In 2024-25, South Dakota celebrated its best pheasant hunting season in over a decade, with an estimated 1.3 million birds harvested, according to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department. This significant achievement mirrors the last peak in 2012, when 1.4 million pheasants were taken.
Upland Game Biologist Alex Solem notes that favorable weather conditions played a role, as mild January temperatures allowed hunters to pursue birds more freely. With an average of nine pheasants harvested per hunter this season, indications suggest another promising season ahead due to a successful over-winter survival rate and favorable nesting conditions reported across the state.
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