The Future of Pheasant Hunting
Pheasant Hunting Report from S.D.
A Mix of Cut Corn = Pheasants and Geese
The Future of Pheasant Hunting
By Bob & Ginny Riege
On a brilliant autumn day Governor Mark Dayton, Ginny and I and some 84 hunters participated in the first Minnesota Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener in Montevideo, MN.
The purpose of this event was to highlight the state’s hunting heritage and promote western Minnesota as a hunting destination. It was patterned after the Governor’s Fishing Opener and the Governor’s Deer Opener.
As we met our hunting parties at breakfast on Saturday and talked about our strategies of where we were to hunt and what we could expect, I reflected back to a time when I first started hunting pheasants.
I can remember growing up in the upper Midwest when "pheasant shooting" took place. My father and I would get in the old station wagon and pack a lunch for an afternoon of "pheasant shooting". I use this term because it no longer applies to the great sport of hunting pheasants. Today, the term is "pheasant hunting" because that is what it has become over the years. Gone are the days when we would see fifty birds rise in a single flock. Gone are the days when a young boy after school could walk down by the slough, by himself, with his single shot 16 gauge, and return home with three plump roosters for the dinner table. Why are these days gone? The answer can be summed up in one word, habitat.
The change of pheasant hunting has taken a dramatic shift in the last two decades. With the shift in habitat in the last twenty years the modern day pheasant hunter must shift also.
A pheasant needs a variety of cover in order to survive. The pheasant needs overhead cover in the daylight hours and needs roosting cover (off the ground) and dense cover for warmth, during the night. If this cover is adjacent to a food source, such as corn and water you will have a good population of birds. Weather in the spring of the year, during nesting time, is also a major factor, but if the habitat is there, the birds can sustain and even increase.
Saturday evening at the celebration supper, the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources Tom Landwehr spoke about the change in habitat; “While weather is a major contributing factor to our pheasant decline, loss of habitat is a major concern for us at DNR. Within the pheasant range, about 9,000 acres of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) have been lost since last year; that’s 15 square miles. Statewide, about 128,000 acres of CRP contracts will expire on Sept. 30, while only 33,180 acres were enrolled during the recent spring sign-up period.
The future for pheasants looks grimmer when you consider more than 550,000 acres of CRP are scheduled to expire in the next three years. As you know, CRP remains our No. 1 habitat program for pheasants. With high land rental rates and soaring corn prices, conservation practices are taking a backseat to market demands, and interest in CRP enrollment is likely to suffer. To see what Minnesota’s pheasant future might hold, look no further than Iowa, which is predicted to have its lowest pheasant harvest in history this fall. The Iowa pheasant harvest may be half of the 250,000-bird harvest predicted for Minnesota.”
One of the ways that we can help the habitat is to join an organization that improves habitat. Pheasants Forever is an organization that can and does improve habitat not only for pheasants but for all types of wildlife.
“Pheasants Forever's members are truly passionate about conservation and creating, preserving and restoring habitat that benefits pheasants, quail and other wildlife. That's why Pheasants Forever provides the most efficient conservation model of any organization. PF's unique model empowers local chapters with the responsibility to determine how 100 percent of their locally-raised conservation funds will be spent. Whether it's through improving habitat, informing the public about land management or educating future generations of hunting enthusiasts, conservation is the underlying principle in all we do at the grassroots level of our chapters all the way to Washington, D.C. when we fight for strong conservation policy.” according to www.pheasantsforever.org.
The Montevideo area has always been known for excellent pheasant hunting. On the first Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener it didn’t disappoint even the experts. The hunting party shot 65 birds and reported seeing about 350 hens and roosters.
Even the Governor mentioned that he allowed a few birds to get away so pheasants would be there forever.
We will see you next year at the Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener in Marshall, MN.
South Dakota’s 2011 season: October 15, 2011 - January 1, 2012
By Dennis Foster
Overview:
Despite an overly long and snowy winter, the general outlook for the numbers of Pheasants we can expect this fall looks to remain from good to downright phenomenal.
I am seeing some very encouraging numbers of Hens with what seems to be about the right number of Roosters mixed in. So, based on my on my experience managing a Pheasant Hunting Operation and having lived my entire life where the very first successful introduction of Ringneck Pheasants into the wild occurred, I would have to say we are looking at another banner year for 2011.
