2015 PF Pennsylvania Pheasant Hunting Forecast

HollowWatcher

HollowWatcher

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PENNSYLVANIA?MOST WILD BIRDS OFF LIMITS FOR NOW
Forecast: Pennsylvania?s few wild pheasants live mostly in the state?s four active Wild Pheasant Recovery Areas, where hunting is closed?at least for now. There?s a small chance of finding wild pheasants in agricultural areas elsewhere. But most pheasant hunting this year will be for stocked, pen-raised birds, says Ian Gregg, game management division chief for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

It wasn?t always so. Breeding Bird Survey data from routes run in primary pheasant range counties in southeastern Pennsylvania show that pheasant numbers increased an average 3 percent per year from 1966 to 1974. The population held steady through 1980. But then it plunged. The roadside index fell from 32 birds per route in 1966 to less than a single bird in 2005.

According to the Northeast Upland Game Bird Technical Committee report for 2015, ?Loss of farmland habitat and intensification of agricultural practices on remaining cropland acres are the primary causes for these declines. In addition, the release of large numbers of game farm pheasants is thought to have greatly reduced the gene pool and survivorship of pheasants in the wild.?

The Pennsylvania Ring-necked Pheasant Management Plan 2008?2017, completed in 2009, laid out a two-pronged approach to pheasant recovery. First is restoring wild birds in designated recovery areas. Second is providing put-and-take hunting.

Season Dates: October 24, 2015 through November 28, 2015; December 14, 2015 through December 24, 2015; December 26, 2015 through February 29, 2016

Youth Season Dates: October 10, 2015 through October 17, 2015

Daily Bag Limit: 2; whether rooster only varies by region, see season link below

Possession Limit: 6; whether rooster only varies by region, see season link below


Field Notes: The four active wild pheasant recovery areas, ranging from 15,000 to 126,000 acres, are located in Somerset County; Franklin County; Montour, Northumberland and Columbia counties; and Dauphin and Schuylkill counties.

Helpful Links:

Find a Pheasants Forever chapter in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania pheasant hunting information
Pennsylvania pheasant season information
Ring-necked pheasant management plan for Pennsylvania 2008?2017
 
Thanks for the link.

The cool mornings have been nice and it's just a few more weeks until the youth season starts.
 
We're in the home stretch now boys, you can feel it in the air. Ive put in some of my vacation time and anticipating when I will get "sick". :)
Getting some GREAT reports!
 
By all accounts it should be another great year. There have been broods reported in some areas and holdovers in other locations, add in the fact that the State will again release over 200,000 birds and you can see that our pups should get into plenty of scent. The long wait is over!
 
I trained at a pond on the game lands around here a month ago and heard one cackle..I told Drake how'd you let that one get away..:D
 
I spent last week in PA after getting back form my deployment...took my two boys (2.5 and 6 months respectively) up to our camp in NW PA...I stopped and talked to an old friend who is a WCO and he was telling me how the state stocking #'s are at an "all time" (maybe his opinion, but I didn't take the time to look up the #'s) low.

I usually did a cast & blast, and Mike was telling me to stay closer to my parents house in the Pittsburgh area, as NW PA didn't get many birds this year...

Just a few tidbits for everyone...(I'm jealous of you SE PA guys!)
 
I wouldn't get to jealous of the southeast.:) The numbers are not at a all time low..the all time low was back some years ago when then released only 100,000.

The Northwest Region will receive 38,400..the Southeast Region will receive 35,400. The Game Commission does an outstanding job with this program and implements statewide so everyone can get the opportunity. Habitat work is a continual project and more is put in the ground every year so minor adjustments may be made to release locations. It is this approach that has created some of the outstanding hunting that we have been able to experience over the last couple of years..holdover birds on game lands are becoming more common..not common but more common in years past!

Just by taking a click glance it looks like to me that there is an effort to put birds into good habitat.
 
We just found two more areas in our area that will receive birds. Looks like it should be another great season! :cheers:
 
Ran the dogs today around lunch time and we put up two hens a one rooster. The youth season starts on Saturday and I have 6 kids lined up for hunting in the morning. Time is getting closer!
 
It feels like the season is taking forever to come but I guess that's a good thing because we always say it goes by way to fast!
 
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