Conservation Officers Donate to New Outdoor Campus
West Pollock State Recreation Area Open
PIERRE, S.D. – Survey information captured by the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department estimates that 179,000 people hunted upland game birds in South Dakota in 2006.
“The vast majority of these people were pheasant hunters,” Corey Huxoll, harvest survey coordinator for GFP said. “We estimate we had 80,000 resident pheasant hunters and 98,000 nonresident pheasant hunters.”
Huxoll said that the total pheasant harvest for 2006 was just under 1.85 million roosters compared to 1.95 million harvested in 2005. Nearly 300,000 pheasants were harvested the opening weekend of the 2006 season. The early resident only pheasant season, the weekend before the traditional pheasant season opener, had just under 25,000 hunters harvest 50,000 pheasants.
The pheasant population and the pheasant harvest for 2005 and 2006 remain the two highest seasons in the past 40 years, according to Tom Kirschenmann, GFP upland game biologist.
“You need to go back to the early ’60s and the end of the Soil Bank era for higher totals,” Kirschenmann said. “Habitat and favorable weather conditions are obviously the keys to our current population level. Conservation Reserve Program acres have played an instrumental role in pushing our state’s pheasant population to where it is today. Similar to the set aside acres of the Soil Bank Program, CRP acres are critical sites for nesting and brood-rearing. Coupled with habitat, the past few years have also experienced open winters and favorable weather conditions during the peak hatch, providing an ideal environment for pheasants to be successful.”
Other upland game species have benefited from CRP, sharp-tailed grouse and prairie chickens in particular. “The central and northeast parts of the state are reporting some of the highest grouse numbers in the past 15 to 20 years,” Kirschenmann said. “It’s not surprising that a large portion of those reports come from areas where CRP has provided additional undisturbed nesting habitat needed by many of our upland game species.”
Hunter surveys also indicate that other upland game bird seasons did well in 2006.
§ The grouse season had 8,000 residents and 6,000 nonresidents hunt, with a harvest of 41,000 grouse.
§ There were 2,600 resident partridge hunters and 2,000 nonresidents with a harvest of 9,000 birds.
§ There were about 600 resident quail hunters and 1,200 nonresidents with a harvest of 1,800 quail.
Without the assistance of hunters reporting their activity through harvest surveys, the department would not be able to track this valuable information. “For upland game, this survey data is extremely important and useful as it is used to estimate the fall harvest and hunter distribution, as well as determining preseason populations,” Kirschenmann said.
Not all hunters are surveyed. Twelve percent of license holders are randomly selected for the upland game survey portion, which can be completed online or by filling out the survey and mailing it in. It only takes a few minutes to complete the survey and the department encourages every survey recipient to fill it out and submit the information.
Most small game hunting season dates will be similar to those available in 2006. One change will combine the two pheasant units so there is one uniform statewide regular season. Another change concerns the date when the starting time for hunting changes from noon to 10 a.m. Traditionally this was on the Sunday when Daylight Saving Time ends and it has been changed to the fourth Saturday in October, which is Oct. 27 in 2007.
Small game hunting seasons in 2007 will be:
§ Youth pheasant: Oct. 6-8.
§ Resident only pheasant: Oct. 13-15.
§ Traditional pheasant: Oct. 20 – Jan. 6.
§ Grouse: Sept. 15 – Jan. 6.
§ Gray partridge: Sept. 15 – Jan. 6.
§ Quail: Oct. 20 – Jan. 6.
§ Cottontail rabbit: Sept. 1 – Feb. 29.
§ Tree squirrel: Sept. 1 – Feb. 29.
§ Mourning dove: Sept. 1 – Oct. 30.
§ Common snipe: Sept. 1 – Oct. 31.
§ Sandhill crane: Sept. 22 – Nov. 18.
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Conservation Officers Donate to New Outdoor Campus
PIERRE, S.D.—The Rapid City Outdoor Campus is still in the early planning stages, but the work has already begun on ensuring that it’s well-stocked.
The campus, a project of the Wildlife Division of the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department, recently received $1,000 worth of equipment from the S.D. Conservation Officer Association. The equipment was presented to the GFP Commission at its June meeting in Pierre by C.O. Association representative Casey Griffith of Onida.
The money was raised through the sale of raffle tickets that had a top prize of a buffalo hunt on the Turner Ranch. The raffle, a fundraiser to enhance an existing scholarship presented by the association, was set up with a series of incentives available to the C.O.s and their agents who sold the tickets.
When the raffle was complete, $600 worth of incentives were donated back to the association. An addition $100 Cabela’s gift card came from a C.O. who had received it from an out-of-state hunter but believed that he could not accept such a gratuity.
Purchases for the Rapid City Outdoor Campus were made during a Cabela’s promotion that offered discounts to law enforcement and emergency services personnel. Consequently, $700 worth of donations resulted in $1,000 worth of equipment for the campus.
The C.O.s made their purchases based on recommendations from the Sioux Falls Outdoor Campus and the Rapid City GFP staff. The donation included:
· Five BB/pellet gun combinations.
· 12,000 BBs.
· 14 fishing rods.
· Two nine-quart Dutch ovens.
· Two pop-up hunting blinds.
· Two turkey decoys.
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West Pollock State Recreation Area Open
PIERRE, S.D.--The water level is up and so is the number of campers at the West Pollock State Recreation Area near Pollock. The park is located adjacent to the Missouri River near Pollock, just a few miles south of the North Dakota border.
Park manager Jim Straight reports that the park has plenty of water on the boat ramp, and the comfort station and fish cleaning stations are up and running. “The campground is first-come, first-served,” said Straight, “making it a great destination site for those who want to plan an outing at the last minute.”
The park has all the amenities one might want, including electrical campsites, flush toilets, showers, playground, shade trees and a dump station. “For those who want to camp with conveniences, this is a great place to come,” said Straight.
Park visitors may want to try fishing as the reports for that area are good. The walleyes are biting and life is good at West Pollock Recreation Area.
A park entrance license is required. Both daily and annual passes are available for purchase at the park. For more information about the park, call (605) 845-7112.
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