Pheasant Reports

[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.