2021 Upland Game Seasons Summarized

North Dakota’s 2021 pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge harvests were down from 2020, according to the state Game and Fish Department.

Upland game biologist RJ Gross said the overall harvest was likely a result of fewer hunters and below average reproduction.

“We anticipated a slight decrease in upland game harvest for the fall in 2021 based on small brood sizes and a decline in observations per mile during our late summer roadside counts.” Gross said. “Although anecdotal reports from hunters indicated 2021 reproduction was better than we reported, the juvenile-to-adult ratio from our hunter-submitted wings confirmed that 2021 reproduction was below average for pheasants and sharptail.”

Last year, 47,020 pheasant hunters (down 18%) harvested 259,997 roosters (down 21%), compared to 57,141 hunters and 330,668 roosters in 2020.

Counties with the highest percentage of pheasants taken were Hettinger, Divide, Bowman, Williams and Stark.

A total of 15,762 grouse hunters (down 21%) harvested 45,732 sharp-tailed grouse (down 47%), compared to 19,971 hunters and 86,965 sharptails in 2020.

Counties with the highest percentage of sharptails taken were Mountrail, Burleigh, Ward, Divide and Kidder.

Last year, 14,013 hunters (down 17%) harvested 44,822 Hungarian partridge (down 14%). In 2020, 16,795 hunters harvested 52,251 Huns.

Counties with the highest percentage of Hungarian partridge taken were Mountrail, Ward, Stark, Williams and Divide.