One stat that would be interesting to see

[Bob Peters]

The total estimated bird harvest by state and year. I did some casual poking around and found SD, ND, and IA for 2019 but not many other states did I find a hard number.

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

You wanting estimated harvest of actual genetically WILD pheasants?? I can only think of a handful of other states where that number would be large enough to be considered significant (to me anyway).

 

[BrownDogsCan2]

I think Kansas has had a low of about 280 and highs of about a million over the last 20 year. All wild

 

[BRITTMAN]

All based on surverys. Surveys have science to back them up ... but then again so do polls.

 

[Miforester]

Michigan averages about 22,000 a year.

 

[Bob Peters]

North Dakota in 2019 was 256,800 and the worst harvest in a century.

2019 pheasant season in North Dakota was the worst this century

Last year's pheasant hunting season in North Dakota was historically bad, with the harvest being the worst this century.

bismarcktribune.com

 

[Golden Hour]

Here is some info you might find interesting. https://gfp.sd.gov/userdocs/docs/Pheasant_Harvest_Summary.pdf

 

[Bob Peters]

Thanks! I had no idea Kansas kicked out so many birds. There's been so much bitching on the Kansas page I thought they didn't have any birds left.

 

[BrownDogsCan2]

Thanks! I had no idea Kansas kicked out so many birds. There's been so much bitching on the Kansas page I thought they didn't have any birds left.

We are back down at the low end now and probably stay there. Back in the day Iowa and Kansas would go back in forth between number one and number two. South Dakota didn’t come into the picture until later

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

We are back down at the low end now and probably stay there. Back in the day Iowa and Kansas would go back in forth between number one and number two. South Dakota didn’t come into the picture until later

Just curious....back in WHAT day??
Over the last 73 years, SD has averaged 1,314,000/yr.
1,454,000/yr over the last 20 years.
These numbers do NOT include birds released/shot on preserves.

 

[BrownDogsCan2]

Just curious....back in WHAT day??

Over the last 73 years, SD has averaged 1,314,000/yr.
1,454,000/yr over the last 20 years.
These numbers do NOT include birds released/shot on preserves.

I think late 70’s early 80s the time a guy my age would get interested in hunting. I don’t remember what was going on before or after
maybe I shouldn’t have in the picture Im sure SD was up there.

 

[BrownDogsCan2]

Here’s a snap shot of Iowa

 

[KsHusker]

Thanks! I had no idea Kansas kicked out so many birds. There's been so much bitching on the Kansas page I thought they didn't have any birds left.

I dont think I'm terribly old at now 41 - and started hunting as a kid -- I caught the tail end of the "good years" -- If you didnt experience what the good years were like first hand then to say it's good now you have no idea how far it's degraded. So I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Guys that come from states that screwed up their habitat before they were ever born do not have the same perspective of guys that experienced good habitat and have watched it go down the crapper. I care about where I live and do not care about states that have already ruined what they have. It's too late for them. I choose to live here and have a vested interest in making sure it doesnt degrade anymore- so I guess if you call that bitching that's your take. It's not too late for KS yet - but it's getting close to mission critical and the point of no return. If anyone that visited KS cared about making sure the habitat sticks around they better give a darn too.

 

[Chessie 67]

Just curious....back in WHAT day??
Over the last 73 years, SD has averaged 1,314,000/yr.
1,454,000/yr over the last 20 years.
These numbers do NOT include birds released/shot on preserves.

It’s hard to say whether those numbers include pen raised birds or not. In my more ignorant years, we were hunting a place that said we were hunting wild birds. Shot limits every day. Got the questionnaire from South Dakota about our hunting experience and responded that we shot limits 5 days straight. Who knows how many places lie To unsuspecting, trusting people ?

 

[Bob Peters]

I choose to live here and have a vested interest in making sure it doesnt degrade anymore- so I guess if you call that bitching that's your take. It's not too late for KS yet - but it's getting close to mission critical and the point of no return.

I didn't mean this to apply to constructive and thought out posts. But you've got to admit that when a post goes 24 pages long with close to 500 replies, there's definitely some bitching going on.

It’s hard to say whether those numbers include pen raised birds or not. In my more ignorant years, we were hunting a place that said we were hunting wild birds. Shot limits every day. Got the questionnaire from South Dakota about our hunting experience and responded that we shot limits 5 days straight. Who knows how many places lie To unsuspecting, trusting people ?

I wonder this too. When I first got into pheasant hunting not that many years ago, I heard stories from a few different people about "limiting" every day. I later found out they were all hunting on glorified game farms. My rich neighbor went on a few pheasant trips last season. He told me, "the birds are a lot wilder in North Dakota, and they fly a lot faster!" He was hunting a "lodge" in South Dakota and believed they were pen raised birds.