WATERTOWN, S.D. (KWAT) — Blaze orange will be a popular color across the prairies of South Dakota this weekend as the pheasant hunting season opens.

Tourism Department Secretary Jim Hagen says people come from all over the country come to South Dakota in the fall to hunt birds.

Hagen says pheasant hunters come here, because South Dakota offers an environment they can’t find anywhere else.

It’s not just the hunters that benefit, but main street businesses, too.

The pheasant hunting season runs thru Jan. 5.