South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks officials released their annual pheasant brood survey count today and it’s showing a whopping 47 percent increase over last year. Senior Game, Fish and Parks Upland Game Biologist Travis Runia of Huron says some areas of the state experienced significant increases following a down year in 2017. He said the increase is statewide and that a favorable winter helped improve bird numbers.
He said that some of the more significant increases were noted along the I-29 corridor.
The long-term trend for pheasants depends, to a large extent, on habitat, says Runia and that the state is still 40 percent below the ten-year average for pheasant abundance. The only area not showing an increase this year is West River where the pheasant numbers remained unchanged. 2018 marks the 100th pheasant season in South Dakota.
(KXLG)