Pheasant Raise and Release Project

[waterninja]

Just spoke to landowner who has property VERY close to release site. He has pheasants in his yard as I type this. He said if I want to bring 100 hen pheasants and release them on his property, he is 100% behind it. He will also let me set some a couple "bird feeders" to give the new arrivals a bit of help adjusting to their new home in the wild.
Wish I had thought of this 2 months ago. I think breeding season is over, and I don't know if you can even get adult pheasants in the spring.

[covey ridge]

Originally Posted by sns2

It's all been said. Thanks WW and Covey.

We have native species that will live, while pheasants have been a put and take proposition. IMO, ACA does a good job, and if you have the right attitude, and common sense, release sites can be lots of fun. They all aren't stupid birds.

Yes they can be fun. That is not the reason I don't go. No problem with shooting and eating stupid birds either. It is the other stupidity that I fear.
About 15 years ago a friend of mine took seven pellets in the face at Bigelow I believe. He said that there was so much commotion in the killing field that even his hunting partner did not want him to quit before their limit and take him to the hospital. They are no longer hunting partners and my friend no longer goes to release sites.

When I was training my dogs I really enjoyed shooting released birds that I had paid for. I don't believe that you can run a dog on enough wild birds so you need the released birds to get a bit of action. I no longer have a bird dog and without a dog pheasants do not seem to be as much fun to shoot.

I still enjoy shooting chicken and huns and eating them but I miss watching a good dog work

Ninja, I hope you get a return on your investment

[sns2]

Covey, Elk11 got shot by a dumba_s this very year.

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[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by sns2

Covey, Elk11 got shot by a dumba_s this very year.

Sent from my LG-H812 using Tapatalk

And so did the wife of another AO member, a week after in the same parking lot. Oddly enough, when the truck started doing releases on a random basis instead of on a predictable schedule, and the release truck chasers stopped showing up, the issues ended.

I enjoyed having sns2 and his son out, as well as other AO members as well as some new hunters, and the pup gained a lot of time on birds, so overall, the release sites provided some great entertainment for us.

[covey ridge]

Originally Posted by waterninja

Just spoke to landowner who has property VERY close to release site. He has pheasants in his yard as I type this. He said if I want to bring 100 hen pheasants and release them on his property, he is 100% behind it. He will also let me set some a couple "bird feeders" to give the new arrivals a bit of help adjusting to their new home in the wild. .

Be careful how you set out food for those birds. We set out feeders and feeding areas. Two type of birds! Those that are attracted to the feed and those that are attracted to the feeding birds. I have an ever increasing bunch of collared doves and along with that I have an ever increasing number of hawks that develop a taste for doves. I think I loose a bird or two a day. I find piles of feathers on a regular basis and I see hawks take flushed birds in flight. Lucky I have lots of doves. I do not think pen raised hen pheasants are as wary as doves.

I watch huns pick up dropped feed. They come in one or two together and seem really nervous and grab a couple bits then duck under trees and leave. Even though I am inside the house they seem to know I am watching.

I usually have at least one covey frequent my place every year. Probably born here.

I have only watched feeding pheasants a few times and they just put their heads down and eat. Never seem to know I am watching.

I have never seen pheasant chicks on my property.

[Kim473]

My father used to raise these guy's for a couple years. You would see them around for about a week or so then nothing. Too bad the yotes would kill them in no time at all. He probably let 500 or more out and a couple years later you couldn't find one. Too bad.

[oldgutpile]

Originally Posted by Kim473

My father used to raise these guy's for a couple years. You would see them around for about a week or so then nothing. Too bad the yotes would kill them in no time at all. He probably let 500 or more out and a couple years later you couldn't find one. Too bad.

I have been doing the raise and release at the family farm for the last five or six years. Pheasants are prolific travelers. They may hang around a home base for a bit, but then be miles elsewhere the next day. I kick out my breeding stock (most, not all) in the spring when the incubators are full and the hens are still laying. Most of them stick around the farm for a few days, but then within a week, they disperse. I believe that 80 or 90 percent likely become the victim of predators, but then the others are there to reproduce.
The last few years, the coyotes and other four legged predators, have been on a real down-cycle, and we are seeing the survival rate really increase. Had a few shoots last year, where I would have sworn I was looking at films of South Dakota cause there was so many birds in the air!

[waterninja]

I would like to thank everyone for the input and info that they have provided for this thread. I will certainly be moving forward with this hen release idea, and will update members from time to time. I am hopefull that wild pheasants could make a go of it in the area that I plan do to the releasing. Time will tell.
Please remember why I started this thread to begin with. The raise and release program is a great program that gives young Albertans an oppurtunity to learn some valuble life skills. It requires a lot of committment and hard work for these rural youngsters to build the pens properly, then feed and care for these day old pheasant chicks till they reach maturity.
If you are able to, please sponser a pheasant or two for ten dollars each.

[Talking moose]

I have a question. Do pheasants in any way, compete with native upland game birds for forage, cover, or a specific territory? If the answer is no, I would support and love to see pheasants take hold and thrive in Alberta. (Who knows, Alberta winters are not what they used to be), I just don't want any introduced specie to take away from or native ones.

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

I have a question. Do pheasants in any way, compete with native upland game birds for forage, cover, or a specific territory? If the answer is no, I would support and love to see pheasants take hold and thrive in Alberta. (Who knows, Alberta winters are not what they used to be), I just don't want any introduced specie to take away from or native ones.

Excellent question. I will add that to the growing list of research I must do.

[covey ridge]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

I have a question. Do pheasants in any way, compete with native upland game birds for forage, cover, or a specific territory? If the answer is no, I would support and love to see pheasants take hold and thrive in Alberta. (Who knows, Alberta winters are not what they used to be), I just don't want any introduced specie to take away from or native ones.

It is my understanding that it was modern use of the land that drove the native species away. Species like pheasants and Hungarian Partridge were introduced because they could thrive along with agriculture. Pheasants are now scarce because of cold winters and the push of ever progressive agriculture removing cover. They were not the best choice for Alberta winters.

Don't worry about native species because very few exist where they once were. For the most part they will never be back until long after we leave.

Out native trout were replaced with German Browns and Japanese Rainbows. Cattle graze or wheat grows where the Buffalo used to roam. The Elk and the Grizzly bears have been pushed off the plains.

Sparrows and Starlings were introduced and now dominate the areas near populated areas.

Even the native grasses that fed the wild has mostly been destroyed and replaced with hay.

We are the worst competition that the wild species ever knew.

That's progress!