Pheasant Reports

[CaptainMusky]

Well since we are already hijacked.

Regarding increases ... well weather is the deciding factor and BOOM. Tough winter and rough summer has resulted in low populations. Nothing can prevent that. Habitat needs to be in-place so that when favorable weather patterns return, the habitat is there for them to nest more successfully.

CRP is a benefit to deer too.

Completely correct. CRP wont help us now the season is upon us, but helps birds winter and then if we can catch ANY luck, mild winter, low snow, warm spring, low rain and BOOYA!

[Musky Buck]

If you hunted where there were quite a few birds opening weekend you may think oh lots around but the truth in many areas is comparing to other years there's a lot less than what had been sorta normal. Lots less in many areas.

[lindy rig]

So........ does anyone have a pheasant report ? LOL!

[Stcloudangler]

Will have one from north central SD in 6 days for ya! And the birds around here are definitely down. But, so are the hunters... alot of opener traffic but I can see it rapidly decreasing soon.

[CodyDawg]

[IceAge@work]

In regards to PF, yes they are a great group but I can honestly say I have not seen any real increase in the bird population due to their efforts. I am sure you do not like what I am saying but sometimes one needs to be honest.

Must have been hibernating between years 2002 & 2009 when the MN pheasant harvest doubled from 250,000 roosters annually to over 500,000 roosters annually. That increase in populations and bird harvest was a direct result of PF, DU and a few other habitat organizations successfully lobbying congress and the Bush Administration in the late 1990's to expand the conservation title in the Farm Bill.

Since 2009 conservation acreage in MN has decreased substantially and will continue to decrease unless PF & DU can pull a rabbit out of there collective hat while preparing for the next Farm Bill in Washington. Funding organizations like PF & DU over the next couple of years will be critical to the cause of maintaining viable habitat.

[CaptainMusky]

So........ does anyone have a pheasant report ? LOL!

I saw three VERY young ones on Sunday afternoon while driving around checking out spots. I never intended on hunting and decided these guys needed more time to grow up.

2 were roosters and one hen. The roosters you could barely tell what they were.

I talked to a farmer nearby combining beans and he had seen ZERO birds while working the field. They would be hitting the corn next and if they saw none at that point I would become really concerned.

he did say he was seeing a lot of deer this year.

Central MN area.

I will be hunting this weekend in my normal spots. It will be interesting to compare year over year. Lots of birds last year. I will report my findings upon return.

[harvey lee]

I use to believe in what PF has done and their efforts.

I will agree that with the help of PF, the farm bill to some degree has helped the bird population in thwe past years. I will say with the value of crops today, I see very little in regards to any CRP or other programs of the like.

The end result still is that our bird population in my area goes yup and down a bit with the winter snow and the damage from spring rains.

As I stated, in the past 25 years, I have seen very few if any increase in the population other than from the weather.

last fall late in November, there was a feeder in the country with corn and there were approx 25-30 birds feeding there daily thanks to a local PF member who kept that feeder full.

Come mid Jan., there were no birds there feeding as the hard storms had wiped them out. yes, they put the feeder out but come spring, there were no birds to have chicks and increase the population. We needed habitat and with the price of land, those days of local chapters purchasing a mere 100 acres is about gone.

I have many friends who are farmers and run thousands of acres and they have said they have seen next to no birds.

I spend alot of time in the rural areas of my area and in the past years, I plain and simply have not seen next to anything for bird numbers. It was better 40-50 years ago with the soil bank days and the farming practices will never allow that again in our future nor will the Gov spend that kind of money again in todays dollars.

So please do not try and tell me how well PF has increased the population.

Enough of this baloney.

Sorry you do not like what I write but it is so true here in my area.

There maybe areas in the state where land sells for less and the PF chapters have made a difference but the bird numbers in the past years have shown otherwise. I know south of Marshall and to the west to South Dakota the past years have been very good for bird hunting as I have been there.

[PurpleFloyd]

I have been a member of PF and Minnesota Pheasants Inc for a long time and while they certainly do what they can in terms of habitat, I agree with Harvey that the weather has played a much bigger role in the number of birds than PF has.

Yes, the bird population increased dramatically from about 2005 until the last few years but then again we have had decent winters that have kept mortality low during that time. CRP helps but unless you are planting conifers in the plots the birds get hammered hard in the grass and cattails when we get a heavy snow, driving winds and freezing rain like we had the last few years. In those cases the grass and cattails transform into a killing field and the numbers drop.

Populations are always in flux and right now we are down from the recent past but with a few more good winters and springs we could see a decent rebound in population. Food plots, the correct cover and the space to elude predators all will help bu there is no way we have the resources to provide enough of all of them to establish a stable population through all of the weather events we get.

