# It does not look good



## NDMALLARD (Mar 9, 2002)

I wwent out west this weekend to check out what how the pheasants survived the last storm. It is not good. Are there pheasants... yes compared to the past 5-6 years: no!

With the loss of CRP and the bad winter, we are going to have a lot less birds in my opinion. I am not a wildlife expert but I don't think it takes an expert to to see how bad it is in the areas I hunt. Many of the cattail sluoghs I saw were devoid of any cover. I saw on hen pheasant and she looked awful. I don't want to be Chicken Little but I think it will be tough year in the field for the area I hunt. I can't speak for west of the river but south central Nodak got hammered.

Tell me I am wrong and I will gladly hope you are right


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## Sask hunter (Sep 11, 2008)

SK started to put feed out down south ,where there is the most of our pheasants, a month ago because that last bigger snow storm had sealed there coffin according to them


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## fesnthunner (Mar 16, 2009)

I have been told that west out by dickinson may have fared better than the bismarck and east area. My brother-in-law drives all over for his job and he says that as the snow melts he is seeing more and more piles of feathers where the pheasants had perished. Looks like a lot of them met that fate. Praying for a warm and dry spring.


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## bornlucky (Jul 24, 2007)

I talked to a farmer in Dickey county, ND that winters a lot of birds at his farm. He said he started out with about 400 birds. He thinks the flock is down to 150. The sloughs are full of water and the birds have no cover. The storm today and tomorrow will likely be the final straw.

That's why they call it a cycle. On the bright side, Lake Oahe is filling up agains. I heard Beaver BAy west of Linton has water in it again.


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## wburns (Feb 27, 2009)

I am from the south central area and have seen a big decrease in the number of birds. I was also in the SW part of the state two weeks ago and it is a sad sight. Fields were doted with hundreds of dead. More than I could count. I even saw some eating on the carcasses of other birds(they were not eating from the crop). It was a sad sight. The ice storms from earlier in the year made it impossible for them to get food. I could not take pictures well enough to even show the amount of dead. The CRP was completely filled in so the only cover available was filled in tree rows. They have had a terrible winter. Below are a few pictures I took.


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

I saw 2 pheasants from Jamestown to Bismark on Sunday, though it was foggy out I was driving at the bewitching hour for them.


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## coonman (Jul 31, 2008)

man this is making me sick. i hope there will be birds next year to hunt. coonman


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## Bagman (Oct 17, 2002)

An additional *TWENTY INCHES *of wet, heavy snow in parts of SEND this last couple of days!! My oh my. :eyeroll:


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## Conservit (Mar 25, 2009)

Well it looks like the cycle continues (unfortunately) just when ND bird numbers were really looking good. 

But you guys know as well as I do that given a decent spring, and the right habitat, it only takes a few birds to rebound the numbers quickly.

Good time to look into installing habitat on your land, or maybe offering to help another to do the same. Weather is out of our control, but habitat is not. :thumb:


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## Jmnhunter (Feb 9, 2009)

that is really sad, poor bass turds, they had a tough one... well lets look on the bright side, this opener will be better than any MN pheasant opener I've been too


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## trikortreat (Dec 10, 2008)

coonman said:


> man this is making me sick. i hope there will be birds next year to hunt. coonman


theres gona be birds man. Just like Conservit said, only takes a couple birds.

- i saw 3 on the side of the road yesterday on my way home from yote huntin...they were alive wich is awesome, but then again we dont get the snow like you guys do in NODak n SODAK.


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