Hunters harvested an estimated 19,900 pheasants in Colorado in 2021-22 which is the lowest on record and an indicator of the severity of the ongoing drought conditions. Shaded area of map represents ring-necked pheasant overall range in Colorado. The lack of habitat is a continued concern for southeast Colorado, as are the long-term impacts of drought. Weather conditions in the southeast were on average much better in 2022, although much of the precipitation fell after the primary nesting and brood-rearing season. In southeast Colorado, crowing counts are lower than in the northeast, which is very typical for the area. Crowing Counts are an index only and make no prediction about nest success and chick recruitment, which is expected to have been poor in 2022, considering the severe drought since 2020 which enveloped the core and secondary pheasant range over the winter and spring, finally subsided in May of 2021, and then hit again in June/July 2021 continuing through the present. For 2022 in northeast Colorado, pheasant call count surveys showed an average increase of 12% from 2021, suggesting that pheasant populations slightly improved year to year, although the crowing count data was still significantly lower than the last 15 years’ average. Pheasant populations across the eastern plains of Colorado will be similar to 2021. Help preserve hunting access for future generations by keeping properties clean.
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