The South Dakota Game Fish and Parks recently released their annual brood count survey. Although the total pheasant population is down from 2008, GFP Secretary Jeff Vonk, said . “I believe that even with this decline, South Dakota will continue to offer the premier hunting opportunity in the nation. In the past 45 years only 2005, 2007, and 2008 have a higher pheasant per mile count than we found this year.”
The annual brood counts are conducted on 109 designated 30-mile routes for three weeks from late July through mid-August. Those counts averaged 6.32 pheasants per mile, compared to 8.56 last year, but this year’s totals still represented a 13 percent increase over the 10-year average of 5.58 birds per mile.
The highest pheasant density were found in:
1. The Chamberlain area that includes Brule, Buffalo, Lyman, Aurora, and parts of Charles Mix, Gregory, and Tripp Counties.
- This year’s 19.26 birds per mile were down 15 percent from 22.56 in 2008 but significantly above the 10-year average of 14.57.
2. Pierre (Hughes County) ranked second with 11.48 pheasants per mile
3. Winner (Tripp County) was right behind at 11.43.
The detailed 2009 Pheasant Brood Survey Report, complete with a look at pheasant counts in the different local areas around the state, can be found on the GFP web site at www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/Hunting/Pheasant/Outlook.htm.