CA State Wildlife Area Final Count

C

calamari

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I thought I posted this yesterday but can't find it. Anyway, 370 pheasants were killed at Gray Lodge State Wildlife Area in Northern CA over the course of the season this year. That would have been reached by about 10 am on opening day in the mid 1990s. They shot 106 turkeys too so it will be interesting to see what next years crop of pheasants looks like.
 
I don't understand the dfg. From what I've seen out in el nido the Merced Nwr could be one of the premier phesasnt areas in California, but its only open to waterfowl hunters??? Also our other wildlife refuge's pheasant populations could be greatly increased by adding some proper nesting and brooding cover. The dfg doesn't have enough money, and don't know how to use the money they do have.:mad:
 
Nice to hear some good news out your way Quail Hound:thumbsup:

Preston1 on the subject of hatching, in William Beebe's book A MONOGRAPH OF THE PHEASANTS Pg. 88 he writes on the Prince of Whales pheasant laying 30 eggs with "virtually all the eggs proved fertile". I don't know if this was because there were multiple hatches from one hen (which I suspect it was). Either way these are extraordinary #'s. Do you know why we don't see these #'s with our birds anymore:confused: --1pheas4
 
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That is very impressive. I don't know why we don't see this more often. Possibly this was an area with a high carrying capacity that saw a high mortality rate that year and the hens were over compensating. This is what I know about California. There is a national wildlife refuge not far from where I live that has 0 coveys of quail using some 10,000 acres of marshland, riparian and scattered upland habitat. I hunt quail no more than 5 miles from there on some great coveys, and these morons can't get a resident covey on what could be an excellent quail spot. You would think our state bird could get some love in the form of habitat improvement on a Nwr, but no. This area could also support some good pheasant hunting but is marginal at best. Why? Because they spend all the money on waterfowl habitat and scoff the upland hunter. The sad part is I can't find enough guys like me who care about these issues to start a QF or PF chapter and get something done. Our upland hunters are happy with hunting our declining game numbers or hitting a preserve. Very sad.:mad::(
 
quail hound said:
There is a national wildlife refuge not far from where I live that has 0 coveys of quail using some 10,000 acres of marshland, riparian and scattered upland habitat. I hunt quail no more than 5 miles from there on some great coveys, and these morons can't get a resident covey on what could be an excellent quail spot. You would think our state bird could get some love in the form of habitat improvement on a Nwr, but no. This area could also support some good pheasant hunting but is marginal at best. Why? Because they spend all the money on waterfowl habitat and scoff the upland hunter. The sad part is I can't find enough guys like me who care about these issues to start a QF or PF chapter and get something done. Our upland hunters are happy with hunting our declining game numbers or hitting a preserve. Very sad.:mad::(
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I was reading in Robertson's book PHEASANT about pheasant breeding. He discovered huge portions of prime nesting habitat here in the U.S. that didn't have breeding pheasants. The reason being was a lack of shrub sections for roosters to mark a breeding territory.

You may have the same problem in the area your describing. Though, I'm not sure if quail need shrubby sections like pheasants for breeding:eek:

As far a starting a Pheasants Forever chapter, I can help point you in the right direction if you ever decide to tackle that one.:) --1pheas4
 
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