Why all the hostility?
Isnt this a Forum? Im 47 and live in Pennslyvania. I,ve never hunted wild pheasants in my state. I started hunting at the age of 12 and accomponied my father for several years prior to that. When my father was young the phesant population was very abundant probably similiar to south Dakota hunting. Dad told me many stories about coming home from school and grabing a shotgun to hit the fields, putting up flocks of 30 40 birds with maybe a rooster or two, but usually getting a limit before dark. Farming practices were much different then fencerows between every field, corn, timmothe hay fields, oats, clover and alfalfa fields. Insects everywhere (grasshoppers) etc. Nowadays none of that now. Corn and soybeans rule, when the corn is cut nothing but dirt and stubble, I can count on one hand the grasshoppers ive seen this year. What happened? I dont know. Farming practices changed, the stocking of stupid farm raised birds diluted the gene pool, some say I forget the name of the hurricane that came thru but that was about the time the nail was put in the coffin. Maybe a little bit of all this was the perfect storm to end our bird population. I came out to SD 2 years ago and can tell you that (generally speaking) your habitat isnt any better than the habitat here. I sincerely hope your population rebounds fast, but beware of a few more years of bad hatches and bad weather along with the farming practices and what might happen in your state. I will be coming out again this year and look forward to seeing the differences myself from 2 years ago. I believe that habitat while the population is their is what is needed to keep what you have because once its gone it wont be back. Just my thoughts.
Isnt this a Forum? Im 47 and live in Pennslyvania. I,ve never hunted wild pheasants in my state. I started hunting at the age of 12 and accomponied my father for several years prior to that. When my father was young the phesant population was very abundant probably similiar to south Dakota hunting. Dad told me many stories about coming home from school and grabing a shotgun to hit the fields, putting up flocks of 30 40 birds with maybe a rooster or two, but usually getting a limit before dark. Farming practices were much different then fencerows between every field, corn, timmothe hay fields, oats, clover and alfalfa fields. Insects everywhere (grasshoppers) etc. Nowadays none of that now. Corn and soybeans rule, when the corn is cut nothing but dirt and stubble, I can count on one hand the grasshoppers ive seen this year. What happened? I dont know. Farming practices changed, the stocking of stupid farm raised birds diluted the gene pool, some say I forget the name of the hurricane that came thru but that was about the time the nail was put in the coffin. Maybe a little bit of all this was the perfect storm to end our bird population. I came out to SD 2 years ago and can tell you that (generally speaking) your habitat isnt any better than the habitat here. I sincerely hope your population rebounds fast, but beware of a few more years of bad hatches and bad weather along with the farming practices and what might happen in your state. I will be coming out again this year and look forward to seeing the differences myself from 2 years ago. I believe that habitat while the population is their is what is needed to keep what you have because once its gone it wont be back. Just my thoughts.