pheasent vs. turkey

[Dan Thiem]

I was wondering why we have to apply for turkey license and not pheasents.

I see alot more turkeys than I do pheasents. But we can shoot two cocks a day and only one turkey a year?

Is the pheasent population really doing good? Around where I live we haven't seen very many pheasents for the last few years. And I haven't seen a Hungarien (sp) partrige for at leat 5 years. But the turkeys are thick. And not just the ones I work with.

[Surface Tension]

The number of pheasants harvested each fall out numbers the total population of turkeys. I have neither pheasants or turkeys in my area but I'm in prime Ruffed Grouse habitat, so everything is relative to the area your in.

Without a permit system on turkeys in Mn you'd hunt them out, again. The ratio of prime turkey range and the numbers of hunters is an other reason for the lottery. The quality of the hunt would be reduced. Turkey hunting is a solitary thing where each hunter requires large amounts of land.

The permit system is also a tool to spread out some of this hunter load over 7 periods that a hunter can apply for.

[Dan Thiem]

Thanks Frank. Good point. I guess I never thought of that.