Dakota Prairie Hunting
Bird outlook for fall 2025 promising Hunters enjoyed a productive 2024 season. Two consecutive mild winters are encouraging.
by Bill Mitzel
A
nyone who’ s carried a shotgun a few years across the Dakota prairie in search of upland game knows that the status of the population depends first on habitat, but also on weather. The first is negotiable, the second, not so much.
With two consecutive mild winters on the books in North and South Dakota, it’ s pretty much a locked bet that upland birds, ring-necked pheasants and sharptailed grouse have done well. That’ s what’ s they do when things work in their favor.
Of course, winter conditions aren’ t all of it. Spring can be harder on prairie birds than deep snow and 20 below. It takes the right combination of mild weather, morning dew, abundant insects and grass for young birds to survive. And even then, most pheasants in the Dakotas don’ t reach year one.
Last Year’ s Summary
Recently, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks( GFP) announced the 2024 ring-necked pheasant season harvest numbers: Some 1.3 million( wild) roosters were killed, the highest harvest in 13 years.( An additional 380,000 pheasants were harvested by hunters within a defined private shooting preserve.)
South Dakota hunters har-
Page 36, Dakota Country, September 2025 www. dakotacountrymagazine. com