A mild 50º February pheasant hunting day. Skyler did good and we had a great day in the field.
The cover in this area seems to support birds through the winter fairly well. I know the mutli-fora rose is a problem invasive but the birds seem to rely on it heavily for food and cover especially when there is snow cover. I've found that sometimes the rose hips will add up to at least half of the contents in a pheasant's crop sac later in the season. Most of the cover in the fields in this area also have a good mixture of various native grasses and field vegetation with a lumpy turf that provides pretty good food and hiding cover for pheasants, rabbits, etc.. This area doesn't have the over abundance of dense golden rod that seems to dominate allot fields in this region.
Being from N.E. Ohio, where the ODNR has short shrift pheasant hunters for years, I am especially appreciative of the Pa. game commission and Pa. sportsmen and landowners for working to maintain landscapes and hunting areas that support pheasants and other wildlife.
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The cover in this area seems to support birds through the winter fairly well. I know the mutli-fora rose is a problem invasive but the birds seem to rely on it heavily for food and cover especially when there is snow cover. I've found that sometimes the rose hips will add up to at least half of the contents in a pheasant's crop sac later in the season. Most of the cover in the fields in this area also have a good mixture of various native grasses and field vegetation with a lumpy turf that provides pretty good food and hiding cover for pheasants, rabbits, etc.. This area doesn't have the over abundance of dense golden rod that seems to dominate allot fields in this region.
Being from N.E. Ohio, where the ODNR has short shrift pheasant hunters for years, I am especially appreciative of the Pa. game commission and Pa. sportsmen and landowners for working to maintain landscapes and hunting areas that support pheasants and other wildlife.
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