Why are pheasant's so special

[muc33]

Anyfish, don't worry, I am open minded.... As I said, I think you have great questions and hopefully you can at least appreciate the likely one sided answers you will get at least one sided in this forum.

Anytime you want to come hunt pheasants with me, just shoot me a message in here and we can set up a hunt in SW MN where the birds are plentiful!!!!!

[ANYFISH]

I knew that it would be one-sided so to speak but thats ok, I hoping for conversation, and it worked. The best part is it stayed civil and great viewpoints were cast, that's was makes FM great and what needs to happen more often with other issues.

I will remeber to take you up on your offer!

[BobT]

I hope I didn't give the impression that I thought pheasants were easy prey for they are not as evidenced by watching me in the field. I did say that I felt they were faster and boilerguy brings up a good point with the wind. When they get up with the wind they are even faster still. Too often hunters make the mistake of shooting at the tail feathers instead of the head and get results like boilerguy mentioned. Okay, I've been there way too many times myself.

Bob

[Eric Wettschreck]

Shoot em in the head and they're dead. Shoot em in the tail and they bail.

Words to live by.

Anyfish and Muc...got room for one more gun?????

[kato wall guy]

Well for me there is nothing better then watching my dog hunt a a I go to shoot them for her. The most rewarding feeling there is to watch your dog stalk a running rooster or go on point on tight holding bird. when I just started to hunt I did not have a dog and shot very few roosters its just luck if you walk close enough to spook one up i would never go hunting with out a dog. {even a bad dog is better then nothing more feet out there covering more ground as long as it stays close.} Anyone can duck hunt and retrieve there own birds. i have a lab and it does both retrieves a goose or duck. But the first thing i trained her do was hunt roosters got to have a dog for that. Unless you are one of them good sportsmans that road hunts around a game farm!!!

Anyfish i strongly suggest tring it and answering some those questions first hand but go with some one that has good dog and land so you do not get discurraged.

[kato wall guy]

I dont know where you are from but if ever in the kato area during the season let me know. I have some heavily populated private land and dog that lives for the sport. look me up

[MinDak Hunter]

I would argue that the turkey is also invasive (outside it's historic range of EXTREAM south eastern MN) and it too has gained popularity.

I can't answer your questions with any good reasons. I only know I love to hunt them on public land, where you have to work for them, with good dogs. I like to eat them and so do my kids.

Mike

[Pyrex]

I agree with MinDak, This is also the biggest reason for no atv's in the road ditches. I live in Renville co. there is 2 state land areas in the Co. the rest is farmland, and I have seen farmers first hand plow almost over the ditches to get that extra bushel. Nothing against farmers, but the ditches is all we have for habitat. Some farmers are now leaving a 30-50' area on either side of the ditches, which is an excellent idea and hope this catches on.

- On another note, Boilerguy, I'll go anytime, I do alot of hunting down there. Good state land!!!

[2 DA GILLS]

This is a valid question, but there are other valid question to ask such as:(these have been stated already - I did not read the entire thread)

1) Why do we stock walleyes in waters where they are not native?

2) Why do we stock walleyes at all? Put and take?

3) Why are wild turkeys transplanted all around the state?

They all have the same answers. Opportunities and revenue.

[Lunker]

No, pheasants do not effect other Prairie Bird pops, at least not much. Pheasants thrive because they can survive in high density ag-land with some edge and swamp habitat for nesting. Other true prairie birds(prairie chickens, etc) need expanses of true prairie to survive, that is why we see so few around anymore.

As far as begin exotic, it is one of those species that did not have a negative effect on native habitat and species, and is of value as a game animal. We often forget that some exotics are fine, it's the harmful ones that immediatley jump to mind adn spoil the term exotic. Remember the brown trout is an exotic, and we don't see too many complaints about those.

[B. Amish]

 Originally Posted By: Lunker

No, pheasants do not effect other Prairie Bird pops, at least not much.

says who... Pheasants Forever

[B. Amish]

i found these pheasant eggs in a mallard nest today.

incubation time for pheasant: 24-25 days

incubation time for mallard: 26-30 days

[muc33]

hmmmmmm, I hope she doesn't make them learn how to swim.... that might not go too good!

[BLACKJACK]

hmmmmmm, I hope she doesn't make them learn how to swim.... that might not go too good!

When we were kids we took a nest of teal eggs and put it under a banty hen and put the banty hen eggs in the teal nest. The banty hen hatched the teal eggs just fine, so then we decided to go see how Mrs Teal was doing with the hen eggs. We found the baby chicks peeping away in the nearby wetland, all perched on cowbogs, the hen teal nowhere in sight. I'm sure Mrs. Teal was mighty disapointed in her offspring!!!!

We ended up raising the chicks and the teal in the same pen, all under one banty hen!!! Then the teal flew away when they got big enough.

[riverrat56]

Do you think those swimming pheasants will decoy as good as some late season Mallards in a snowstorm?