Where:
Eastern South Dakota (east of the Missouri River) has been long recognized as a Mecca for Pheasants, and Hunters…as we just seem to have an environment and atmosphere that suits both. The south central portion of the state is a traditional hot spot with the Winner/Platte/Chamberlain areas always very good due to a touch milder winters. You can move north on up the line into the Redfield area (where the first Pheasants took root) and expect to see huge numbers of birds as well. If you were to want to experience a West River hunt, the Eagle Butte area would be a good bet.
When:
South Dakota’s 2011 season starts on October 15th and runs till January 1st 2012. The first couple of weeks after opening offers fine hunting, but please be aware that it is also the busiest time of the season. It may be advisable to wait until the third weekend or after to plan your hunt. Weather is typically cooler and easier on the dogs (and you), row crop harvest has generally been completed (making birds easier to find), and in general there are more opportunities for places to not only hunt-but stay-as things have slowed down. Personally, I find later season hunts to be more enjoyable.
Access:
Gaining permission to hunt private ground can still be done if you are polite and show proper respect for the privilege. Many farmers have family and friends hunting the first few weeks, so you will generally have better success once the initial rush subsides. It also doesn’t hurt to offer something in return and it doesn’t have to be in the form of cash. Goodies with your local flavor are always welcomed. Cheeses, various meats, wine, etc. are appreciated and a bottle of darn good whiskey has opened many a gate as well.
There are numerous Commercial Hunting operations with most doing an excellent job providing a quality hunt and offer good value depending upon exactly what you want and are what you are willing to spend. This can range from simply paying for daily access with no guiding on good ground with plentiful birds, all the way on up to the kind of places that will only serve their dogs Perrier water and resemble Palm Springs more than the Dakota’s. To each his own…I guess.
The vast majority of these operations will fall somewhere in middle with fully guided hunts over seasoned dogs and offer other welcome amenities such as bird cleaning and lodging. Expect to spend anywhere from $100 per day for basic hunting rights into the $200 per day range for fully guided hunts and on up to “oh my god” prices for some of the more luxurious and extravagant Lodges (typically “Preserves” with pen raised birds) that cater to the well heeled and corporate crowd. Whatever your needs or desires, something can be found to suit your specific wants and needs.
Dennis Foster is an Outdoor Writer as well as a Fishing and Hunting Guide in South Dakota. You can learn more by visiting www.eyetimepromotions.com or calling him directly at 605-887-7069.
Good dogs and a good day add up to a good time hunting late season ringnecks.
By Vic Androvich
The pheasant season had been a good one so far - the bird hatch from the previous spring was good, and that makes up 80 percent of the birds harvested each fall.
Our opening day hunt separated the young birds from the older ones, so after opening weekend we began hunting seasoned survivors. We had to change our tactics – all of the fields, ditches, rows and patches of cover were blocked. Many of the roosters still left alive chose to run rather than fly like their less fortunate brothers.
This wasn’t the end of the season. The ratio of hens to roosters favored the hens so tracks in the snow were everywhere, but we had to inspect them closely to confirm whether they were rooster or hen tracks, then try to dig the birds out of the cover.
Snow cover can give a hunter without a dog some insight as to where the pheasants are in a given area. Pheasants, like chickens and rabbits, walk a lot so if they’re in the area then their tracks will be left in the snow. If we found a rooster track, we would get on it like a pointer knowing there was a rooster at the end of the trail.
We weren’t as successful in the early morning because it was extremely cold. The pheasants sat tight in their bedding cover until the sun warmed the air and softened the snow. The winds were fierce during the snow storm three days beforehand, but each snow drift had an area where the snow blows off and exposes the ground. Corn dropped by the combine a month earlier served as bait. Corn is essential for a pheasant to survive in cold weather. The size of the grain and the amount of starch in each kernel enables the birds to process the grain quickly enough to keep the pheasants from freezing or starving.
Many times when cattle are allowed to feed in picked corn fields they eat whole cobs of corn. When they digest the cob the digestive process leaches some of the starch out of the corn. When the corn exits the cow there’s still plenty of nutritional value in the kernel for pheasants to survive on. It is also an easily located food source. Because pheasants don’t have taste buds, the exterior flavor of the corn is not an issue.
Pheasants tend to gather up in flocks amidst the heaviest cover available after heavy snows have flattened many patches of cover that provided productive food sources during the early days of the season. During the late season, winter wheat begins to sprout and provides good forage for pheasants. They can survive taking in limited amounts of water because they can get the required moisture from the morning dew and the succulent young wheat plants.
