2023 Season Recap and Midwinter Field Report
Solid bird numbers and favorable weather conditions combined to make the 2023 pheasant season one for the books. Plus, the table is being set for a banner year of bird production in spring 2024.
A rooster takes flight as the sun sets on the 2023 pheasant season.
The 2023 pheasant season closed Jan. 31, 2024, but my pheasant season didn’t really come to an end until earlier today when I cleaned out my vests, folded my chaps and stowed away all my other pheasant gear.
As the remnant pheasant feathers escaped the the game bag and drifted down the driveway on the morning breeze, memories of the past hunting season came flooding back. I couldn’t help but smile, because we had a really rewarding season for a number of reasons. Even better? We have a lot to look forward to in the coming year.
Solid Bird Numbers
In the 2023 pheasant forecast I wrote back in September for Pheasants Forever, I quoted plenty of farm bill biologists and other folks from around the state who expected pheasant numbers to be on par with the previous year, despite the harsh winter we experienced in 2022-2023.
Last year’s extreme winter, with record snowfall and month after month of subzero temps, tested the limits of wildlife survival. However, the state’s pheasant population proved resilient, and thanks to widely successful spring nesting and brood-rearing season, solid bird numbers greeted hunters this fall across a majority of the state.
Favorable Weather Conditions
Another highlight of the season was the weather. Hunters enjoyed favorable conditions for a majority of the season, with only a brief two- to three-week span of snow and below-zero temperatures from late December to mid-January. During that time, I’ll admit I was nervous, wondering how the birds could possibly make it through another brutal winter.
There were no roosters in the bunch, but plenty of hens are a good thing!
However, temperatures climbed back into the 30s by mid-January and have stayed there through February. Daytime temps have even soared into the 50s and 60s lately, and this unseasonably warm weather has been fantastic for the overwinter survival of the bird population.
These mild temperatures, with nighttime lows only dipping into the 20s, mean that the birds' bodies don't have to consume as much food or work as hard to stay warm. In other words, South Dakota’s pheasants are not facing the same risk of starvation or freezing to death as they did last year. Additionally, most of the snow has melted, uncovering plenty of roosting and hiding cover for the birds to survive — even in places with marginal habitat.
Setting the Stage
The last piece of good news from the weather front is that most of the state’s primary pheasant range is entering the spring in good shape moisture-wise. According to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor map, most of the state is in the clear. Portions of eastern South Dakota — mainly the Prairie Coteau and lower James River Valley — are still categorized as “abnormally dry.” The same goes for the very northern portions of the Missouri River Corridor and the Western High Plains.
Current Drought Conditions
The U.S. Drought Monitor shows portions of the eastern South Dakota in abnormally dry (yellow) or moderate drought (tan) conditions. A little moisture and a somewhat normal spring could mean good things for the state’s pheasant population.
I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I’ve been seeing birds everywhere I drive this winter, which is a good thing. If these ideal weather and habitat conditions continue, the stage is being set for a spring where bird production could be off the charts.
2023 Pheasant Season Hunt Recap
In total, my son and I brought home over 45 birds this season, with about half coming from public land. Like many of you, we’re weekend warriors, and we’re also proof that average hunters with an average dog can find success if their willing to put in the work.
Speaking of the dog, this might have been his best season yet. Gauge, my 8-year-old yellow Lab, might show signs of aging, but we only lost one bird this whole season. Ironically, it was a bird I could’ve swore was dead on arrival, but after a half-hour of trailing it through some grass to heavy cattails, Gauge eventually lost interest. How we didn’t recover that bird remains a mystery, but it serves as another reminder of the resilient character of these birds.
For a Lab, ol’ Gauger dog turned into a pretty good pheasant dog. Here’s a limit from a late-December hunt.
Habitat conditions were much better this past fall than the previous two years. Timely rains last spring gave habitat a much-needed shot in the arm that bolstered it through the fall.
Still, a lot of the CRP ground, especially in the southern half of the state, was hayed again this year. Due to drought, emergency haying and grazing practices were opened up across most of the state last August by the Farm Service Agency. That meant a lot of CREP and Walk-In Area public hunting areas had reduced or even no cover to hunt this past fall.
Unfortunately, this has been a recurring theme the past few seasons. As mentioned, most of the state is currently drought-free, and we can hope that continues through the fall. Plus, even if an area is hayed or grazed in late summer, remember that the grass was there in the spring when it mattered most for bird production.
Hope on the Horizon
Hope is the constant companion for every hunter. After all, a hunter without hope isn’t much of a hunter when you think about it.
It's the hope of another successful season, of new memories waiting to be made, and that an old dog has another year left in the tank. It’s the hope that rainfall returns this spring and summer, enabling our pheasant population to have another successful nesting and brood-rearing season.
And if you’re like me, and I’m guessing you are, riding that hope is about the only thing that makes the off-season tolerable.