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Message: <blockquote data-quote="njsimonson" data-source="post: 314082" data-attributes="member: 1507">The whoring out of pheasant hunting in SD was a notable downside of 2020 in the outdoors.  The GFP dropped the summer brood survey - a mere $80,000 endeavor - because the bird numbers have been off the last several years due to declining habitat.  They felt that the publication of the lower numbers versus previous seasons was discouraging hunters from going to SD.  Instead, they hired a $300,000-plus marketing firm to promote pheasant hunting in the state, to talk up how great it is, while denying hunters the information they like and sometimes need for an outing, and really, what an agency that is supposed to be managing wild game should be providing for the residents it serves.Then, against sound science, they extended the season into January, often the coldest and most brutal month in the upper plains.  And while, yes, the taking of late-season roosters has no impact on next fall's recruitment and hunting, the stress on hens forced to flee cover over and over again in the colder conditions can impact their health in winter, which can impact next spring's hatch and next fall's recruitment.  They got lucky with this banana belt winter we're having, but it won't always be that way.  It's been disappointing to see the resource managed more as an aspect of tourism and pay-to-play, and less as an aspect of conservation and the North American hunting model.  It sets a dangerous precedent for surrounding states, and in my conversations with NDG&F agents, there isn't any plans to follow suit, which is the right thing.  I am glad the G&F still manages predominantly on science and not on tourism dollars.</blockquote>

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