An Enduring Tradition
By Sen. John Thune
In South Dakota, the holiday season begins on the third Saturday in October. The annual pheasant opener is an unofficial state holiday, and as with any holiday, the anticipation builds as the date approaches. As we dig out our blaze orange and chaps, clean the shotguns, and exchange stories about years past, we look forward to the hunt, the big meal afterward, and the gift of a fall day spent in South Dakota’s great outdoors.
Like many folks in our state, pheasant hunting is a tradition in the Thune family. My dad was born the year of the first official pheasant season in South Dakota, and he was never one to miss a hunting season, even into his late 90s. He taught my brothers and me how to bag a rooster, and ever since my first hunt when I was 12, I’ve looked forward to chasing pheasants every fall.
I’ve been blessed to share hunts with my dad, my siblings, and a number of good friends and fellow South Dakotans over the years, and it’s been especially meaningful to pass along this tradition to the next generation. I taught my daughters to hunt when they were growing up, and fortunately they married outdoorsmen, and now we’re sharing this tradition with my grandkids, who may even be better spotters than I am!
The annual pheasant hunt has been a fixture for a lot of families since it began over 100 years ago, and the population of birds and hunters keeps growing. A strong pheasant population isn’t just nature taking its course though. Our state’s famed pheasant hunting is thanks, in no small part, to the conservation efforts by farmers who support quality habitat for ringnecks in fields across South Dakota.
The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is not only the cornerstone of federal conservation programs, it also helps support our state’s pheasant population. CRP supports farmers who take environmentally sensitive land out of production, which helps maintain a strong habitat for pheasants. My bill, the CRP Flexibility and Improvement Act, would make this program a more effective option for producers, and I’m proud that it’s included in this year’s Senate farm bill because programs like CRP are an important part of ensuring South Dakota remains the Pheasant Capital of the World both now and for generations to come.
Pheasant hunting is part of our way of life in South Dakota, and I hope it always will be. I’d love to be able to be out in the field in my 90s like my dad, and I trust that pheasants – and pheasant hunters – will always find a home in the fields of South Dakota.
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