Just back from hunting Huron area. Hottest stretch of weather I've hunted pheasants in 35 years chasing those sleugh chickens! A few observations;
Bird numbers at least as good as last year; did not hunt dogs during the hottest stretch of the day, and made sure they remained comfortable inside the topper covered back of the truck. When we did hunt them, we made sure they cooled down sufficiently before loading them; don't underestimate the danger of pushing your dog(s) in this weather; we saw a 3 to 1 rooster to hen ratio; good for the moment, but concerned for the future; normally we hit the cattails hard, but with this hot weather, found birds in lighter cover; birds seemed to hold better than normal, perhaps weather related as well. We had more than normal close flushes throughout our trip, which makes me think the hot weather influenced the birds behavior. We took an extended lunch break, good for the dogs, good for us. It was extremely dry. Amazing, when you consider all the places that flooded 5-6 years ago, places we used to hunt entirely covered in water. Some of those areas dry again. I did see some WPA's planted in crops, which in my view was very sad; more habitat removed; not sure if this will continue, or is a "planned" event and will go back to habitat. The future of SD pheasant hunting is dependent on habitat, and many of the best WIA's we used to hunt are in crops. We don't see the large numbers of birds anymore, but still good numbers and good hunting. Coming to South Dakota is something we truly enjoy.