Black Pheasant: Wild or Stocked?

K

Kre

Active member
I was scouting before shooting time a few days ago and a black pheasant flushed out of the ditch. I've seen them on game farms but never in the wild. It appeared to be a hen, but I guess I can't be sure. We saw quite a few birds in that area, so I dropped the other 2 guys off on some roads and they hunted ditches a few miles back to the truck.

Well, one of the guys flushed another black one that had a white ringneck. It was close to a bunch of angus, so he didn't get a shot.

Are these planted birds or wild birds?
 
My guess would be planted birds. I read black pheasants can be found in the wild. They're basically a mutation. They call them melanistic. If you saw one, I could maybe see it being a odd mutation in that one bird but since you saw more than one? Is there a game farm nearby where you were? Ironically, I was just at a game farm a couple weeks ago taking a friend of mine from out of state hunting and he didn't want to buy an out of state license just for 1 afternoon and they put out black pheasants. They're definitely some weird looking birds.
 

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I'm not aware of any game farms around, but it's SD, so there probably is. There isn't much public ground around this particular area, but the ditch hunting is excellent.

I always examine the birds we shoot to see if they're stocked, but all appeared to be wild this trip.
 
Are Black Pheasant Rare? According to SD Game, Fish and Parks Senior Upland Birds biologist, Travis J. Runia, the melanistic pheasants are a color mutation of the 'common' pheasant. ... A favorite variety for release, black pheasant displays a remarkable ability to survive and reproduce in the wild.Aug 2, 2019
 
5 stand said:
A favorite variety for release, black pheasant displays a remarkable ability to survive and reproduce in the wild.Aug 2, 2019
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That seems like an odd comment from a biologist. They shouldn't display anymore ability to survive and reproduce compared to a common pheasant, right? They're just a color mutation
 
Munster927 said:
That seems like an odd comment from a biologist. They shouldn't display anymore ability to survive and reproduce compared to a common pheasant, right? They're just a color mutation
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Who knows? With the color mutation may also come a better ability to survive cold, process soy beans better or need less water.

Another thought I had is it could have been a green pheasant. depending on how the light hits them they look mostly black. Saw lots of them on the Big Island.

And in SD, if there are any hunting lodges or places that do paid hunting, they have to stock as many birds as they except to kill each year. Might get all sorts of weird genetic variations add to the pool.
 
Munster927 said:
That seems like an odd comment from a biologist. They shouldn't display anymore ability to survive and reproduce compared to a common pheasant, right? They're just a color mutation
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I didn't read it as a comparison.
 
Many years ago I was swathing oats for a neighbor. First round almost finished and up gets big white rooster. Holy jebus, I’ve heard about such things but never seen one, what a deal. Go a little further and what do you know, up jumps another! What are the chances of that ?

I get close to the buildings and white pheasants where getting up left and right. I ask the guy and he said they raised a bunch and the door blew open and they all got out.

Two months later, first weekend of pheasant season the local bar stool warmer goes out and comes back saying he saw an albino rooster, couldn’t get a shot off, worth thousands of dollars, no one believes him. He was about 3 miles from the field and I told him I believed him, all without relating the story of the flock that got away. He still tells that story. No one ever saw another.
 
5 stand said:
I didn't read it as a comparison.
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Yeah I suppose that makes more sense. I first read it as a comparison. Having seen them at a game farm, I can see how they might not survive very well. I could spot them running through the grass. A big black blob running through blonde grass. A normal pheasant would have been camouflaged.
 
I'm sure those black pheasants do stand out more. I've never killed or hunted a black pheasant.
 
Yeah it was weird. I was out on black friday at this game farm and apparently that's their thing on black friday. It was actually my first time even going to a game farm to "hunt". Was good dog practice but I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for my buddy who didn't want to pay for a non resident license.
 
Munster927 said:
Yeah it was weird. I was out on black friday at this game farm and apparently that's their thing on black friday. It was actually my first time even going to a game farm to "hunt". Was good dog practice but I wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for my buddy who didn't want to pay for a non resident license.
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was the game farm free?
 
I've been hunting pheasants & actively searching for pheasants in SD my entire life. I've seen a grand total of 1 bird that was maybe 1/4 white (not during the season). Every once in a while I come across one that might be a bit lighter or darker overall than average, but I've never seen 1 that was black, green, blue, or anything else except pretty normal looking. You found 2 in one ditch. I think you found some released birds.
 
I shot this black pheasant on Minnesota Public Land in 2018. It sure acted wild, but I am going to assume that it was in some way a released bird or an offspring of a released bird.

Bear Black Pheasant.jpgBlack Pheasant Tailgate.jpg
 
jackrabbit said:
I shot this black pheasant on Minnesota Public Land in 2018. It sure acted wild, but I am going to assume that it was in some way a released bird or an offspring of a released bird.

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I don't think I would have pulled the trigger on that black pheasant. I would have never identified it as a rooster in the air. Don't take that the wrong way, I'm not saying it isn't a rooster.
 
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Munster927 said:
My guess would be planted birds. I read black pheasants can be found in the wild. They're basically a mutation. They call them melanistic. If you saw one, I could maybe see it being a odd mutation in that one bird but since you saw more than one? Is there a game farm nearby where you were? Ironically, I was just at a game farm a couple weeks ago taking a friend of mine from out of state hunting and he didn't want to buy an out of state license just for 1 afternoon and they put out black pheasants. They're definitely some weird looking birds.
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Very cool picture, thanks for sharing that. I've never seen a black pheasant. Learned something new today! I'm with 5 Stand though, I'd still be trying to figure out what it was as it flew out of range...lol.
 
5 stand said:
I don't think I would have pulled the trigger on that black pheasant. I would have never identified it as a rooster in the air. Don't take that the wrong way, I'm not saying it isn't a rooster.
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Here's what I remember.... Dog birdy for a few minutes and chasing a running bird, got into a cattail area, bird flushed out over a small pond, then in no order I remember it flying and seeing tail feathers, a dark colored bird with some red tent on it, not light colored like a hen. Didn't think much of it while shooting, just a normal shot at a normal rooster. Then as my dog is bringing it back to me (a water retrieve), I remember noticing it was really dark and thinking, "what in the world did I just shoot? A duck of some kind since it did come out of the cattails near a pond?"
 
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