Pheasant Release Site Frustration

nrsmatth · #1 10-30-2011, 02:12 AM

So, three buddies and I go out to work the Bobby Hale site on Friday morning only to find no birds. This is after my father and I worked it the morning before and found no birds as well. They release at this site six days a week, so it seems odd that there would be no birds at all.

As we are leaving to go hunt duck elsewhere, a silver chevy pulls up. I roll down the window and tell them about our experience and that they weren't likely going to find any birds, try elsewhere. The guy smirks and says we will take our chances.

I mention that another guy with no dog just took his gun for a walk down the south side. The guy I'm talking to says, oh that's the Chinaman (is this derogatory?), he comes here everyday and shoots the birds right out of the truck.
Three hours later on the way back I decide to roll back down the road where the site is located.

At this point two things surprise me.

1) The release truck is pulling in behind me.
2) The two guys in the silver chevy have pretty much set up camp with a BBQ, chairs, and 8 other people.

So, as the release truck heads out to the field, 10 guys, and the Chinese fellow all start to gear up and takeoff towards where the truck is releasing. Within 15 minutes the 20 or so birds that are released have all been shot and the parking lot has cleared.

What ****es me off is the hypocrisy of the guy making disparaging remarks about a guy shooting birds out of a truck and then he himself sending his dogs in immediately after they have been released to essentially shoot them from where they land. To me this is just as bad as shooting them out of the truck. At least give them 10-15 minutes to settle down and make it kinda a hunt.

It also sucks that these guys were all just camped out waiting for the truck. Seemed like an occupy Wall Street scene where they waited for their handouts. That's not hunting, its not even sporting. No wonder there are no birds on the property. These *******es just sit there and wait and then shoot the birds. That sucks.

I hope these guys are on this forum and reading this, cause you guys are pretty shameful if you ask me.

ALBTUFF · #2 10-30-2011, 06:32 AM

I've heard stories like this before. Thats not hunting its shooting. Its also a good way to get them to stop releasing birds at that location.

goldscud · #3 10-30-2011, 07:33 AM

Pretty common practice. I saw 13 trucks at one site one afternoon. Not one guy was leaving the parking lot to look for a bird. I asked a fellow why everyone was in the parking lot. He said they were waiting for the truck. They all seemed to know exactly when it was coming. I think the chicken collection team has it worked out to a science. Pass shooting off the truck must be very satisfying.

saddleup · #4 10-30-2011, 07:37 AM

I have not hunted birds in a few years, but wasnt there a reg that you could not shoot at a release site for so many hours after sch. release.... Am I wrong about this.. if so what happened to the condition.. this does not sound like hunting at all, and I would be ashamed to be called a HUN

saddleup · #5 10-30-2011, 07:39 AM

SORRY did not finish my sentence... said I would be ashamed to be called a HUNTER in this instance...

FCLightning · #6 10-30-2011, 08:33 AM

There is still a law - at the 3 official release sites. However there are no rules governing all the release sites that officially do not exist.

GoodTimes · #7 10-30-2011, 08:49 AM

The law reads you cant hunt on a designated release site after 2 pm except on Saturday.

Winch101 · #8 10-30-2011, 09:24 AM

Seems like a normal day to me ....as far as release sights go ....I am ok with that as you now know where the idiots in pheasant hunting world are on any given day . As for the " chi%#&%# " ...at least he didnt shoot your truck that day...LOL I was at Bobby Hale ...last week ...shot 2 birds in the grass near the road and no one was there ....

Cover is good ....I guess Ducks unlimited didnt like the flack about letting cows in there till the day before the season.

There is no doubt that as a true hunting experience pheasant hunting kinda sucks , especially in the Brooks north area , your chances of shooting a wild bird are almost zero as they have all been shot in the Pheasant companies corporate shoots , If you think Booby Hale is a **** show , go to the Aqueduct , kind of the Stevens avenue mall of bird hunting.

I feel sorry for the old guy in the chicken wagon as I think some days
the hunters will shoot those birds as they clear the gate ....and really if they live for a day or two , their just coyote breakfast so better that the
somewhat mentaly challenged have first go at them...

I find it interesting that those high end BC hunters from Patricia , the Bob Wall set ...designer dogs , are hunting those release sights daily ...
You know the wild ones are far and few......W101

bessiedog · #9 10-30-2011, 09:48 AM

I strictly go there with new hunters and new dogs. Which is why I took my daughter and 1 year old lab to the Taber festival .

