A cold, wet June in North Dakota impacted partridge and sharp-tailed grouse numbers and led to smaller brood sizes for pheasants, though pheasant numbers overall were up.
Northwest: 20.8 broods and 164 pheasants per 100 miles, up from 19.1 broods and 159 pheasants in 2023. Southwest: 13.8 broods and 119 pheasants per 100 miles, up from 9.7 and 86.2 in 2023.
NDSU tackle Grey Zabel and South Dakota State QB Mark Gronowski could have moved up to play at a power conference this year. But they stayed put and are looking to pull big upsets in Week 1.