As usual, success on South Dakota's opener was varied, but hunters faced standing crops and wind, which made shooting difficult.

According to the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department, the best bag reports came from the southeast.

Hunters in Beadle, Jerauld, Aurora, Davison, Turner and Hutchinson counties averaged two birds or better apiece. Groups in other areas of the southeast region averaged one bird or better per hunter, officials said.

Unpicked corn made hunting difficult and might have contributed to reports of fewer hunters.

Reports from the central portion of the state, those counties on either side of the Missouri River, were that hunters were averaging one or two birds apiece.

Throughout the region, corn was still in the fields.

"There are lots of birds in the crops," said Tim Withers, a GFP program assistant in Pierre. "They know where they're safe."

"Hunters are happy," Withers said. "They're seeing quite a few birds."

Some areas in the central region reported fewer hunters than expected.

Hunter numbers were down in the Miller area and in Gregory County. The report from Mobridge was plenty of hunters, but no overcrowding in the fields.

Hunters averaged one bird apiece in the northeast region.

DOUG SMITH