How many birds do you shoot in a season?

goldenboy

goldenboy

Well-known member
So I have a buddy I live vicariously through every pheasant season. He lives in the heart of some great hunting. I am going to brag about him because he is a phenomenal bird hunter and lives for this time of the year. He works a full time job but saves a lot of his vacation for the fall when he can get out, chase his dog's, and shoot birds. I asked him yesterday what his number is so far this season. Personally he has shot 54 birds and the total number of birds shot while he has been in the field hunting with others is 118 so far this season! These are all wild birds. I would like to hear from others how this year is going for you?
 
I live in and only hunt in Iowa. I have shot 12 so far (3 more this morning). I don't take any additional days for hunting, just holidays and weekends, this gives me more than enough pheasants that I can kept eaten and to stay below the possession limit. The last 2 years I have only hunted about one day a week with a bunch of other things going on in my life. This year I might be back to the twice a week plus an occasional holiday and get back to 60ish birds a year. The past 2 seasons were only in the 30s. This is only shooting my 3 birds per outing, no party hunting in Iowa.
** I now am grinding my birds every 2 weeks and making breakfast sausage from them. Once processed in this manor they are out of the possession limit...filleted, vacuum packed and froze, they are still part of your possession limit.
 
I have been out 4× less then 3 hours total time. By myself twice and twice with another dog guy. 15 birds total. I am not a fan of hunting above 45°.

From Dec. 1 till Jan. 31 i will probably shoot 150 birds. That is about my normal take during the end of the S.Dak. season.
 
goldenboy said:
So I have a buddy I live vicariously through every pheasant season. He lives in the heart of some great hunting. I am going to brag about him because he is a phenomenal bird hunter and lives for this time of the year. He works a full time job but saves a lot of his vacation for the fall when he can get out, chase his dog's, and shoot birds. I asked him yesterday what his number is so far this season. Personally he has shot 54 birds and the total number of birds shot while he has been in the field hunting with others is 118 so far this season! These are all wild birds. I would like to hear from others how this year is going for you?
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I would think he should be careful of the possession limit. In Kansas the possession limit is 16.
 
westksbowhunter said:
So you guys shooting 120-150 pheasants per season, how do you stay under the possession limit? Do you give them away, do you eat 3 or pheasants daily? Just curious.
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I don't shoot that many and I definitely have trouble staying under the possession limit. I give a lot away. The possession limit here in MN is only 6 until Dec 1, then it goes to 9, which helps some.
 
I have a number of friends and family happy to have birds. I take 5 to 10 different people out over the season and most are happy to take birds. College students love free meat.😉

I cook up about 10 birds at a time for our weekly pf banquet committee meetings.
Pheasant and dumplings. Pheasant chili. Asian Zing Pheasant. Pheasant and Wild Rice. Lemon pepper with broccoli. Pheasant tacos. All get devoured.
 
gim said:
I don't shoot that many and I definitely have trouble staying under the possession limit. I give a lot away. The possession limit here in MN is only 6 until Dec 1, then it goes to 9, which helps some.
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I was always mindful and cautious of the possession limit during the good years in Kansas when I would shoot 50 birds a year.
 
Weimdogman said:
I have a number of friends and family happy to have birds. I take 5 to 10 different people out over the season and most are happy to take birds. College students love free meat.😉

I cook up about 10 birds at a time for our weekly pf banquet committee meetings.
Pheasant and dumplings. Pheasant chili. Asian Zing Pheasant. Pheasant and Wild Rice. Lemon pepper with broccoli. Pheasant tacos. All get devoured.
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Cooking up 10 at a time wouldn't leave you very many left with a possession limit of 15.
 
Everyone can do what they want, but for me, if I have to give away birds so I can go kill more, well, just not my style I guess. In Kansas, if I have 16 in the freezer, and I am out hunting and have 1 in the bed of my truck, I am in violation I believe. I don't loose many birds, but when I do I count them towards my daily limit. Our season opens on Nov. 8 and closes Jan. 31. To shoot a 150 birds, with a 4 bird limit, I would have to hunt at least 3 days a week and shoot a limit every time I went out. If we get any rain, you are basically stuck at home here because the roads aren't maintained in Kansas. I have a lot of access, but to shoot that many birds, I would have to hunt all over the state on private ground. I hope to get 30 birds this year. 30 pheasants and another 30 quail is my goal.
 
