The Rise of the Dodo

 “Game management is the art of making the land produce a sustained annual yield of game for sport hunting and other recreational enjoyment.”  - Aldo Leopold

He set his mickey mouse alarm clock for 5:00 a.m.  The internal moshpit of butterflies had already begun.  For this little boy, a full REM cycle would not be achieved on that night.  While staring into the darkness of his basement bedroom, thoughts of pheasant hunting glory ran through his head like microfilm through a viewing machine. Triumphant hunting stories of biblical proportions had already set that child’s expectations above any ideas of aspiration.  The next morning would bring his first pheasant hunting adventure with the adults.  

The 20 gauge pump shotgun had only shot milk jugs until that moment.  He was walking around a stock dam on the edge of a cattail patch when the biggest wild cock-bird pheasant flushed just ahead.  Its tail feathers wafted through the air, as if in slow motion and 4K.  In a flash, he could see it land hard through the emerging barrel smoke.  The first South Dakota ringed-neck rooster, and a memory that was added to the vault under armed guard.  Many more memories exist from those early years.  Hundreds upon hundreds of birds flushing from so many different locations that anyone seeing it would be frozen solid in an awe-struck coma.  Road hunting adventures where sharp eyes were prized, and speed (always coupled with safety) was a priority.  My birthday landing on/around opening weekend didn’t hurt.  Parties came complete with home-cooked chicken and dumplings, sweet corn, and chocolate cake to wash it all down.  The traditions, friends, and family have made pheasant hunting special to me.  But it began with the birds.  I was a part of, what I thought, were the glory days of pheasant hunting in South Dakota.  

Back in the early 1990’s, though, adults spoke longingly about how good things used to be.  My recollection of their rationale evades me still today, but I remember wondering how it could have been any better than it was.  The Pittman-Robertson Act (Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act) of 1937 came at a time when wildlife populations were being decimated across the country.  Taxes from firearm and ammo sales are gathered each year for the sole purpose of conservation and education.  Since inception, over $198 Million has been awarded to the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks, and the funding continues to offer $10’s of millions for such programs each year.   That provided, and still provides a much needed jolt to our wildlife and their habitats!  My family members were most likely lamenting about the days of the Conservation Reserve Soil Bank Cropland Retirement Program (1958 - 1963).  With 1.8 Million acres of unbelievable year-round cover for pheasants, the population skyrocketed from an estimated 6 million birds, to over 11.1 million!  Birds and other wildlife were flourishing again in the 1990’s.  Fishing was good, too.  Growing up with this in my backyard was, and always will be, special to me.  South Dakota was an outdoor enthusiasts paradise.  People flocked to the Rushmore State to fish and hunt without the allure of enticing brood survey numbers or fancy marketing messages.  Unfortunately, like a restaurant with horrible food, it matters not how clever your messaging strategies, or how many impressions your marketing efforts generate.  If customers (hunters) come in and have a horrible experience, they’re not coming back.  And...they’re telling their friends.  Birds have always brought business to South Dakota.  But it seems that nobody ever dared to wonder what would happen if that were not the case.  Changing priorities have altered the entire dynamic that exists in South Dakota.  And now, we’re reeling.    

Removing the brood survey was not the beginning of the change, but indicative of the direction  state leaders wished to go with messaging.  Brood numbers have not been as good as they were in the past, so rather than utilize this number as an indicator of management needs and locations for focus, they swept them under the rug and began filling the hole with marketing dollars from the tourism office. Business owners and regional tourism representatives miss those brood surveys.  Good, bad, or otherwise, they were a talking point.  A reason for people to get excited about pheasant hunting in South Dakota.  And it was a way to count WILD birds.  With brood surveys being a thing of the past, Game, Fish and Parks is left guessing about management strategies and where they are needed most.  In their place, headlines and outlined speaking points regurgitated by lead government officials to a general hunting public with waning interest.   

