To shoot a hen pheasant or not to shoot a hen pheasant?
- Thread starter Campbell76
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BleuBijou
Active member
So many good responses here! I wouldn't even if legal. Quail are so different as stated with the rearing and brooding by the males. I know I will never make a dent in any quail population!lol Please don't shoot wild hen pheasants. As far as ducks go, when I was really chasing waterfowl we had a hen pot. 10 bucks for every hen Mallard taken. Here you can only shoot 2 hen mallards anyway. One season the pot had 160 dollars. Mostly from one gentleman. Sometimes he would put 20 bucks in before we even left the truck. All the hen pots were donated to DU. Had one trip we shot 20 drakes and no hens. Felt really good to be able to be selective enough and guy's were shooting great. I guess if you want Milk, Butter and Cream don't shoot the Cow.:cheers:
Toad
Active member
Took the words out of my mouth.
We all know how it would go if hens became legal. Most guys would shoot roosters as long as the numbers were good. In the terrible drought years when you might flush a bird or two all day, they would shoot hens because they want to get 'something'. Hens would get heavily shot in the years when the population was the most vulnerable. It would be a very bad deal.
I wouldn't support adding even one hen to the bag limit. Everything that I have ever read about pheasants indicates that shooting a hen under any circumstances would be a bad idea.
I do shoot bought hens the once or twice a year when I run my dogs at the preserve. No big deal there. Weird at first to shoot a hen, but they are quite delicious.:cheers:
1pheas4
Moderator
This may sound silly but for me a wild hen pheasant carries with her my respect to a point I don't think I could pull the trigger on her if it were legal.
During the nesting season and brood rearing she puts her own life at risk by protecting her brood from a great of dangers and predators. She also (basically) starves herself in order to bring up the next generation of wild pheasants. Many of which ended up on our dinner table this fall.
Plus, as stated in other posts--the more hens going into spring the better the chances of having more birds in the fall.
P.S.--If you're hunting with someone who's shooting wild hens, maybe consider hunting alone next time
.
During the nesting season and brood rearing she puts her own life at risk by protecting her brood from a great of dangers and predators. She also (basically) starves herself in order to bring up the next generation of wild pheasants. Many of which ended up on our dinner table this fall.
Plus, as stated in other posts--the more hens going into spring the better the chances of having more birds in the fall.
P.S.--If you're hunting with someone who's shooting wild hens, maybe consider hunting alone next time
.
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Retired Guy
New member
Hens
If you shoot a hen pheasant on purpose , you are a prick. It's that simple.
If you shoot a hen pheasant on purpose , you are a prick. It's that simple.
Ditchmaster
Well-known member
Maybe I am imagining but even during the end of the season there are always hens that hold super tight compared to a small percentage of roosters that make the same mistake. I think even without the law on the book it is something that instinctually would feel very wrong. I wouldn't do it period, I don't need a law to tell me what is already preprogrammed in my small to medium sized brain. It is like shooting a giraffe, I know people do it but for the love of God come on, there is no way a giraffe or a hen pheasant is meant to be taken by the hands of sportsmen/women. Great topic by the way.
Campbell76
New member
That is wrong most conservation specialist say that pheasant are a one to one species. You might see one rooster with 3 hens but that doesn't mean that there only his. Just like when you see 5 roosters together.
Campbell76
New member
to you people
To the people that say not to hunt with my cousin again. Sorry but I will hunt with him as long as I live. He's more of a brother than a cousin. Did he make a mistake? Yes. It's not like any of you haven't shot a hen. I have shot plenty on accident. No one's perfect. I wish I was legal. If any of you look back at history of pheasant hunting it was very legal to shoot hens. This is the only bird species on the planet that I know of that has rooster only can be shot. Geese ducks quail turkeys chickens chuckars crows pigeons dove. Yep pheasants are the only one.
To the people that say not to hunt with my cousin again. Sorry but I will hunt with him as long as I live. He's more of a brother than a cousin. Did he make a mistake? Yes. It's not like any of you haven't shot a hen. I have shot plenty on accident. No one's perfect. I wish I was legal. If any of you look back at history of pheasant hunting it was very legal to shoot hens. This is the only bird species on the planet that I know of that has rooster only can be shot. Geese ducks quail turkeys chickens chuckars crows pigeons dove. Yep pheasants are the only one.
kansasbrittany
Banned
This is 180 degrees out from everything I've read from the experts.
kansasbrittany
Banned
I've shot 1 hen in my entire life and it made me feel as pathetic as I've felt about anything in my life. I was being a greedy game-hog, trying to get the first shot in a group setting. I failed to properly ID my target in the rush and made a moronic mistake; it'll NEVER happen again, I'm quite sure of it. My uncle-in-law Gary works a bunch of farm ground in W KS. If I'm willing to drag him along, I can hunt many a parcel. He's been hunting with me 4 times; in those 4 outings he's shot 3 hens. We talked after the first one and since he'd just moved from Alaska, he claimed ignorance stating, "We usta be able to shoot 'em...." "Well, Gar-bear, ya can't anymore so please try not to do that again", I said.
