Kohn thought that hunters coming into the state should be reminded that non-residents are not allowed to hunt on land owned or leased by the NDGFD, which includes PLOTS acreage, until after the first week of the season.

North Dakota’s season is tentatively set to open Oct. 13 and to run into January 2008. Hunters will be allowed three roosters in the daily bag with a possession limit of 12; shooting hours are from a half-hour before sunrise to sunset. License costs will stand at $20 for residents and $100 for out-of-state-guests. The non-resident license is good for two seven-day periods or 14 consecutive days; additional licenses may be purchased.

SOUTH DAKOTA
The news coming from the pheasant fields of South Dakota couldn’t look much better, even though the harvest last season slipped slightly from the book-buster of 2005.

“Our winter went very well,” said Tom Kirschenmann, senior wildlife biologist with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks. “We had high numbers of birds left in the fields after last season, and those birds benefited from the mild conditions. We did experience more ‘normal’ winter conditions, but overall we had a very good number of carryover birds.”

That’s great news for a state that boasts 80,000 resident and 97,000 non-resident pheasant hunters. Those wingshooters harvested an estimated 1.84 million ringnecks last year, and, although that was slightly off from the record 1.95 million roosters taken in 2005, it’s still a ton of birds. This kill figure overwhelmingly leads the nation, and buttresses South Dakota’s claim to the title of “Pheasant Capital of the World.”

“Hunters were pretty happy last year, and the slight decline occurred in areas hardest hit by last summer’s drought,” explained Kirschenmann. “We went into the season telling hunters those areas were down, and the season played out as expected. Overall, we had a great season last year, and we are set up to have another this year.”

Hunter numbers rose along with the strong bird numbers. Resident hunters held at 80,000, but non-resident numbers jumped by 2 percent, to 97,000. “Any wingshooter in the nation dreams of hunting wild ringnecks in South Dakota,” said Kirschenmann, “and right now people are enjoying some of the best hunting the state has seen in half a decade.”

Like their counterparts in their neighbor to the north, South Dakota officials thank CRP for the vast jump in bird numbers since the program began. Some of the nearly 1 million acres of private Walk-In lands that the state leases are CRP properties, and their existence is vital. “Several hundred thousand acres are set to expire this fall, and that could bring a big change to the landscape,” Kirschenmann remarked.

Drought conditions limited habitat and hunting opportunities in the western reaches of the pheasant belt last year; fortunately, population gains in the eastern parts of the range helped ease the situation. For this season, the main pheasant belt will once again lie along the upper James River Valley and south-central parts of the state.

South Dakota’s pheasant season will run from Oct. 20 to Jan. 6. License costs will hold at $29 for residents; the 10-day non-resident license (good for 10 consecutive days or two five-day periods) will run $110. Each licensed hunter is allowed three cock pheasants, with 15 in possession.

NEBRASKA
Pheasant hunters hitting the fields in Nebraska last fall had an average season. Strong pockets were found throughout the region, but a few sleepers existed as well. Scott Taylor, upland game manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, summed up the 2006 season as “not outstanding, but not poor, either.”