Ive been out about 5 times this season. There are wild birds in my usual spots. Just not as many. We need the release sites cause they keep the well heeled sheshe hunters supporting pheasant hunting. And they keep yahoos out of my pheasant patches!
I'm really hoping that some pre season releasing happens in some better habitat areas... Some of thebirds have to survive.

Release sites are not serious pheasant hunts for sure. But they have their place.
I don't think 15 xtra minutes is reallygonna make a huge difference for what amounts to a bunch of fancy confused ditch chickens. It dosent help much at the charity shoots ( note I call them shoots) that I've attended.

GoodTimes · #10 10-30-2011, 10:14 AM

Very well said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winch101

Seems like a normal day to me ....as far as release sights go ....I am ok with that as you now know where the idiots in pheasant hunting world are on any given day . As for the " chi%#&%# " ...at least he didnt shoot your truck that day...LOL I was at Bobby Hale ...last week ...shot 2 birds in the grass near the road and no one was there ....

Cover is good ....I guess Ducks unlimited didnt like the flack about letting cows in there till the day before the season.

There is no doubt that as a true hunting experience pheasant hunting kinda sucks , especially in the Brooks north area , your chances of shooting a wild bird are almost zero as they have all been shot in the Pheasant companies corporate shoots , If you think Booby Hale is a **** show , go to the Aqueduct , kind of the Stevens avenue mall of bird hunting.

I feel sorry for the old guy in the chicken wagon as I think some days
the hunters will shoot those birds as they clear the gate ....and really if they live for a day or two , their just coyote breakfast so better that the
somewhat mentaly challenged have first go at them...

I find it interesting that those high end BC hunters from Patricia , the Bob Wall set ...designer dogs , are hunting those release sights daily ...
You know the wild ones are far and few......W101

DuckBrat · #11 10-30-2011, 10:21 AM

While I find the actions of those shooters pathetic, I feel the release truck driver to be at fault as well for allowing this to happen. Releases should be done after the 2 PM closing of the sites, as this promotes opportunity for birds to disperse and respectful hunters that would like to use the site properly on the next day.

Saw this happen on a trout river once in New York state, guys follow the hatchery truck around. Pathetic.

GoodTimes · #12 10-30-2011, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckBrat

While I find the actions of those shooters pathetic, I feel the release truck driver to be at fault as well

.

Excellent point, however the driver is just an employee with a boss like any other. The driver is just doing as he is told. The real blame should be laid first on the retards that are hunting trucks not pheasants and second on the managment at the hatchery for doing nothing to dissuade these retards.

I hunted the Patricia area from 1995 to 2008, and it has gone downhill HUGE. The major turning point was the privatization of the hatchery. When it was government run there were lots of birds, everybody was happy. As soon as it was privatized the birds all but disappeared. We found that once they started running their own private little shoots, the only place we found birds was on or very near their shooting grounds.

packhuntr · #13 10-30-2011, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckBrat

While I find the actions of those shooters pathetic, I feel the release truck driver to be at fault as well for allowing this to happen. Releases should be done after the 2 PM closing of the sites, as this promotes opportunity for birds to disperse and respectful hunters that would like to use the site properly on the next day.

Saw this happen on a trout river once in New York state, guys follow the hatchery truck around. Pathetic.

I have no experience with release sites Duckbrat so might be wrong, but why would it be the drivers fault?? What is he supposed to do, pull into the approach, step into a little bbq party of hairlips and self proclaimed best of the best hunters and trainers, iron them out, only to get beat up by some "Joe Boy", put into the seat of his truck and told to dump the birds?? Once again, people not taking responsibility for thier own/peers actions.... If you use release sites, expect to be lumped with these losers, just like if you ran with horse thieves, you hung with them. Best change it amongst yourselves boys, get together and push to make the changes... if I was in charge those sites would go away and she'd be night time drops in undisclosed areas ONLY, where some of the surviving birds would have a chance at promoting pheasant in Alberta for tomorrow, not where winterkill of survivors is imminent. After all, if these properties are what they are cracked up to be, they will self sustain healthy populations of all game... Am I wrong?