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Weimdogman said:
I have been out 4× less then 3 hours total time. By myself twice and twice with another dog guy. 15 birds total. I am not a fan of hunting above 45°.

From Dec. 1 till Jan. 31 i will probably shoot 150 birds. That is about my normal take during the end of the S.Dak. season.
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That’s a lot of time in the field, good for you!
 
goldenboy said:
So I have a buddy I live vicariously through every pheasant season. He lives in the heart of some great hunting. I am going to brag about him because he is a phenomenal bird hunter and lives for this time of the year. He works a full time job but saves a lot of his vacation for the fall when he can get out, chase his dog's, and shoot birds. I asked him yesterday what his number is so far this season. Personally he has shot 54 birds and the total number of birds shot while he has been in the field hunting with others is 118 so far this season! These are all wild birds. I would like to hear from others how this year is going for you?
Click to expand...

goldenboy said:
So I have a buddy I live vicariously through every pheasant season. He lives in the heart of some great hunting. I am going to brag about him because he is a phenomenal bird hunter and lives for this time of the year. He works a full time job but saves a lot of his vacation for the fall when he can get out, chase his dog's, and shoot birds. I asked him yesterday what his number is so far this season. Personally he has shot 54 birds and the total number of birds shot while he has been in the field hunting with others is 118 so far this season! These are all wild birds. I would like to hear from others how this year is going for you?
Click to expand...
Wow, that's awesome. I've never even came close to those numbers.
 
I hunt pheasants in SD about 30-35 days, some years more, depending on the weather…luckily, the last several years the Dec/Jan timeframes have been mild and allowed for lots of hunting. I cook a lot of my birds after each trip, and share with friends who enjoy what I cook…and, I do have friends/family who like receiving pheasants. And, each guy that joins me goes home with legal possession limits, regardless of what they shot on the trip. I’m licensed in ND, SD, MN…how many can I possess? I’m a MN resident. I breast my birds and freeze the meat in ziplock bags about 3 birds per bag, I force the air out and roll the bag up and it looks like a pork tenderloin. Just how I do it. I don’t think I’m required to have a wing or spur or head attached once it’s in my freezer. But again, i
don’t think I ever have more than my SD, ND, MN possession limit at any one time..,I enjoy cooking it fresh…my mechanic and his guys enjoy it, my former office colleague’s do as well, as do 2-3 other misc friends…but my math says I can possess over 30 based on my licenses. But I know many guys who hunt preserves and don’t even need licenses for that, and don’t have limits…am I supposed to be concerned about those birds? I’m not. I’ve never had a warden come to my home, never heard of anyone having it happen, unless they’re involved in egregious game violations of some kind. Rare would be the year I
don’t shoot north of 100, but it’s a function of hunting 30+ days, owning land in SD that’s home to good bird #’s, and having many farmer friends who have good habitat…I’ve been in this area over 30 years. It’s 66 degrees right now, I’m watching my pal who arrived today hunt.. it’s day 5 for me, I’m giving the dogs a break…my 6 year old gets hot even when it’s 40 and sunny…luckily the spot we hunted earlier had 3 stock dams full of water…I like being here, don’t feel compelled to hunt all day every day…usually when I’ve got groups we do that…throughout the season, I probably average 4 per day, but it’s higher than that in Dec/Jan, and lower than that in Oct, and probably right at 4 in Nov…if I’m alone or with one guy, I’m not too motivated to hunt a lot if it’s warm…October and early Nov are those times..I’ve shot 10 or 11 this trip, I believe…I get as much joy having my friends do well…but there’s enough for all who are willing to work for them. Got another, should have had2! Beautiful golden hour!!!!!☀️☀️☀️☀️
 
