Anyone know of a way to obtain wild hen pheasants for the purpose of stocking them on land for reproduction? This would be in Kansas. Not interested in any that were hatched and raised in captivity. Thanks
Won’t do it illegally. I have 640 acres of 4” - 4’ tall grass. Great cover. Multiple milo food plots. Three water sources. Coon, coyotes and skunks are trapped hard in winter. The place was infested with pheasants till 2012. An extreme hot dry summer wiped them out and they just have not recovered at all.
Won’t do it illegally. I have 640 acres of 4” - 4’ tall grass. Great cover.
Well, there's grass and there's grass... what kind of grass do you have? Great winter cover is not the best brood-rearing cover, and vice-versa. Also, as much as I love sorghum, multiple food sources (i.e., millet, foxtail, ragweed, legumes) are better than a single food source.
It’s a mixture of grasses, some switch grass, some little and big blue stem, some Indian grass, and some clover and other broadleaf mixed in. But here is the issue. The property has not changed in 20 plus years, except there are more and better milo food plots the past 12 or so years. And there is two more small ponds as water sources for wildlife. It had excellent pheasant population for many years, going back into the 1990s, so I have to think habitat is not the issue. The habitat supported great pheasant numbers in the past. The population was wiped out in the summer of 2012, when there was many consecutive weeks of 100-110+ degree temperatures and no rain. That summer was devastating and way out of the ordinary. Since then, summers and winters have been relatively normal. Since then, the population has stayed very low.
Thanks Battue, I’m a member of PF and never thought of contacting them. I will check that out.
Guy I know used them for habitat development on a relatively similar sized piece...He also made it known it would not be open to unlimited public hunting and they had no problem. He followed their guidelines and said the Bird numbers increased significantly.
Not just your property that lost pheasants in that 2012 time era. The entire state took a dramatic plunge in numbers starting back then. The previous 8 or so years were the extreme opposite, like all the stars aligned and it truly was the golden era of Kansas pheasant hunting (at least in my 40 year lifetime). We will still go out on the opener, more so out of habit than out of expectations of a good hunt.
It’s a mixture of grasses, some switch grass, some little and big blue stem, some Indian grass, and some clover and other broadleaf mixed in. But here is the issue. The property has not changed in 20 plus years, except there are more and better milo food plots the past 12 or so years. And there is two more small ponds as water sources for wildlife. It had excellent pheasant population for many years, going back into the 1990s, so I have to think habitat is not the issue. The habitat supported great pheasant numbers in the past. The population was wiped out in the summer of 2012, when there was many consecutive weeks of 100-110+ degree temperatures and no rain. That summer was devastating and way out of the ordinary. Since then, summers and winters have been relatively normal. Since then, the population has stayed very low.
Not saying you're doing anything wrong, but I'll add some additional comments... based on the theory of DIVERSITY
It sounds like you have a good variety of grasses, but what is your forbs and legumes situation like? While phez love large expanses of grass for loafing and escape cover, they have to have a DIVERSITY of other plants to sustain their life cycle. Additionally, extremely dense blocks of grass are not good brood-rearing cover.
I have a much smaller piece of ground than you do- mine is only 60 acres in southern Iowa where quail are more likely to be found than phez- but flora DIVERSITY have been tremendously beneficial for my pheasant population. My approach is to manage the property primarily for quail, and let the phez benefit from it as much as they can. The absolute best brood-rearing cover that I've experienced is CP-42 pollinator blend. A mix of grasses, flowering and seed-producing plants, it is just what the doctor ordered for young phez and quail. Enough grasses to offer patches of cover, a multitude of flowering plants to attract insects for the chicks, and seed-producing plants later in the season as the chicks are transitioning from a protein-based diet to a grain-based diet. And it offers enough bare ground at the bottom for the chicks to have sufficient mobility.