“We’re still better than Iowa” and “Even when it’s bad in South Dakota, it’s still pretty good”.  This is what we tell ourselves and others at the request of state government entities and tourism offices when things get bad.  For good reason...this is big business in South Dakota.  An estimated $218 million worth of economic impact came into our state in 2018 alone.  License sales support outdoor education, habitat development, and public land acquisition.  Grocery stores, gas stations, hotels, local restaurants and all other local shops benefit from eager hunters visiting our towns.  We need people to chase pheasants here.   I was once a part of the propaganda.  As an outdoor communicator for the office of tourism, I jackhammered speaking points for newspaper and radio interviews.  South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks brood surveys were once touted as the farmers almanac of hunting forecasts and I used them with reckless abandon.  When one is working behind the scenes, humility quickly finds a way into their mentality.  My mindset changed from one of pride and excitement for a state and her resources, to shame and disappointment.  I remember the first hunt I organized for outdoor media and when I began to recognize the need for transparency and a bit of skepticism in the industry.  I was working with Field & Stream magazine to host outdoor communicators and industry representatives to a wild prairie bird hunt in central South Dakota.  We were chasing sharptails and pheasants on two different properties.  These folks wanted to shoot wild birds in South Dakota and share those experiences with their readers.  I partnered with an outfit south of Presho, S.D. touting 100% wild birds and a genuine South Dakota hunting experience.  The first walk brought many birds to the sky, and many birds to hand.  These hunters certainly knew how to put a bead on a bird.  The Field & Stream guy approached me after the first walk holding three birds.  “I thought you said these were wild birds,” he said quizzically.  Upon examination, the birds had very obvious blinder holes through their nostrils, a sure sign that they spent time behind a pen.  When I first asked the owner about it, he suggested that preserve birds sometimes come to his property because of the habitat.  He later confessed to releasing “some” birds specifically for this hunt.  I was left jaded and cynical.  Private shooting preserves made a very bad first impression on me.  

The Rise of the Dodo bird

In 1963, the South Dakota legislature enacted the Private Shooting Preserve Act, authorizing the issuance of licenses to private shooting preserves.  Shooting preserves are defined as an acreage of land on which pen-raised game is released for purposes of fee hunting.  The rules are simple:  $100 bucks (plus $.40/acre) is charged to apply for a preserve license.  Anyone (including corporations) with at least 160 acres of contiguous land (touching or sharing a common border) can operate a hunting preserve in South Dakota.  The shooting preserve season runs from September 1 until March 31 of the following year during which time hunters can blast holes in the sky from sunup until sundown.  Preserve permit holders are required to release the same number of rooster pheasants (hens may also be released but will not count toward the release requirement) that are taken from the property during any given year.  Daily bird release and harvest records must be kept, with each dead bird requiring a special tag purchased from Game, Fish & Parks.  These tags are $.25 each, or $2.00 if not utilized during the season. 

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the dodo bird is making a comeback from extinction!  You may know these birds by a variety of commonly used names: rainbow chickens, blinder birds, or pen-raised chubsters.  Preserve hunting has become as traditional as opening weekend, and it is taking over our state.  South Dakota once boasted traditions, camaraderie, relationships, and pride.  Pheasant hunting was founded on chilled October days where landowners and friends came together to enjoy chasing a wild bird that has thrived in our state’s habitat for over 100 years.  Bagging pheasants was not only a right of passage for new hunters, but a point of pride for savvy veterans.  Pheasants were (and still are to most) famed and cherished as table fare as well.  Everyone wanted to put birds in the freezer.  These traditions, like South Dakota’s landscapes, are changing, and not for the better.  Profit margins act as catalysts for habitat being replaced by massive fields of corn.  The next generation of farmers is thinning faster than my retreating hairline.  Small farms are becoming conglomerates, closed to hunting and void of wildlife.  The ideas of getting together with family, visiting old friends on the farm, chasing wild roosters through cattail sloughs, plum thickets, and kochia weeds before enjoying a hot dish of chicken and dumplings and telling stories of past and present is becoming a thing of the past.  Today, blaze orange begins to show up in South Dakota during the dog-days of September.  It surprises me every time to find an orange clad hunter not declaring to chase sharptail grouse or prairie chickens (whose season begins mid September).  It happened again this past September.  While walking through the parking lot of our local Lynn’s Dakotamart, I passed a blaze orange clad man with two shorthairs in the back of his vehicle.  “Chasing some sharpies?” I asked with an upbeat inflection.  “Nope...Pheasants,” he replied.  “A little early for that isn’t it?” I said with a smirk.  “Not for us,” he said without looking up from his groceries with obvious intentions to avoid further conversation.  

