'Pheasant envy' confounds Huskers as hunters stream north

We've all had our fill of political news. So I thought that this week, we'd delve into a topic that's equally as timely – pheasant hunting.

I've spent a fair amount of time in pursuit of the ring-necked bird, and recently traveled to South Dakota – the self-proclaimed "Pheasant Capital of the World" – to try my luck with my trusty Vizsla, "Gunnar," and a couple of buddies.

If you've ever traveled to our northern neighbor this time of year, you'll see dozens upon dozens of guys (and a few gals) in hunter-orange garb tromping through the grasslands and marshes of the Mount Rushmore State.

There are hunting lodges aplenty along the highways of central and eastern South Dakota catering to out-of-state visitors. And the local motels and restaurants are filled with dozens of hunters.

And they spend money, creating an estimated economic impact of $281 million, according to South Dakota game officials. More than 120,000 orange-clad pheasant hunters descend on that state each year.

It's created a healthy amount of "pheasant envy" from us Cornhuskers who remember the days when dozens of local towns hosted "hunters breakfasts" on opening day and when out-of-state visitors steered our way to hunt pheasants.

But times have changed. 

Bird numbers peaked in Nebraska in the 1960s due to a federal "soil bank" program that paid farmers to idle croplands. But the program ended, and bird numbers have been steadily dropping since. 

There was a slight comeback in the mid-80s after the Conservation Reserve Program was launched to pay landowners to set-aside land and plant native-grass habitat in which pheasants thrive. But the decline has slowly continued.

The main problem, biologists tell us, is that Nebraska has lost a lot of its prime habitat for the birds. 

Fence rows have been torn out, marshes drained and ravines and grass waterways plowed under, so fewer places to nest, raise young and hide from predators. (You can't blame farmers, who fight a few headwinds (low prices, high input costs and those gosh-darn property taxes) in trying to make a buck.

If there's proper grasslands for the birds to nest, and weather conditions cooperate (not too wet in the spring, not too harsh in the winter) you'll have pheasants, biologists tell us. I have seen this happen first hand.

What I've also seen are some things I think South Dakota does to make it a nicer destination for hunters.

For one, South Dakota doesn't allow hunting to start until 10 a.m., where in Nebraska, shooting begins 30 minutes before sunrise.

That later start allows visitors up north to socialize later at night, and sleep in a bit in the morning. That translates into more time to spend money at the local steakhouse or tavern and time for breakfast at the local cafe. Most hunters, at least those in my age group, are visiting for the social aspect of hunting – hanging out with buddies. 

In South Dakota, they allow hunting in the roadside ditches, which opens up a lot of extra land to hunt. The inability to find a place to hunt makes a lot of hunters hang up their shotguns.  

I've often wondered why we can't legalize bird hunting in ditches on minimum maintenance roads in Nebraska? Those roads get little traffic, and are typically far from any residence or livestock facility. Allowing hunting there, and maybe planting some good habitat, would open up more land to chase birds.

To be fair, South Dakota has some advantages we don't. Land is cheaper up there, so it's easier to allow a marsh filled with cattails (excellent pheasant habitat) to remain. 

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission isn't giving up, and every so often, state legislators take a stab at increasing pheasant numbers. In 2017, Game and Parks launched the Berggren Plan to improve pheasant habitat and open up more land to public access in targeted sections of the state. The plan has shown some success.

But the CRP program, which has helped maintain pheasant populations in Nebraska and across the country, is under threat. Project 2025, a playbook for changes in federal program from the conservative Heritage Foundation, calls for eliminating the CRP program and other farm programs. 

If that happened, it would certainly set back the pheasant dreams in our state. 

But that might give us more time to ponder the really big questions confronting the universe, such as whether Nebraska football captains need to shake the hands of their opponent during the coin toss preceding a game?

Paul Hammel has covered the Nebraska state government and the state for decades. He retired in April as senior contributor with the Nebraska Examiner. He was previously with the Omaha World-Herald, Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha Sun.  A native of Ralston, he loves traveling and writing about the state.