ND Pheasant Number down 30%

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A summer survey indicates that North Dakota's pheasant population is down about 30 percent from last year.

Stan Kohn with the state Game and Fish Department says the number of broods and the average brood size both were down statewide because of poor reproduction last spring. He says factors include habitat loss and continuous wet weather.

Kohn says that even though pheasant numbers are down overall, there will be still be local areas with good populations.

The regulator pheasant hunting season opens Oct. 12 and continues through next Jan. 5. The two-day youth season is Oct. 5-6.

Pheasants are big business in North Dakota — tens of thousands of hunters kill at least half a million birds in a typical season.