Pheasant Forecasts

[Tom B]

I'm curious if anyone has any current pheasant forecasts for Northern California. I am interested in both refuges (Grey Lodge, Little Dry Creek, Grizzly Island, and Delevan).

I'm also interested in a good club to join for the wild bird season. I have two sons that will be coming along this year. I used to join the Richmond club about 20 years ago, but don't know what it is like now. I would be interested in getting info on any of the clubs that offer private access from Williams to Chico.

Any help or insights would be appreciated.

Tom

 

[calamari]

In August I helped do brood counts on Gray Lodge. 4 guys with 5 good dogs running just the fields where pheasant production work was done found 7 pheasants. We found more turkeys than pheasants which is what the area manager and biologists I did the counts with said is a if not the major reason pheasant counts are down so low. Turkeys take the prime nesting habitat and drive off the pheasants. There were turkey feathers everywhere and the only nest sites I saw were turkey.
As a yard stick to how the pheasant populations on the wild life areas have declined, in the mid 1990s Gray Lodge would shoot from 1300 to 1700 birds on opening day. Last year they shot just over 200 for the whole season which is now 2 weeks longer than it was in to 90s.

 

[Tom B]

Pheasant counts at Grey Lodge

Thanks for the update on pheasants counts at Greay Lodge.

Dissappointing to find out that Turkeys appear to be part of the problem in the reduction of pheasant numbers. It's such a great resource, that it would seem that it could be managed in a way that produces good and consistent pheasant numbers. There is food, cover and water.

My understanding is that misquito remediation was not used this year, hopefully producing more food for the the chicks. Now it sounds that the majority of chicks were turkeys.

How can pheasant hunters help bring the turkey numbers down. Perhaps the biologists at Grey Lodge would have some recommendations to reach a better balance. Longer turkey season or higher limits until their numbers become less competitive for the pheasants.

It sure would be great to preserve good pheasant numbers at Grey Lodge -

Anyone have any other thoughts?

 

[calamari]

In talking to the Gray Lodge area manager he said that the Mosquito Abatement District's costs to Gray Lodge have been doubling each year for the past several years. This years cost is projected to be 1/3 of his entire operating budget. The abatement district personnel were there when I helped with the counts and they are definitely doing abatement.
He has had to lay people off due to budget constraints and because of limited people available, the spring turkey hunt they had on the area didn't have the effect that was hoped for in comparison to its cost. He should be encouraged through hunter comments to have a fall hunt during the regular state season which coincides with the pheasant season where staff has to be there anyway and both sexes are huntable.
In talking to the retired area manager who was doing the pheasant enhancement work on Gray Lodge, it sounds like they don't co-exist well at all. He talked with other states' pheasant people and everywhere there are growing turkey populations, the pheasants are in decline or gone. Roosting trees seem to be the key and so those large open plains states have the large pheasant populations but when the turkeys get a good foot hold in the riparian areas the pheasants decline.
Turkeys aren't the only problem as invertebrate and moisture availability to chicks during their vulnerable early weeks are crucial. After they reach a certain size they can shift to carbohydrates through seeds but they have to live long enough to make that change. If mosquito abatement and turkeys weren't such a big impact on the nesting and young maybe Gray Lodge would return to its past great hunting.