Pheasant Killer storm coming

landman

landman

New member
Pheasants will need shelter this week or they will perish. Forecast is for the "biggest storm in years" Wednesday thru Friday. Expected snow is around a foot to two feet and then strong winds creating blizzard conditions. Pheasants will die in this storm if they don't have somewhere to get out of the elements.

For all of us who have worked hard or donated money to develop winter cover this is the time.

LM
 
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They will be fine. We had those conditions 2 weeks ago and while it definitely killed some birds, it didnt hurt as bad as you would think. They are resourceful little creatures...good intelligence when it comes to that kind of thing.
 
Storms are a time for me to critique my habitat. It certainly shows my weaknesses. My primary habitat focus is on northern bobwhite quail. Their requirements are slightly different than the pheasant, i.e. good pheasant habitat is not necessarily good quail habitat, but good quail habitat doubles as good pheasant habitat, so I manage for quail.
 
We are headed to NE SD next friday (the 1st)....we were hoping to avoid last years hunt in drifts and deep snow...sounds like we will be doing it again. :D
 
Re the storm, southeast SD will take it the wost if it turns out as predicted. Once you get 50 mi or less nothrhwest of Sioux Falls things should be tolerable.
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KINGSWOOD
 
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I was just out in the Arlington area a couple weeks ago-would like to be there again but not with that much snow to plow through-good luck with your hunt.
 
Yes, the weather forecasters are calling this the biggest winter storm since 1968. This one will be bad because of the amount of snow, length of the storm and very windy conditions from today until Saturday. This storm will probably kill a lot of pheasants, especially in areas where pheasants do not have adequate cover for this type of storm. This will be the time that wildlife shelterbelts and warm season grasses will pay off. Furtunately for the pheasants, although bad for farmers, about 10 percent of the corn is unharvested, which will help save birds in local areas.
 
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Wouldn't that CRP lands be nice to have back now that were lost?

This storm will be a killer no doubt about it. I can think of a 30 acre cattail slew that I was cussing the first week of December that I'm now praising it's existence. I hope the birds can hide from this storm as well as they hid from us and the dogs.
 
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I think we will get the edge of it here. Hope not too bad. One in the 90's produced 28" overnight with 50-60 mile an hr winds, not sure what year that was, We got well over a hundred ", it completely covered the cattails to the brown fuzzy tops rock hard over night, and burried them alive, to hard to scratch out. You could litterly walk on top of them, I drove a groomer for the snomobile trails and we could not even go with them. it was the end of pheasants here for quite a few years, sportsmens clubs and other individuals raised them and released them for a number of years and they now have the best ever. But the birds now that have became a nice wild bunch are doing the same thing, roosting in the cattails. So if that happens again around here, It will most likely have the same effect. I hope not, it has been fun for a # of years now. But sooner or later we will get it again. Just have to help them out again I guess.
 
Grasslands are little value to pheasants with this heavy a snowfall. Heavy snows will lay the grass flat.
Standing corn is great.
Cattle feed yards will save a lot of birds.
Shelter belts will be drifted in and a death trap for pheasants. Many will dig their way out, most will suffocate.
I sure hope it is not as bad as predicted.
 
We are suppose to get blasted in SE SD. The only saving grace is that there still is a lot of corn in so they should be able to find some food.
 
Alot of shelter belts are near farmyards and pheasants there get protection and food where there are cattle. The corn that is up will be loaded with birds and the north and west rows fill up tho there is plenty of cover and food still available. The deer, pheasants and rabbits can really pile up in these fields and there will be little left by spring if things stay bad.
I am sure there will be some loses, but they are tougher than you think and if they get a break without an extended cold snap, most will survive. The weather after Sat. should not be too bad. Will see.
Currently the Buffalo Ridge area of sw Minnesota is predicted to get up to
24" per one computer model. The numbers from Sioux Falls are from 10 to 18. One has things going a little west of what was previously thought. Lots of guesses out there.
Iwas in the "68 storm. We got from Vermillion to Parkston, 22 mi from my destination in Mitchell, when the HP sent us back! Did not make it to my sisters wedding.
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C70
 
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Well I got it made, Got the plow truck gased and pointed the right direction, feeders full of corn, Picked up a Wissconsin cheese log and some Rocky Mountain beer to wait it out. Might even open my preasent early.:thumbsup:
:cheers:
 
Here we go

The big storm has now started and we have about an inch of snow already. It looks like we will get heavy snow between now and Friday and big wind from tomorrow until sometime on Saturday. This means we are expecting to get a three day blizzard, the worst storm since 1968.

We will lose pheasants because of this storm. The best survival will be where the pheasants have good shelter such as wildlife tree belts, large CRP areas or cattails and unharvested corn fields. Pheasants lacking good cover will suffer high mortality rates because they will be forced out into the open.
 
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