I keep about half of my CRP in CP-42 and half in CP-25 (native tallgrass prairie) so the birds have a good mix of brood-rearing, nesting and winter grass cover. I have five sorghum food plots, ranging in size from just over an acre down to about a 1/4 acre. Each year, I allow 2 of the 5 to lay fallow, resulting in a wonderful mess of old sorghum stalks, ragweed, foxtail and wildflowers- almost as good as CP-42 for brood-rearing and carries food benefits well into the winter.
My largest, primary food plots are Blizzard Buster sorghum. I don't know of anything better that provides both food and winter cover. However, simple mowing and shallow tillage of overgrown grassy or weedy areas is a great approach for smaller, supplemental food plots, too. It knocks back all of the invasive and/or cool-season grasses and allows the weed seeds like ragweed and foxtail to germinate. Broadcast some German millet in there, too, and viola! you have a little food plot with very little work invested. Now you have a DIVERSITY of food sources.
I have a couple of cedar thickets adjacent to the CRP fields that also helps in the winter, and I've created 3 hinge-cut thickets on the edges in other areas for escape and thermal cover. Grassy cover, shrubby cover and brushy cover- you guessed it: DIVERSITY.
Finally, I'm in the process of trying to remove any hardwood trees in or adjacent to my grassland, within reason. They are nothing but perches for raptors.
IaNative, and others thanks for detailed recommendations. I’ve got an e mail in to Pheasants Forever. That and some of your comments will hopefully get me on the right track.
Not saying you're doing anything wrong, but I'll add some additional comments... based on the theory of DIVERSITY
It sounds like you have a good variety of grasses, but what is your forbs and legumes situation like? While phez love large expanses of grass for loafing and escape cover, they have to have a DIVERSITY of other plants to sustain their life cycle. Additionally, extremely dense blocks of grass are not good brood-rearing cover.
I agree with IANative.
Have you considered burning patches? Upland birds need a patchwork of habitat(nesting, brooding, escape) and forbs(aka weeds) with bare ground are an essential part especially for chicks. You want to grow lots of insects in the summer and make it easy and safe for chicks to feed on them. The forbs offer overhead protection and bare ground makes it easy for them feed. Your grass is good for nesting and escape cover.
Have you considered burning patches? Upland birds need a patchwork of habitat(nesting, brooding, escape) and forbs(aka weeds) with bare ground are an essential part especially for chicks. You want to grow lots of insects in the summer and make it easy and safe for chicks to feed on them. The forbs offer overhead protection and bare ground makes it easy for them feed. Your grass is good for nesting and escape cover.
Ah, yes, prescribed burning is worth its weight in gold. And not just the mid-contract maintenance burns required by your CRP contract. Supplemental burning, or even mowing, within the timeframes allowed by your CRP contract(s) make for much better stands of CRP. I do additional burns or mowing every year on some of my CRP ground. And burning of scrub ground that adjoins your CRP is good, too. Great points, Whiptail.
Thanks for all the replies. I talked to KDPW and there is no stocking program of wild trapped birds, as I and others expected. But I had to ask. Will do some burning next early spring.
It’s a mixture of grasses, some switch grass, some little and big blue stem, some Indian grass, and some clover and other broadleaf mixed in. But here is the issue. The property has not changed in 20 plus years, except there are more and better milo food plots the past 12 or so years. And there is two more small ponds as water sources for wildlife. It had excellent pheasant population for many years, going back into the 1990s, so I have to think habitat is not the issue. The habitat supported great pheasant numbers in the past. The population was wiped out in the summer of 2012, when there was many consecutive weeks of 100-110+ degree temperatures and no rain. That summer was devastating and way out of the ordinary. Since then, summers and winters have been relatively normal. Since then, the population has stayed very low.
Not saying you're doing anything wrong, but I'll add some additional comments... based on the theory of DIVERSITY
It sounds like you have a good variety of grasses, but what is your forbs and legumes situation like? While phez love large expanses of grass for loafing and escape cover, they have to have a DIVERSITY of other plants to sustain their life cycle. Additionally, extremely dense blocks of grass are not good brood-rearing cover.
