• Pheasant hunting came as naturally as October to the Dell Rapids area where I grew up. Some of my fondest high school memories are of walking with friends and family members through wooded draws and fields of harvested corn, eagerly anticipating the cackle of a flushing rooster pheasant. The fall hunt is a tradition almost as old as South Dakota itself.
• The tradition renewed itself last weekend, and I was fortunate enough to be with a group of hunters in the Eureka area for the season opener. The hunting party represented several generations. Some members of the party lived on the land we hunted. Others came from neighboring states to rejoin their families. The party included a few members too young to carry a gun, but already experiencing the essence of a South Dakota pheasant hunt as they learned gun safety, respect for wildlife and appreciation of the land.
• We've all seen the reports that pheasant numbers are down this year, perhaps as much as 64 percent. I know I had a great hunt opening weekend and each year during the Governor's Pheasant Hunt I look forward to introducing out-of-state business prospects to our unrivaled experience. Even when our bird numbers are down, South Dakota is still the world's premier destination for pheasant hunting.
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• But we shouldn't ignore the numbers or the concerns about our pheasant population. Weather, habitat, farm policy, farming practices and predators are some of the reasons I've heard for the decrease in birds. Like you, I've heard much anecdotal

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