BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Hunters killed more pheasants in North Dakota last fall than they did the previous year, although the numbers are tempered by the fact that drought and declining habitat continue to impact the odds of a successful outing.
The Bismarck Tribune reports that about 58,200 hunters killed 327,000 roosters in 2018. That was up just 6% from the dismal 2017 hunt, when the harvest was the smallest in 16 years at just 309,400 pheasants. Recent numbers have also been lower than normal in neighboring South Dakota and Minnesota.
Neither year approached the state Game and Fish Department’s benchmark for success, which is 500,000 pheasants.
Wildlife officials attribute the numbers to less grassland due to farmers putting idled Conservation Reserve Program land back into crop production, along with drought conditions.
