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Hunting prospects for Minnesota pheasants and cottontail rabbits look good this fall, according to results of August roadside wildlife counts recently completed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Minnesota^s pheasant season opens Saturday, Oct. 14, and the rabbit season opens Saturday, Sept. 16.
Overall, the number of pheasants seen along the August roadside count routes was up slightly, but did not significantly change from 1999, according to Kurt Haroldson, a wildlife research biologist with the DNR^s Farmland Wildlife Population and Research Group in Madelia. "The slight increase of 12 percent range wide was not statistically significant, but there was a major shift in the regional abundance of pheasants," Haroldson said. Pheasant counts in the northern half of Minnesota^s pheasant range were up 78 percent while those in the southern half declined 18 percent.
"The breeding population this spring was up 20 percent over the spring of 1999 due to the mild winter," explained Haroldson. "The northern half of the pheasant range was able to capitalize on this increase and get off good broods this summer, but the wetter-than-normal conditions in the south and southeast hurt brood production there."
Haroldson said pheasant hunting prospects are similar to those of 1995 and 1996, when hunters harvested 340,000 and 400,000 roosters, respectively. "I predict we^ll be closer to 340,000 this year," Haroldson said.
Pheasant population trends are based on results of the DNR^s annual roadside count survey. Begun in 1955, this survey notes numbers of ring-necked pheasants, cottontail rabbits, jackrabbits, mourning doves and deer. Conducted during the first two weeks in August, the counts are done along roughly 170 prescribed routes in farmland counties from Lake of the Woods south to Houston. Wildlife managers and conservation officers drive back roads in early morning at about 15 miles per hour and count the number of game animals they see.
Haroldson said that good numbers of pheasants are spread throughout more of the pheasant range than in 1999. "Last year the birds were bunched up in southwest and south-central Minnesota and there were so many hunters cramming in there that it was terrible some days," said the avid upland hunter. "This year we should have good hunting in south-central, southwest, west-central and east-central Minnesota. Because there^s no real concentration in one spot, people should be able to hunt locally and the pressure should be more evenly distributed."
Haroldson noted that the number of federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres in the pheasant range, while up slightly from 1999, is still 38 percent below the peak of 1.078 million in the early 1990s.
"The scarcity of CRP grasslands should concentrate pheasants in the remaining cover areas early in the season," he said. "But after the first few days of shooting, the birds will disperse to fencelines and odd brushy areas."
While pheasant hunting appears promising, the outlook for Hungarian partridge hunting is dim. The number of Hungarian partridge seen along the August routes was down 56 percent from 1999. Haroldson said that partridge numbers are generally depressed throughout their range, "although a few local hot spots can be found." The partridge population index is similar to that in 1995, when 26,000 birds were harvested. "The best chance for flushing a covey or two will be in the southwest and south-central regions," he said.
Cottontails counted during the roadside surveys increased 30 percent from 1999. Survey results indicate that cottontail populations are at their highest levels since 1981. "We expect hunters to harvest approximately 120,000 cottontails in the 2000-01 season," Haroldson said.
Jackrabbit numbers still remain at very low levels, however. The 2000 population index was 65 percent below the 15-year average and 82 percent below the 30-year average.
Uploaded: 9/6/2000
Uploaded: 9/6/2000