Well.....Looks Like The Season Is Over

G

gjw

Well-known member
Hey all, well looks like the season maybe over for most of us in the state. We got hit hard again yesterday and last night. 12++" of snow, high winds and plenty of deep drifts (got a 5 footer in front on my front steps). This one is going to really be tough on the birds, a lot of the cover is snowed in, feed covered up, just plain bad! The birds should be able to get cover in wind breaks and some wood lots, but the cattails are all covered up. They should be able to get feed in silage yards and spilled grain from storage bins, but out on the prairies and open areas they are going to suffer.

My son and I went out on Christmas Eve day, snow was knee to thigh deep, very hard walking and the birds were spooky as all get out. As there is only two weeks left to hunt and getting around is almost impossible, I think I'm hanging it up for the year. Besides the birds need a break and need to recoup as best they can.

I've had a good year, better than last year so no complaints. As pheasants are a resilient birds, we can only hope for a good nesting season in the spring......and NO more storms. Keep your fingers crossed!

All the best to you all!

Greg
 
Agree that pheasants are prolific nesters, but they are not really that winter hardy.

This December weather will kill a lot of ND pheasants and they are heading into the New Year in a real vulnerable position. Habitat full of snow and fat reserves already exhausted.

Even SW ND has been hit hard. SW ND is fortunate to be a little warmer in winter and a greater abundance of ranch yards with cattle, bales, and spilled feed.

If weather in January and February are even near typical ... loses will continue. ND needs a prolonged winter thaw and it needs to come quickly.

Pheasants from Jamestown to Bismark to Minot to Harvey and back to Jamestown must be all but gone. Birds between Dickinson to Williston to Minot to Bismark can not be in a much better position. South of 94 ... rough there too.

I know one area where we killed six birds in two days won't likely hold pheasants again for a couple years ... pending mild winters and prolific nesting to allow them to drift back into that area.

Coyote hunters should have a phenomenal January and February.
 
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Pretty bummed, Remind me, I think it was the winter of 00-01 the last time it was this bad and I lived in E SD. Place looked like the surface of the moon. Winter mortality will be 90% plus in a lot of areas and will take a couple of years to recover at all. On a high note it's good for the ducks, it was getting dry again. Can't even Ice fish without tracks, 54 here today though.:)
 
You guys are depressing me. The numbers were just getting pretty good around Stutsman county again. Nothing like 10 years ago but had a pretty good hunt this year. I know this isn't the prime pheasant area , but I've had pretty good luck there over the years. How will this much snow impact huns and sharpies?
 
Sharptails could be OK. They have feathered legs and have readily adapted to this type of winter. Sleep in deeper snow banks.

Huns always seem to do fine with winter. We used to seem them all the time in the winter. Their population was much higher in the 70s and 80s even after tough winters. Huns cannot tolerate wet and cold spring nesting and brooding seasons. They do best in arid (even drought) type situations. The last 20 years (skip a few) have been very wet in the prairie pothole region.

Stutsman county will have very, very few pheasants by spring time unless this winter turns really, really quick.
 
Triangle from Williston-Crosby-Minot picked up from 1 -2 feet of snow in 48 hours. Add in the wind and ... this area of ND did not escape the wrath.
 
I guess the survival rate of pheasants vs huns and sharpies may be the difference between the other two being natives and the pheasants being transplants? Natural survival instincts as opposed to learned survival practices.
 
Not the kind of news I like hearing with deposit money already sent for my first western bird hunt next fall, but we'll enjoy the views regardless. Hopefully conditions will improve.
 
# friends of mine just left for ND this morning. Ellendale area I believe. I will let you know what they find down there. But with all the rain we had up in the MN SD ND area, yes, I think we will see a huge loss. And I am always the optimistic one. :(
 
Huns (gray partridge) are introduced, sharpies only native. Dry years really benefit Huns, started hunting Sask late 80s and they were everywhere. In the early 90s the rains came back and their numbers plummeted.

My guess would be that the shelterbelts, homestead areas, feedlots will be critical to pheasant survival this winter. But roosters in that situation are relentless and will kill hens. Thats why some late season community hunts happen in the Dakotas, to trim the rooster numbers and save the hens.

Dan
 
FCSpringer said:
# friends of mine just left for ND this morning. Ellendale area I believe. I will let you know what they find down there. But with all the rain we had up in the MN SD ND area, yes, I think we will see a huge loss. And I am always the optimistic one. :(
Click to expand...

Corrected my comment.... Dickey and Lamoure counties front and center of ice storm... Many still with out power from Oaks to Zeeland. Worst area for outages appears to be McIntosh county.

http://www.jamestownsun.com/news/local/4187932-power-outages-continue-southern-north-dakota

Assume they are hunting at a lodge or private land connections ?

Many public land spots may not be reachable unless they have snowmobiles. People will not be too happy to help stuck hunters. Parking also gets tricky as most approaches are tough to use.
 
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0fer2 said:
My guess would be that the shelterbelts, homestead areas, feedlots will be critical to pheasant survival this winter. But roosters in that situation are relentless and will kill hens. Thats why some late season community hunts happen in the Dakotas, to trim the rooster numbers and save the hens.

Dan
Click to expand...

They may on occasion indirectly kill hens by displacing them on spots where the hens have worked hard and scratched down to food sources, but I have never seen any actual journal articles or reports that document wild rooster pheasants physically killing hens.

General wooded shelterbelts often are more of a death trap due to avian predators that take roost over the over exposed pheasants. Owls will get them at night if they do not have heavier thermal cover to hide in (cattails, evergreens, willows). Also always good when pheasants do not have to travel too far from food source to cover.

Not too many unharvested corn fields this year ... but they can really help carry deer and pheasants through a tougher winter with both cover and food.
 
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Pheasant survival

Does anyone know how pheasants are doing in southwest N dakota.
Will they make it through this weather?
I hunted Mott area this year and had a great time.Hoping to go back next year
Thanks for any info jim
 
James O said:
Does anyone know how pheasants are doing in southwest N dakota.
Will they make it through this weather?
I hunted Mott area this year and had a great time.Hoping to go back next year
Thanks for any info jim
Click to expand...

I know they will be toast here, and I am an Hr from sth wst ND. I had a corn pile out even to feed a few. After the rain I went to check on it. I kicked it and you could not get to the corn under the ice. We have a 1" thick layer of ice on the ground now. Bad news for birds for sure. I plan to put more corn out today. I am feeding one hen in the yard now. Looks pretty grim.
 
Well, looks like we're under a Winter Storm Watch for Sunday thru Tuesday morning. Could get between 4-9" of snow and winds again (more drifting). Also expecting single digits and sub zero temps next week. This weather pattern has been hitting us every damn week, just can't get a break!! I have been seeing birds, a lot of hens (that's good), but I just don't know how much more the birds can take.

A view across the road from my place:

DSCN16901.jpg


DSCN16911.jpg


I hope this storm tracks someplace other than here (but I doubt it!)

Happy New Years!

Greg
 
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