North Dakota pheasant hunting season opens today

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota's regular pheasant hunting season opened Saturday.

State Game and Fish Department roadside surveys and brood surveys indicate that it might not be a good year for hunters, with the pheasant population down by about one-third. State officials have said hunters could bag fewer than half a million roosters for the first time in a decade.

The season runs through Jan. 8.