City prepares for Rooster Rush

Multiple facets of the city, including retailers, gun shops, and hotels, prepare to receive an influx of hunters for the annual pheasant opener.


Rooster fever is here: the South Dakota pheasant season begins at 10 a.m. on Oct. 19 and Visit Watertown, the local tourism promoter, is ready to assist hunters as they pour into town.

Beginning with street lamp banners, a social media blitz, email blasts, and giveaways, Visit Watertown has been gearing up for the event for weeks which culminates with a welcome tent set up at the Cowboy store on Friday at the intersection of Highways 212 and 81.

The tent will have hunting info, tourism info including lodging and restaurants, games, giveaways, and a selection of apparel to purchase.

“We work with local partners to put on activities and give out local, South Dakota-made products like Dakota Style chips and Wild Dutchman seeds while we put on a welcoming face as our friends from out of town head to the fields,” said Anjelica Uthe, the Executive Director of Visit Watertown. “Additionally we added the color ‘pink blaze’ to our apparel lineup because legislation was passed by Gov. Noem making it an acceptable color for hunters to wear in the field.”

“We can’t do what we do at the welcome tent without our community partners.”

The welcome tent goes up at 9 a.m. Friday, the day before pheasant season begins, and runs to 5 p.m.