After their morning feeding session, they look for a location where they can collect the thermal rays of the sun as they bask in the sun. Look for them sunning themselves at the edge of cover or in the middle of as corn field with cover nearby. Security cover is a high priority since the birds are highly vulnerable to predators on the wing or on foot.
Use this knowledge as you search for pheasants. Spend your time where feed meets cover. The closer the two are to each other means the more likely the pheasants will survive the winter.
If you are hunting with a dog you are in for a treat. You’ll locate birds easier and faster. Pheasants rarely fall out of the sky dead after being shot. They will probably hit the ground running in search of a hiding place. You’ll probably lose a couple of birds if you are hunting among high weeds unless you have a dog that knows how to retrieve injured birds.
A wild pheasant is the most difficult bird for a dog to hunt. He doesn’t follow the rules - he may sit until the dog gets close then put his head down and run!
The dog must follow to get back to the scent, but the hunters are still walking slowly through the field. If the dog runs to keep up with the pheasant, he gets reprimanded for getting too far ahead of the hunters. If he doesn’t keep up with the birds they will run ahead of the dog and flush out of range.
It’s a great time, a great sport and a great way to end the season. Just remember - if dogs could carry a shotgun then hunters would be out of a job!
Happy hunting!
Pheasant ready to fly. Photo submitted by Pheasants Forever
The key to a good opener starts with scouting before the season and locating good places to hunt.
By Bob & Ginny Riege
The ducks are on the wing and the leaves are starting to turn into a fiery display again. The smell of wood smoke drifts across the backyards and people are busy doing outdoor chores to make sure everything is done before the snow flies. In the distance, I can here the faint cackle of a rooster pheasant and the cutting of the red fox squirrel in the oak tree outside my window, and that tells me fall has arrived.
The "Opener" is about to begin. I know that there are other candidates. Fishing season for trout and walleyes or bass are celebrated after months of staring at ice lock lakes. In fact, the spring "openers" take on a sort of mysticism that corresponds to the time of year. Still, every other opener falls short of the first day of pheasant season.
Depending on where you hunt, the opener might last from half a day to a full week. A lot of variables come into play. If the roosters get "educated" the opener is usually over. If your area has had a wet fall and the crops have not been harvested, the opener can stretch into the second weekend of pheasant hunting.
The key to a good opener starts with scouting before the season and locating good places to hunt. You should stop in and talk to the farmers before the opener and ask permission well ahead of time. I always like to take along a little gift to give to the farmer for allowing me to hunt on his property before the season begins. Likewise, you might ask if the farmer needs a helping hand around, (if you are willing) and exchange your labor for some hunting privileges . Above all please ask, it is not only a common courtesy but in many states it is the law.
The hardy ringneck has adapted to a variety of habitat cover. The types of cover can be broken down into light cover, medium cover and heavy cover.
In light cover, especially in the early season, pheasants can often be found loafing and picking up bugs and gravel. Some areas to look for light cover is along fence lines, irrigation ditches, grassy terraces or thin patches of grass next to standing crops like soybeans and corn. Most of these areas have been clipped or mowed during the year and in most cases this light cover area is long and narrow. The birds tend to run rather than sit tight in this type of area. Therefore, the conditions call for a dog that works close, but is thorough. Occasionally, a bird might sit tight and the dog has to check every bit of cover as they work a specific scent. Far ranging, too-fast dogs are frequently going to bump or over run birds in this cover. If you hunt places like this it is always nice to have a good retriever, but it isn't absolutely critical as it would be in other cover.
Most hunters will find some really good hunting if they key in on the two distinct areas. Public hunting areas, though overrun with hunters during the season, are good areas to walk especially after the first two or three hours. By this time most of the hunters have left to other areas and the pheasants can be easy pickings with good dogs. The other overlooked area is roadside ditches. These ditches offer a great deal of habitat that is close to food and they can be easily walked with a good dog. A word of caution, if you do hunt this way check game laws in your state to make sure hunting roadsides are legal. Good dog training on your part will prevent your dog from entering the roadway with traffic.
Big grassy areas, moderately heavy wildlife management areas, draws, and water ways, are good examples of medium cover. Here, birds are a little more inclined to sit. Much of this cover lies in broad blocks rather than narrow strips. Conservation Reserve Program land is a perfect example, and here a dog can range out a little farther from you. A dog in this type of cover will be expected to cover a lot of ground. This is the type of cover you don't want to work over hastily.