The rise of preserve hunting is directly correlated to the demise of our wild pheasant population.  Correlation does not equal causation, but this is a topic that must be considered as a vital part of the pheasant management conversation.  Predators, nesting cover, drought, bad winters, HABITAT...all have had their place up until now.  But since 1963, not once has anyone questioned the sustainability of a program that should be self-sufficient.  Put-and-take programs may seem innocent and benign, but how are they affecting our hunting experience in South Dakota?  Are pen-raised birds a suitable substitute for their wild kin?  Preserve operators are primarily shooting birds that were released not long before the hunting began.  But these dodo-birds are not the only ones taken on preserve properties.  Sometimes two, three, and four year old rooster pheasants that have helped build a resilient population of wild birds are not being replaced by wild (or even kin of wild roosters) but rainbow chickens from the pen.  All around the country, states have tried to sustain pheasant populations with pen-raised pheasants.  Time and time again, these efforts fail due to the fragile home-raised domestic chicken blood lines.  The only proven method for establishing successful wild bird populations has been trapping and transplanting already native, wild pheasants.  In 1982, Carl Troutman wrote what amounts to be the “pheasant bible” in the book History, Ecology and Management of the Ring-necked Pheasant in South Dakota.   In it he describes in great detail management strategies used to effectively enhance the pheasant population in South Dakota.  He writes:

“Except for the success of the original stockings, subsequent programs designed to increase breeding season pheasant populations by restocking with game-farm or privately reared birds have been unsuccessful.  This holds true for the limited effort put forth in South Dakota and for all other states engaging in this management practice.”  

It goes on further to reference a 1972 study out of Minnesota which revealed the difference between survival rates of game-farm pheasants and pheasants possessing wild ancestors.  The wild birds simply know how to use habitat to stay alive longer.  When you replace a wild bird with one from a pen, you are creating a long-term hole in the population cycle.  Trout streams experience similar ecosystem changes when non-wild fish are introduced into a population of natives.  Eventually, the declining genetic strength of the hatchery fish will begin to weaken the species as a whole, creating long-term damage to the longevity of the species in that particular body of water.  Studies have shown significant improvements to fish populations and size in streams where hatchery fish were removed from the ecosystem entirely. The same might be true for pheasants as well.  

Legislation authorizing the issue of private shooting preserve permits was passed in 1963, but only between 0 and two shooting preserves existed until 1980.  That grew to 80 preserves in 1990, 150 preserves existed in the year 2000, and 225 in 2018.  Since 1992, the number of issued private shooting preserve permits has risen by 167%!  The number of birds being released and harvested has followed steadily along with that trend.  The number of birds released between 1992 and 2019 has increased by 517% (going from 80,000 to 499,000 respectively).  This number is only for private shooting preserve operators in South Dakota.  Game, Fish and Parks does not track or monitor birds released on private land, nor do they have any state-supported stocking initiatives.  The number of wild birds harvested on these preserves is difficult to analyze objectively because the numbers are reported by the preserve operators themselves.  They have no extra incentive to discern a wild bird from one that is released because the state does not recognize a difference between the two.  As it reads on the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks website: 

“If 800 pheasants (680 marked and 120 wild) were harvested on the preserve, release records must show that at least 800 rooster pheasants have been released on the preserve acres.”

Current standards value a pen-raised dodo bird blown to smithereens at 10 yards by a green executive from down south the same as they do a 2-3 year old wild rooster pheasant that was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The purported percentage of wild birds shot has fluctuated from 23.7% in 2010 to 8.2% last year and from 15% to 10% to 6% and elsewhere in between.  The average since 2010 is 12.6% of total killed birds on a private shooting preserve being reported as wild.  I have no confidence in this number being objective, but it is what we have to work with.  This means that nearly 37,000 wild birds were shot on shooting preserves in 2019.  Considering over 800,000 ring-necked pheasants were reportedly shot in 2019, this seems like a small margin and insignificant.  But the subjectivity of these numbers must be taken into account.  Diluting wild bird populations with pen-raised pheasants has already begun to weaken the species and affect their survivability in South Dakota’s harsh climate.  

