When was the golden age of pheasant hunting?

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
I jumped on quick while the standing rib roast is resting and waiting for my brother and his family to arrive. There's been a lot of good days to hunt, right now being one of them. But what was the absolute high point of bird numbers? Not for any one state but for the country? I seem to remember the 1940s? Just a question for historical reference and personal curiosity. Merry Christmas everyone. You too Mr. Jones.
 
Up here late sixties the 70’s was just so easy to see pheasant on the farm then 86- 88 I’ll say zero never see wild bird again
 
I missed the heyday for the Texas panhandle where we farmed but dad and grandpa tell stories or the 70’s and 80’s being phenomenal. I started in the late 90’s with great success until the drought of 2011, nothing was the same after that.
 
I was always told the late 50's. That's why many my dad's age would say there are no birds around in the 80's when I was getting heavy into pheasant hunting. I always countered with this is hunting you guys were harvesting.
 
Quailnerd said:
I missed the heyday for the Texas panhandle where we farmed but dad and grandpa tell stories or the 70’s and 80’s being phenomenal. I started in the late 90’s with great success until the drought of 2011, nothing was the same after that.
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That drought! Had one in MN too. Hunting in dry, 80 deg temps, in SW MN, in October, for my oldest daughter's first outing, was brutal.
 
I’m 54 there were years with lots more birds in ND but the golden age is right now, better dogs, fewer hunters, lots of free info on where to go in any state you’d want to go, extended seasons, better boots, more public land, clothes, ecollars, all the best they’ve been. Don’t let the boomers fool you with tales of yesteryear.
 
I guess that is where you are referring to. My relatives would say the soil bank days in the Dakotas. If you look at the harvest records they are probably right. For me when CRP first started going those were the prime days. Late 80s, 90s were unbelievable. The early 00s were good also. Since then is has been a slow slide down. Some areas worse than others. South Dakota has done an okay job of keeping habitat going. North Dakota a second best and from what I’ve heard so has Mn if not better than the Dakotas. PTM may be right about some states now, but others have passed their prime.
 
About 15 or 17 years ago in Kansas was pretty hard to beat. 4 man limits of 4 birds in a few hours.

We haven’t even bothered going the last 2 years though out west.

Would have loved to see some days of the “golden days”.

Have been very lucky to have friends with private access in South Dakota the last 4 years. Has been pretty hard to beat.
 
Mid to late 90’s in south central South Dakota, typically saw hundreds of birds on the roads at morning and evening. From what I have heard, probably soil bank days.
 
I would say the Golden Years for pheasants were in the mid 40's. If you look at the stats for South Dakota pheasant numbers peaked in 1944 and 1945 with 16 million and 15 million birds during those years. Although the Soil Bank Days of the late 50's and early 60's were verry good also. I started going out with my dad in the early 50's and took my first gun in the field in 1956. I remember him talking about all the birds in the 40's. This was in SW Minnesota. It was nothing to get a limit just going out road hunting for an hour. I've seen some good years since but nothing like it was in the 50's and early 60's.
 
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My window into this is only about 25 years old. But the hayday in MN was in the mid to late 2000's. Most specifically, 2006 and 2007.

Between my Grandpa, Uncle, myself, and 2 family friends that we hunted with regularly, our combined tally in 2006 was 177 roosters. I never thought we'd come close to that again. In 2007, it was 212. All wild birds in Central MN.

None of those guys hunt anymore now and haven't for years, but I still do. I'm on pace for my best season since 2007 this year.
 
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