Iowa pheasant harvest lowest ever
June 2, 2009
By Doug Smith
Pheasants in the Midwest are at the mercy of the weather, and nowhere is that more evident than in the numbers coming out of Iowa.
The Iowa DNR said Tuesday that hunters last year harvested an estimated 383,000 roosters — the lowest on record and only the second time since 1958 that the harvest did not reach 500,000 birds.
Hunters noticed. Based on the DNR’s hunter survey, an estimated 86,000 hunters — also an all time low — pursued pheasants there.
Recent winters rated among the most severe in Iowa’s history get the blame. Minnesota, of course, has avoided those severe winters, and pheasant numbers here have skyrocketed in recent years. Click Link Below for Full Story!
via Iowa pheasant harvest lowest ever.
Gov. Paterson makes it official: the Reynolds Game Farm will not be closed – Outdoors Blog on syracuse.com
January 18, 2009
The following press release came out of Albany at 3:06 p.m.
Governor David A. Paterson today announced that he has directed the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to halt the closure of the Reynolds Game Farm in Tompkins County as state officials and hunting groups explore options to fully support the costs of the program with increased license fees.
“The State has long recognized the economic impact hunters and their industry provide for New York State,” said Governor Paterson. “I am pleased that sportsmen and women have joined us to help find creative ways to weather the state’s fiscal crisis while preserving programs important to them.”
According to DEC, approximately 60,000 sportsmen and women hunt pheasants in New York State each year. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation has estimated that small game hunters spent approximately $600 per person per year on excursions and equipment-related expenses in 2006, contributing potentially millions of dollars to the State economy.
Since the closure of the farm was proposed, hunting groups have advanced several proposals to establish increased license fees or other hunting related fees to support program costs. In consideration of this effort, the Governor has requested that DEC develop a fee structure that will generate new revenues to the Conservation Fund that would fully offset the operational and capital costs of the facility. If sufficient resources can be identified, operation of the Game Farm would continue in State Fiscal Year 2009-10. Governor Paterson asked DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis to explore a sustainable, hunting related funding stream to cover the expenses of the farm without the use of State dollars. Other long term options to sustain the State’s pheasant stocking program could also be explored.
The farm, located outside of Ithaca, propagates pheasants for the hunting season. Operating costs are more than $750,000 per year – $400,000 of that in personnel. State law permits pheasant hunting through a $16 small game license. The Reynolds Game Farm is largely paid for through the Conservation Fund, although the Fund’s annual deficits have required the use of State dollars to keep the farm operating.
Money from hunting and fishing licenses is dedicated to the Conservation Fund, which helps support a number of programs including fish hatcheries, sporting license databases, wildlife health monitoring studies and stream and lake surveys.
All pheasants distributed through the pheasant stocking program are released, either by DEC or other cooperators, on land open to the public for pheasant hunting. On an annual basis, the pheasant stocking program typically produces:
- 25,000 adult pheasants that are raised on site and distributed by DEC.
- 60,000 day-old pheasant chicks that are distributed to and released by 160 4-H clubs, numerous sportsmen’s clubs and five New York State prisons each year.
- 15,000 young pheasants distributed to individual landowners.
- 1,600 adult pheasants for special hunts including people with disabilities and youths (ages 12 to 15)
Taking stock of the flock – JSOnline
December 12, 2008
Pheasant hunters love South Dakota
Hecla, S.D. – The airways have grown congested here along the James River in northeastern South Dakota.
As we hunt through a frozen marsh, the furry seed heads of cattails dislodge and whirl upward in a brisk north wind. A low, gray sky adds to the mix, dropping clouds of dime-sized snowflakes.
And 250 yards ahead, dark, long-tailed shapes take to the air, rising above the cattails, flapping and gliding into the distance. The birds erupt singly and in bursts of twos and threes, sometimes accompanied by a cackle.
To Wisconsin eyes, it takes time to believe: Ring-necked pheasants.
