Asking a favor-history of pheasant hunting

[Makintrax73]

Thus the reason for hunting regulations. Well, change in habitat likely played as big of a factor.

You're not wrong about regulations and management of the resource being important, but the truth is there would not be a population of chickens in this state today whether they were hunted or not hunted. There is effectively zero tallgrass prairie left here. (Our phesant and quail harvest are down over 90% since the 1990s too and over hunting has nothing to do with that - almost no one hunts wild birds here any more compared to past decades) Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie might _one day_ have a 10 or 15,000 acre restored prairie ecosystem......but honestly I'm not even sure if that is sufficient to sustain a population. One day I'll have to pop over there and see if the biologists have any plan to put chickens out there. Currently they do have a herd of bison.

 

[AtTheMurph]

You're not wrong about regulations and management of the resource being important, but the truth is there would not be a population of chickens in this state today whether they were hunted or not hunted. There is effectively zero tallgrass prairie left here. (Our phesant and quail harvest are down over 90% since the 1990s too and over hunting has nothing to do with that - almost no one hunts wild birds here any more compared to past decades) Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie might _one day_ have a 10 or 15,000 acre restored prairie ecosystem......but honestly I'm not even sure if that is sufficient to sustain a population. One day I'll have to pop over there and see if the biologists have any plan to put chickens out there. Currently they do have a herd of bison.

That's similar to Kankakee Sands in Indiana. They have a bison herd and an area that is labeled Beaver Lake Prairie Chicken Reserve. I inquired about that and was told they don't have any yet. The plan is to get some - someday.