Pheasant Forecasts for 2011

I am, obviously, an avid fly fisherman. I love my float tube, my fly rod and battling with trout, smallies or anything else that takes the bait. However, I also love to hunt and this is the time of year when hunters all start planning for the season ahead.

My phone has started to ring….and thus I know that pheasant season is nearing; a few hunting friends call each year to both discuss the upcoming pheasant possibilities and to ask if I know the ‘skinny’ on what lies ahead…so here it is.

Let’s start at home in Indiana and move outward. I hate to be pessimistic but pheasants and Indiana don’t really go together. I am asked often why Indiana is such a poor pheasant state…it is simple, cover. There just isn’t enough free space, idle ground, CRP land to support a large population of birds. If you have ever driven through parts of Kansas you would understand that us Hoosiers farm almost all of our land; in Kansas there are literally millions of acres that sit fallow and thus provide nesting and roosting cover…protection for the pheasant population. Last year 9,300 pheasants were bagged by about 12,700 hunters; that is less than one pheasant per hunter! The bad news is that this year’s spring call count survey showed a 25% decline in the number of pheasant crows per stop; bottom line is that it could be an even leaner pheasant season. A good bet this season would be to try northeast Indiana…good luck. The season starts November 4^th and runs through December 18^th with a bag limit of 2 birds and a possession limit of 4.

Well….let’s move from the bottom to the top; South Dakota. South Dakota has been the pheasant capital of the US for a long time and it appears it won’t be giving up the honor anytime too soon. Annually hunters in SD harvest over a million birds; this year may be the first season in recent past that those numbers fall below the million mark due to one of the worst winters in recent history. The harsh winter conditions of 2010/2011 left its mark with heavy mortality rates throughout the state. If you are looking for jumping off destinations, Winner, Pierre and Mobridge are your best bets. The top spot in the state goes to Chamberlain…with the state’s highest pheasant numbers. If you have never been to SD, don’t look for a ton of public hunting; however, this year there has been about 60,000 acres of CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) lands added to the booty in the James River Valley area. As a whole, east central SD is the strong hold for birds. Much of the state is and has been a pay to hunt situation…although open public land can be found. The season starts October 15 and runs through January 1 of 2012. The bag limit is 3 birds with a possession limit of 15.

My personal favorite is Kansas. Last season was the best pheasant season in over two decades. I can’t say that I saw birds by the flocks…but with enough shoe leather a guy should have been able to put a few birds in the freezer. The word for this year is drought. Drought does two things; it reduces the amount of wheat stubble, which is nesting and roosting cover out there and it significantly reduces the amount of insects in early summer when chicks are in hot pursuit of a good, nutritious meal. So…western Kansas could be in for a big drop in numbers; central Kansas however, escaped much of the carnage and predictions are still optimistic for a great season. If I were going for the first time I would dead head for central Kansas and specifically the counties of Pawnee, Ness, Hodgeman and Rush counties. The amount of CRP lands enrolled in the states WIHA (walk-in hunting areas) is staggering; you could literally hunt a different piece of ground day after day and never hit the same spot. The season runs from November 12^th through January 31^st of 2012. Daily bag limits are set at 4 per day with a possession limit of 16.

Our last stop is the most tragic; Iowa. It is hard to believe how far the hunting in Iowa has fallen. It proves a point…that you can have all the food you want and have a bird sitting on a lonely black top parking lot…and the birds won’t make it, they need cover. Iowa has had one disaster after another and it wasn’t that long ago that their harvest topped out over 1 million birds and led the country in numbers harvested. This past season hunters bagged a measly 238,000 roosters, a new record low for the state. That is the good news…as Iowa suffered its fifth consecutive winter with more than 30 inches of snow; when combined with more record flooding the outlook for this year is bleak. Based on this year’s statewide index of 6.8 birds/route, it is estimated that hunters should harvest about 150 to 200 thousand birds! A long ways from the million bird mark. The season in Iowa will run from October 29^th through January 10 of 2012. The daily bag limit is 3 with a possession limit of 12.

Well…there you have it; some good news and some news that I wish I didn’t have to share…but news nevertheless. Grab your buddies, your gear and for sure your dog and head out to chase the king of game birds around and Enjoy the Great Outdoors.