North Dakota's June Routes Count Twice South Dakota's Pheasants but Its Hunters Bag Fewer

IJune Route Counts

North Dakota Has Led South Dakota Since the Early 1990s

Pheasants per run means the average count from a single route run, using only runs that met survey standards. North Dakota's count has climbed since the late 1960s, though it has dipped along the way. Its routes averaged 7.3 pheasants per run in 1966-70, a block backed by only 66 route runs. South Dakota routes rose from 29.5 pheasants per run in 1966-70 to 33.7 in 2021-25. North Dakota first moved ahead of its southern neighbor in 1991-95 with 22.3 against 17.8 and has led in every five-year block since. The gap was narrowest in 1996-2000, when the counts were 19.0 and 18.6.

Route counts in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Montana fell from 1966-70 to 2021-25 while Minnesota's rose slightly.

IISame Route Tests

The Gap Remains on Matched Routes and at the Median

A few big routes can shift North Dakota's average, so we checked the gap two ways. First we used only routes run in every five-year block from 1991-95 to 2021-25, leaving 28 in North Dakota and 20 in South Dakota. On those routes North Dakota climbed from 25.3 pheasants per run to 73.9 while South Dakota rose from 18.9 to 20.6.

Next we found the median of each state's route averages for 2021-25. North Dakota's median route counted 41.4 pheasants per run compared with 20.8 on South Dakota's median route. Seven of South Dakota's 33 routes counted no pheasants in those years while none of North Dakota's 36 did. The gap remains in both checks. Single-year figures vary more than five-year block means. North Dakota's 2025 count of 96.6 per run is well above its five-year mean, and a few big routes can shift it with only 27 runs that year.

IIIState Brood Counts

Counts Stay High With Southwest and Northwest Leading

North Dakota Game and Fish does its own roadside brood counts in late summer. Counts ran 45 pheasants per 100 miles in 2021, 65 in 2023, 94.5 in 2024 and 91.6 in 2025 with a slight dip from 2024. The department said "Total pheasants observed (91.6 per 100 miles) were down 3% from last year" and placed 2025 at 48% above the ten-year average. Its 2026 brood announcement put the count at 80 per 100 miles, up 3.8% from the 2025 figure used in that release and 57% above the ten-year average. Those releases use different 2025 bases, so the 91.6 and the 80 should not be treated as a drop. The spring crowing count and June routes moved in the same direction in only 2 of the 4 years with both.

The department's 2025 annual review listed district counts of 125 pheasants per 100 miles in the southwest, 115 in the northwest, 73 in the southeast and 37 in the northeast. The 2026 release used lower 2025 district figures for comparison, so its numbers do not show a change from that list. Using its own 2025 figures it showed the northwest up 7% to 85, the southwest at 112 against 115, the southeast at 64 against 72 and the northeast at 43 against 22. In the releases we have, the northwest led every year from 2020 to 2024 while the southwest led in 2025 and 2026. The northeast finished lowest or shared the lowest spot every year.

In the 2026 release upland game bird biologist RJ Gross said "The northwest continues to produce good pheasant numbers," adding "although many hunters have caught on to this trend the last few years and hunting pressure has followed." The department gives county harvest only as a top five by share. That 2025 list named Hettinger, Divide, Williams, Stark and McLean. North Dakota hunters killed 256,800 roosters in 2019 and 344,975 in 2025, a 34% rise.

IV2025 Harvest Gap

South Dakota Hunters Took 3.9 Roosters for Every North Dakota Rooster

For 2025 North Dakota Game and Fish estimated 53,008 pheasant hunters and 344,975 roosters for an average of 6.51 roosters per hunter. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks estimated 1,351,081 roosters taken by 57,076 residents and 82,574 nonresidents for 9.67 roosters per hunter. South Dakota hunters killed 3.9 times as many roosters as North Dakota hunters. That ratio ranged from 3.2 to 4.0 in the six seasons for which we have both states.

In 2025 South Dakota had far more hunters and bagged more roosters per hunter though its June routes averaged half North Dakota's over 2021-25. Route counts tally birds along a fixed road in June, while harvest counts tally what hunters killed on ground they could reach in fall.

VBefore Your Trip

Route Counts Cannot Explain Why North Dakota's Index Rose

The Breeding Bird Survey records pheasants seen and heard from roads in June. Its count is an index of breeding birds along those roads and tells us nothing direct about fall numbers or where hunters can go. North Dakota logged 27 to 36 route runs in each survey year from 2019 to 2025. Each year's own release supplies its brood figure, and some releases re-base the prior year. Its 2024 annual review described 94.5 as "up 25% from 2023," but that rise is smaller than the 65 printed for 2023 suggests so use ND's own percentages to read brood changes. Harvest depends on hunter numbers, access and season length as well as bird abundance.

We get North Dakota's agency figures from its news releases and magazine. We have only some years, and its 2021 harvest summary is not in our files. South Dakota's totals count residents and nonresidents but exclude preserve birds, and for 2025 we use its April statewide revision.

This still does not tell us why North Dakota's route counts increased.

VIChoosing a Dakota

North Dakota Leads June Routes While South Dakota Has Bigger Bags

Our read is that a hunter who has priced only South Dakota should take a serious look at North Dakota, starting in the southwest and northwest districts and the five counties the department listed for the top 2025 harvest shares. Count on company in the northwest, where the department's biologist said hunting pressure has followed. Use North Dakota's smaller average bag to guide your plans rather than its route counts, and check the department's September brood release before booking.