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BISMARCK 鈥� North Dakota鈥檚 roadside brood surveys conducted in late July and August indicate pheasant numbers were up, while gray partridge and sharp-tailed grouse numbers were down, the Game and Fish Department reported Monday, Sept. 9.

Although the state experienced a mild winter and an optimistic start to the breeding season, the wet, cold June appears to have impacted partridge and sharptails particularly, leading to smaller brood sizes for pheasants, according to RJ Gross, upland game biologist for Game and Fish in Bismarck.

鈥淗unters should expect to find similar numbers to last year, with a higher proportion of adult pheasants in the population, smaller partridge coveys and slightly fewer sharptail,鈥� Gross said.

Contributed/ North Dakota Game and Fish Department

Total pheasants observed (94.5 per 100 miles) are up 25% from last year and broods (11.6) per 100 miles are up 33%, survey results show. The average brood size (5.5) is down 13%. The final summary is based on 274 survey runs made along 100 brood routes across North Dakota.

Northwest North Dakota continues to lead the state in pheasant abundance. Observers in the northwest counted 20.8 broods and 164 pheasants per 100 miles, up from 19.1 broods and 159 pheasants in 2023. Average brood size was 5.3 chicks.

Statistics from southwestern North Dakota indicated 13.8 broods and 119 pheasants per 100 miles, up from 9.7 broods and 86.2 pheasants in 2023. Average brood size was six chicks.

Results from the southeast showed 7.9 broods and 57 pheasants per 100 miles, up from 5.9 broods and 53 pheasants in 2023. Average brood size was 4.6 chicks.

The northeast district, generally containing secondary pheasant habitat with lower pheasant numbers compared to the rest of the state, showed 4.3 broods and 37 pheasants per 100 miles, compared to two broods and 19 pheasants last year. Average brood size was 5.5 chicks.

Sharptails were down 20% statewide (23 sharptail per 100 miles), but remain above the 10-year average, Game and Fish said. Brood survey results showed 2.4 broods per 100 miles and an average brood size of 5.5, which is mediocre for grouse reproduction.

Partridge observed per 100 miles were down 20% from the near all-time high in 2023, and remain at high densities (29 partridge per 100 miles). Observers recorded 2.3 broods per 100 miles (the second highest in 20 years), but only an average of 8.3 chicks per brood (the lowest since 2018).

The grouse and partridge seasons open Saturday, Sept. 14 and continue through Jan. 5, 2025. North Dakota鈥檚 statewide pheasant season opens Saturday, Oct. 12, and continues through Jan. 5.

The two-day youth pheasant hunting weekend, when legally licensed residents and nonresidents 15 and younger can hunt statewide, is set for Oct. 5-6.

The Game and Fish Department is encouraging upland game bird hunters to help in management efforts by collecting feathers from harvested birds and sending in wing envelopes.

Birds included in the department鈥檚 upland game wing survey, which has been in practice for decades, are ring-necked pheasants, sharp-tailed grouse, gray partridge (commonly referred to as Hungarian partridge), turkeys and ruffed grouse.

Collecting enough pheasant samples is typically never a problem, but securing enough sharptail and partridge feathers can be.

Game and Fish biologists will take as many sharptail and partridge feathers as they can get because the more collected, the better the data. Biologists can determine sex and age ratios from wings and tail feathers, survival, nesting success, hatch dates and overall production.

What biologists learn from the samples is vital to helping manage North Dakota鈥檚 upland game birds.

Hunters interested in receiving wing envelopes should visit the Game and Fish website, gf.nd.gov, or contact the Department鈥檚 main office in Bismarck at (701) 328-6300 or email ndgf@nd.gov.

Hunters can also get wing envelopes at Game and Fish District offices in Devils Lake, Jamestown, Riverdale, Dickinson, Williston and Lonetree Wildlife Management Area near Harvey.