South Dakota’s Game, Fish and Parks said pheasant hunting season is starting off strong a few weeks in, and the department only expects things to get better.
Tom Kirschenmann is the Director of Wildlife for Game, Fish and Parks. At the latest GFP Commission meeting, he told commissioners that hunters can expect to see plenty of action.
“Landowners have said, ‘We are seeing more bird numbers right now in the southeast part of South Dakota than we have for quite some time.’ And when you have landowners saying, ‘I’m seeing bird numbers, higher bird numbers than I’ve seen in the last 10 years,'” Kirschenmann said. “After combining, it’s the best I’ve seen for 20 years. Bird numbers look great. Anytime that we have landowners telling us those types of observations it is extremely impressive and knowing full-well we have some strong bird numbers out there. So, the hunting has been good, and it’s only going to get better in some locations in particular.”
He added that as corn producers continue to empty their fields, those numbers should increase because pheasants utilize standing crop during hunting season.
Kirschenmann said that should improve what has already been a successful hunt thus far.
