Pheasant hunters hit the fields excited about 18 percent bird bu - KOTA Territory News

Pheasant hunters hit the fields excited about 18 percent bird bump

Saturday marked the beginning of pheasant season for out-of-state hunters.
 
And even though that means more guns in more fields statewide, there are plenty of birds to go around.

Marc Black and his son Sam of Rapid City have been hunting in South Dakota together for two-and-a-half decades.
 
"I was raised in it," Sam said. "I mean, this is normal to me."
 
What's not so normal is bagging the limit of pheasants and grouse in a single day.
 
"There has been very few days where I've been able to go out and harvest three pheasant and three grouse," said Marc.
 
But that's exactly what he did last weekend when the season opened up for in-state hunters.
 
"There's a lot of birds in the area," Marc said.
 
There are 18 percent more pheasants across the state on 1.2 million acres of walk-in areas.
 
"If I had my druthers," Sam said, "I'd probably go East River, just 'cause there's more pheasants, there's more ducks, there's more opportunities to hunt throughout the day."
 
"You have to go, you know, where there's some food and some cover," Marc added.
 
And while the western part of the state has been hit hard by the drought, there are still enough of those good places for birds to hide.
 
"They're congregating in different areas," said Marc, "but there's a large number of birds."
 
The lack of rain also hasn't had much time to have an effect.

That means more habitat and more birds.
 
"To come out here for three hours and be getting a bird every 10 minutes or getting to a few birds every few minutes, that's really fun," Marc said.
 
"Much better than sitting at home watching TV," added Sam.

Saturday did start out pretty slow for the four-person group that included the Blacks, with just a few grouse in the first hour or so.

But the day picked up, and within a couple hours, they had seven pheasants between the four of them.