The wicked winter looked like a long-term wipeout of pheasants across the Dakotas, the place for hunters in pursuit of the glorious birds. There were countless pheasants frozen dead by early spring 1997, yet whatever generational losses occurred were recovered in less than three years. According to Tony Leif, primary pheasant biologist for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department, such turnarounds are never out of the question for pheasants and most other gamebirds. In 1998, on opening day of the pheasant season, we took about 1.2 million birds. That's about what we had when the big blizzards hit.
Meteorology comes into play as much as biology in such a rapid rebound.
A mild winter increases hen health and decreases predation. An early spring helps the birds and the habitat get a jump on nesting. So do normal rains. Too much rain turns nesting habitat into miniature swamps. Conversely, drought is a disaster for pheasant reproduction.