Hunters in North Dakota shot fewer pheasants and sharp-tailed grouse last fall, the Game and Fish Department said Monday, a trend they attributed to lower upland game populations the previous two years and a resulting decline in hunter numbers.
The number of Hungarian partridges taken last year was similar to the previous year, the department said.
The overall harvest was down despite slight increases in most population survey estimates, said Jesse Kolar, upland game management supervisor for Game and Fish.
“This was likely due to continued declines in hunter numbers and hunter days afield following lower population trends,” Kolar said. “We also still have lower densities of upland game birds in areas that traditionally had much of the harvest – pheasant numbers were still low in the southwest, and sharptail numbers remained low in the badlands.”
Nearly 50,000 pheasant hunters shot 256,800 roosters last fall, down 25% from 2018, when 59,400 hunters bagged 342,600 roosters. Hettinger, Divide, Bowman, Williams and McLean counties had the highest percentage of pheasants taken.
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An estimated 14,000 hunters shot 34,300 sharp-tailed grouse last year, Game and Fish statistics show, down 34% from 15,200 hunters and 51,800 birds in 2018. Counties with the highest percentage of sharptails taken were Mountrail, Burleigh, Ward, Stutsman and McKenzie.
Hungarian partridge success actually increased, despite a decline in hunter numbers. According to Game and Fish, 11,900 hunters shot 32,600 Hungarian partridges, up 5% from the harvest in 2018, when nearly 12,500 hunters bagged 31,200 Huns. Counties with the highest percentage of Huns taken were Mountrail, Ward, McLean, Williams and Divide.