The spectacle of so many pheasants in view is both fascinating and frustrating. Fortunately for us hunters some birds afford a closer look.
“I think Tram’s on point,” says my hunting partner, Bob St. Pierre of St. Paul, Minn. Two dozen yards ahead, his 1½-year-old German short-haired pointer Trammell – named for former Detroit Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell – stands frozen amid the swirling atmospherics.
As we crunch closer, a rooster pops out of the dense cover, angling downwind. St. Pierre spins and fires, tumbling the bird with a single well-placed shot. Tram digs out the bird – an upland gift of tasty meat and colorful red, white, green and brown plumage – and brings it to hand. Click Link Below For Full Story!
Taking stock of the flock – JSOnline.
Pheasant season expected to be one of the best – Salina Journal
October 23, 2008
by Todd Flory
Salina Journal
With pheasant season starting on November 1 and quail season beginning on Nov. 8, area hunters will soon be gearing up to hunt. And, if Randy Rodgers’ predictions are correct, hunters could be in for a special season. “There is a good chance this will be our best pheasant season in 20 years,” said Rodgers, wildlife biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. “North central and northwest Kansas are looking pretty darn good,” Rodgers said. “Northwest in particular is looking very good.”
Of course, Rodgers said, the amount of birds will vary a great deal from one area to the next. The weather plays a large role in the amount of birds in a given year. Rodgers said the northeast part of the state would not have many birds because of too much rain at the wrong times of the year. In the southwest part of Kansas, Rodgers expects bird populations to be down by about 40 percent, due to some extremely dry conditions in the spring. “If you drew a line…from say, Scott City to Dodge City, and extended that line a ways, anything south and west of that line would be in an area where bird numbers are down,” Rodgers said. Full Story
salina.com – an online service of the Salina Journal.
Take children on hunt for pheasants, quail | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader
October 17, 2008
Francis Skalicky
It’s hoped that two upcoming youth-only hunting events will provide young hunters with an opportunity to get interested in the outdoors. At the same time, it’s hoped these two-day hunting events will give veteran hunters a chance to pass on their love of the outdoors to the next generation.
The two events I’m referring to are Missouri’s youth-only quail season, which will be Oct. 25-26, and the state’s youth-only pheasant season, which will be the same weekend.
Missouri’s youth-only quail season is open to hunters ages 6-15. Youths who are not hunter-education certified must hunt in the immediate presence of a properly licensed adult. In those instances, the adult may not hunt quail — only the child may do so. The daily bag limit is eight and the possession limit is 16. Full Story
Take children on hunt for pheasants, quail | News-Leader.com | Springfield News-Leader.
Minnesota pheasant hunting should drop this fall – TwinCities.com
September 11, 2008
Minnesota pheasant hunters shouldn’t count on another banner season this fall.
The Department of Natural Resources reports the pheasant index dropped 24 percent this year, because of cold and wet spring weather that reduce chick survival. The decline comes after three consecutive years of high pheasant harvests, culminating last year in the highest pheasant kill since 1964.
“We’re down by 24 percent, but we’re right at our 10-year average for the pheasant population, so it should still be a good year,” said Kurt Haroldson, a DNR wildlife research biologist.
This year’s state’s pheasant index is 81 birds per 100 miles of survey route, compared to 106 birds per 100 miles last year. The index, based on roadside counts taken by trained spotters, exceeded 100 pheasants per 100 miles in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Last year, hunters killed 655,000 roosters.
Minnesota’s pheasant population, which lies on the north edge of the bird’s range, did not suffer many losses during last year’s mild winter, but cold and rainy weather in April, May and early June likely resulted in some nest destruction and loss of chicks to hypothermia. The peak of the hatch, around June 6-8, was poor weather for young pheasant survival, Haroldson said. Full Story
Minnesota pheasant hunting should drop this fall – TwinCities.com.
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