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benelli-banger said:
I hunt pheasants in SD about 30-35 days, some years more, depending on the weather…luckily, the last several years the Dec/Jan timeframes have been mild and allowed for lots of hunting. I cook a lot of my birds after each trip, and share with friends who enjoy what I cook…and, I do have friends/family who like receiving pheasants. And, each guy that joins me goes home with legal possession limits, regardless of what they shot on the trip. I’m licensed in ND, SD, MN…how many can I possess? I’m a MN resident. I breast my birds and freeze the meat in ziplock bags about 3 birds per bag, I force the air out and roll the bag up and it looks like a pork tenderloin. Just how I do it. I don’t think I’m required to have a wing or spur or head attached once it’s in my freezer. But again, i
don’t think I ever have more than my SD, ND, MN possession limit at any one time..,I enjoy cooking it fresh…my mechanic and his guys enjoy it, my former office colleague’s do as well, as do 2-3 other misc friends…but my math says I can possess over 30 based on my licenses. But I know many guys who hunt preserves and don’t even need licenses for that, and don’t have limits…am I supposed to be concerned about those birds? I’m not. I’ve never had a warden come to my home, never heard of anyone having it happen, unless they’re involved in egregious game violations of some kind. Rare would be the year I
don’t shoot north of 100, but it’s a function of hunting 30+ days, owning land in SD that’s home to good bird #’s, and having many farmer friends who have good habitat…I’ve been in this area over 30 years. It’s 66 degrees right now, I’m watching my pal who arrived today hunt.. it’s day 5 for me, I’m giving the dogs a break…my 6 year old gets hot even when it’s 40 and sunny…luckily the spot we hunted earlier had 3 stock dams full of water…I like being here, don’t feel compelled to hunt all day every day…usually when I’ve got groups we do that…throughout the season, I probably average 4 per day, but it’s higher than that in Dec/Jan, and lower than that in Oct, and probably right at 4 in Nov…if I’m alone or with one guy, I’m not too motivated to hunt a lot if it’s warm…October and early Nov are those times..I’ve shot 10 or 11 this trip, I believe…I get as much joy having my friends do well…but there’s enough for all who are willing to work for them. Got another, should have had2! Beautiful golden hour!!!!!☀️☀️☀️☀️
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I don't think that is how the possession limit works. How many birds you have in the freezer or possession is what your allowed in your state. Dependent on how many days you are into the season. Which in Kansas would be 4 a day up til the 4th day of the season but you can never exceed 16. Doesn't really matter where you shot them. Maybe I am wrong. But in my house, with me being the only person with a license, I can only have 16 birds. With pheasants, how would you ever prove that you shot them in another state once you exceeded yours states possession limit? Which is why we have the Legacy Act. It is the Legacy Act that always seems to get tv hunters in trouble for poaching game. Maybe I am wrong, but if I were shooting 150 birds a year, I wouldn't post it on the internet. I would also think you would have to have a large string of dogs to hunt that many days. With my 2 dogs, there is no way I could hunt them that much to kill that many birds.

From another thread:
Here is one of the better possession definitions I have seen as well. And the link https://forum.ultimatepheasanthunting.com/threads/possession-limit.20163/

Possession Limit:
? No person shall possess more than one daily limit on the opening day of the season. (See pages 8 - 11).
? No person shall possess more than the possession limit even when such birds are stored at home or are being processed at a commercial preservation facility. (See pages 8 - 11).
? No person including commercial facilities shall possess migratory birds of another unless such birds are tagged by the taker with the total number of birds and species, date killed, and signed by the taker.

Tagging:
No person shall give, put or leave any migratory game birds at any place or in the custody of another person unless the birds are tagged by the hunter with the following information: (a) the hunter?s signature, (b) the hunter?s address, (c) the total number of birds involved, by species, and (d) the dates such birds were killed. Tagging is required if the birds are being transported by another person for the hunter, or if the birds have been left for cleaning, storage (including temporary storage), shipment, or taxidermy services (see proxy statement on page 20).
Termination of Possession:
The possession of birds taken by any hunter shall be deemed to have ceased when such birds have been delivered by him to:
? Another person as a gift when accompanied by a proxy statement.
? A post office, or a common carrier, or a migratory bird preservation facility, and consigned for transport by the Postal Service or a common carrier to some person other than the hunter.
(Note: Upland Game/Migratory birds left in processing or storage facilities, home freezers, etc., are part of a hunters possession limit until conditions above are met. Birds must be given or assigned to someone other than the taker in order to end or terminate possession.)
 
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