Let's keep our fingers crossed.
The annual pheasant brood counts, which help determine the number of birds we can expect for the upcoming hunting season, will begin next week throughout the state.
The numbers compiled by the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks give a good glimpse into the future, letting the GF&P -- as well as thousands of hunters and the businesspeople that cater to them -- know what to expect come mid-October.
Whether it's too cold, too hot, too wet or too dry, any spike in weather can be detrimental to the fragile young pheasant chicks that break free from their eggs in the spring. The problem this year is drought.
Last year, GF&P personnel counted an average of 6.6 pheasants per mile and a brood size of 6.5 chicks per brood. The overall 2005 pheasant population was a healthy 9.5 million, of which 1.94 million were bagged during last year's hunting season.
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They were chased by 174,217 hunters, who, no doubt, put a large chunk of change into the economy of central and eastern South Dakota.
So as GF&P officers begin their brood survey routes next week -- traveling the exact same 110 routes as in years past -- we hope they find that the drought hasn't affected the pheasant population much. At least heading into the summer, the birds probably were in good shape after a temperate winter and pleasant weather in the first weeks of June, when most pheasant chicks hatch.
As our drought continues, everybody can see the obvious effects of the dry weather. Crops have withered, stock dams and small lakes have dried up and ranchers are selling their cattle because there is nothing to feed those herds. It's a sad, difficult situation.
But many farmers, ranchers and rural landowners are able each fall to earn a little extra cash on the side, thanks to pheasant hunting. Of those 174,217 hunters who trudged through the state's fields last year, more than 90,000 were nonresidents, and everybody needs a place to hunt.
Most pay for those places, which directly affects the pocketbook of the landowner. Those hunters also spend money uptown, which affects the ledger of the business owner, who may need a pick-me-up because the drought has hampered the local economy.
In short, we need the hunting industry this year more than ever.
So as GF&P officers head out next week to check the welfare of what may be our last hope at a cash crop this year, let's hope they find that our baby pheasants are alive, well and numerous.
Let's keep our fingers crossed.
