A difficult winter in 2008/2009 took a toll on birds and reproduction wasn’t optimum.
Those factors lead to a subsequent decline in the number of hunters and in the number of roosters harvested in the fall of 2009.
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The pheasant harvest was 651,700 roosters compared to 776,700 in 2008.
The peak in recent years was in 2007 when the harvest reached 907,434 roosters.
If the spring crowing counts just completed are any indication, and they may not be, the decline in the quality of the pheasant season in North Dakota may continue in 2010.
The annual spring count conducted by the N.D. Game and Fish Department shows a statewide decline of six percent with some areas worse off.
The northwest was down 16 percent and the northeast was off 10 percent.
Fortunately, the southwest and southeast regions showed numbers similar to those counted in 2009.
“This past winter did not appear to have a role in the lower crowing counts,” said Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor. “It is probably the result of a lower number of adult birds surviving the winter of 2008-09, coupled with poor production in spring 2009 because of cool, wet weather at the time of the hatch, resulting in chick mortality and fewer young entering the population last fall.”
Even though the crowing counts were down it doesn’t tell the whole story, according to Kohn.
“Hens are the segment of the population that determines the fall population,” he said. “In spring 2009, field personnel noted the low number of hens with roosters (1-2 hens per rooster) indicating the hen population might be smaller than usual. This spring there were no such observations reported.”
Another reason for optimism is the lush habitat we have here in North Dakota this year.
Good moisture means plenty of cover for the young broods and lots of insects, especially grasshoppers, for the chicks to feed on.
All those factors contribute to the real dynamic that determines the quality of the fall hunt – reproduction.
The vast majority of the roosters bagged each year are young-of-the-year birds so if reproduction is good so is the hunting.
“Recent downpours in some areas may jeopardize broods in some localized spots, but we have not experienced cool temperatures associated with these showers,” Kohn said. “I think production should be much better than in 2008 and 2009.”
Brood surveys are conducted from mid-July through September and the results of that effort will tell us just how good the pheasant hunting could be this fall.
I know it’s starting to sound like a broken record but the future of pheasant hunting also depends on how many Conservation Reserve Program acres we lose. In North Dakota we’ve already lost 700,000 acres and could lose a million more in the coming years.
There’s no doubt the current boom in pheasant populations, as well as many other species of wildlife, game and non-game, is a direct result of CRP.
It’s the greatest conservation program the federal government ever came up with but with the current administration it could be in trouble.
The best thing you can do is inform yourself and do what you can to help ensure the survival of CRP.
If you’re intent on doing some scouting for the 2010 pheasant season it might help you to know that the top counties for resident hunter pheasant harvest were Hettinger, Burleigh, Morton, McLean and Stark.
For nonresidents the best counties were Hettinger, Bowmen, Emmons, McIntosh and Dickey. Last year pheasant hunters spent an average of 4.4 days in the field and bagged an average of 7.4 roosters.
MN DEADLINES
If you’d like to apply for one of the 186 prairie chicken permits available in Minnesota this year your deadline is Friday, July 30.
The prairie chicken season is only 5 days long and begins on Oct. 23.
Only Minnesota residents are eligible and there is a $4 application fee.
If you draw the license it will cost you $20.
That’s also the deadline to apply for one of the 10,480 fall turkey permits that are available across 67 units this fall.
There are no longer any multiple turkey seasons in the fall, just one that runs from Oct. 2 through Oct. 31.
The application fee is $3 and residents pay $23 for a license and nonresidents pay $78.
To apply for either of these licenses visit any DNR licensing location or apply online at the DNR Web site address - www.mndnr.gov/buyalicense, or call 888-665-4236.
RUFFED GROUSE
It appears Minnesota’s ruffed grouse population peaked out last fall according to recently completed spring drumming counts.
Survey results show the number of drumming grouse per stop is down significantly from 2009, which is now considered the peak in the current 10-year cycle of undulating grouse populations.
The northeast region showed a 31 percent decline and the southeast was down 29 percent.
Fortunately, the counts in the northwest and the central hardwoods were essentially unchanged from last year.
MN DUCKS
The duck population in Minnesota is said to be relatively unchanged from last year, which isn’t good news.
The number of breeding ducks is estimated to be 531,000 which compares to 541,000 in 2009.
To put some perspective on those numbers the prairie pothole region of North Dakota is home to 4.5 million breeding ducks this year.
Minnesota’s duck population has been struggling for years due to excessive drainage and development of wetlands.
The Canada goose population is, however, doing quite well and is also estimated to be similar to last year.
You can read the entire waterfowl report online at www.mndnr.gov/hunting/waterfowl.
DEER LOTTERY
The deer lottery in North Dakota was in progress at the time of this writing so by now you should either have an email from the N.D. Game and Fish Department with the results or you can go online at gf.nd.gov to find your results.
SECOND AMENDMENT
By now you’ve heard the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right of individuals to bear arms and that right extends to all states and local governments.
This should be the end of this debate but we all know better.
My question is this: How could four Justices of the Supreme Court, supposedly reasonable, sane thinking people, actually believe the framers of the Constitution intended to guarantee the right to bear arms only to a well-regulated militia?
This country had just won a war against the British Empire largely because of private gun ownership and a rag-tag army of well-armed private citizens.
That right to bear arms is precisely why those justices don’t have to wear those silly British wigs when they’re in session.
It’s clear to me those four justices are allowing their personal political views to cloud their interpretation of the Constitution.
That or they’re on some kind of hallucinogens.
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