Pheasant count doesn’t look promising

B

benelli-banger

Well-known member
That’s the title of a letter to the editor of the Mitchell newspaper, written by a guy from Chamberlain who drive over 600 miles one day last week, leaving at 6am...he saw two, I believe...it just showed up today. Interesting.
 
There are birds...they’re in the corn more than likely most of the day. There was good carryover...tough summer for chicks, but there’s birds. He’s responding to the brood count survey being canceled. Found it interesting.
 
Just got back into the house after driving since daylight. Covered some very good ground. 7 broods seen and none of them very large. One had six chicks and the others all smaller. Should have been a perfect morning to see pheasants out drying off. Not expecting a season anything like last year that's for sure.
 
.... trying to understand the "need" to forcast that which is an inexact science... some may try to dissuade, some may try to be omnipotent, some may be bored, and some might be aged veterans of the corn... what in life comes with a guarantee?.... my new tires and then I get a flat...
See you soon enough...
 
I enjoy driving around looking for pheasants when I’m out there in the spring and summer...I’ve been under their spell since I was a young kid, and I’d see them in the backyard in the winter...grand birds! 50 years later, I still go ga-ga when I see a pheasant!!! Doesn’t matter when. I was out in May, early July, and will be again in 10 days...always fun being in pheasant country! Darned right, some morning/evening drives are a must! Less visible now vs April/May...I saw 100-140 or so in a 30 minute, 12 mile gravel drive one morning in May...so fun!!!! July, not so much...corn standing, more vegetation to hide in. But if we get a wet, Dewey morning this time of year, they’re out drying off in the am...oh, yeah, that’s what GFP had been doing for the past 50+ years!☹️☹️☹️☹️
 
... came across this...all one needs, right?
 

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Here's a report from NW Iowa that I think is at least somewhat relevant. They've had even worse drought (in this particular area near Spirit Lake) than we've had in SE South Dakota. There's a 3-mile stretch that's by far the most pheasanty area of my drive from Sioux Falls to Okoboji. At 7:00 pm Friday in that stretch, I saw 4 broods, each with about 6-8 chicks about 2/3 grown. And these were just the ones that happened to be on the road in that 3-minute time period. I think that bodes well for that area & similar ones in SD, of which there are many. Ace got pretty excited, seeing them run & fly across the road.
 
Don't know if this is relevant or not but ND duck brood count is down something like 36% from last year. I suspect drought affects ducks even more than upland but that is just a guess.
 
It's relevant to the guys that duck hunt. I'm surprised it's only down 36%, figured it would be more than that.
 
hunter94 said:
i am sure chicks had a tough time finding insects, too dry.
Click to expand...
The area we were just at in northern SD had an abundance of insects. I had to stop and clean the windshield of the trunk because I could no longer drive from the bugs splatted. Every time I stopped at a field with the windows down I had grasshoppers jumping in the cab. Some areas got some early rain did get the insect population started.
 
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