It’s the middle of summer and hunting seasons are
still weeks away.
In the meantime, North Dakota Game and Fish Department
biologists are busy with their summer upland game and waterfowl brood surveys
that will provide some perspective on hunting prospects for when the seasons do
open.
The brood surveys are either validation of what spring
surveys of waterfowl, pheasants and grouse may have already established for
expectations, or they might identify a reason why production numbers aren’t
headed in the same direction as spring numbers.
For instance, an increase in the spring pheasant
crowing count from one year to the next doesn’t necessarily mean more pheasants
for that fall’s season, compared to the previous year. Weather and habitat
conditions are key factors that determine whether brood production and
subsequent fall population estimates are up or down.
Just to get a sense of anticipation going, here’s a
recap of where this year’s spring counts came in.
Waterfowl
The Game and Fish
Department’s annual spring breeding duck survey conducted in May indicated an
index of 3.4 million birds, up 20 percent from last year.
Migratory game
bird supervisor Mike Szymanski said the index was the 22
nd
highest
on record and stands 40 percent above the long-term (1948-2018) average.
“Breeding duck numbers
generally trend with wetland conditions,” Szymanski said. “The large number of
ducks in North Dakota this spring can again be attributed to the large number
of ducks that we have been producing for many years.”
Survey results indicated
numbers for all primary species were up from their 2018 estimates, including
mallards (16 percent), green-winged teal (81 percent) and ruddy ducks (57
percent). All other ducks ranged from 5 (scaup) to 40 percent (pintails) above
last year’s numbers.
All species, with the
exception of pintails and blue-winged teal, were above the 71-year average.
The number of temporary
and seasonal wetlands was substantially higher than last year, as figures show
the spring water index was up 46 percent.
Pheasants and
Grouse
North Dakota’s spring
pheasant population index was up about 6 percent statewide. The primary regions
holding pheasants ranged from up 14 percent in the southeast and up 17 percent
in the northwest, to down 8 percent in the southwest.
“We are still
seeing the effects of the drought of 2017 that resulted in low chick survival,”
said R.J. Gross, upland bird biologist for the Game and Fish Department.
“Typically, a spring pheasant population is composed primarily of yearling
roosters with nearly as many 2-year-olds, and currently we have very few
2-year-old roosters.”
Pheasant
crowing counts are conducted each spring throughout North Dakota. Observers
drive specified 20-mile routes, stopping at predetermined intervals, and
counting the number of pheasant roosters heard crowing over a two-minute period
during the stop.
For sharp-tailed grouse, observers count male grouse on
select dancing grounds each spring. This year, the numbers were up 9 percent
compared to last year.
And now we wait until the brood surveys are finished,
to see if fall population estimates will match the positive direction
identified in spring counts.
