An interesting conversation I had about ND and SD pheasants

calamari said:
If there are turkeys in the woods that the pheasants want to avoid that would explain their behavior.
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You know, turkeys are dominate over pheasants but they will put up with each other. Chuck posted some photos of wild turkeys and wild pheasants feeding together one winter. Though, the turkeys will not let pheasants eat until they are done. Either-way, they are not a threat to the pheasants in a way that they would detour them from entering into a wooded area.

I think what we have here in IL is a wild pheasant that's very overly wary.

Analytical---1995 and prior, I would frequent an area with my dad each spring to watch the roosters cackle and show off their stuff for the hens.

Today, I have to enter into the fields to hear them cackle, let alone see them. They won't cackle in the open and when they do, they run right after they cackle. 10-15 minutes later they cackle from another area and run again.

Again, same area. Huge areas of habitat, railroad tracks, smaller fields in-between, etc. On one side of the large "hub" lives a lighter strain "Chinese" looking ringneck. Someone released these birds a couple years ago. On the other side is what I would consider a "typical" IL stain of wild pheasants--been there for many years now. Seldom do I see the older-stain of pheasants cross roads or walking in the open.

Where the lighter colored "Chinese" looking stain lives (again on the other side of the "hub") pheasant are seen in good number crossing roads, cackling in the open, etc. He doesn't seem to be as wary/shy as the strain of pheasants on the other side of the field.

Funny thing is, the "Chinese" stain can not be found on the other side of the hub. The established wild IL pheasants that inhabit that area are not letting the other stain in to inhabit that area. This could be due to hen's not wanting to breed with the lighter colored roosters, or the established roosters are keeping the lighter colored birds from entering into their "territory". Maybe something else.


FC--Lol.....I got it. I know about Denny and the valley. Thank you:).

Nick
 
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1pheas4 said:
You know, turkeys are dominate over pheasants but they will put up with each other. Chuck posted some photos of wild turkeys and wild pheasants feeding together one winter. Though, the turkeys will not let pheasants eat until they are done. Either-way, they are not a threat to the pheasants in a way that they would detour them from entering into a wooded area.Nick
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There were two guys out here one being a biologist and regional manager for DFG and the other being a wildlife area manager for an area that used to produce a lot of pheasants. The two of them worked up a program to increase pheasants survival through the tough time for our birds being the spring when rain is unpredictable and invertebrates are hard to find and the other critical part of the equation. They checked with other state biologists in I think all the pheasant states and were told that basically where there were turkeys there weren't pheasants and where there were pheasants there weren't turkeys. Trees seemed to be the key because pheasants will live in wooded areas until turkeys reach a density that forces them out. Turkeys need trees to roost at night so don't often live in the open land where ground roosting pheasants survive. Think if you've ever seen the two of them together in any numbers when they weren't forced to be together in order to find food or shelter in the winter? Doesn't happen out here.

1pheas4 said:
, I have to enter into the fields to hear them cackle, let alone see them. They won't cackle in the open and when they do, they run right after they cackle. 10-15 minutes later they cackle from another area and run again.
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That's actually how roosters attract females. They have a series of crowing stations that they go to in a regular circuit and will make multiple loops over the course of a day. Sometimes it's an edge of a field and then on to the side of a hill or even a very small rise. Watch and they'll crow once then make a noise by ruffling their feathers similar to how turkeys also do and then move on to the next spot. If another roosters crowing stations intrude they'll fly over and fight to establish boundaries. They are fun to watch if you take the time.
 
Here's some more information about pheasant sounds. Decades ago, some duck hunters at a wildlife area I was hunting at told me about a call that brings roosters to them when they shoot "buzzards" as they called them when the ducks weren't flying. It was a simple "peeping" sound that is a combination of a whistle and chirp that is almost impossible to describe and must be demonstrated. I don't have lips so I do a poor imitation but when I hunted w/o a dog I'd often have roosters apparently come to me. This paper describes it as a precopulatory call that a hen makes before the rooster mounts her. No wonder they would come when I called.

https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v087n02/p0279-p0295.pdf
 
That's actually how roosters attract females. They have a series of crowing stations that they go to in a regular circuit and will make multiple loops over the course of a day.
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Yes. It's also a way for roosters to let other roosters know that's their territory--stay out.

What I was saying is in the past they would roosters would cackle then wait it out for 10-15 minute, then maybe cackle again, wait it out for a few more minutes, then slowly walk off along the edge of a field, often in the open, then cackle in another area. Today they cackle and immediately run to the next cackling area within the cover.

They checked with other state biologists in I think all the pheasant states and were told that basically where there were turkeys there weren't pheasants and where there were pheasants there weren't turkeys.
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Yeah. I don't know. It may be there's another underlining issue and turkeys came in just as the issue was coming to light. Maybe not:confused:

Here in IL the wild pheasant issue occurred prior to the increase large increase in turkeys. In a number of counties down state, there's a lot of flat ag land. Not many turkeys in the areas I've hunted. The wild pheasants down there are in the same boat as elsewhere.

