Pheasant Hunters Enjoyed Opening Weekend In Spite of Conditions
Source: www.ngpc.state.ne.us
Published: Oct. 27, 2008
LINCOLN, Neb. - Hunters who participated in the opening weekend of Nebraska’s 2009 pheasant season were met with a variety of adverse conditions but many reported seeing good numbers of birds and some had good success.
Overall, hunting pressure was down from last year in most areas, due to factors such as the majority of the state’s corn crop still standing in the field, thick vegetative cover, and the heavy rains and snow that fell in some areas just prior to opening weekend that left many roads impassable and fields muddy.
The actual weather conditions were excellent on Saturday with pleasant temperatures and damp conditions that were ideal for hunting dogs. But there was a televised University of Nebraska football game that kept many hunters out of the field from mid-morning to late afternoon.
Then on Sunday the wind came up and gusts of 40 mph and stronger made hunting unpleasant and difficult.
Conservation officers said most of the hunters they checked were walking state wildlife management areas and CRP-MAP areas. That was probably because of the still- standing crops, the excellent pheasant habitat available to hunters on the CRP-MAP lands, and the decreased numbers of hunters in the field.
As the season progresses, hunting conditions undoubtedly will improve. Once harvest is completed many landowners will more willing to allow hunters to use their land, there will be less cover to conceal the birds, and the weather should continue to cool making it even more comfortable for hunters.
As usual, there are good numbers of pheasants available in Nebraska, and the hunters who will be successful are those that will be out hunting, be willing to walk and actually hunt the fields to find the birds, and those that have prepared properly so they can shoot well enough to hit a flying rooster. Pheasant numbers may not be as high as they once were in Nebraska, but contrary to idle talk in the coffee shops, there are still plenty of ringnecks out there to provide good hunting. Of course, having a well-trained hunting dog is always a plus both in helping the hunter locate birds in the field and to find them after the shot.
Here is a brief rundown of opening weekend activity across the state thanks to information provided by conservation officers:
- In the Panhandle and western Sandhills, there was very little corn harvested. Hunters reported seeing good numbers of birds, but most flushed wild and found refuge in the standing corn.
- In the eastern Sandhills and northeast, the opener was slow with fewer hunters
- In the southwest, the best hunting was reported south of Interstate 80. Hunting pressure was light overall, but Hitchcock County had very good pheasant numbers, fairly high hunting pressure and some hunters took pheasants and a few quail. Perkins, Chase and Dundy counties had good numbers of pheasants and Perkins County was heavily hunted. Hunters averaged 1 - 1 1/2 pheasants per hunter.
- In the south-central, 90 percent or more of the corn had not been harvested. Heavy rains in the Rainwater Basin area may have contributed to good pheasant hunting success because is seemed to have concentrated birds in areas of dry ground. Some hunters took limits of roosters and more than seventy hunters checked by conservation officers averaged just under two roosters each.
- In the southeast, officers commented they were pleasantly surprised with the hunting pressure and the hunter success in that area. At least 80 percent of the corn was still in the field. Hunters were concentrated on state and private CRP-MAP areas. Conditions were good for hunting dogs. One officer in the Johnson-Nemaha-Pawnee-Richardson-county area said he’s seen and heard more quail than in the past several years.
The pheasant season is open through Jan. 31, 2009. It’s a long season and the birds are there, so why not take your wife, son or daughter and spend an enjoyable day pheasant hunting.
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