Capital Journal staff

PIERRE — South Dakota’s colorful state bird, the Chinese ring-necked pheasant, celebrates its 100th anniversary in the state this year. A native of Asia, pheasants came to South Dakota in 1908 when three Spink County farmers released three pairs of the birds.

The Office of Tourism is holding a fall promotion, South Dakota Pheasantennial: 100 Years of Tradition, to commemorate pheasants in the state. The Pheasantennial is a good opportunity to come and enjoy the exhibit Sportsman’s Paradise: Hunting and Fishing in South Dakota at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The exhibit will be up through Nov. 30.

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Sportsman’s Paradise examines the history of both hunting and fishing and the vital role hunters and anglers play in game conservation and management. The exhibit talks about the introduction of pheasants to South Dakota and features pheasant hunters dressed for a day in the field. 

The first official pheasant hunt took place in South Dakota in 1919. Hunting was only allowed in Spink County during the one-day season. Ten years later, the state sold more than 2,700 non-resident pheasant hunting licenses. Today, South Dakota is a pheasant hunter’s paradise; 103,000 non-resident licenses were sold in 2007.

“Anyone who drives South Dakota after mid-October knows pheasant season has started,” said Jay Vogt, director of the South Dakota State Historical Society, headquartered at the Cultural Heritage Center. “The pick-ups parked in the middle of the fields, the people in orange vests with dogs at their heels — it means the pheasants better watch out. Lots of the birds end up on the dinner plate, and the hunters have a great time getting them there.”

Many of the images in Sportsman’s Paradise and in Tourism’s South Dakota Pheasantennial promotion come from the South Dakota State Archives.

The State Archives collection includes newspaper accounts of the first pheasant hunts in the state and many hunting and fishing photographs.