I have a much smaller piece of ground than you do- mine is only 60 acres in southern Iowa where quail are more likely to be found than phez- but flora DIVERSITY have been tremendously beneficial for my pheasant population. My approach is to manage the property primarily for quail, and let the phez benefit from it as much as they can. The absolute best brood-rearing cover that I've experienced is CP-42 pollinator blend. A mix of grasses, flowering and seed-producing plants, it is just what the doctor ordered for young phez and quail. Enough grasses to offer patches of cover, a multitude of flowering plants to attract insects for the chicks, and seed-producing plants later in the season as the chicks are transitioning from a protein-based diet to a grain-based diet. And it offers enough bare ground at the bottom for the chicks to have sufficient mobility.
I keep about half of my CRP in CP-42 and half in CP-25 (native tallgrass prairie) so the birds have a good mix of brood-rearing, nesting and winter grass cover. I have five sorghum food plots, ranging in size from just over an acre down to about a 1/4 acre. Each year, I allow 2 of the 5 to lay fallow, resulting in a wonderful mess of old sorghum stalks, ragweed, foxtail and wildflowers- almost as good as CP-42 for brood-rearing and carries food benefits well into the winter.
My largest, primary food plots are Blizzard Buster sorghum. I don't know of anything better that provides both food and winter cover. However, simple mowing and shallow tillage of overgrown grassy or weedy areas is a great approach for smaller, supplemental food plots, too. It knocks back all of the invasive and/or cool-season grasses and allows the weed seeds like ragweed and foxtail to germinate. Broadcast some German millet in there, too, and viola! you have a little food plot with very little work invested. Now you have a DIVERSITY of food sources.
I have a couple of cedar thickets adjacent to the CRP fields that also helps in the winter, and I've created 3 hinge-cut thickets on the edges in other areas for escape and thermal cover. Grassy cover, shrubby cover and brushy cover- you guessed it: DIVERSITY.
Finally, I'm in the process of trying to remove any hardwood trees in or adjacent to my grassland, within reason. They are nothing but perches for raptors.
Best of luck in your efforts.
At one time Union county was the pheasant and quail capitol of Iowa. Southern Iowa has the best terrain for quail in the State. Unfortunately, the coyotes and turkeys have devastated both pheasants and quail in Iowa. I'm sure it's like that all over the country.
kwg
For liberals and anarchists, power and control is opium, selling envy is the fastest and easiest way to get it. TRR. American conservative. Never trust a white liberal. Malcom X Current NRA member.
I’ve watched a few videos about how they raise and stock birds for the driven-bird trade in Britain. Seems to work very well, but pretty involved. Game is well-provided for there, cover, predator control, and a variety of crops.
Used to hunt a stable, healthy population of wild pheasants in South-Central PA. Still not entirely certain about what happened to it, but it’s a great loss.
Several years ago I organized an effort where a large public property that didn't allow any pheasant hunting but held a strong population, let me trap and transplant wild pheasant to properties in adjoining counties where habitat improvement was underway.
I trapped the birds using corn-baited walk-in traps in late winter. One thing to anticipate is roosters often seem easier to trap than hens. They are more bold, probably require more food, so in some cases roosters became "trap happy" and could be repeatedly trapped if not translocated. I was putting bands on them to help estimate the overall population size in addition to tracking translocations.
I didn't have my own property to release birds onto, so didn't appear self-serving. However, a local sportsman's club covered the costs of my gas and hours. We also asked recipients of birds to "donate" to the project at some nominal level so there was strictly speaking no "sale" of these wild birds. Some landowners received birds if they had very good looking habitat, and even if they donated nothing.
I had a good relationship with the local state game managers, as did the sportsmans' club, so the state didn't elect to require excessive levels of permitting or red tape that could have made the project onerous. If you know of a strong source of unhunted birds elsewhere in Kansas you might be able to organize a similar effort.
