Bob Peters
Well-known member
After the Aberdeen coalition proclamation that the pheasants made it through the winter like a champ, and the subsequent post by a member that his families land in SD is now more or less devoid of any signs of phasianus with the implication that old man winter reduced the population to nil, or at least nearly so. Not to mention the post of a guy driving a snowplow and seeing birds stacked up in a line tipped over dead in a tree row, my curiosity got the better of me. So I figured, what could be more accurate than anecdotal incidents shared on the internet? I figured anecdotal information shared over the phone might get me one kernel closer to the cob of truth
. I rang up a couple of wildlife biologists in the hinterlands of South Dakota, in two different popular destinations in the pheasant belt. The first gentleman I talked to was also a pheasant hunter, oh lucky day! He said that yes, the area he works in was hammered by snow and bad winter weather, but that from all he's seen the birds made it through the winter very well. He saw no dead birds that he attributed to blizzards/massive snow totals(not to say there wasn't any, just sharing what he saw, although I never asked him if he drove a snow plow, maybe that high seat would have afforded him some different views). He also said that he hunted at the end of the season, and the spots he tried, there was excellent cover. I asked, "I thought that the cattails were filled to the top and all snowed in?" He in turn said that yes, the edges were, but once you got in the slough the cattails were much more open and the birds were there and doing well. The second biologist I called told me that yes, they had lost some birds this winter. She related that she'd seen some areas with a thick ice crust over the snow and it made things difficult for the pheasants. She never told me how many birds as a rough percentage might have been lost, but then again I never asked her. That being said, she told me in her days doing field work she's seeing a fair number of birds out and about, and also hearing some crowing etc. As a bright note, she said that the wildlife office she works at as a whole has been really really busy, because more landowners than expected have been starting habitat projects, which is always nice to hear.
Oh, I forgot to mention, in terms of current day, both said the habitat as a whole is looking better than average. All that snow and some early rains really greened things up. As we know, the next month or two will determine a lot. One last quote that stuck in my head from the biologist, "pheasants like it dry, they just don't like a drought."
. I rang up a couple of wildlife biologists in the hinterlands of South Dakota, in two different popular destinations in the pheasant belt. The first gentleman I talked to was also a pheasant hunter, oh lucky day! He said that yes, the area he works in was hammered by snow and bad winter weather, but that from all he's seen the birds made it through the winter very well. He saw no dead birds that he attributed to blizzards/massive snow totals(not to say there wasn't any, just sharing what he saw, although I never asked him if he drove a snow plow, maybe that high seat would have afforded him some different views). He also said that he hunted at the end of the season, and the spots he tried, there was excellent cover. I asked, "I thought that the cattails were filled to the top and all snowed in?" He in turn said that yes, the edges were, but once you got in the slough the cattails were much more open and the birds were there and doing well. The second biologist I called told me that yes, they had lost some birds this winter. She related that she'd seen some areas with a thick ice crust over the snow and it made things difficult for the pheasants. She never told me how many birds as a rough percentage might have been lost, but then again I never asked her. That being said, she told me in her days doing field work she's seeing a fair number of birds out and about, and also hearing some crowing etc. As a bright note, she said that the wildlife office she works at as a whole has been really really busy, because more landowners than expected have been starting habitat projects, which is always nice to hear.Oh, I forgot to mention, in terms of current day, both said the habitat as a whole is looking better than average. All that snow and some early rains really greened things up. As we know, the next month or two will determine a lot. One last quote that stuck in my head from the biologist, "pheasants like it dry, they just don't like a drought."
. As always some areas will be better than others so do your homework and best of luck to all.
