South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks Secretary Kevin Robbling, addressed the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee today (Jan. 16, 2024) regarding what impact the state’s turn-in-a-tail-for-ten-dollars program is having on the pheasant population.
The Nest Predator Bounty program saw 50,000 tails collected in 2023.
When questioned about the program’s impact on pheasant numbers, Robbling says GFP hasn’t conducted a study to determine cause and effect. He said variables such as weather and habitat make it challenging to quantify the program’s influence.
It was suggested that the department could reconstitute the annual roadside pheasant brood count, but Robbling explained that wouldn’t effectively measure the program’s impact. He said brood counts quantify abundance rather than assessing the program’s effectiveness.
(Todd Epp, South Dakota Broadcasters Association, contributed to this story and used the assistance of ChatGPT.)
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