Strong production season could bring busy waterfowl season
By: Mike Reiter

I recently had an opportunity to venture out west to South Dakota for a few days.

We have a good friend who lives in central South Dakota and he was celebrating his 60th birthday. He also raises bison and I was to pick up some meat to restock our freezer.

I have a hard time differentiating the taste and texture of bison meat from some of the best beef. It is even supposed to be good for you because it has a lower fat content than beef. I just go for the taste and texture and let my wife worry about the healthy aspects of our diet.

As we came across Minnesota and entered South Dakota, it became evident that they have not suffered from the shortage of rainfall as we have in our area. All the ponds and some of the fields and ditches were full of water. Waterfowl were everywhere and we took time to identify duck types as we drove. It was great to see so many different species of waterfowl. We also saw numerous rooster pheasants out and about looking for girlfriends.

Arriving at our friend’s ranch we were treated to nonstop pheasant crowing indicating that the winter in this area was not harsh enough to knock back the pheasant population. Barring poor nesting success, both the fall pheasant and waterfowl prospects look excellent.

I wish I could report the same for North Dakota. We have been in contact with the folks where we hunt in central North Dakota and they had experienced a very harsh winter with winds and snow that at times stacked the drifts a dozen feet high.

Pheasants are down in that area and, with few birds making it to nest this spring, prospects are not the best. During the past four or five years the pheasant density had increased dramatically but it takes only one hard winter to bring it back to earth.

Standing water is at a premium and, with a good hatch, the fall waterfowl season could prove lucrative. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!