BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – Severe drought in North Dakota in 2017 severely cut into the success of pheasant hunting last year and is reducing the number of ducks breeding in the state this year.
Last year’s pheasant harvest totaled only about 309,000 birds, when the benchmark for a good season is 500,000. The Game and Fish Department says it was a drop of 38 percent from 2016 and the smallest pheasant harvest in 16 years.
On the brighter side, Wildlife Chief Jeb Williams says conditions so far this year are more conducive to pheasant reproduction.
The estimate of breeding ducks is below 3 million for the second straight year and for only the second time in the past 24 years.
But there’s reason for optimism. The total is still 16 percent above the long-term average.
