Where have all the pheasants gone?

[mcfarmall]

So what is the turkey/pheasant connection? Do the turkeys eat the pheasant eggs, chicks or what??

 

[MossRoad]

The #1 detriment to pheasant is clean farming practices. Simply put, it wipes out pheasant habitat. Also, many states have stopped set-aside programs for pheasant friendly habitat, which is mostly prairie-type lands with tall grasses. Turkeys, on the other hand, thrive in semi-wooded areas. Which areas are not farmed? Wooded areas. Which areas are farmed? Prairie areas. It's just that simple. Turkeys don't compete with pheasants.

Also, pheasants are not native to the U.S. and turkeys are, so many states have stopped or severerly cut back their pheasant programs and increased their turkey programs.

 

[Oldoak]

Among all the already mentioned reasons for the pheasant population decline or even the total disappearance in many widespread areas, I believe "clean farming practices" along with insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, etc. have had a lot of negative impact on the pheasants. Whether directly on the birds themselves or indirectly by limiting their daily diet of insects.

 

[ruffdog]

Sad, I have not heard the cackle of a rooster in many years.

 

[smstonypoint]

So what is the turkey/pheasant connection? Do the turkeys eat the pheasant eggs, chicks or what??

Check the link below.

I have heard that wild turkeys are at least partially responsible for the disappearance of quail and other game birds, but there does not appear to be any scientific evidence to support that claim -- Gobble, Strut and Wattle: We’re Talking Turkey • The National Wildlife Federation Blog : The National Wildlife Federation Blog.

Steve

 

[om21braz]

Iowa just finished the 2018 statewide population survey of pheasants. They predict a statewide harvest estimate of 250,000 to 300,000 roosters this fall.

So that is where they all are LOL! More serious hunter friends of mine have been going to South Dakota the last several years and done pretty well.

 

[Snobdds]

I'm a member of a hunting ranch that purchases about 200,000 pheasants per year from a local bird farm. I call up the bird farm in the morning and ask for 100 pheasants. They then deliver them to the far end of a giant river bottom area. I start at the other end and work my way to the far end. I shoot maybe 25 birds. The other birds are then left to hopefully populate the surrounding land.

It has worked remarkably well to get the bird population backup. The biggest threats are the Turkeys and Coyotes.

 

[ruffdog]

This is where I get mine:
MacFarlane Pheasants | America's Largest Pheasant Farm

 

[Jstpssng]

All the N.Y. pheasants were stocked birds at first; they were Hungarian pheasants. There was some reproduction but over hunting (they were dumb birds) along with the loss of habitat as others have mentioned, spelled their demise. The D.E.C. put their money elsewhere. There are still a few around but they start as purchased poults and Pheasants Unlimited along with a few other hunting groups pay kids in 4H clubs to raise them. When they are released the group members know when and where, those semi-domestic birds don't last long.
When I saw my first turkey I didn't know what it was. My local flock can hit 20 in a decent year. There are so many deer they have become a nuisance. Not nearly as many hunters as there used to be.

From what I remember working down that way, if you didn't own land or weren't part of a hunting lease you were pretty much SOL; the public lands were so crowded during deer season they say that it was almost impossible to find a deer with horns. There were all sorts of does though, the first time that I was down there was this time of year in 2001 I was working around Tupper Lake and counted 150 deer in one field.

 

[LouNY]

In New York the ring neck pheasant where all farm raised and fall released about a month before pheasant season.
The reason for few regulations was that almost none of them would survive the winter.
There were almost never any wild raised ones from survivors.
The turkeys migrated into Eastern upstate New York form introduced flocks in Vermont,
I saw my first one when bringing cows in from pasture back the early to mid sixty's.
Now summer flocks of 10 to 20 are common the winter flocks will 50 to 60 quite often.
I don't mind harvesting a couple of the fall yearlings but no way will I do any spring turkey,
after they have been following the manure spreaders and the cows in winter feed lot fields.
As far as the deer in my immediate area they are so thick it is ridiculous and way to many does,
they don't get breed early and are dropping fawns late that are going into winter small and then get stunted
or starve to death or run down by coyotes when they get weak and are eaten alive.