I was wondering if the bad winter has seriously hurt the bird hunting this year in those states ?

I'll be in Williston in a week. Let you know after.

Actually, my friend there thinks theres plenty of pheasants locally. A group that hunted north of Williston opening weekend claimed more than 100 birds taken. Assuming hunting stories may be,.........well,........amplified, even half that is quite good.

I hear the fall snow storm that rolled thru South Dakota devastated the pheasants as well as the livestock as reported in the news.

Babe and I hope to pursue pheasants, puddle ducks, snow and canada geese.

I live near Aberdeen. Pheasants are tough this year, with a few pockets not so bad.

pheasants around botineau, minot, upham, kramer are veryyyyy slow, only saw 6 in 2 weeks I spent hunting up there, granted we were chasing ducks, but every year we usually see a lot more on the roads etc.

A buddy got back a while ago from North Dakota ... while population was down 25% he felt from the previous year - shot his share !!

I just returned from 10 days hunting in SD. I found lots of pheasants with no problems. Had to work for them with my dog pack. We don't push and block.

Bravo !

I hunted for 5 days around Winner and no doubt numbers are down from last year but still had a great hunt. But, to be fair there were a LOT more crops still in the field this year so late season might be better than early.

Great hunt around Chamberlain, SD. Wind blew hard 2 of 3 days. Made for some "sporting" shots. Love the hunt and now it is time to eat!