[BirdWhisperer]

Not really sure if this is suppose to be sarcastic or not, but I work for SD GF&P and I've never heard of the STATE releasing birds. Yes indeed, there are hunting preserves littered throughout the state (mainly central SD) where up to 30,000 pen-reared pheasants are released annually by just one preserve. Again, I hope this post was sarcastic. The state of South Dakota works extremely hard (brood surveys, WIA sign-ups, enforcement, etc.) and has all the resident and non-resident hunters to thank for the financial support they receive to implement quality land use practices to provide the best hunting opportunities as possible.

[brittman]

Not really sure if this is suppose to be sarcastic or not, but I work for SD GF&P and I've never heard of the STATE releasing birds. Yes indeed, there are hunting preserves littered throughout the state (mainly central SD) where up to 30,000 pen-reared pheasants are released annually by just one preserve. Again, I hope this post was sarcastic. The state of South Dakota works extremely hard (brood surveys, WIA sign-ups, enforcement, etc.) and has all the resident and non-resident hunters to thank for the financial support they receive to implement quality land use practices to provide the best hunting opportunities as possible.

The high end preservses and high dollar commercial operations release 100,000s of pheasants. People have incorrectly heard the stories and passed it on that the state release the birds.

[Da Biggin]

Ventured out Monday morning toward the Hutchinson area. Saw 3 birds on the day in total. 2 hens and a single rooster. All brids were seen from a moving vehicle and related to private land. Was hoping to see more but it felt good to get the dog working... heading out again next Monday.

[IceAge@work]

OK. Now I'm starting to get the picture. PF doesn't put a pile of pheasants in my backyard so therefore the efforts to preserve habitat anywhere else are worthless. That's your baloney right there.

Want a little straight talk? Entitlement attitudes among outdoorsmen who put their short-term satisfaction ahead of viable long-term conservation efforts is the biggest threat to maintaining any degree of a healthy farmland ecosystem. That outlook is way too pervasive and if the next version of the Farm Bill goes bad for conservation look for all of Minnesota's pheasant range to become an agrarian wasteland just like it was during the late 70's and 80's.

For those who think it is all about weather show me that correlation between weather and pheasant numbers during the 1980's when nesting & brood rearing habitat was nonexistent. Pheasant numbers were in the basement year after year in MN at that time. In fact that population crash is what prompted individuals to start PF in the first place.

Winter habitat in MN while not abundant is plenty adequate for pheasant survival. The real limiting factor is healthy nesting and brood rearing habitat. That habitat is beginning a free fall right now and this season of poor bird numbers is just a sign of what is to come. Weather matters year-to-year. Good habitat can have an impact for a decade. Unless something changes in regards to Farm Bill Conservation Policy the next decade looks bleak.

[Snag]

Got out yesterday for 3 hours. Hit all my old honey holes and only got up one hen. I'm going to try Marshall, Montevideo or Windom next time out. The hen was on a Pheasants Forever WMA. Talked to a farmer who lives next door to the WMA and he said all the pheasants died last winter. He didn't see any this spring and summer.

[Fatty07]

On my way to a south Dakota pheasant hunt as I write this. I am very sad to see some of the comments about pheasants forever. They have done a great job along with du and south Minnesota pheasant Inc. In acquiring and maintaining land. It is not their goal to maintain short term bird populations. Rather invest in the future of the habitat. PLEASE support your local chapters they are not perfect but do amazing work. Thank you all that support and donate your time so my two young boys will be able to hunt in the future.

[harvey lee]

OK. Now I'm starting to get the picture. PF doesn't put a pile of pheasants in my backyard so therefore the efforts to preserve habitat anywhere else are worthless. That's your baloney right there.

Want a little straight talk? Entitlement attitudes among outdoorsmen who put their short-term satisfaction ahead of viable long-term conservation efforts is the biggest threat to maintaining any degree of a healthy farmland ecosystem. That outlook is way too pervasive and if the next version of the Farm Bill goes bad for conservation look for all of Minnesota's pheasant range to become an agrarian wasteland just like it was during the late 70's and 80's.

For those who think it is all about weather show me that correlation between weather and pheasant numbers during the 1980's when nesting & brood rearing habitat was nonexistent. Pheasant numbers were in the basement year after year in MN at that time. In fact that population crash is what prompted individuals to start PF in the first place.

Winter habitat in MN while not abundant is plenty adequate for pheasant survival. The real limiting factor is healthy nesting and brood rearing habitat. That habitat is beginning a free fall right now and this season of poor bird numbers is just a sign of what is to come. Weather matters year-to-year. Good habitat can have an impact for a decade. Unless something changes in regards to Farm Bill Conservation Policy the next decade looks bleak.

If as you state the habitat is plenty adequate, why does the biggest majority of birds die when we hit a hard snowy winter. I saw numerous locations where the birds were being feed last winter right along with other winters yet the bird died. I doubt that was from an abundant amount od winter cover.

