Current conditions?

W

Woollybob

Active member
Eagerly awaiting the roadside survey reports. In the meantime, I have been scouring the internet for any indications for what things are going to look like. Not even sure why I do this - I am going out there either way - Just like to look for signs of a turnaround from last year's dismal conditions. I keep finding conflicting accounts of how things are going in SD - One report says lots of moisture, next one says mild drought...
Perhaps conditions are too localized to read into the broad statements that are not qualified with exactly where they are being observed.

Anyone know how things are looking in the Northern part of the pheasant range? Specifically wondering about the area between Aberdeen and Mobridge. I have been reading conflicting reports as to if it has or has not been dry this year and how well it appears to be rebounding in terms of birds and hunt-able public lands.

Any insight from boots on the ground would be appreciated.
 
Woollybob said:
Eagerly awaiting the roadside survey reports. In the meantime, I have been scouring the internet for any indications for what things are going to look like. Not even sure why I do this - I am going out there either way - Just like to look for signs of a turnaround from last year's dismal conditions. I keep finding conflicting accounts of how things are going in SD - One report says lots of moisture, next one says mild drought...
Perhaps conditions are too localized to read into the broad statements that are not qualified with exactly where they are being observed.

Anyone know how things are looking in the Northern part of the pheasant range? Specifically wondering about the area between Aberdeen and Mobridge. I have been reading conflicting reports as to if it has or has not been dry this year and how well it appears to be rebounding in terms of birds and hunt-able public lands.

Any insight from boots on the ground would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

big state, lots of variation between different locales...get to know "current climate summary maps"...play around with that, look at may, look at june, as far as precip goes...average temp...etc...

it is never all good, or all bad, throughout the state, or any state...obviously.
 
Woollybob said:
Eagerly awaiting the roadside survey reports. In the meantime, I have been scouring the internet for any indications for what things are going to look like. Not even sure why I do this - I am going out there either way - Just like to look for signs of a turnaround from last year's dismal conditions. I keep finding conflicting accounts of how things are going in SD - One report says lots of moisture, next one says mild drought...
Perhaps conditions are too localized to read into the broad statements that are not qualified with exactly where they are being observed.

Anyone know how things are looking in the Northern part of the pheasant range? Specifically wondering about the area between Aberdeen and Mobridge. I have been reading conflicting reports as to if it has or has not been dry this year and how well it appears to be rebounding in terms of birds and hunt-able public lands.

Any insight from boots on the ground would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

I live between Ipswich and Roscoe. We are going to be better this year. Not like the old days but up from last year.
 
Here's the page I use:

https://water.weather.gov/precip/

You can zoom in and check out different areas to see what kind of precipitation they've had.
Daily, weekly, past 90 days, 180 days, etc.

You can switch between observed amount, percentage of normal, departure from normal, etc....

I used it last year and found areas that had actually received a decent amount of rain at the right time.
 
roadscholar said:
Here's the page I use:

https://water.weather.gov/precip/

You can zoom in and check out different areas to see what kind of precipitation they've had.
Daily, weekly, past 90 days, 180 days, etc.

You can switch between observed amount, percentage of normal, departure from normal, etc....

I used it last year and found areas that had actually received a decent amount of rain at the right time.
Click to expand...

That is an interesting tool. I use it all winter for finding snow for snowmobiling, but have never used it for looking at rain fall.

Not sure what to make of it, other than to note there is a lot of variation over small distances. In July you can see one part of the county got 1" all month and maybe 20 miles away got 6" of rain. I'm not sure when the 'right' time is to receive rain. Assume you don't want too much in June to flood nests, but you want some early rain to promote plant growth and bugs.
 
benelli-banger said:
big state, lots of variation between different locales...get to know "current climate summary maps"...play around with that, look at may, look at june, as far as precip goes...average temp...etc...

it is never all good, or all bad, throughout the state, or any state...obviously.
Click to expand...

Agree w/ b-b.

I, for one, am NOT eagerly awaiting the brood count survey report, since it is NOT a good predictor of what the season will be like. At best, pheasant harvest only vaguely follows trends seen in the brood count report, and is usually way different. The adjusted preseason pheasant population (issued later, based on hunter surveys, season length, # of hunters, weather, crop harvest, etc.) follows the harvest estimate fairly closely & it usually agrees pretty closely with what I’ve seen throughout the season.

That said, the 2017 brood count #’s followed the harvest estimate & adjusted preseason population estimate the closest it has in many, many years.

So far, based on reports I’ve heard from land owners & the weather we’ve had, which obviously impacts winter carryover, nesting, planting, harvest, & 1,000 other factors, I think we’re in for a significantly better year than last. But as has been pointed out many times, after just 1 bad year, it can take several good years to bounce back.

I just talked today to a land owner in the Platte area. He was down there “farming” (for pheasants) yesterday, & he said in the many years he’s been there, he’d never seen as many birds as he did yesterday.
 
The Aberdeen area has been very dry all year, the moisture gets better that farther west you go and the Mobridge area has had good moisture. The pheasant numbers this year will definitely depend on the moisture range. We have seen our numbers go up this year for sure but know some areas that wont have the numbers without moisture.
 
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