Pheasant Hunting Forecasts

When it comes to forecasting pheasants numbers and hunting harvests on of the biggest factors is weather. In northern states 10-20 percent of the birds that survive the hunting season don't last through the winter. According to some experts typical mortality rates of pheasants from August through the following sprint are close to 50 percent. The good news is pheasants can sustain these types of losses because they are able to reproduce at incredible rates. In good years a pheasant hen can hatch from seven to 10 chicks for every adult pheasant. Close to 80 percent of the pheasants harvested each year by hunters are only a few months old. Weather durring pheasant reproduction and durring the winter as well as good habitat are the keys to good hunting prospects.

2009-2010 Pheasant Season Outlook

SD Pheasant Numbers Looking Good
South Dakota Brood Survey Indicates Another Good Year for Pheasants. – The S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department counted an average of 6.32 pheasants per mile in 2009 as part of its annual pheasant brood survey, the fourth highest statewide count in the past 45 years.

2009 Minnesot Pheasant Roadside Survey
Minnesota pheasant hunters, who in recent years have experienced some of the best hunting since the mid-1950s and early 1960s, are expected to harvest fewer birds this autumn.

Information On Previous Outlooks:

Iowa 2007 Pheasant Numbers Steady from 2006
It is not exactly the combination pheasant hunters and wildlife experts would draw up for good pheasant survival - a blizzard in March, an ice storm and flooding during the early spring nesting season. Iowa pheasants endured a rough year, but with that said, Iowa will maintain its position as a top pheasant hunting state in the country.

2007 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting Outlook