It must also be considered that there will be pen-raised birds reported in the general numbers as well, those are not all wild birds.  Bottom line...when you are putting in nearly 500,000 glorified chickens into a system losing vital habitat structure each year, the result will be what you see today...a state struggling to reconcile what once was, and attract the savvy hunters who have decidedly chosen to venture elsewhere for their hunting experiences.  And rightfully so.  Gone are the days of memory and awe-struck coma inducing pheasant flocks.  Hunters may stomp around all day to find their three bird limit.  A Nebraska resident can do that 20 minutes from their house, why would they come all the way to South Dakota to do the same thing?    

There is one other problem with shooting preserves that is rarely discussed or given great consideration by the hunting community.  That problem is the thousands of pheasants that are left in preserve freezers each year.  I find it innately inhumane to shoot something for fun.  The thrills that come along with a hunting experience are indescribable when experienced “the right way”.   However, a hunter’s ultimate goal should never be solely to shoot and kill an animal.  That is completely sadistic and immoral.  I think back on every preserve hunting experience that has molded my concrete compass that extends well beyond the pheasant fields.  All of those times I have joined large groups of hunters (novice and experienced alike).  This has included big shot executives and their extended networks, donors and business prospects being treated to “the hunt of a lifetime”, and everyone in between.  They’ve been taken to private preservers to shoot their fill.  In 2009, Game, Fish and Parks commissioners (of which included two commissioners directly connected to preserve property, one of which rightfully abstained from the vote) voted to increase the bag limit on private preserves to 20 pheasants per day during the regular pheasant season, up from 15.  No state hunting license is required to shoot 20+ birds on a private shooting preserve, just a private preserve license that is only good on private property.  From Sept 1 - March 31, wild and pen-raised birds alike are fair game if on preserve property.  Until you’ve experienced a hunt like this, it may be difficult to contemplate.  Imagine walking in a field where recently unmasked birds strut by your side unaware of the shotgun blast that is about to decide their fate.  This is where a half-concealed kick is sometimes required from the guide's boot to get these birds to spread their wings and croak out a sickly cackle.  If they’re lucky, the birds will get blown to bits within the first 10 feet.  If not, they lose a leg, or go down without a wing.  The ones that get out unscathed are left unaware of their circumstances, environment, and how to survive in the wild.  Fewer than 10% of released pen-raised birds will live past the first week.  At the end of this “hunt” cigars are lit, beers are cracked open, high-fives fly, and a pile of hundreds...yes hundreds of dead birds remain for photos and display.  When it comes time to clean and take birds home, that’s when the room goes quiet.  “Hunters” begin kicking the ground and avoiding eye contact.  “I need to fly home tomorrow,” one will say.  “We’ve got plenty in the freezer already,” someone will chirp.  They shot their fill of “wild” South Dakota ringnecks and remain content with that.  Let the lodge figure out where to take those dead birds.  Maybe they can donate them to missionaries or food programs.  If you have experienced this, I’m sorry.  It’s not an easy situation to be a part of.  If you feel uncomfortable for having been one of those “hunters”...I hope the guilt gets the better of you.  I hope you change your ways.  Please know that this does not accurately describe every hunter to ever set foot on a preserve.  Nor does it describe every preserve hunting experience you’ll have in South Dakota.  There are mindful stewards who hunt these properties too.  And diligent property owners who have a knack for managing their land for unbelievable experiences and sustainability.  However, each and every time I’ve hunted on preserve property, there have been dead birds left on the table.  This is wrong. 

It would be unwise to omit the benefits that preserve operations bring to the state.  They allow farms and ranches another source of income during difficult months of the year.  They create opportunities for hunters, young and old, without great access to hunting opportunities or wildlife.  They have viable habitat utilized by all wildlife throughout the year.   And they do bring money into South Dakota from September - March.  These private preserves are lawfully operating under a special permit, releasing as many birds into the wild as they shoot, and bagging primarily pen-raised pheasants.  They are developing properties specifically for hunting and bringing business into South Dakota.  It sounds like a pretty good deal when you think about it.  But this is not about what’s good for us now.  It’s about what will be good for us 20 years from now.  When these hunting traditions have become memories for many, and new traditions involve other states and circumstances.  If we want pheasant hunting to be a viable business in South Dakota for the long term, we need to change our ways.  I want more from a hunting experience for someone visiting my state.  A parent taking their child pheasant hunting for the first time will not find a genuine South Dakota pheasant hunt on these preserves.  Even if they did, could they afford it?  Is that the experience we want the next generation to have in South Dakota?   We must determine what long-term goals we have for our state and her wildlife.  How do we get back to being the pheasant capital of the world?   

