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Nebraska Pheasant Opener Recap

November 2, 2010.

From Nebraska Game and Parks:

Cool, dry weather and an advanced crop harvest greeted Nebraska pheasant hunters during the opening weekend of the season Oct. 30-31. The weather and field conditions were on the hunters' side as upland bird hunters reported varying success.

The following is a region-by-region wrap-up of the opening weekend from Nebraska Game and Parks Commission conservation officers:

Panhandle – Hunters reported good numbers of birds observed and good hunting. All of the officers reported some of the best pheasant numbers in several years. The number of nonresident hunters was down considerably from last year, but the number of resident hunters rose slightly.

Northeast – Success was highest in Cedar, Dixon and Stanton counties. Hunter numbers were down significantly from last year. Few nonresident hunters were checked. The pheasant opener in the district was a little better in some areas than expected.

Southwest – Harlan, Phelps, Franklin, Frontier, Custer, and Dawson counties had fewer hunters than last year, but bird numbers in those areas were about the same or slightly higher than last year.

Other areas of the region had heavy hunter turnout and a good harvest of pheasant and some quail. The highest pheasant numbers were in southern Furnas, Red Willow, Hitchcock, Dundy, Hayes, and Perkins counties. Conservation Reserve Program-Management Access Program (CRP-MAP) areas were used heavily.

About 60 to 70 percent of hunters checked were from states such as Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri. Hunters were pleased at the number of birds they were seeing and there were several limits checked.

Southeast – The opener was a tale of two areas within the region. The southern portion proved to show ill effects of the hard winter and wet spring as numbers and success appeared to be down considerably from past years. There was poor-fair success for pheasant and quail in Otoe, Nemaha, Pawnee, and Gage counties. Hunting pressure was light on private land but heavy on public land.

Pheasant numbers and hunter success were much better in Seward, Saunders and Butler counties, with most of the checked hunters on public lands.

South-central – Pheasant numbers were about the same as last year and down from the 10-year average. Birds where found where there was habitat, but habitat was difficult to find in the Platte River Valley and much of the Rainwater Basin.

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