A Welcome Respite for the Pheasants

[Golden Hour]

Thanks for your update. I can assure everyone that the birds are doing quiet well in north central ND. We have not had the amount of snow that everyone else has gotten. The snow shrunk considerable exposing fields for "easy feeding". This latest storm only brought 3-5" of snow. A walk at our cabin had my two dogs bumping up bird after bird. I rooster percentage is definitely high. I saw a ton more birds on the drive home yesterday.

The partridge are plentiful and definitely starting to pair up, the local geese are pairing up and I have seen more grouse than usual. I have yet to see any "dead birds" in the field on our 5-6 mile hikes we take but do see road kill birds.

Likewise, I appreciate your update. As I acknowledged, storms kill some pheasants. I get that. But I have spent a lifetime in pheasant country and never seen large numbers of pheasants that succumbed to the elements. I wonder if they aren't roadkill that fly out into the field and since they aren't right on the shoulder, people assume they died from the snow/cold/wind. It seems most birds that die in storms would be buried and suffocate. I don't see the claim so much on this forum, but Facebook is rife with the "dozens of dead pheasants" comments.