Marshes, wildlife management areas and other areas which have cattails, bulrushes, and elephant grass provide the thickest Midwest pheasant cover. Hunters can't move as well in this stuff, but pheasants are less inclined to run like deer here. The birds usually move slowly and prefer to sneak from one thick spot to another.
The pheasant holds a special place in the heart of many Midwestern hunters. Today, when all the birds that were shot, return to the farmhouse, with all the hunters the stories and memories will live on. The hunters will tell and retell stories of this day and days of yesteryear. As my dad use to say "the pheasants are shot once and then re-shot again when the hunters return."
As wonderful as the opening day is, it never balances the scale of how I feel when it is over. The "Opener" is special and it only occurs once every year. Until the next Opening Day....
Pheasant Hunting Report from S.D.
By Mike Yurk
We were making one last push through a strip of woods before lunch. We sent three hunters to the end of the woods, acting as blockers for any birds that we might move out in front of us. We were nearing the end of our drive when a rooster pheasant flushed, cackling on the edge of the wood line.
The bird flushed in a rush of wings heading outside of the woods past Richard. He fired and the bird crumpled, falling to the ground. It was our first pheasant of the day.
It was our first day of hunting in South Dakota. Five of us began the day when shooting hours started at ten in the morning. The evening before Howard and Nate Johnson of St. Paul, Minn., Chris Lewis of Champlin, Minn., Doug Hurd of Eagan, Minn., and this writer drove across the dark, nighttime prairie of South Dakota. Our destination was a beef cattle farm on the northern boarder of South Dakota owned by Dean and Anna Melland with David and Dixie Melland, where we would be hunting for the next couple of days.
Morning brought a chilling, damp wind blowing across the grasslands and fields. Dark gray clouds clung close to the ground. Overhead strings of snow geese were yelping. The guttural honking of Canada geese could be heard from other lines of geese struggling against the wind.
After we started hunting we were joined by David Melland with Richard Reis of Leola, SD. We hunted a couple of other fields before we worked that strip of woods were we bagged the first pheasant. A moment or two later, after Richards’s bird we flushed one more rooster but that was it for the morning.
Although pheasant counts have indicated that South Dakota still has a lot pheasants, their numbers are down somewhat from the large populations of birds found three or four years earlier when they had record numbers of pheasants. A tough winter has been blamed for some of the decline.
The pheasant hunting season had been open in South Dakota for a month already. South Dakota had experienced much of the same wet fall that Minnesota had. October had been the fifth wettest fall on record. The wet weather and resulting remaining water affected pheasant hunting in a number of different ways.
First of all, there is a lot of standing water in fields and grasslands. Many hunters were scrambling to find hip boots. It was recommended that we bring along hip boots and we did. Although we found a lot of water remaining, we did not need hip boots. However, I did wear rubber knee high boots and was glad to have them. As wet and sloppy as it was, the water I waded through never got over my ankles.
Secondly, because of the wet fall, many of the corn and grass fields have not been harvested yet. It has just been too wet for farmers to get out in the fields. That means there is a lot of available cover for birds to escape to or to just stay put in, making it tougher to find pheasants.
The wet fields, standing corn and grass lands along with the cold, windy day all seemed to make hunting tougher. We saw few birds on our first day of hunting in comparison to what we have experienced in previous seasons. Our group has been making this hunting trip at the same time every fall for the last five years.
By late afternoon we decided to work one last strip of woods. Doug and Chris positioned themselves at the end of the woods while Nate, Howard and I worked our way through the cover. We were half way through the cover when Howard saw movement in the grass. A rooster sprinted in front of him and then burst into the air. Howard fired, dropping the bird in the field next to him. It would be our last pheasant of the day. We ended the day with three birds.
As we walked back to our cars we could see dark clouds breaking up and a band of lighter clouds hung on the horizon. It looked like the weather would be better the next day. That evening we deep fried a huge pile of walleye fillets. Half of the fish came from Red Lake and the rest were from the Mississippi River and Cut Foot Sioux in northern Minnesota. There were over twenty of us that ate the evening. Amid all the laughter, talk and banter around the table that evening we recognized what a good day of hunting he had regardless of the number of birds we killed.
When we woke the next morning we realized that the lighter skies we saw the evening before had not teased us. Skies were blue and the sun shinned down on us with light winds. It was a little cooler to start with as we found windows on our cars encrusted with frost. By the time shooting hours began, the ice had melted. The morning held the promise of a warmer day.
