📸’s from Rooster Road Trip Ep. 2: PLOTS Produces Pheasants! Check out the full photo gallery and watch Episode 2 at the link below! Roosterroadtrip.org Day two of our annual Rooster Road Trip found us putting eyes on a fresh horizon in western North Dakota as we linked up with North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Upland Game Management Supervisor, Jesse Kolar. If Jesse’s name sounds familiar, you’ve probably read some of his work within our Prairie Grouse and Pheasant Hunting forecasts. The guy knows his stuff and we were thrilled to be able to spend a day focusing on PLOTS properties while getting educated on all things upland birds. To create public access and healthy habitat at a large scale in a state like North Dakota, where roughly 39.6 million acres of the total 44 million acres are comprised of private farms and ranches, you need willing landowners and effective programs that incentivize habitat conservation while also providing access. This is where North Dakota’s PLOTS comes into play. Private Land Open To Sportsmen, better known as PLOTS, is a component of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Initiative and represents more than 830,000 acres open to walk-in hunting access on private land. Since more than 93 percent of land in North Dakota is held in private ownership, working with landowners to manage wildlife, habitat, and access is incredibly important. Pheasants Forever recognizes this and also sees the potential to help increase the total number of acres available. That’s why we have a team of private lands biologists in partnership with the Game and Fish Department who work to enroll not only high numbers of acres into PLOTS, but high-quality acres. A huge thanks to our Rooster Road Trip sponsors: Federal Premium, SoundGear, Ruff Land Performance Kennels, Irish Setter Boots, Garmin Fish & Hunt, YETI, Orvis, Browning

For a LIMITED time, when you become a Life Member you’ll receive an exclusive PF YETI Tundra via the special Rooster Road Trip Membership offer, PLUS you'll automatically be entered to win the same Browning Citori 825 shotgun used during the trip! Link below! https://www.pheasantsforever.org/lifemember

Pheasant Fact Friday!💡 Even when food is not a winter problem, the amount of daylight is a problem. In September pheasants had more than 12 daylight hours to dine at leisure, while December provides only 9 hours. A 3 hour difference in winter may not seem like much, but it means consuming 20 percent more food in 25 percent less time, and surviving frigid nights that are 25 percent longer. To consume the required energy in a shorter day, the pheasant must change its feeding behavior. During a summer sunrise, only 36 percent of the birds have had breakfast. In December, 88 percent have eaten by sunrise. Feeding in early winter is also more intense. The weight of the food a the bird’s crop is 7.78 grams in the morning. This is 2.2 times more that on a summer morning (3.49). Their crop during a winter afternoon contains 2.7 times more food that during a summer afternoon. In summer 52 percent are feeding heavily at sunset, compared to 78 percent during a winter sunset. Time is precious in winter. #pheasantsforever #pheasants #pheasantfactfriday

Which shot do you prefer when pheasant hunting? Left to right, right to left, or straight away? Let us know in the comments! Check out all the Rooster Road Trip action at roosterroadtrip.org Huge shoutout to our Rooster Road Trip sponsors: Federal Premium, Orvis, Browning, Irish Setter Boots, YETI, SoundGear, Garmin Fish & Hunt, Ruff Land Performance Kennels

In the midwestern states of Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, Pheasants Forever’s conservation efforts are “Built Ford Tough” for a 14th consecutive year thanks to a lasting partnership with the Northland Ford Truck Dealership Group. Since 2009, more than 250 Ford dealers have supported the upland conservation efforts of The Habitat Organization by providing an F-150 Supercrew XLT pickup to be raffled off by Pheasants Forever. Tickets for the truck are provided to local chapters in portions of each state, with all proceeds benefiting habitat conservation efforts in their local communities. Pheasants Forever is happy to announce Lynn Stolz of Norfolk, Nebraska, as the most recent winner of the annual raffle that keeps the organization’s conservation engine churning across Midwestern landscapes. Thank you to Ford Truck dealers throughout the Midwest for your continued devotion to the conservation of wild things — most notably, ring-necked pheasants, but so much else too — and wild places! Tickets will be available soon for the 2025 Northland Ford Truck Raffle at Pheasants Forever banquets in the six-state region. https://bit.ly/3ATCsbx

