# Pheasant Crowing Counts Up from Last Year



## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Pheasant Crowing Counts Up from Last Year

The 2004 ring-necked pheasant spring crowing count survey revealed a 21
percent increase in the number of pheasants heard crowing compared to last
year, reports Stan Kohn, upland game biologist for the North Dakota Game and
Fish Department.

"This is mainly due to the number of pheasant crows in the southern
one-third of the state," Kohn said. "At this point it appears that with
average reproduction our pre-hunt pheasant population will show an increase
over 2003," Kohn said.

Pheasant crowing counts are conducted each spring throughout North Dakota.
The index does not measure an entire population density, Kohn mentioned, but
is an indicator of the pheasant population trend. Observers drive specified
20-mile routes, stopping at pre-determined intervals, and count the number
of pheasant roosters heard crowing during the stop. The information recorded
is compared to previous years' data, providing a population trend.

The survey indicated crowing counts are comparable or up in all areas of the
state except the northwest and far west central portion of the state. "Crow
count numbers are up slightly in the central portion of the state, and are
up more than 35 percent in the south," Kohn said.

Even though the crowing count indicates an increase in numbers, the fall
pheasant population largely depends on reproduction success in late May and
early June. "The pheasant brood data now coming in will tell us more
regarding the outlook for fall pheasant hunting," Kohn said.

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