2023 Upland Game Seasons Summarized

North Dakota’s 2023 pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse and gray partridge harvests were up from 2022, according to the state Game and Fish Department.

Upland game biologist RJ Gross said the overall harvest was likely a result of more hunters, more trips and more birds in the population.

“Despite enduring one of the highest snowfall totals in history (winter 2022-23), we anticipated an increase in upland bird harvests based on increases in all our metrics (number of birds, broods, brood size and age ratio) during our late summer roadside counts,” Gross said.

Last year, 53,819 pheasant hunters (up 5%) harvested 319,287 roosters (up 11%), compared to 51,270 hunters and 286,970 roosters in 2022.

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

A total of 21,512 grouse hunters (up 5%) harvested 67,710 sharp-tailed grouse (up 8%), compared to 20,461 hunters and 62,640 sharptails in 2022.

Counties with the highest percentage of sharptails taken were Divide, Hettinger, Williams, McLean and Bowman.

Last year, 20,313 hunters (up 6%) harvested 67,481 gray partridge (up 24%). In 2022, 19,125 hunters harvested 54,553 partridge.

Counties with the highest percentage of gray partridge taken were Stark, McLean, Hettinger, Williams and Divide.