On The Wing Podcast Ep. 292: The State of North Dakota's Upland Birds, is live. Listen now at the link below, or wherever you get your podcasts. https://bit.ly/4eCfHH2 This is the second episode of Pheasants Forever’s 15th annual Rooster Road Trip. Host Bob St.Pierre is joined for the conversation by PF’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Vavra, PF’s North Dakota State Coordinator Emily Spolyar, and North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Upland Game Supervisor Jesse Kolar. Episode Highlights: - Kolar provides status reports for North Dakota’s pheasant, sharp-tailed grouse, Hungarian partridge, sage grouse, and prairie chicken populations, along with an overview of current habitat conditions. - Spolyar and Kolar also provide excellent tips for selecting hunting spots from the road with specific examples of the types of attributes they look for in cover to find upland birds. - Check out the companion video accompanying this podcast episode at https://bit.ly/4eGqUGs. While there, enter to win a Browning Citori 825 shotgun and join/renew/extend your Pheasants Forever or Quail Forever membership featuring the new Browning Bird & Buck knife. The On The Wing Podcast is fueled by Purina Pro Plan A special thanks to our Rooster Road Trip sponsors: Federal Premium, SoundGear, Orvis, Irish Setter Boots, Browning, Garmin Fish & Hunt, YETI, Ruff Land Performance Kennels

WATCH NOW‼️ Rooster Road Trip Ep. 2: PLOTS Produces Pheasants | 2024 Public Land North Dakota Upland Hunt. Link below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSsIovBpQAw Day two of our annual Rooster Road Trip found us putting eyes on a fresh horizon in western North Dakota as we linked up with North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Upland Game Management Supervisor to focus on PLOTS properties while getting educated on all things upland birds. Private Land Open To Sportsmen, better known as PLOTS, is a component of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s Private Land Initiative and represents more than 830,000 acres open to walk-in hunting access on private land. Since more than 93 percent of land in North Dakota is held in private ownership, working with landowners to manage wildlife, habitat, and access is incredibly important. The Rooster Road Trip is made possible by: Ruff Land Performance Kennels, Browning, Orvis, Garmin Fish & Hunt, SoundGear, Federal Premium, Irish Setter Boots, YETI

Rooster Road Trip Ep. 2: PLOTS Produce Pheasants, drops tomorrow at 5pm CST. Subscribe to our YouTube channel below to be the first to see Episode 2, and if you haven't yet, get caught up by watching Episode 1 while you're there. https://www.youtube.com/@PheasantsForever A huge thanks to our Rooster Road Trip sponsors: Federal Premium, SoundGear, Garmin Fish & Hunt, Browning, Ruff Land Performance Kennels, Orvis, YETI, Irish Setter Boots

At some point, hunting public land for pheasants in South Dakota got a bad rap. What I mean is, there is a common misconception that hunting private ground is inherently better than hunting public. Don’t let the thought of hunting public land scare you or make you think twice about hunting wild birds in South Dakota’s wild places. Public land hunters have been putting roosters in their game bags on public land for decades, and so can you. Here’s a few thoughts to help you get started on the right foot - Learn helpful tips on becoming a successful public land bird hunter in South Dakota at the link below. https://bit.ly/3CBUqQo Sharing in behalf of our partners in conservation Travel South Dakota

Have you been looking for a new shotgun, and a way to enhance upland bird habitat? Well, here's your chance! For a limited time, when you join or renew your Pheasants Forever membership, not only will you receive a PF Browning Bird & Buck Knife Set, you'll also be entered to win the same Browning Citori 825 shotgun used during Rooster Road Trip. Join or Renew today at the link below! Roosterroadtrip.org

Carp and Lark, back with another Pheasant Minute! Pheasants Forever Journal Editor Tom Carpenter talks crosswind, and how to use it to your advantage pheasant hunting. #pheasantsforever #pheasanthunting #birddog

CONTEST‼️ Guess how many miles the Rooster Road Trip crew walked during the one day spent filming this week’s episode in North Dakota! Head over to www.roosterroadtrip.org to submit your prediction and then make sure to watch the series’ second episode this Wednesday at 5pm CST. We’ll choose the winner of a Garmin ALPHA LTE Sporting Dog Tracker out of the correct entries on Monday the 25th. Garmin Fish & Hunt Congratulations to week one's Rooster Road Trip Giveaway Winner, Derek of Elwood, NE!