Dept. of Game, Fish and Parks
For Immediate Release: Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003
For more information: Spencer Vaa, 688-4786

NOW IS PRIME HUNTING TIME FOR TUNDRA SWANS

PIERRE -- South Dakota has held tundra swan hunting seasons since 1990, and Game, Fish and Parks officials say data supplied from hunter harvest surveys for the past 13 years indicate the prime time and the best areas for swan hunters to focus on.

"Swan migration chronology has been remarkably consistent over the years", said state Waterfowl Biologist Spencer Vaa of Brookings. "The data indicate that, by far, the most opportune time to hunt tundra swans is in northeast South Dakota from the last week of October through the first week of November."

Approximately 65 percent of the swans harvested each year are taken during this two-week time period. So now is the time to hunt, but where to go? According to Vaa, during the early-to-mid 1990s, it was an easy choice--Day and Marshall Counties were the high-harvest areas. But, things have changed a bit. During the late 1990s, Brown County and McPherson County became the high-harvest counties and have maintained that ranking since 1998. Why?

Vaa believes that the distribution of sago pondweed, a favorite food source of swans, has changed due to high water levels.

"Many of the wetlands in Day and Marshall Counties became too deep for sago pondweed and lost some of their attraction for swans," he said. "Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Brown County has good sago pondweed beds and currently attracts more tundra swans than any other place in South Dakota. Hunting is prohibited on the refuge, but hunters are finding good hunting in the vicinity."

Vaa encourages hunters to promptly send in their tundra swan hunter harvest surveys, including the swan bill measurement card.

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