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Dec. 15, 2009 - Hunting conditions continue to improve amid the slow harvest progress. Bird harvest reports have improved from most areas in the state as wet areas are now frozen allowing both farmers and hunters to get into areas previously inaccessible. Corn harvest is continueing to progress but pace is slow by weather and storage shortage and dryer capacity at the elevators. Corn harvest looks like it will take right up until end of year to complete.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Most all of the crop in the state of South Dakota is out of the fields now except for 28% of remaining corn crop which is coming down fast. Winter storm is blowing across state today and that may slow things out but within 2 weeks the rest of the corn crop will be out making the last 2-3 weeks of the pheasant hunting season spectacular.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Summary: Corn moves from 40% harvested to 58% this last week. Beans, Sorghum and Sunflowers are all in the 90% range which effectly brings those to closure (done). The 10 day forecast looks dry and sunny which won't help drying much but will allow farmers to continue working on harvest. At this pace corn harvest could finish in 2-3 weeks. SD Game and Fish has a vote on the table Dec. 3rd to increase pheasant daily limit from 3 to 5 birds per day increasing game bag total from 15 to 25 in possession.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Pierre, S.D. ? Due to the delayed harvest of crops this fall, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission intends to act at its Dec. 3-4 meeting in Pierre on a proposal to raise the three-bird daily pheasant bag limit to five cock pheasants daily.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Cover that pheasants hide in during the day continues to shrink at substancial pace each week. Hunting conditions have improved and reports are good around state. Corn crop is 40% out of field now but 60% still remains and sounds like areas in NE part of state may be in all winter due to mold and muddy fields being inaccesible. The weather has been dry and mild the last week and that bodes well for continued harvest. Pheasant hunting looks to be its best after Thanksgiving and on into the new year in South Dakota.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Soybeans are all but done and corn made its biggest harvest leap this year last week. With a favorable 10 day weather forecast the farmers should begin hitting the corn hard and getting it out of the fields.
I can speak first hand about how this will improve the hunting conditions as my operator stripped out all the corn on my farm abd we went from seeing no birds to harvesting 19 in one day.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Major gains have been made in soybeans and now corn ans well as sorghum across the state. However, corn and beans are still behind but catching up quick. Hunting will pickup but a lot more corn has to come out to really improve hunting conditions dramatically. The report also does not refelct the great gains made this week on crop harvest due to excellent harvest and drying weather.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Limits coming from Dewey county camps and Lyman county camps but most East River camps struggle as plagued by standing corn. Corn harvest only making 3% per week. Beans is going at 10% per week which would mean another 4-5 weeks to get done and then start on corn which would means corn harvest would start at large around 1st week of Dec.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Limits coming from West River, Stoney Butte Creek and Aberdeen North locations. Corn harvest increased only 3% last week across state from 6% to 9%. Soybeans went from 30% to 40% harvested and milo only went from 24% to 26%. Temps are cooler across state and rains over last 2 weeks have not helped harvest conditions improve much. Hunters are finding best hunting during last hour of daylight as birds move from corn to roosting cover.
Dec. 15, 2009 - GFP counted an average of 6.32 pheasants per mile in 2009, the fourth highest statewide count in the past 45 years. Although this year?s statewide index has decreased from last year, the 2009 statewide pheasant per mile count is 13 percent higher than the 10-year average.
Dec. 15, 2009 - For the fifth year out of the last six, Minnesota pheasant hunters in 2008 harvested more than a half million roosters. Prior to 2003, Minnesota hunters had bagged more than 500,000 birds during just two seasons since 1964 (1981 & 1991). While the 2008 harvest fell well below the 40-year record set in 2007 with a 655,000 bird harvest, hunter participation and success during the 2008 season remained high.
Dec. 15, 2009 - PIERRE, S.D. ? South Dakota has millions of acres of lands open to the public, and a new option to locate those areas is being offered by the Department of Game, Fish and Parks.
Dec. 15, 2009 - North Dakota?s spring pheasant crowing count survey revealed a 25 percent decrease statewide compared to last year, according to Stan Kohn, upland game management supervisor for the state Game and Fish Department.
Dec. 15, 2009 - The critical nesting season is winding down. Mid June to mid July is critical nesting season. I've had reports of 22 egg nests and 12,14,16 chick broods.
Dec. 15, 2009 - I've been talking with landowners across the state and also tracking the snow line.
Dec. 15, 2009 - South Dakota - In recent years, South Dakota has experienced very mild winters which have helped produce record pheasant populations. To date, the 2008-2009 winter has brought an end to this mild spell as constant cold fronts carrying snow, arctic temperatures and strong winds (up to 70 mph in some areas) have passed across the entire state.
Dec. 15, 2009 - If early season reports were less than stellar due to the crop harvest being severely hampered by fall rains and moisture, then the late season reports will reflect the true bird numbers now that better than 90% of crops across the state are out of the field.
Dec. 15, 2009 - PIERRE, S.D. -- For pheasant hunters who were in the fields last year, 2008 may offer a sense of déjà vu as South Dakota once again boasts a near-record population of ringnecks.
Dec. 15, 2009 - We're soon to be on the eve of the opener of the 100th year of pheasants since the introduction of the bird to the state a century ago.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Saint Paul, Minn. September 24, 2008 Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF), members of the No Child Left Inside Coalition, applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for its recent passage of the No Child Left Inside Act of 2008. The No Child Left Inside Act of 2008 creates new funding for training teachers in outdoor education, expands environmental education programs and helps states to create programs to ensure that U.S. graduates are environmentally literate.
Dec. 15, 2009 - Save for Iowa, where devastating weather negatively impacted the pheasant population, the remainder of the core pheasant powerhouses the Dakotas, Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska will provide great opportunities for you to slide roosters into your vest this fall.
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