I am a certifiable duck nut, so I normally welcome rain reports across South Dakota as more water = more ducks. The US Fish and Wildlife Service’s spring breeding survey confirmed that the return of abundant water to the prairies of SD resulted in a tremendous breeding effort from ducks and Canada geese here in the state. However, this year things are getting a bit out of control. With precipitation amounts already approaching record levels, we received over 10” of rain in the last week around my home in southeast SD and there are reports of even more in the east-central portions of the state. While the ducks and geese are enjoying the excess, I’m thinking enough is enough.
The impact on people and property is enormous as many homes have been damaged or destroyed by flood waters. Roads, bridges and other structures we rely on each day are gone and it will take millions of dollars to rebuild them. Crops have been damaged in many areas by the high water and the impact to farmers will be significant as well.
Unfortunately, we will also see the impact of the flooding on wildlife in South Dakota as we head to the fields this fall. Our number one fall attraction, the ring-necked pheasant, has been enjoying the best of times these past few years as populations haven’t been this high since the early 60’s. As the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks complete their annual pheasant brood surveys over the next two weeks, I’m predicting those good times will be coming to an end. A harsh winter sent fewer hens into the breeding season this spring across much of the pheasant range. Combined with the loss of tens of thousands of CRP nesting acres and excessive rainfall during the peak hatch in June, this years’ pheasant production is sure to be reduced.
The bright spot is that there are areas of the state that escaped the harshest weather and the excess moisture has created ideal growing conditions for grass nesting cover and delayed normal haying operations in many areas that often wrestle with drought. I’m betting that the west river pheasant counties like Stanley, Lyman, Tripp, and Gregory will be the place to be this fall.
The other thing to keep in mind is that top quality bird habitat will remain productive even when weather conditions are not favorable. Pockets of high pheasant numbers will still be found throughout their traditional east river range, you just might have to work a little harder to find them.
We will know more once the pheasant surveys are published later this month. I’m hoping that the birds prove me wrong and their strong re-nesting efforts will make up for the early losses. If not, South Dakota will still offer better pheasant hunting opportunities than any other state in the U.S….and the duck hunting will be second to none!
