PIERRE, S.D. – Resident hunters can beat the opening day crowds and sharpen their shooting skills during the three-day resident-only pheasant season set for Saturday, Oct. 11 through Monday, Oct. 13.

The resident-only pheasant season is open on public lands. South Dakota is again experiencing a record-setting pheasant population and public lands are traditionally rich in ringnecks.

“This season is the best upland game bird hunting opportunity in North America,” according to George Vandel, assistant director of the Wildlife Division of the Game, Fish and Parks Department. “There are lots of pheasants, lots of places to hunt and not too many hunters.  It’s a great pheasant hunting opportunity for our resident hunters.”

The short hunting season has a specific set of regulations. Shooting hours start at noon Central Daylight Time each day and end at sunset. The daily bag limit is three rooster pheasants with a possession limit of nine roosters by the last day of the season.

During the resident-only pheasant season, these public lands are open for hunting:

• Property owned, managed or leased by the S.D. Department of Game, Fish and Parks. This includes Game Production Areas open for pheasant hunting during the regular season and Walk-In Areas.
• Waterfowl Production Areas managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land adjacent to the Missouri River.
• U.S. Forest Service National Grasslands.
• U.S. Bureau of Reclamation land.
• Areas managed by the S.D. Office of School and Public Lands.
• State parks, recreation areas and lakeside use areas.

Hunting on road rights-of-way during this season is limited to those roads contiguous to or part of the hunting areas listed above.

Non-toxic shot is the best choice for hunting pheasants. The use of non-toxic shot is mandatory when using a shotgun to hunt for small game on all state game production areas, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Wildlife Production Areas managed by GFP, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wildlife Refuges and Waterfowl Production Areas.

The regulations for the resident-only pheasant season, as well as many other South Dakota hunting seasons, can be found in the 2008 edition of the Hunting and Trapping Handbook published by the S.D. Game, Fish and Parks Department. The handbook is available at GFP offices and from most license agents. It can also be downloaded from the GFP Web site at www.sdgfp.info.