I agree we need more habitat but from what I have seen in the last years-25 or so in my area, the habitat you talk about that is plentiful is not saving them even when they are fed from the corn feeders.

[CaptainMusky]

The high end preservses and high dollar commercial operations release 100,000s of pheasants. People have incorrectly heard the stories and passed it on that the state release the birds.

Yes, my post was sarcastic hence the reason I put sarcasm in the message.

I guess some people are missing the entire point of PF if they think that just because habitat is there that magically 6 feet of snow, freezing rain that accumulates in inches, blowing snow with blizzard conditions and 200% above average rainfall with cooler temps = birds because the habitat is there.

We all know that weather is the single biggest controlling factor to serious swings in pheasant populations. This is out of our control. What we can control is habitat, foodplots, predator control, etc. These are things that organizations like PF champion. Just because a corn feeder is there to feed the birds doesnt mean they will survive, they need habitat as well and even the best habitat results in loss of birds.

We cannot control the weather, but what we can control is that when the conditions improve, the habitat is there for them to rebound. In the best winters over 1/3 of the pheasants die so we are never going to see them all make it through regardless of efforts.

[CaptainMusky]

I saw numerous locations where the birds were being feed last winter right along with other winters yet the bird died. I doubt that was from an abundant amount od winter cover.

I agree we need more habitat but from what I have seen in the last years-25 or so in my area, the habitat you talk about that is plentiful is not saving them even when they are fed from the corn feeders.

Where were the feeders? Were they a good distance away from the cover? This is the biggest issue facing pheasants when they rely on feeders. They have to expend too much energy to get to the food source and leave the protection of the shelterbelt, etc and are exposed to the elements.

Placing the food plots within the shelterbelt isnt the best answer either because of predation.

So it isnt as simple as throwing some corn on the ground and happy times for pheasants even if the habitat is good. Coyotes and fox could have cleaned house on those birds you were seeing and if there was some predator control those birds may have survived, who knows.

[harvey lee]

No, the feeders were within 50ft of their heavy wooded cover. It's ear corn in a feeder 4ft high and 4ft across, kept open for feeding and always has ear corn in it.

Yes predators can be a huge issue but in this area, it is hit very hard with approx 15 guys every weekend hunting the fox and coyote. They also are very good at what they do and clean out many of the predators in the areas they hunt.

Seems when iceage@work states there is plenty of good habitat for winter cover for pheasants that I question that when I read today the DNR states that the bird population is down 64% statewide. yes, I realize some of those losses are from a wet spring and poor chick mortality rates.

As I have stated winter cover and plenty of habitat is key but we are a long ways from what is needed to see any difference in a bird population. We do know alot of money has been spent by PF in the field but I simply do not see the needed results in the past 25 years.

30 years or better ago when we had a hard winter, we had huge bird losses. Same thing today so I cannot see how there is the needed habitat that Iceage claims.

[CaptainMusky]

No, the feeders were within 50ft of their heavy wooded cover. It's ear corn in a feeder 4ft high and 4ft across, kept open for feeding and always has ear corn in it.

Yes predators can be a huge issue but in this area, it is hit very hard with approx 15 guys every weekend hunting the fox and coyote. They also are very good at what they do and clean out many of the predators in the areas they hunt.

Seems when iceage@work states there is plenty of good habitat for winter cover for pheasants that I question that when I read today the DNR states that the bird population is down 64% statewide. yes, I realize some of those losses are from a wet spring and poor chick mortality rates.

As I have stated winter cover and plenty of habitat is key but we are a long ways from what is needed to see any difference in a bird population. We do know alot of money has been spent by PF in the field but I simply do not see the needed results in the past 25 years.

30 years or better ago when we had a hard winter, we had huge bird losses. Same thing today so I cannot see how there is the needed habitat that Iceage claims.

Perfect habitat doesnt mean you are going to see populations stabilize. We have had 2 winters in a row with a lot of snow and then this Spring was the worst in years for nesting. The birds that made it through the winter didnt nest well because of all the rain and these are results from areas that have prime habitat for both Winter and Spring nesting.

The habitat is there in areas and the population will rebound if we get some decent conditions this year.

I would bet if we have a decent winter and decent spring for nesting we could see numbers increase 100% in spots along the range. Still wont be where we were in recent years, but that is how fast this can happen.

If you head out West there is more than ample habitat for pheasants and always the highest densities, but look at how those counts plummeted. Its not because of lack of habitat. It was the weather.

[NELS-BELLS]

Can we stay on topic please. The title is "Pheasant Reports". Please only post reports. Start a new topic and debate why the pheasant population is down this year.

Thanks,

Nels

[muc33]

winning isn't everything. but debate why you are right all day long.