We went again the next day and he did it again. He said, "I thought for sure it was a rooster...." I told his sister I'd never hunt with him again. She said, "I'm not sure he can see real well." It didn't matter to me, I couldn't stand seeing it, so I avoided him.
After a few years passed, we went out after Thanksgiving dinner. He did not shoot a hen on this day and I thought, "Finally, we can hunt together.' The very next day he shot the first bird of the day (a HEN
) and I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of him for doing so; we haven't hunted together since and never will. I lost respect for him as a person. Anyone that violates laws designed to protect my interests is no friend of mine! Finally, it WAS legal to shoot hens, until science proved it was detrimental to the population. Sure, you can shoot all the hen mallards you want over the course of a season (albeit 1 at a time if you choose to stay legal), but that doesn't make it ethical or wise
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quail hound
Moderator
Most specialists? I've never read a single study that says pheasants breed monogamously. They shoot hen and roosters indiscriminately across the pond and there once thriving wild pheasant population are now mostly gone.
carptom1
Well-known member
I have done a bunch of upland hunting in my life. Have I shot a hen, sure. I would imagine I am probably at 4 or so in my life. It is one thing to make a mistake, and another to purposely break the law. I would not hunt with my own mother if she broke the law. If I hunt with someone that is breaking the law, guess what I am a violator by association.
Ps. Any conservation officer that says pheasants are monogamous probably needs to find another line of work.
Ps. Any conservation officer that says pheasants are monogamous probably needs to find another line of work.
KU Pheasant Hunter
New member
Can you send me a few links to confirm this statement? Would like to read more on this. Everything I have ever read, says the COMPLETE opposite.
birdshooter
Well-known member
Yes, I would like to see the data that supports this also.
Besides being Polygamous, the ability to identify hens from roosters in flight is probably the main reason roosters are only legal.
Look at drake or hen Mallards, easily identifiable in flight, yet legal to shoot a hen. While most states depending on the existing Mallard population, have a limit on Mallards of which 1 or 2 hens may be harvested within that limit. Most ethical duck hunters (at least it was for me) would rather pass on a hen than shoot a duck for the sake of shooting a duck.
JMHO
KATroutman13
Member
YUP! I would've given him one heck of a butt chewing for this reason alone.
KATroutman13
Member
I am amazed at the lengths people will go to justify the actions of others, especially family members. It was not a mistake -- he said he knew it was a hen and shot it anyway -- according to your original post. There's no way to massage those facts without wholly altering the story.
Have you ever thought that there are reasons why you can't shoot hen pheasants but you but you can shoot hens of other species? Like scientific reasons aside from the practical reasons like in air identification?
CharBroiled
Active member
I'll be the first to admit I've accidentally shot a wild hen. I still remember it to this day and I still feel remorse because I know I broke the law, albeit accidentally.
Like many here, it's been very tough to make that adjustment on the game preserve controlled shooting area with regards to shooting both genders. It never felt right even thought I was allowed.
I'll stick to the wild, I'll stick to shooting at roosters. IMO there is no reason to shoot a hen.
Like many here, it's been very tough to make that adjustment on the game preserve controlled shooting area with regards to shooting both genders. It never felt right even thought I was allowed.
I'll stick to the wild, I'll stick to shooting at roosters. IMO there is no reason to shoot a hen.
mnmthunting
Banned
First of all, really to bad, about the Conservation officers knowledge about our wild Ringneck pheasants.
Sure there are more hens killed by predators then there are the roosters. We as hunters do a good job in most cases of getting the hen/roosters ratios in order. 8-10-15 all good, so for sure there will be predation loses to the Wintering hens. Our job to save as many as possible.
As far as your cousin, wouldn't have turned him in? AZZ chewing for sure, and NEVER would I have hunted again with him.
Have I ever shot a hen accidentally? yeah,
loooong time ago. For sure I like to see LOTS of color, otherwise, let em pass. If I were to hunt a preserve, I would pay extra for roosters only, don't know if I could draw a bead on a hen.
As far as Mallards, I'll go for the green, but I do sometimes get a hen.
Mallards do mate one on one as pairs, BUT! if there are more females then males the drake WILL be unfaithful.
In other words, ALL adult and ready to breed female Mallards WILL! be serviced. For sure.:thumbsup: