Amid statewide pheasant decline, bird bagging remains steady in Kandiyohi County

This article was published in the Lakes Area Review on Oct. 19, 2019

Minnesota’s changing climate and diminishing conservation land have taken a statewide toll on this year’s pheasant population. However, regardless of statewide trends, Kandiyohi County remains a stronghold for the birds – relatively speaking.

Pheasant numbers are down 17% across the state, averaging 45.2 birds per 100 miles according to the DNR’s annual Roadside Survey.

The survey, which has been ongoing since 1955, takes a roadside count of pheasants along different routes, totalling 100 miles of road per county. The Roadside Survey is not intended to reflect the literal statewide population of wildlife, but instead serves as a rough index.

Though the bird population in Kandiyohi County remains strong – averaging 69.3 birds per 100 miles – it saw a 21% decrease from last year’s bird count. However, it is still significantly higher than the county’s 10-year average of 53.3 birds per 100 miles.

The drop is not significant, according to DNR Area Wildlife Supervisor Cory Netland, considering the county has seen a significant spike the past two years, breaking a decade-long slump in the bird population. “I was happy with numbers that came out this year,” Netland said.

Last year the entire county was considered “fair” hunting, according to the DNR, meaning 25-49 pheasants per square mile. This year most of the county is still considered fair, with the exception of the county’s northern rim, which has been downgraded to “poor,” meaning 10-24 birds per square mile.

Other areas saw a much more significant decrease than Kandiyohi County. Almost the entire southeastern region of the state was downgraded to “very poor” (less than 10 birds per square mile), while neighboring counties – Stearns, Swift, Chippewa and Renville – have all reported a significant decline in their pheasant population.

Since the mid-2000s Minnesota has suffered a gradual loss of habitat, especially in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) – a land conservation program administered by the Farm Service Agency, where, in exchange for an annual rental payment, farmers cease agricultural production and instead plant species that will improve overall environmental health. This directly correlates in the statewide decrease in pheasants suffered since mid-2000s.

In contrast, Kandiyohi County provides ample pheasant habitat, with 11.7% of the entire county designated as conservation land. This totals 64,687 acres, and is managed by both state and federal agencies, which include 31 state Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) and 54 federal Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs).

This is a recent development. Twenty years ago almost no conservation land existed within the county, Netland said. But now if one was to drive from Pennock to Willmar, conservation land would line the road the whole way.

Due to its abundance of public land, and with this pheasant habitat, Kandiyohi County WMAs are now the second most visited in the state for pheasant hunting. Although Kandiyohi County is centered in the heart of Minnesota’s agriculture country, with 63% of the county consisting of farmland, the local economy is not entirely weighted on agriculture production. A variety of industries within the county, according to Netland, has allowed the county the opportunity to designate portions of the land for conservation.

This isn’t the case for all of west-central Minnesota; in neighboring Renville County, farmland makes up 86% of the entire county, with only 0.5% of the land designated for conservation. This has its consequences. Renville County has seen a significant drop in their pheasant population this last year, averaging 38 birds per 100 miles.

“When you think of Renville County, you don’t think pheasants, you think agriculture,” Netland said.

This is not to say agriculture production is bad for the pheasant population; it can be good in moderation. It provides an ample food supply for pheasants. For example, north of Sunburg near the Ordway Prairie, pheasant numbers are the lowest in the county. According to Netland’s metrics this is due to the lack of agriculture in the area.

In addition to cropland and conservation areas, Kandiyohi County has a highly diverse landscape. Though pheasants may prefer the open prairie, trees and pheasants are not mutually exclusive. The northern portion of the county is defined by its sprawling deciduous forests, which provide winter cover for pheasants, while prairie and farmland, which provide food, lie to the south. The county’s ample wetlands provide cattails, which make for pheasants preferred wintering grounds. “This place to me has it all,” Netland said. “We are well positioned in this county, to see pheasant populations as strong as anywhere in the state.”

It has also been a wet year, which has been a determining factor in southeastern Minnesota’s declining pheasant count. Excess rain makes for poor nesting conditions for pheasants. The sudden heavy rains, that can total upwards five to seven inches, are cause for massive pheasant nest failure across the state. Though pheasants often re-nest, they are often not as successful the second time around. As a consequence, there are a lot of very young pheasants come hunting season.

“I’m confident in saying it’s a product of climate change,” Netland said.

The increased rainfall is an upward trend. Between 1895 and 1999, Kandiyohi County averaged 25.41 inches of rainfall per year. From 2000-2019 the County averaged 27.41 inches of rainfall. This year alone, it has already rained 29.39 inches.

Not only has Kandiyohi County been getting more rain, it is getting hit by heavier downpours. Minnesota has seen 14 mega rains – where six inches of rain covers more than 1,000 square miles – since the state began documenting them in 1973. There were two in the 1970s and two in the 1980s. However, since the turn of the new millennium the state has seen an abrupt uptick, with six mega rains in the 2000s and four in the 2010s.

“Here [in this climate] you get more significant rain events,” Netland said. “We are already seeing the effects of that, just the same way people on the coast are seeing more hurricanes.”

If this trend becomes the norm moving forward, Minnesota can expect its pheasant population to migrate westward into drier climates, like the Dakotas, Netland said.

However, an upward trend in rain doesn’t necessarily mean pheasants will leave the state. “We can mitigate the effects of climate by providing best habitat conditions available when the weather cooperates,” Netland said.

However, there is no way to convert enough private land to public to conserve the county’s wildlife habitat, according to Netland. The responsibility ultimately falls upon private land owners to sustainably conserve their land to continue to provide habitat for wildlife.