Several studies conducted over different states list the ratio of hens to roosters at 4 or 5 to one.
One must remember that the birds do naturally disperse in spring as fights and expansion to other cover happens.
Two things I have never seen in a study that are worth mentioning:
1. Often stated you cannot hunt roosters out of an area. Disagree--have done it and not proud of it. One must always leave a few for seed.
2. Roosters are much more wary than hens. It is desirable to have these natural "lookouts" within a bunched up wintering group of pheasants. The roosters are the sentry and provide more survival of hens to spring in my opinion.
So I conclude by saying please use your hunting common sense. When the weather, hunting pressure or hatch provide you with few to fewer birds ease up on them. I believe we often forget they "fight for survival" 365 days a year--not just during the hunting season against us.
Each year hens are not able to nest for a variety of reasons. It is a myth that they all nest. Condition, habitat, lost nests, competition just to name a few. As I said earlier I personally have(and not proud to admit it) have hunted birds out of a vicinity when younger and not to savvy!
I mean the kind of hunting where I pounded it often in all types of weather and conditions. I think most of you are aware that deep snow groups and creates more vulnerability for the birds regardless of what "hunting month" it is. We coincidentally refer to these days as "awesome" or great hunting days. The same goes for dispersing the birds from suitable cover to non-existent cover during sub-zero temperatures. Don't kid yourself--you are not doing them any favors.
I believe the reasoning for not posting the obvious is because we "hunters" do not like reading or hearing about the obvious. Game managers do not share readily what we experienced hunters already know. It's equivalent to shooting all but two quail from a covey during a severe prolonged winter. Only a damn fool would tell you that what you did was okay.
I learned long ago that the birds we hunt must survive 24 hours a day seven days a week. Not just on Saturdays or Sundays when goofs like me chase them around. There are limits to what we hunters "inflict" before the effects of it are realized. A common sense approach to wildlife management by all of us "hunters" would be a very beneficial thing in my opinion.
Well said KBell,
This is not unlike trout fishing on streams during low water/hot temp periods. Sure you can catch fish during these times, but the stress you put on them by forcing them to expend energy unnecessarily can easily lead to a fish's death. A similar situation is when pheasants are hunkered down trying to survive the most extreme weather. At times like this you have to ask yourself if its worth it, especially during low population years....
That's a fair point. I do think you can hurt a population by hunting them hard in cold, stressful conditions, but not just because you're shooting roosters. You're probably endangering hens just by flushing them out of thermal cover, especially towards the end of the day. They can't feed in extreme conditions and are already running low on energy. Also, I think hens get more stressed than roosters in cold weather.