General Pheasant Season Opens In Idaho

Up to 33,000 shotgun-toting hunters are expected to take to Idaho’s fields today for the opening of pheasant season.

Neil Johnson, wildlife biologist with Fish and Game, expects better hunting than last year.

Last season, pheasant hunters bagged 114,600 birds. That harvest has dropped each year since 1990, when hunters reported taking 148,700 birds.

Upland game experts blame the drought, bad weather during spring nesting and loss of habitat for the decrease. But this year, upland game bird populations appear to be up, thanks to a mild winter and a good breeding season.

Johnson expects hunting to be good where there is good habitat for pheasants.