Sioux Falls, South Dakota - Airport traffic heavy for pheasant hunting opener

For a few hours Friday afternoon, Sioux Falls Regional Airport might have been the most heavily armed place in South Dakota.

Thousands of hunters from across the country filed into the state’s largest city with duffle bags, shotguns and coolers in anticipation of today’s opening of pheasant hunting season.

From there, sportsmen dispersed throughout the state, all with two things in common: a desire to shoot a few birds and empty their wallets.

Tom Tilley of Albany, Ga., landed at the airport Friday afternoon ahead of a five-day hunting trip in the Howard area.

He couldn’t be certain how much money he would spend during the five day trip, although a hunting license, ammunition, lodging, food and drinks are necessities.

“I’ll spend whatever it takes to have a good time,” Tilley said.

Chuck Schlueter, with South Dakota’s Game, Fish and Parks Wildlife division, said increased pheasant numbers statewide — bird counts are estimated to be up 18 percent — could draw more than 100,000 out-of-state hunters.

“If the pheasant population dips, there will usually be a dip in the number of hunters and the spending can go down, but with the increase in the pheasant numbers and a fairly decent turnaround in the economy right now compared to the last couple years, I’d think we hope to see a bit of an increase,” he said.

Last year, the 95,000 nonresident hunters were estimated to have spent more than $185 million during the 11-week pheasant hunting season, he said.

Schlueter said Game, Fish and Parks expects more than 100,000 hunters this season, which runs through Jan. 6, weather permitting.

“Typically, if we get an early or mid-November blizzard or bad weather spell, that can cut off that traffic. It seems like once you break that momentum it’s hard to get it going again even though we can feature good pheasant hunting right up” to the end of the season, he said.

The pheasant opener rivals Thanksgiving and Christmas for traffic at the Sioux Falls airport, and executive director Dan Letellier said the season is off to a busy start with every flight full Thursday and Friday.

Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com