RING-NECKED PHEASANT The ring-necked pheasant, which became the state bird of South Dakota, is commonly found in agriculture farmlands with crops of corn, wheat, oats, barley or hay, or areas with grasslands mixed with small woodlands. Pheasant is a popular midwestern game bird, drawing hunters from across the nation each fall season.

 

The storyline originates in North Dakota. Recent mild winters have caused a pheasant boom in the state, which is extremely hunter-friendly.

South Dakota claims to be the pheasant capitol of the world, and rightly so. The state has millions of ringnecks and lots of hunters. Pheasant hunting is big business in South Dakota.

Not quite so in North Dakota. Mark Zimmerman of North Dakota tourism says the state's pheasants are gaining on those of its sister state, plus there's plenty opportunity to hunt both on private land and on PLOTS acres, which are leased from private landowners for public hunting.

"South Dakota claims to be the pheasant capital of the world and rightly so," says Zimmerman

"Pheasants are number one in South Dakota. A lot of the saying I've heard here in the past year is, ‘this is the good ole days.' We've had great pheasant numbers. We've had some mild winters in North Dakota. We still have a good amount of land in CRP. Some is coming out. We are losing CRP acres across the state."

He continues, "But I've heard from land owners now when they consider price of production versus the good prices in farm commodity, some are considering leaving they're land in CRP. But at the same time, even with the million acres in plots, there's still millions of acres in private ownership, that if the hunters visit with the land owner and make that contact, they're going to find a place to hunt. So, our upland numbers are great."

So, if you're looking for a place to hunt pheasants this fall, consider North Dakota. To get more information, visit the website of North Dakota tourism: www.ndtourism.com.

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