|  10/28/2014

Rooster Report: Nebraska Opening Weekend Success


0bfa2763-5669-4a8f-9216-28100471bd14
Hunters in several areas of Nebraska enjoyed good success during the opening weekend of Nebraska’s pheasant and quail seasons, Oct. 25-26.
 
With the number of birds seen up throughout much of the state, prospects for success will improve as hunting conditions improve. Opening weekend temperatures were unseasonably warm and unharvested crop fields gave pheasants ample escape cover. A summary of region reports from the opening weekend:
 
Southeast
A conservation officer checked 34 hunters with 22 pheasants and seven quail harvested on the opening day at Twin Oaks WMA. Another officer checked 35 hunters at Peru Bottoms WMA. Hunters contacted at Yankee Hill WMA reported seeing birds and getting several shots. Many birds were seen in the Rainwater Basins in Fillmore County. Staff on WMAs reported good quail numbers and said harvest was twice what it was a year ago.
 
Southwest
Hunters averaged about .75 birds-per-hunter in the district. Other than Pressey WMA, where hunters commented on how good the habitat appeared, and Sherman Reservoir WMA, where hunters averaged 1.39 harvested pheasants per hunter, the southwest part of the district had the most birds. South Lincoln, southeast Perkins, north Hayes, Hitchcock, Chase and Dundy counties were the best. Most of the hunters in the southwest part of the district were nonresidents. Hunters on Sacramento-Wilcox WMA averaged .5 to. 75 harvested pheasants-per-hunter on opening day.
 
Northwest
While hunting pressure was light throughout the district, an officer working Box Butte County on opening day reported seeing more pheasants than he had seen in 24 years of working the area. He said the 19 hunters he checked averaged nearly two harvested birds per hunter. Pheasant numbers also were excellent in Cheyenne County. Landowners reported seeing more pheasants than they had in many years.
 
Northeast
A conservation officer working Dixon County checked 28 hunters with 39 pheasants, with most of that success at Audubon Bend WMA. In addition, numbers of quail seen and in the bag were higher in Nance County than a year ago. An officer working Stanton, Platte and Colfax counties checked 65 hunters with 44 pheasants. Most of that success was at Wilkinson WMA. Hunters in Knox County saw good numbers of birds as 18 hunters were checked with 22 pheasants.
 
The hunting season for pheasant, quail and partridge is open through Jan. 31.
 
-Reports and photo via Nebraska Game and Parks