Last Trip of 2020 produced a Unique Bird

chriswhite22

chriswhite22

Active member
Well, I made it out to SD for one last round. I hunted 3 days on public and private bagging 7 birds. The one below was shot with 2 minutes left of shooting hours. We just got done pushing a field and ended up on the road. Guys were talking and I looked at my watch and noticed I had 5 minutes left and there was a 100 yard section that we could have pushed birds into. Well 50 yards in I learned that I was right! Bagged a bird the farmer said he’s been watching for a couple years now. I figure I’d share because I haven’t seen anything like it. Great year for sure. I’ll crash Missouri’s public lands for the remaining 3.5 weeks of the season. Good to everyone!
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A5 Sweet 16 said:
What an awesome looking rooster! The spurs! If the farmer had, in fact, been watching him for a couple seasons, I guess you have to assume he hatched in the wild. Pretty cool!
If you don't mind my asking, how many of the 7 did you shoot on private land or as a result of pushing them off private land??
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I hunted public (WPA & WIA) for one of the 3 days and bagged two. I actually shot 3, but my 10 month old pup couldn't find him! I was actually really happy with what I saw. They're educated, but had opportunities which is all you can ask. Yeah, the farmer said that he's seen that bird in the spring and summer that last two years, but only a couple times during the hunting season. He was happy I got him. I assume he is wild.
 
chriswhite22 said:
I hunted public (WPA & WIA) for one of the 3 days and bagged two. I actually shot 3, but my 10 month old pup couldn't find him! I was actually really happy with what I saw. They're educated, but had opportunities which is all you can ask. Yeah, the farmer said that he's seen that bird in the spring and summer that last two years, but only a couple times during the hunting season. He was happy I got him. I assume he is wild.
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Thanks Chris. He's an amazing specimen. I've never mounted a rooster, but that guy would go on the wall.
 
I was just curious if it's wild or released.

I saw those black ones a couple weeks ago, so I wonder if they're wild or not. I didn't mean to strike a nerve.
 
If it lasted two years in the wild and dodged the coyotes, hawks and owls...especially wearing all that white...he's probably wild to the core. Congrats! Neat bird! Take lots of pics. They'll last longer than the mount. Your great, great grandkids will enjoy those pics.
 
Kre said:
I was just curious if it's wild or released.

I saw those black ones a couple weeks ago, so I wonder if they're wild or not. I didn't mean to strike a nerve.
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All joking aside it’s appears to be wild. The farmer said he has seen him two springs/summers and he was on his hit list. I was just lucky enough to get him in range. Agreed a pen raised bird wouldn’t make it that long in the wild. I’ve got him at the taxidermist as we speak. Real cool bird!
 
Great bird. My buddy and I flushed one similar years ago by De Smet. We didn't shoot as we were both wondering what we just witnessed. It got up with multiple birds. Hunted same are next day trying to find that bird but never saw again.
 
That bird was shot maybe 30 miles from De Smet. I saw him in October when we were scouting, but I honestly didn't think I would see that bird again. Nor, was I thinking about him when I decided to do that last push of the day, but when I saw the feathers it was game on, lol. Thanks!
 
Pieblad is common name for that variant and it happens in the wild frequent enough but I would guess that maybe 1 in 10 lifetime pheasant hunters will ever get one, maybe 1 in 5 if you go after them with a passion. It is due to inbreeding so you typically see it in a wild population with a lot of birds that are concentrated where many survive year to year and breed again. I hunted NW of DeSmet in 2017 and even in that down year that area had a lot of birds. People are doing good predator management and they are leaving some good wetland spots for cattail winter cover to make it year to year like that.
 
That is just a cool bird, I keep going back looking at those white tail feathers! I showed my son and he shows me pics of all white pheasants raised for meat...wonder if one of those bred with a wild one?? What did the taxidermist say?
 
remy3424 said:
That is just a cool bird, I keep going back looking at those white tail feathers! I showed my son and he shows me pics of all white pheasants raised for meat...wonder if one of those bred with a wild one?? What did the taxidermist say?
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Thanks, I was excited to get him. The taxidermist said the same thing as PeteRevvv did above and it's a Piebald Pheasant. It sounds like it's a mutated gene. Anyway, he's been doing taxidermy for 10 years and only seen 1 before mine. Or something along those lines. The mount I'm going to get is definitely going to show off that tail. I like the green patch at the base of the tail too.
 
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