Always has been a "contest" in a certain sense, RWTF. For South Dakota, pheasant hunting is big business. We're talking about a state with a population of a bit over 800,000 with over 140,000 pheasant hunters most years--most of them nonresidents. (Over 100,000 of them in really good years.) That's a significant economic impact.
Your friend bagged 25 grouse and lost 11 hit and not recovered? I find that hard to believe on grouse. They're neither that hard to kill if you hit them, nor are they that hard for a dog to recover, compared to pheasants--which are much harder to kill and much more of a challenge for a dog to recover if they come down with two good legs. I've kept track of pheasants my dogs have failed to recover for 40+ seasons. When I was spending a lot more time hunting them than I do now--back when Iowa had a lot more birds than today--most of my dogs averaged 20+ birds successfully recovered for every one lost. Over a six season span, during Iowa's best years in the early 90's, my very best dog recovered 491 pheasants while losing 12. That's a ratio of 1 lost for every 41 recovered. I've heard of pheasant dogs that have never lost a bird (but I remain skeptical!)--but that's as close as one of my dogs ever came.
