a pretty good handle on numbers. Very close to the same as 2023, which was a really good year. Unless we have a major catastrophe, I expect this season to be better yet.
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dukxdog
Active member
I just returned from fishing on Lake Oahe for a week.
Driving to and from the river I have never seen more pheasants than I did this trip!
They were along the roads and in the fields.
While fishing, we constantly heard roosters crowing on the banks.
We left for home at 4:30am. Several roosters were crowing around town early in the dark.
There have been good rains. With favorable nesting conditions this will be another banner pheasant season!
On a side note:
We boated a monster Burbot while mainly fishing for Walleye.
Driving to and from the river I have never seen more pheasants than I did this trip!
They were along the roads and in the fields.
While fishing, we constantly heard roosters crowing on the banks.
We left for home at 4:30am. Several roosters were crowing around town early in the dark.
There have been good rains. With favorable nesting conditions this will be another banner pheasant season!
On a side note:
We boated a monster Burbot while mainly fishing for Walleye.
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A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Anybody know if they still have ling (burbot) feeds/festivals in North Dakota?
gim
Well-known member
I exclusively hunt there and 2024 was the second best season I've had in 13 years (current dog). I missed my previous best which was in 2018 by 2 roosters.
While I was turkey hunting in April, I saw a lot of pheasants. They would hang out right on the field with the turkeys and deer. I hunt all three in the same geographic area. The wildlife has exploded in general, mostly due to having recent fake winters I assume.
You are right. Don't know why I thought I'd seen a presser from this year. Total this year will depends on how many hunters they lured in.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
That's preposterous. The State (which releases exactly zero pheasants) has always been transparent about what they know, what they don't know, & any estimates. The article that began this thread acknowledges 380k ADDITIONAL pheasants shot on private preserves. 357k of them were pen reared, which comes straight from the SD GF&P. That's a hard number the preserves are required to report, and it's totally separate from the 1.3M harvest estimate, which is based on thousands of hunter surveys.
Weimdogman
Well-known member
The first thought is more birds? But there are probably a number of things. A long season which includes allowing hunters the evening golden hour. Accessible public ground groomed for hunting . And last but not least tourism/non resident hunter. The S.D. Pheasant hunt is on many bucket lists.
A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
SD doesn't just have great habitat here or there, like other states. It's all over the place! Nesting habitat is big, but winter habitat is huge! Big, nasty cattail sloughs & big, old shelterbelts. They're all over in the prime pheasant range. Pheasants have options.
I can't speak for s. davis, but I don't read his comments as an accusation that SDGF is releasing birds. Even if he is making that accusation, I'm not. It's a tired, boring, and false urban legend.
The exact quote from the article is "within a defined private shooting preserve". I've shopped SD for commercial hunting operations before. Every commercial operation I considered, except Uguide and South Dakota Wild, admitted to releasing birds, but were not operating a preserve as defined, licensed, and regulated by the state. Many, perhaps even most, advertised "wild birds." I believe the 1.3m estimate includes a significant number of released birds, many of which were shot by hunters believing they were wild or just not caring either way. With limited exceptions such as Uguide and South Dakota Wild, if you're paying to hunt pheasants, you're hunting released birds.
Nevertheless, SD is and will likely always be, the best pheasant hunting state. That's why I go there every year (DIY).
Wasn't me.
my fault. sorry
Powderhorn Jim
Active member
I live in SD and have hunted here since 1989. The bottom line for me is that 2024 was a very good year for pheasants in SD. We can only hope that 2025 is anywhere nearly as good.