FCLightning · #14 10-30-2011, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckBrat

I feel the release truck driver to be at fault as well for allowing this to happen. Releases should be done after the 2 PM closing of the sites,

There is no 2 PM closing of the release sites.

GoodTimes · #15 10-30-2011, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FCLightning

There is no 2 PM closing of the release sites.

Yes there is. With the exception of Saturdays.

GoodTimes · #16 10-30-2011, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by packhuntr

If you use release sites, expect to be lumped with these losers

Dumbest thing Ive heard today? I believe so lol.........

FCLightning · #17 10-30-2011, 10:47 AM

It only applies to Buffalo, Bigelow and Millicent. Reread your regulations.

The decline of pheasant hunting and the timing of the privatization has more to do with release numbers than it would with private shooting ground development.

GoodTimes · #18 10-30-2011, 10:51 AM

True, it dosnt apply to the smaller ones. Think wel have to call this one a draw lol

FCLightning · #19 10-30-2011, 11:09 AM

Except that Buffalo, Bigelow and Millicent were not being discussed in this thread.

packhuntr · #20 10-30-2011, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoodTimes

Dumbest thing Ive heard today? I believe so lol.........

LOL If you say so. I suppose I will be able to find you dressed to the 9's in your best upland gear and whistle, drinking all night in a certain unnamed bar after a long tough day on the release site, bellering about how your dog is the best of the best LOL

Winch101 · #21 10-30-2011, 11:25 AM

Release sights are the furthest thing from fair chase hunting you can find .

They are more a return to days of old , where the truly corpulant shot birds thrown out of a tower window . Packhunter is right no hunters during release time .....

This isnt hard to figure out this bad behavior a field. You read post after post on here about how " WE " dont want to be registered , licenced ,
educated in any way ....taught nothing ....totally unencumbered by any
type of rational, sportsmanlike behavior or thought ....

I have had guys tell me about release site success ,their eyes glazed over , salivating ,. nearly intoxicated with their murdering experience. its not often that the quarry is smarter than the hunter, but this is it.

My favourite is the two seniors road hunting on the release sight trail,
that says foot access only. privilige of age or bird hunters dont get smarter.

major changes are neede maybe this new outfit will make some...

DuckBrat · #22 10-30-2011, 11:44 AM

You are correct it only applies to designated sites, too bad. The law should apply to any release site to avoid these types of incidents.

FCLightning · #23 10-30-2011, 11:48 AM

But then they would need to publicize the exact location of any place where birds were released.

DuckBrat · #24 10-30-2011, 11:53 AM

Then random drops in unknown locations would rectify that concern and would help establish breeding birds back in the wild especially if they released a few hens in the mix. With that said these types of sites do keep the losers and lawbreakers out of the good habitat.

#25 10-30-2011, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckBrat

Then random drops in unknown locations would rectify that concern and would help establish breeding birds back in the wild especially if they released a few hens in the mix. With that said these types of sites do keep the losers and lawbreakers out of the good habitat.

Over 20,000 hens have been released in the past five years.

DuckBrat · #26 10-30-2011, 12:14 PM

Your right but not at this time of year and not one hen at Buffalo or Bigelow for many moons..

packhuntr · #27 10-30-2011, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Over 20,000 hens have been released in the past five years.

While I think thats great, I might wonder where? With hard winters proving that pheasant can only survive in certain places besides anywhere south of the Bow River due to much more prevalent chinooks, it might seem prudent to avoid the drop points currently being utilized, preferably to key in on the best habitats. It will be years before there are farmland pheasant reestablished where we were fortunate to enjoy having them, but they will populate and disperse/flood over returning to these areas if there are releases promoting wild birds. For anyone in the field year round its a no brainer...

#28 10-30-2011, 12:17 PM

Ya, I can't see releasing hens just prior to winter being money well spent.

#29 10-30-2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by packhuntr

preferably to key in on the best habitats. For anyone in the field year round its a no brainer...

And that's exactly where the hen releases took place

You're right, it is a no brainer

catnthehat · #30 10-30-2011, 12:27 PM

I have never seen a truck at the release sites we have hunted, and also very few hunters!

The ones we have seen, were courteous and respectful, and we have also hunted sites where there was no release for the day ( Sunday) and managed to find some birds, but it is far from an easy hunt as far as the terrain goes , especially for hunters with back and leg problems.
Cat