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PIERRE – South Dakota’s 2000 pheasant brood-route surveys indicate the state’s total pheasant population will be very similar to last year, which was just more than 6 million birds.
"Despite no overall change from 1999 to 2000, the distribution of the pheasant population has changed considerably in the past year," said Wildlife Division Director Doug Hansen.
The 2000 pheasant survey indicates that the Mobridge, Winner, Sioux Falls, Brookings, Watertown, Aberdeen and Sisseton areas all posted significant increases in pheasant numbers from 1999. However, the survey also indicates that pheasant numbers have declined from last year in the Chamberlain, Mitchell and Yankton areas. The Pierre and Huron areas appear to have pheasant numbers that are similar to 1999 levels.
Hansen said part of the reason that bird numbers have declined in some areas of the state is due to a drop in the average size of pheasant broods. In the area from south-central to north-central South Dakota, the average brood size declined 18 percent from 1999 to 2000. In eastern South Dakota, this year’s average brood size declined only 8 percent from 1999.
"In addition to the decline in the brood sizes, less pheasant broods were observed on 20 of 26 survey routes in the Chamberlain, Mitchell and Yankton areas," Hansen said. "Despite these declines from last year, brood surveys also indicate that pheasant numbers are still high in the Chamberlain and Mitchell areas."
Although the significant decline in brood size also effected the Winner and Mobridge areas, a substantial increase in the number of broods observed on survey routes enabled these areas to post increases in pheasant numbers in 2000. "The Winner and Mobridge areas appear to have recovered from one-year pheasant declines in 1999 and have returned to levels similar to those recorded in 1998," Hansen said.
Following a steady population decline through the mid-1990’s that culminated with the severe winter of 1996-97, the pheasant population in eastern and northeastern South Dakota appears to have fully recovered in most areas of that part of the state.
"The 2000 survey indicates that for a third straight year, the pheasant population grew significantly in the Aberdeen, Watertown, Brookings, and Sisseton areas," Hansen noted. "While the survey results show that the Watertown area is about the same as it was before the decline of the mid-1990s, Aberdeen, Brookings, and Sisseton all posted counts in 2000 that exceed those prior to the mid-90s decline. In addition, the survey also indicates that pheasant numbers in the Sioux Falls area have bounced back from the 1999 decline."
Despite declines in some sections of the state and a statewide population that is similar to 1999, pheasant hunters in South Dakota, as a whole, will likely experience the best pheasant hunting in recent memory. "That is not to say that hunters in localized areas that experienced loss of habitat (specifically the loss of CRP), severe weather or other factors that reduced pheasant densities will all have as good of success as they had in 1999," he said. "However, the majority of the areas where the brood counts indicate a decline from 1999 to 2000 probably still have some of the highest densities of pheasants found not only in South Dakota, but likely the entire continent of North America."
Hansen added that it is important to remember that the population potential of pheasants, like any natural resource, has its limits.
"Long-term populations will only climb when an increase in the quantity or quality of habitat in an area allows an expansion," he said. "Over the long-term, there will also be fluctuations in the population due to various beneficial and inclement weather conditions. It is these favorable weather conditions (most notably, three relatively mild winters) in conjunction with a good habitat base provided by Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres that has provided the recipe for a remarkable three-year population expansion in northeastern South Dakota."
The 2000 survey indicates that northeastern South Dakota’s pheasant population increased six-fold from the 1997 survey, when on the average, less than 15 pheasants were observed on each 30-mile survey route. On these same routes this year, an average of more than 85 pheasants were observed on each route.
"The bottom line," Hansen said, "is that the improved distribution of pheasants across the state this year will create better opportunities for more pheasant hunters.’"
Uploaded: 8/31/2000
Uploaded: 8/31/2000