We need to remove the preserve program and all dodo bird stocking efforts immediately.  We need to ask how we can best revitalize habitat and farming practices to benefit wildlife and still afford the farmers a valuable living.  Finally, we need to teach our young hunters that a pheasant hunting experience is not about shooting a rainbow chicken while it obliviously struts down a row of corn.  Instead, let’s talk with our kids about how exhilarating and exhausting it can be to hunt down the resilient American ring-necked pheasant.  Not the dodo bird that exists in mass quantities today, but the cock-bird that was declared our state symbol back in 1943.  It’s about enjoying time with family before stomping into a South Dakota field with a possible jack-in-the-box surprise in every step.  We need to bring back the experiences that cause kids to lose sleep at night, but not care.  Opportunities for pheasant hunting glory.    

The priorities of South Dakota are changing.  From one of traditions, wildlife, and heritage to that of profits, efficiencies, and scalability.  It is impossible to blame a capitalistic society for “progress”... because that’s what it is all about.  But you can never give to something without taking from something else.  What we give to hunting operations, farming, ranching, and industry, we take from habitat and wildlife resilience.  As South Dakotans...hell, as outdoor enthusiasts around the world, we are settling for less.  Settling for fewer public lands, fewer education programs, and fewer funding options.  We are settling for pen-raised birds being kicked in the ass over wild South Dakota ringnecks!  This is not stipulation, but proven in the numbers.  Nearly 284,000 dodo birds were shot in South Dakota in 2019, likely many more.  There were 29 additional preserves that joined the fray in 2020, bringing our new grand total of private shooting preserves to 229.  It is strikingly apparent that we, as hunters, are conceding to contentment with shooting pen-raised pheasants.  We have rolled over and succumbed to the industry and the way they would like it to be.  When people come into South Dakota seeking a “genuine wild pheasant hunting experience” they are finding dodo birds in perfectly manicured food plots with the sole purpose of short term holding for shotgun fodder.  It’s like tying a walleye to a rockpile and coming back later to hook the line and bring the fish in.  Does that bring people joy?  How many would appreciate that experience?  How many would recommend that to their friends and colleagues?  Most importantly...how many would spend $120 on a nonresident license to experience that event?  I sure as hell wouldn’t.  And I won’t blame anyone that chooses not to.  The same way I wouldn’t recommend a hunt where kicking a bird is required to get a shot at it.  Where a pile of dead birds remains on the table at the end of the day.  Nonresident hunters are responding in-kind.  License sales have been on a down-and-up (mostly down) decline since the last time we surpassed 100,000 sold in 2010.  Licenses sold in 2019 were down 37% since that 2010 year, and showing signs of another decline in 2020 if they continue on their current path.  This is real money.  37,000 licenses at $120 each equals $4.4 million!  $4.4 million missing from the budget for land purchases, habitat projects, education programs, and qualified staff.  Millions of dollars not brought to the hunting table because South Dakota believes this is a marketing and tourism problem.  We need to face the reality that it is not.   

I believe wildlife, particularly South Dakota’s pheasant population, can again become resilient and world-class.  I believe South Dakotans and outdoor enthusiasts who appreciate this state have an important decision to make.  Do we continue to accept the declining status-quo of a South Dakota hunting experience?  Do we sit idly by and wait for government leaders to initiate measures that may or may not hit to the heart of the issue?  Or do we take a stand?  Take back our public lands, our traditions, and our hunting experiences.   We should not accept preserve hunting as the new norm.  We should demand investments in habitat development, nesting cover and regulated farming practices to accommodate it.  We should seek fewer pen-raised birds being released for put and take, and more partnerships between government and landowners to bolster living conditions for the wild ones.  Make sustainable farming and ranching practices centered around habitat and viable forms of income for those willing to be a part of it.  Bring back the traditions that we are all longing for.  Send the dodo back into extinction, and bring back the American ring-necked rooster.  It’s time to make pheasant hunting great again in South Dakota.