Episode 24 · March 23, 2024 · 2093
(Ep:24) Pheasant Fest - Sioux Falls, South Dakota -state of pheasants in SD & what we saw.
About This Episode
In this episode we headed out to SD to pickup a puppy and attend Pheasant Fest. It was great to see conservation in action, but I was also disappointed for my first time going to SD to see the lack of wild pheasants. For some reason in my mind I imagined driving down country roads and just seeing a good number of pheasants along the road. The whole time driving through SD I saw one pheasant and it was dead on the highway. Lots of ducks and geese on the ponds, but pheasants it was a big let down. Listen to the podcast to hear what we learned and what Pheasant Fest was all about
Questions about the training topics in this episode? Tyce works with bird dog owners and hunters through Utah Bird Dog Training. Reach out to work with him directly.
Resources & Links
- Utah Bird Dog Training — Work directly with Tyce — professional bird dog training services in Utah.
Transcript
Full transcript for Episode 24: (Ep:24) Pheasant Fest - Sioux Falls, South Dakota -state of pheasants in SD & what we saw..
Tyce
Hey everyone, welcome to the Bird Dog Podcast. My name is Tyce. I just got back from Pheasant Fest in Sioux Falls, South Dakota — put on by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. It was a great trip and I want to give you a recap of what I saw at the event, what the landscape looked like driving across South Dakota, and my read on the state of pheasant populations out there.
Pheasant Fest is a big deal. Multiple convention halls, hundreds of booths, vendors from across the industry, and a full banquet with live auction and hunt package offerings. The conservation fundraising alone was significant — just the live auction raised $85,000, and between the auctions and raffles I'd estimate the full event brought in $200,000 or more for conservation. It's good to see that many people putting real money behind upland and waterfowl habitat. Hunters are far and away the biggest contributors to wildlife conservation in this country, and events like this are a tangible example of that.
The drive across South Dakota was genuinely beautiful. I had it in my head that it would be flat — like Kansas. It's not. Once you get past the Black Hills you have rolling topography, grassland, cottonwood-lined creek bottoms, and mixed cropland all the way out to the eastern plains. The water holes scattered across the cropland were absolutely loaded with ducks and Canada geese. Fun to see, especially knowing that a lot of those wetlands are being drained by landowners over time, which removes the riparian habitat that benefits upland birds as well as waterfowl. That's the conservation fight Pheasants Forever is engaged in — and it matters.
On pheasant populations: South Dakota still has the best wild pheasant hunting I've heard about anywhere in the country. My contacts out there said it's as good as it's been in 10 years. The combination of Conservation Reserve Program ground, diverse agriculture, and the landscape just produces birds. You still have to work — it's not like every field you walk has a limit in it — but the numbers are genuinely there in a way they're not in most of the country. If you've been thinking about a South Dakota pheasant trip and haven't pulled the trigger, the birds are there right now. Thanks for listening, and thanks to Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever for putting on an event worth the drive.
About the Host
Tyce Erickson
Tyce Erickson is a professional bird dog trainer and the owner of Utah Bird Dog Training in Utah. For nearly two decades he has worked with pointing dogs, retrievers, and family hunting dogs — helping owners build dogs that are capable and enjoyable in the field. The Bird Dog Podcast is an extension of that work: honest conversations on training, hunting, breeding, and everything that goes into a life spent working dogs.
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