Pheasant hunting season kicks off today in South Dakota. Officials feel good about bird numbers for 2022 due to a mild winter as well as rains in late May and early June that resulted in good vegetative cover for nesting. Although drought stress has impacted much of South Dakota, that is not expected to negatively impact bird numbers. In 2021, more than 85,000 resident hunters and 81,000 nonresident hunters combined to harvest nearly 1.07 million pheasants.