We started on a field we had hunted the day before. We had hunted a grassy field in the direction of a large standing cornfield. We had managed to flush a number of birds but they had were well away from us. This day we decided to start at the corn and hunt the field in the other direction toward an open field.
We were joined by Mike and Mark Statter of Sioux Falls, SD. I was splashing through a lot of standing water but was finding some dry areas in the field as well. We had almost finished the field when a rooster exploded out of a patch of weeds. I dropped the bird with the first shot. It was our first pheasant of the day.
We hunted another field after that and then Doug and I had to leave. The better weather seemed to be the ticket to better hunting and later we heard that our party picked up another half a dozen birds in the afternoon.
There is still a lot of pheasant hunting remaining for South Dakota. The season is open until January 3, 2010. The hunting should only get better as the season continues. Once the standing water freezes and corn and other grasslands have been harvested it will be easier for hunters to find birds. Considering how strange our weather has been this fall some of best pheasant hunting might be in these last weeks of the season.
A Mix of Cut Corn = Pheasants and Geese
By PJ Maguire
Cleaning firearms outside of the hunting seasons is a chore. If you shoot a lot of clay targets in the off-season, it still has to be done. Cleaning firearms after a hunt is a good thing. Not only do you reflect on the days hunt, you feel good about having an ample amount of opportunities.
Year to year every hunting season is different because of the weather, bird cycles, water levels, etc. Some hunters will spend almost a lifetime trying to replicate good hunts of the past. These hunters return to the same areas, at the same dates on the calendar, year after year. As there is a natural cycle in the universe, there is also a natural cycle in hunting.
The Minnesota 2009 bird season has been no different. A cold wet October changing to a dry mild November has led to agriculture crops remaining in fields well into the typical harvest dates. This has made hunting particularly difficult for pheasants and waterfowl hunters.
Most of our state’s calendar migrant ducks are here and have been here for some time. These birds are wary and typically know the safe areas to rest and feed. By now they have heard a lot of different duck calls and see every decoy on the market. A possible cold snap before the end of the duck season could bring fresh birds into the state.
The same things could be said about the Canada geese. By the time some of the corn and soy bean fields came out in November the temps had warmed enough for the geese to prefer water and grass. With plenty of food in fields across the state, cold weather would be a game changer on these birds.
Pheasant hunting is tough anywhere when there are plenty of places for the birds to seek cover. This has been the case for the 2009 Minnesota pheasant until recently. Personally I don’t put much effort into hunting these birds until most of the crops have been harvested. While cleaning my 12-gauge shotgun tonight I was anticipating the annual Thanksgiving pilgrimage to Southwest Minnesota to hunt these birds.
With crops coming down rapidly across the state, and cold weather on the horizon, I am looking forward to ending the 2009 Minnesota bird seasons with a bang. Literally.
By Doug Leier
Here’s a question to ponder across the back fence or over a cup of coffee as all the major hunting seasons except deer gun get into full swing: When it comes to hunting success, what’s more important, habitat or access?
On one hand, without a decent habitat base you won’t have much wildlife, so incentive for people to buy hunting licenses is low. On the other hand, if there's not a place to hunt, what good are fields full of pheasants or skies dark with ducks?
While these factors are not easily separated from one another, the edge in importance must go to habitat, because without it, the need for access is irrelevant.
Judging from many conversations I’ve had over the last few years, many hunters seem satisfied with North Dakota’s combination of habitat, game abundance and access. It’s that overall combination and balance of each variable that equates into a hunting community responding "not too bad" when asked how satisfied they are with hunting in general.
Not everyone, of course, is always satisfied, but the state has experienced growth in the number of people buying hunting licenses in recent years, so something positive is taking place.
One of those positive factors is the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’sPrivate Land Open to Sportsmen program, which will again this fall provide about 1 million acres of walk-in public hunting access on private land. Understand the intention of PLOTS was never to provide the main source of access for hunters, but rather to provide supplementary places to hunt for people who arranged for themselves at least some access to private land.
Initially the primary focus of the PLOTS program was Conservation Reserve Program acres, which is also the habitat backbone for many species in the state. Two years ago, North Dakota had about 3.4 million acres of CRP. Since then, nearly 600,000 acres have come out of the program, with additional contracts totaling more than 200,000 acres set to expire this fall.
