Like a football team preparing throughout the summer - high school kids attending camps and college athletes working to become bigger and stronger - a successful autumn is also a product of hard work that goes well beyond the current season.
From pheasants to deer and ducks, a strong fall population doesn't just happen.
For our October hunting quarry, much will be decided in the coming weeks. May means winter has finally left the Midwest and this year we find that many of our upland and
big-game populations survived the winter in pretty good shape. While parts of the state absorbed a late fall ice storm or an early spring blizzard, as a whole, the wild things did about as well as can be expected.
Let's take a once-over look at some of our spring question marks, which will gradually evolve into 2006 hunting predictions.
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Upland game
Conventional wisdom points to winter as the biggest hurdle for pheasants, and other upland game to a lesser degree, but nesting conditions and weather patterns during peak hatch times is just as significant. At times, nesting season weather can even be a greater factor.
While the plight of the Conservation Reserve Program is a major concern for the future, current habitat conditions would seem to indicate that pheasant production potential is at least similar to recent years. But don't forget, red flags were in the air last June when extremely wet weather and cold temperatures contributed to more than just a mild concern about brood survival for pheasants.
While it turned out that June weather in most places did not have a major influence on pheasant production, extreme hot and dry or extreme cold and wet conditions are legitimate worries for all upland game birds, not just pheasants.
Big game
If you've spent any appreciable time out and about this spring, you'll have a pretty accurate opinion of how well your local deer population came through the winter. As a whole, the state's white-tailed deer fared pretty well.
That's good for some, but in areas where populations are above management objectives, hunters, landowners and the State Game and Fish Department will continue to monitor population status and license allotments.
While mule deer and pronghorn are fewer in number than whitetails, they generate just about as much interest year after year. Without an excessive winter, it's possible that pronghorn numbers could continue to improve. Recent surveys of mule deer indicate they remain in good shape as well.
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Waterfowl
While North Dakota's winter is not a direct threat to most ducks and geese, the amount of snow is a major contributor to wetland conditions when the birds return in spring. While some parts of North Dakota did not have much runoff to recharge wetlands, other areas did have adequate snow.
That's the dynamic nature of the Prairie Pothole Region that produces a good share of the continent's ducks. For more than a decade, North Dakota and South Dakota have had excellent conditions for duck production. Now, as parts of North Dakota are drying out some, conditions in southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been improving.
It's difficult to predict duck production success. Unlike upland birds, wet, cold spells aren't much of a concern for ducks, but prolonged hot, dry periods that evaporate water from small wetlands can reduce nesting efforts.
Canada geese nesting in North Dakota continues to thrive and there's no doubt that hunters this year will have opportunities similar to previous years.
While snow geese do not nest in North Dakota, the Mid-continent population remains high, even after several years of spring conservation seasons. Biologists continue to asses the population and its negative impact on nesting grounds.
Just like making prognostications for fall sports, it's impossible to accurately predict what our 2006 hunting season will entail. However, habitat conditions - some the result of long-term hard work, and some a gift from Mother Nature - provide a solid foundation.
Now we'll wait and see what the weather brings.
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Leier, a biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in West Fargo, can be reached at dleier@state.nd.us
