Optimistic Pheasant Season for Hunters - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

Pheasant opener is just a couple weeks away in North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota, and hunters may be looking at a much better season than last year.

Ringneck counts are up 59 percent from last year in North Dakota. On the other side of the river in Minnesota, the pheasant population is up 68 percent. In South Dakota they are up 18 percent.

The North Dakota Game and Fish is cautiously optimistic about their surveys. They say conditions were pretty good for a big hatch, but they need hunters to see juvenile pheasants in the fields.

Biologist Doug Leier says, "We really kinda hang our hats on when folks are out archery deer hunting, which has been going on since August 31...When they get out for the grouse season, which opened up in early September...When they get out for the duck season, and they're seeing juvenile pheasants out there. Those are the things that maybe make us breathe a little sigh of relief that okay our numbers were probably in the ballpark."

Pheasant season opens on October 13 in North Dakota and Minnesota. In South Dakota, it opens up October 20.