During last year's North Dakota pheasant opener, Scott Lindgren and his hunting partners headed west to hunt an area that produced easy, three-bird limits not that many years ago.
"Typically, you'd walk in and make one walk, and you'd shoot your three birds," Lindgren said.
Different story last year.
"We jumped into one of those pieces on opening morning _ we shot one and saw four," he said. "It went from hundreds (of pheasants) to a handful."
Lindgren's experience last year wasn't unique among North Dakota pheasant hunters. And with another pheasant season now underway _ season in North Dakota opened Saturday, Oct. 6 _ hunters again this fall will have to be realistic about hunting prospects.
"There's no doubt about it _ it's going to be another tough year," said Jeb Williams, wildlife chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck. "It's not like we're void of birds, obviously, in North Dakota, but it's at a lot lower level than many people are used to, and it's going to require proper setting of expectations."
The overriding factor is a steady loss of habitat in the past decade, a trend intensified last year by severe drought that hampered production in much of North Dakota's pheasant range.
"I think overall numbers are shaping up to be pretty similar to last fall, but last year there was just a real lack of production," Williams said. "Not many young birds were shot last year, so basically, what was harvested last year was some carryover from the year before.
"This year, we definitely saw better reproduction, but the issue was we had a lot less hens reproducing than in previous years."