Nick
 
calamari said:
Here's some more information about pheasant sounds. Decades ago, some duck hunters at a wildlife area I was hunting at told me about a call that brings roosters to them when they shoot "buzzards" as they called them when the ducks weren't flying. It was a simple "peeping" sound that is a combination of a whistle and chirp that is almost impossible to describe and must be demonstrated. I don't have lips so I do a poor imitation but when I hunted w/o a dog I'd often have roosters apparently come to me. This paper describes it as a precopulatory call that a hen makes before the rooster mounts her. No wonder they would come when I called.

https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v087n02/p0279-p0295.pdf
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Nice link. Thanks. People kind of laugh when I tell them I've called pheasants within feet of me. It fun stuff. SD is a great place to do it too. Their birds are so used to being around other pheasants they come right into a chirping/peeping call.:)

Nick
 
1pheas4 said:
Here in IL the wild pheasant issue occurred prior to the increase large increase in turkeys. In a number of counties down state, there's a lot of flat ag land. Not many turkeys in the areas I've hunted. The wild pheasants down there are in the same boat as elsewhere. Nick
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Here the drop in pheasant numbers coincided with the turkey increase but it's not just turkeys. Clean farming( as in not a living thing growing on the fields or in the ditches), mosquito abatement districts and water at the wrong time of the year probably did more to do in our wild pheasants. People used to come from out of state to hunt Calif. pheasants in the 90s. I'd see lots of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Arizona plates in the Northern Calif. wildlife area parking lots. Not anymore.
 
Good dialog, some active banter, no one for the worse.

We all should be hunting but life, jobs and children prevent us from being out there ...
 
pheasant calling

1PHEAS4 ; I went to the farm tonight to try out your pheasant calling system.

I am now a believer , on my first stopping point within a minute of using a whistling chirp sound I had two roosters coming through the grass toward me clucking as they came. They flushed at about 30 feet from me when they saw what was making the noise wasn't what they were looking for.

Next spot had a rooster cackling like a mad man coming in from a fair distance away.
Next spot a 5 foot span great horned owl took flight so no birds.

My last spot was the best as I had at least a dozen roosters come from a Russian Olive tree area right toward me. I must have gotten it just right because when I started I heard them all over the place just going crazy at the sound. Even behind me from where I just was.
I don't have the most powerful whistle in the world so was limited in how far the sound was going but was a great success.
I put it in high gear as I had 20 roosters chasing me down the road
without a gun in my hand! ( I don't hunt,just enjoy the view)

This is in North Dakota
 
It's a real hoot isn't it? lol

A memorable experience with "chirping" pheasants was having two roosters 15 ft. from me, fighting over my hen calls. What a blast.:)

I have to say though, you must really have your calls down to have them chasing your down the street.:D

Nick
 
What's a Pen raised Bird?????

hmmmm...Never Shot one but our group probably shoot over 500+ birds a season. All within our daily limit and possession limit quotas. Ah, sometimes it good to live in the middle of nowhere.:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
PHEZZYBOY FROID said:
hmmmm...Never Shot one but our group probably shoot over 500+ birds a season. All within our daily limit and possession limit quotas. Ah, sometimes it good to live in the middle of nowhere.:thumbsup::thumbsup:
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Just curious. How many in your group to make that possible and what did you do with so many? How do you prepare them?
Not all pen raised birds require blinders or "peepers" as they are sometimes called. It's in high density environments where you have to have them to reduce the cannibalism. If they aren't used you can't tell if they were raised in pens and Montana plants a fair number south of Regina.
 
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PHEZZYBOY FROID said:
hmmmm...Never Shot one but our group probably shoot over 500+ birds a season. All within our daily limit and possession limit quotas. Ah, sometimes it good to live in the middle of nowhere.:thumbsup::thumbsup:
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I'm assuming this is in ND?

Nick
 
blinder holes in nostrils broken crooked toes from pen raiseing short tails from being in pen... lack of fear from people pen raised... jumbo sized birds dumb as rock in a area with true wildpheasants stand out...

alot of guys in SD put out birds in spring adult birds sometimes to boost populations etc.

i always look at nostrils & feet plus eye color... ive had live pheasants all my the eye color will differ in pen raised birds from yellow to brown
 
SK does have a pheasant population and a season (might be resident only).

With ND Divide county being so good along with NE corner of Montana ... there must be some that make it past Border Patrol. ;)
 
I tried different speeds in the chirping sound and found a 3 or 4 chirp signal at medium speed worked the best.. I had one by a tree that was going absolutely bonkers.
Maybe I have found my calling....pun intended
 
PHEZZYBOY FROID said:
hmmmm...Never Shot one but our group probably shoot over 500+ birds a season. All within our daily limit and possession limit quotas. Ah, sometimes it good to live in the middle of nowhere.:thumbsup::thumbsup:
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Not trying to start anything but if you hunt MT they kick out a lot of pennies in areas besides the numerous marked release sites on their website. A group of 10 Roosters that flushes 20 yards and half of them land in a Russian Olive is a dead give away. They dump a lot in the NE corner. I still shoot them, I figure I paid for part of them what the heck. :cheers: People were giving me some jest over shooting some eggheads at least they were wild birds.
 
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JO BO said:
I tried different speeds in the chirping sound and found a 3 or 4 chirp signal at medium speed worked the best.. I had one by a tree that was going absolutely bonkers.
Maybe I have found my calling....pun intended
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You could probably make a fortune if you can develop a call to sell that mimics your success for those of us that don't know the secret.
 
Here is SODAK's info on preserves in their state.

Total Preserves/Operators: 200 shooting preserves involving 168 operators

Total Acres in Shooting Preserves: 193,463 acres

Average Preserve Size: 967 Acres
- See more at: http://gfp.sd.gov/licenses/shooting-preserves/preserve-numbers.aspx#sthash.7QyWQXVx.dpuf
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YEAR # OF PSP'S SPECIES BIRDS RELEASED TOTAL* RELEASED WILD
BIRDS HARVESTED ?*BIRDS HARVESTED BIRDS HARVESTED
2012-13 203 Pheasants 403,380 237,965 202,991 (85%) 36,630 (15%)
2013-14 201 Pheasants 434,005 260,426 234,590 (90%) 25,836 (10%)
2014-15 197 Pheasants 420,074 268,316 234,003 (87%) 34,313 (13%)
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