MN Pheasants down 29%

[BigTen]

Sorry... I deleted my prior post right after I submitted it because I decided I didn't want to get into a big squabble.

We have some cedars and some cattail sloughs that are surrounded by cedars and/or heavy, large willows. These are the areas that the pheasants go to survive, along with the heavier groves (mainly evergreen trees). It is about 150 yds to the crop fields from these sloughs, and it is pretty neat to watch them walk single file out to feed in the afternoons later in winter. They look like a little army.

I agree with your overall assertion about needing a place that is cover for the nastiest times.

[LandDr]

BigTen...I thought your post was good and it brought up a very important point.

The fact that you are seeing your pheasants travel from good cover to the food source is exactly what I am pointing out as well. Every time those pheasants do that, they are exposing themselves to avian and ground predators. It is a death march!

Maybe the 150yds is now grass (CRP) but was one time crop. When it was crop, the food source was right next to the cover which resulted in less exposure.

I would recommend getting feeders down in the thick stuff...put the feeders right inside the willows to avian predators can fly in and gives the birds time to escape in other predators arrive.

When I give seminars on this stuff, I express to people that you don't want to "see" your birds in the winter. You want to create a situation where the birds don't have to move far from their best cover to a reliable food source.

It kills me when I see a feeder put on top of a knoll in a field or out in the open somewhere. Seriously...are they trying to draw the birds out so the hawks and owls can nail them?

Another example is when you see birds out in an open field on a sunny day and everyone gets excited to see all of the birds. WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN to see all of those birds out in those open fields! Easy picking for predators. The birds are out there because either they ran out of food next to their cover or the best food is the meager pickings they find in the field. If the birds had reliable food next to their cover, they wouldn't need to venture out and increase their exposure.

I hope everyone is starting to see that there is A LOT that can be done by each of us to improve the situation. But before blaming others, make sure you do as much as you can first.

Also keep in mind that "just enrolling" programs or grass is not going to solve the problem. Like I mentioned, grass will do fine if all we have is mild winters, but we all know that is not the case.

[B. Amish]

pheasants aren't adapted to survive harsh winters. the end.

[LandDr]

That's why you design what they need to survive harsh winters. The start!

Humans are not adapted to survive harsh winters either...so we build warm houses with fridges full of food.

Build your pheasants a warm house and fill their fridge up.