Game Fish and Parks officials say the number of pheasant hunting licenses for opening weekend is down from last year.
Overall, license numbers are down for both resident and non-resident by about four thousand.
Shon Eide is the Game Fish and Parks licensing supervisor. He says a couple factors might play into those numbers.
The pheasant population is down and has trended downward since 2011.
Eide says the weather on Sunday also affected license sales.
“While this first weekend is kindof a glimpse into what the season might be it certainly isn’t a for sure thing,” Eide says. “For example, if we get nice weekends—in particular where the weather cooperates with us—we could certainly recoup the small number that we are down right now.”
Eide says the state sold about 23,600 non-resident small game licenses and about 10,000 resident licenses.
