Minnesota DNR Reports a 522,000 Rooster Harvest during 2008 Pheasant Hunting Season
Pheasants Forever just came out with their harvest counts for 2008. It is good to see that the numbers are up. Click here to sign up for Pheasant’s Forever Newsletter.
For the fifth year out of the last six, Minnesota pheasant hunters in 2008 harvested more than a half million roosters. Prior to 2003, Minnesota hunters had bagged more than 500,000 birds during just two seasons since 1964 (1981 & 1991). While the 2008 harvest fell well below the 40-year record set in 2007 with a 655,000 bird harvest, hunter participation and success during the 2008 season remained high.
Year Pheasant Harvest Season Length (Days) Number of Hunters
2003 511,000 65 105,000
2004 420,000 77 104,000
2005 586,000 79 111,000
2006 588,000 80 119,000
2007 655,000 81 118,000
2008 522,000 86 107,000
Pheasants in Minnesota have enjoyed milder winters and spring conditions advantageous to reproduction in recent years. Those favorable weather conditions, coupled with good habitat on the landscape, including nearly 1.7 million acres of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands in Minnesota, have created the successful pheasant seasons we’ve enjoyed in the state since 2003. Unfortunately, danger is on the horizon with massive CRP acres set to expire over the next few years. Last year, 107,000 acres of CRP contracts expired in Minnesota, and 65,000 more acres will expire this year. In fact, 621,000 acres of CRP are set to expire in Minnesota between 2010 and 2013. Pheasants Forever is diligently working to re-enroll, replace, and improve those acres of habitat. The new State Acres For wildlife Enhancement (S AFE) practice of CRP is one successful example.
Provided by: Pheasant’s Forever
I hope this year is as good as last year.