Some of that CRP land was enrolled in the PLOTS program and some was not. While Game and Fish has been able to enroll enough new tracts to roughly maintain the amount of CRP land in the PLOTS program at around 500,000 acres, the lost CRP outside PLOTS is not going unnoticed by hunters.
Regardless of whether it is open to public access, most CRP land in North Dakota provides a place for people to hunt at one time or another during fall. While not every acre that came out of the CRP is no longer a viable place to hunt, 600,000 fewer acres is, in the short term, probably more noticeable in terms of hunting places lost, than lower pheasant numbers.
With less CRP, pheasants and deer will move to nearby acres where habitat remains. So will hunters, creating more competition for space on public and private land.
That’s not to say overall hunting in North Dakota won’t be good this year. It's a matter of perspective, as some will readily admit an empty bag or rained out hunt is still better than a day at work.
It’s important for hunters to understand the changes occurring on the prairie. CRP will be down, PLOTS stable, ducks up and pheasant numbers lower, but the exact degree will depend on where you hunt. As always, it will be an interesting fall in North Dakota.
Leier is a biologist for the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email: dleier@nd.gov
By Doug Leier
Biologists normally see around 3-5 hens for every rooster in spring, but this year that ratio slipped down to the 1:1 and 1:2 range.
The days of real summer are slowly dwindling as school athletics practices are underway and games are just around the corner. However, there’s still time for getting out for a few casts or a night in the tent, and mid-August also means we’re developing a little clearer picture of how our fall pheasant and duck numbers will unfold.
Pheasants
Going into early summer, the annual pheasant crowing count survey indicated 25 percent fewer birds than in 2008, which wasn’t all surprising considering the intensity and length of the recent winter. Every late storm was another hit to the potential survival of roosters and hens.
Some fringe areas of the pheasant range, such as the northeast (51 percent), had considerably lower numbers, whilee the historical pheasant belt of the southwest was off by 10 percent. While the declines were significant, the crow count numbers in 2009 were still above numbers from 2005-2007.
So, based on spring numbers of roosters alone, fall still held promise, as the three years prior to 2008 were very good for pheasant hunting in North Dakota.
Spring rooster numbers, however, are only part of the fall equation. One concern for biologists was a lower ratio of hen pheasants to roosters observed during the spring survey. Biologists normally see around 3-5 hens for every rooster in spring, but this year that ratio slipped down to the 1:1 and 1:2 range.
Fewer hens, of course, means reduced reproduction potential. Early returns from the Game and Fish Department’s summer brood surveys are indicating just that. When those survey numbers are finalized in a few weeks, we’ll have a more accurate assessment of fall pheasant numbers, but few hunters or biologists will be surprised if both pheasant and sharp-tailed grouse reproduction is down.
AND don’t forget the loss of about 500,000 acres of Conservation Reserve Program grasslands the past couple years, with possibly another 500,000 acres on the way out within the next couple of years. That’s a loss of about one-third of this beneficial conservation habitat that has accounted for higher populations of not just pheasants, but deer and ducks as well.
Ducks
Speaking of waterfowl, with all the runoff from winter snows to help recharge dry prairie potholes, it’s no surprise the spring index of breeding ducks increased 18 percent from last year. Just as important, the spring count was 87 percent higher than the long-term average.
As with pheasants and many other wildlife populations, comparing current numbers with both a recent and long-term history provide a better overall picture rather than simply trying to digest raw statistics from one year to the next.
When comparing numbers for individual species, bright spots were the pintail (up 157 percent and the highest since 1972) and northern shovelers (up 102 percent and the highest on record). Biologist also recorded gains for blue-winged teal, mallards, wigeon, green-winged teal and canvasback.
Gadwalls, scup, redhead and ruddy ducks had lower numbers than in 2008, though counts for all of these species were still well-above the long-term average.
The spring water index showed the largest single-year turnaround in the 62-year history of the survey, according to Mike Johnson, the Game and Fish Department’s game management section leader.
The index was up 293 percent from 2008 and 69 percent above the long-term average. It was the eighth highest in survey history and the highest since 1999.
It’s evident that wet conditions directly influenced duck numbers. Summer brood survey numbers should come out soon and provide a better assessment of what North Dakota will contribute to the fall flight. Keep up with the latest information on the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov.
Like it or not, we’re on the fast track to fall, and so far it looks like despite the long, drawn out winter, hunters will again have reason to smile as they take to the fields marshes.
Leier is a biologist for the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email: dleier@nd.gov
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