2014 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Forecast - Mid Summer Outlook

July 14, 2014 by UGUIDE South Dakota Pheasant Hunting

In the last year or two there has not been a lot of positive news, regarding pheasants, coming out of the state of South Dakota. That is about to change......

My wife and I just returned from a walleye fishing trip in Mobridge on the Missouri river.  We traveled 8 hours each way from Mpls and what struck me was the amount of biomass (cover) and how little the road ditches had been mowed.  The abundance of sweet clover and alfalfa in the ditches, pastures and CRP fields was incredible.  These species are often found in CRP nesting mixes and aid in enhancing pheasant reproduction.

A few weeks prior I had returned from our farm in Charles Mix County enthusiastic about the nesting conditions and brood sightings and as optimistic as I can remember about the prospects for fall.  I talk to a lot of people around the state and never have I heard of so many comments about "having seen more birds this spring than in the last two years".

There have been stories in the news about heavy rains and flooding but this is limited to an area in the very SE section of the state (Sioux Falls) and east (into southern Minnesota).  Not the main pheasant belt.

Crops look great around the state and it is hard to ascertain if harvest will be early or late but crops are in and weather has been good for moving them along.

Crop prices are the lowest I have seen in several years.  I produce on about 110 acres of our farm and am plugged into daily crop prices and I just got a text with corn at 2.90 a bushel.  This is a long way from $7.00/bushel prices that ignited the corn belt a few years back.  This is good news for CRP because the USDA has recently announced a grain glut for harvest this fall which will hold prices lower.  When grain prices are this low, CRP rental rates look much better and we may see more acres converted to grassland or CRP this fall.  Cattle prices are high also supporting more grassland acres and hay fields which are friendly for pheasants.

Pheasants Forever just opened their first ever regional office in Brookings South Dakota with a #1 focus on the state's conservation and habitat concerns.

One of our outfitters in Roscoe is a seed dealer and travels 1000's of miles across the state on sales calls and commented that he had seen many many new broods of pheasants and ducks.

The prospects of an abundant harvest of roosters this fall looks very promising.

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