Fair pheasant hunt opener

It was not the day pheasant hunters had expected. Which, in this case, was good . . . good weather and good hunting. That is, good as far as pheasant hunts go.

Storms predicted at the first of the week didn't materialize. Hunters found opening morning cool but clear.

Which meant hunters had an easier time getting birds to take flight and dogs had an easier time tracking birds.

Consensus was it all made for a good hunt. Which, as noted, in the case of the pheasant hunt ranges everywhere from simply seeing a rooster fly to getting off a shot or two to actually downing a bird.

Typically, success on the opening day, when the majority of the 30,000 to 35,000 hunters are afield, is good when one in every two hunters gets one bird.

Some of the early reports in Saturday show that the best hunting was, again, in Utah County, around the southernmost tip of Utah Lake, and in the Uintah Basin, where pheasant counts have been highest.

Both have been areas of good brood production and mild winters, which resulted in a good carryover of birds this year.

Based on brood counts over the summer, Deal Mitchell, upland game manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, expected the opener to go as it did.

"Our pheasant population is up this year. Some of our chukar and Hun (Hungarian partridge) populations were impacted by the drought. Because pheasants tend to hold in agricultural areas, they were not bothered much," he said.

Reasons for the success in Utah County, he said, stem from the fact that it is rated second in the amount of pheasant habitat and first in pheasant population.

Those facts proved true on Saturday. Several hunters were spotted carrying roosters as they pushed the fields in groups ranging from two up to a dozen. The secret to a successful hunt, said one hunter stepping from the fields near Goshen, was to walk slowly. "A lot of hunters seem to walk too fast and will actually step over birds," he said.

Mitchell said that those hunters willing to spend more than one morning or one day hunting stand a good chance at getting more than one or two birds over the course of the hunt.

The hunt will run through Nov. 19. In some counties, the hunt will run through Nov. 30. Those planning to take advantage of the extended hunt should check this year's upland proclamation for specific information.

The limit on pheasants remains two roosters daily.

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