Why pheasant? How South Dakota’s state bird became an iconic food
Makenzie HuberThis article is one of 18 South Dakota food favorites. For the complete list, go here.
Pheasant: South Dakota's state bird can be prepared in a number of ways, but pheasant poppers — jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and pheasant and wrapped in bacon — are one of the most popular ways to prepare the dish by hunters.
Pheasants outnumber South Dakotans 12 to one.
Their abundance is part of what makes it a staple of the state. Pheasant hunting season is a driver of tourism and the economy. The pheasant is the state bird and many South Dakotans recall memories of pheasant hunting with friends of family.
The state's been the center of pheasant hunting since the release of pheasants in Spink County in 1908 and the state's first hunting season in 1919. Pheasant hunting’s success was part of the reason it was chosen as the state bird in 1943.
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Former state Rep. Paul Kretschmar of Eureka said the pheasant was a "bird of fine table delicacy" when he recommended the ring-necked pheasant as the state bird.
Once the bird was established in the state, residents embraced it for meals across the state by the mid-1900s.
Chris Hull, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks spokesperson, said he's had pheasant on his birthday for the past 40 years. He'll regularly eat them for major holidays, but it's during hunting season when pheasant makes the biggest appearance at his dinner table.
"When you think of pheasant hunting, a majority of the hunting world thinks of South Dakota first," Hull said. "We harvest a million wild pheasants here a year at least and no other place can say that."
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During World War II, women in Aberdeen would prepare pheasant sandwiches for soldiers, sailors and marines passing through the town by train from 1943 until 1946. They served 586,000 sandwiches — sometimes just throwing them through train windows, said Casey Weismantel, director of the Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Aberdeen officials are keeping that tradition alive by serving pheasant sandwiches to hunters who fly in for pheasant season.
"We serve up to about 300 in two times a day, which seems like peanuts compared to what these women used to do," Weismantel said.
For Hull, pheasant hunting and meals represent South Dakota traditions.
"It goes back to that tradition of friends and family getting together for this bonding time, hunting trips and then eating them while you were there," Hull said.
That tradition is rooted in preparing the game after the hunt. Hull's family would normally prepare the pheasant by "dumping cream of mushroom soup on them." Now, he's seen pheasant prepared as chislic, pheasant poppers and jerky.
"If you're a pheasant hunter you probably eat pheasant poppers," Hull said. "And my grandma would be rolling over in her grave knowing that we're not preparing it her way."