A South Dakota Tradition

By U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
October 20, 2017

We are fortunate to be home to the country’s best pheasant hunting, and opening day of pheasant season is a weekend South Dakotans look forward to all year. I’ll once again be spending opening weekend near Presho, hunting with family and friends.

One of the aspects of hunting I enjoy so much is the camaraderie. Our kids grew up learning to hunt, and all four are planning to join us in the fields this fall, along with their own families. My oldest grandson will have the opportunity to mentor hunt this year. While the grandkids are still young, they look forward to hunting season as much as we do! They enjoy helping dogs chase down birds, and afterward we all enjoy a meal together as we share stories about that day’s hunt.

I first learned about hunting when I was just 3 or 4 years old, when my dad, Grandpa Don, and the man who raised my dad, John Kauth, took me out hunting with them for the first time. However, I was introduced to the sport on the day I was born—the opening weekend of 1954. Each birthday, my dad reminds me about how I messed up his hunt that year!

Hunting is more than just a hobby for South Dakotans, it’s also a big source of income for many of our small businesses. Each year, people from all over the country visit our state to hunt in the best pheasant habitat in the nation. They stay in our hotels, dine in our restaurants and enjoy all of the other things South Dakota has to offer. We’ve had a tough year in South Dakota with this summer’s drought, and there will be fewer birds out there, but I’m confident hunters will still be able to have a successful season – both South Dakotans and nonresidents alike.

Hunting plays a large role in land conservation, as well. One of the best things we can do as sportsmen and women is continue to promote the use of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres. It’s a good program for farmers, because it provides them with an additional source of income and it’s good for hunters because it creates excellent habitat for deer, pheasant and water fowl to nest. As we continue discussions on the upcoming farm bill, raising the number of CRP acres has been a top priority of mine.

We’re looking forward to enjoying some fresh air, hunting a few birds and making even more family memories this season, and we hope you, your loved ones and friends will do the same. We wish all South Dakotans safe, fun and successful hunts!

A South Dakotan’s Field of Dreams – By Sen. John Thune

 By Sen. John Thune
October 13, 2016

When South Dakotans picture opening day of pheasant season, they see unharvested corn and milo fields, sloughs, shelterbelts, and food plots lined with hunters – often friends and family, conspicuous in their bright orange clothing. Although shooting a limit of pheasants isn’t the mark of a successful hunt, the allure of the “Pheasant Capital of the World” is why hunters from across the United States gather in South Dakota every third Saturday in October to participate in this world-class event and renew or create family memories and traditions.

As you walk through the amply covered fields during your fall hunt, it’s important to think about what the surrounding landscape looks like in winter after the crops are harvested, snow covers the ground, and temperatures dive below zero. It’s also important to think about the spring nesting season when quality habitat is crucial for pheasants to hide their nests and offer protection to their young chicks. Most people probably assume that’s what the widely known and well-respected Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is for, and they would be right.

Since its authorization in the 1985 farm bill, CRP has evolved into the cornerstone of federal conservation programs and has helped create a field of dreams for South Dakota pheasant hunters. CRP acreage in South Dakota peaked in 2007 at more than 1.5 million acres, and as a result of the nesting habitat and winter cover most CRP acres provide, pheasant numbers increased dramatically. Since then, CRP acreage has dropped, and unfortunately it’s only going to get worse. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports show that over the next six years, nearly 580,000 additional acres will expire from CRP in South Dakota – that’s a 60 percent loss of our current CRP-enrolled acres.

The opportunity for South Dakota landowners to enroll more land in the most recent general CRP sign-up was significantly hamstrung when the USDA announced it had accepted just 107 of the more than 40,000 acres that South Dakota landowners had offered. In response, I wrote to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and later had an opportunity to question him during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing about the department’s disappointing decision and inappropriate CRP management practices.

As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I will continue to work with USDA officials and focus my efforts on making changes to CRP policy next year when we begin debate on the next farm bill to ensure adequate and equitable CRP enrollment and common-sense management of CRP in the future.

Keeping adequate acres enrolled in South Dakota will benefit everyone because it will help maintain our state’s nearly quarter-million-dollar pheasant hunting industry, which directly benefits our small towns and rural areas. Farmers will continue to protect and preserve soil health, and our state’s pheasant hunting legacy will continue for generations to come.