Rules Changes

Gettin Birdy said:
I am surprised nobody has posted yet on the proposed changes for 2021. Longer season, 4 birds, and hunt at 10am opening week.
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didnt see it, but sounds like GFP are getting desperate. Kansas has been 4 birds for a while now....when i get to 3 i quit.
 
Taking more roosters will help hen winter survival. Roosters take best cover and available food sources and harass hens. Most guys won’t hunt in January. I see the changes as positives.
 
4 birds starts later in the season? Only down side to later season is possibly busting birds out of roost cover late in the day when it is cold or crappy out...I hunt through the last day most years...not many others out hunting usually...last year there were some...it was fairly nice out...
 
Sounds like Dec 1st you can start taking 4 roosters if they make the changes. It is a fact that getting the rooster to hen ratio around 13:1 helps hen survival and produces better broods in the spring.
 
This is interesting news! I like to hunt late season because birds are bunched, water is usually frozen, and there are less hunters. I wonder how late into January they are planning for the season? I know Iowa allows January hunting and so does Nebraska.
 
Don’t care about the extra bird—
‘But hope like heck for the 10 00 opening—
Hate the noon opener —mainly because of heat problem with dogs early season-get out earlier and get er done
 
Sounds okay with me. Is it 20 bird possession?
 
Went to the Keloland facebook page to read comments. Lots of folks against the changes there. Very few point to lack of habitat as the driving factor of lower bird numbers.

This will be a non factor in large parts of East River. Many minimum maintenance roads are blown shut by the first week of January. Guys won't walk in snow shoes for a mile to get to a piece of cover that holds birds. Some areas of the state will be able to hunt later into January but most years it won't work in the NE, at least not in an amount that has any effect.

Bottom line is GFP can try all the marketing, gimmicks, and season adjustments they want but they better get real serious real quick about habitat degredation or the lower numbers will continue.

One has to agree that the GFP seems to be only concerned with license sales. There does not seem to be a real, science based, data driven approach to helping pheasants thrive in this state.
 
I’ve been out here in S.D. since Wednesday, putting on lots of miles...I can predict where I will see birds with about 99% success...habitat + food sources....things look pretty good where that combo is found...farmers are pretty unanimous in their bird estimates, my scouting confirms this.
 
SD GFP has never had much interest in managing game. The emphasis has been marketing what the private landowner has produced. Now that production has dropped they think they need to step up marketing. It was predictable now that I think about it.
 
Haymaker you hit the nail on the head and hard. Neither of those rule changes are much about game management. Yes a longer season will take a few more roosters out which will help hens and an earlier start will help dogs, but the habitat is what produces the birds. Smoke and mirrors rather than addressing the real issues.
 
Is it possible that SDGFP is attempting to address the real issues with the rule changes in a way? My understanding is that 75% of revenue for WIA payments comes from an excise tax on ammo, gun and other sales associates to hunting and the remaining 25% comes from license sales in SD. Private landowners do produce the vast majority of habitat for healthy bird populations. The reduction in license sales and hunters in the field results in far less revenue to sustain programs such as WIA, CREP, etc... let alone expansion of these programs. By changes in marketing strategy and the proposed date, times and Bag limits it appears that SDGFP is attempting to bring back more hunters which results in more license, ammo and gun sales that results in funding these programs and gives hunters an opportunity to hunt private land that is made open to the public. As we know, More hunters also Has a positive influence on many small businesses in towns all across the state.
 
Corndawg said:
Is it possible that SDGFP is attempting to address the real issues with the rule changes in a way? My understanding is that 75% of revenue for WIA payments comes from an excise tax on ammo, gun and other sales associates to hunting and the remaining 25% comes from license sales in SD. Private landowners do produce the vast majority of habitat for healthy bird populations. The reduction in license sales and hunters in the field results in far less revenue to sustain programs such as WIA, CREP, etc... let alone expansion of these programs. By changes in marketing strategy and the proposed date, times and Bag limits it appears that SDGFP is attempting to bring back more hunters which results in more license, ammo and gun sales that results in funding these programs and gives hunters an opportunity to hunt private land that is made open to the public. As we know, More hunters also Has a positive influence on many small businesses in towns all across the state.
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Corndawg it is a vicious circle. It's a balancing act and it all does come down to money. Maybe the game and fish can make it all work out, we'll see.
 
All that you said was true when we had unlimited bird numbers. In 2005 and those years every hunter that hunted here limited out every day all season long. They were collecting that revenue then but it did not stop the decline. Now the GFP does not control the weather and it has certainly played a part in the decline in the bird numbers. Extending the season may do more harm than good in some years. There is usually a point when birds go into survival mode, hunting them after that makes no sense. They are trying to market a product but the product is in short supply. To increase the number of hunters there needs to be an increase in birds. That will be an expensive process.
 
I hope that some of these changes will help sustain and improve habitat... My Dad, brothers, cousin and I always said that we had to do a “once in a lifetime” pheasant hunt out to South Dakota. This year will be our 15th annual “once in a lifetime” hunt in SD. We started out hunting 2.5 days and have now extended our trip to 8-9 days. Took my oldest son (7yrs) for the first time last year in December and one morning was minus 7 degrees at 10 am. This year taking my two boys, now 8 and 6, but My wife won’t let me take them in December. LOL. Can’t wait for Christmas in November this year!
 
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