[df]

As Kansans know the drought/heat of the two past summers has been brutal and the toll on pheasants on my property has been terrible.

I am considering buying a large number of hen pheasants and stocking the proprty (640 acres) with the hope that they will nest and reproduce.

Anyone have any experience in this area? Advice and comments are welcome.

Thanks

 

[RandyWakeman]

 

[df]

Well I have 100 hens and 10 roosters being released tomorrow, 12/29/12.
I guess I will see how it goes.

 

[RandyWakeman]

Why would you do it this time of the year?

 

[df]

Very good question.
I would have preferred to do it in late March/ early April or so. However after calling numerous places that sell birds in Ks, Ok, SD, Ia, and Tx, I found one that was not sold out for the year. They would sell me the birds if I took them by Jan 1, or they would sell them elsewhere.
I had a choice of taking them or not stocking the birds this year.

 

[df]

Just an update on this. After stocking these birds on December 29, we had a pretty good deep snow about 10-14 days later. But as of late March we are seeing some of the birds on game cameras under feeders that we have on the property. Maybe a few will reproduce.

My brother trapped this property (640 acres) and took off ten coyotes, seven skunks, two badgers and two racoons. We knew there were lots of coyotes but had no idea that we had any skunks And we still have the occaisonal skunk wandering by the trail cameras.

 

[mudpack]

So, how's your pheasant population doing?

 

[df]

Poor, because of the continued drought in SW Ks.
However, since early June, there has been very good rains.
I am told that there have been sightings of pheasant chicks, not in great numbers, but far more than the past several years.
Maybe there is a rebound starting.

 

[df]

Well, here is an update 3.5 years after the stocking of these birds.
I don't think that they provided any increase in population. The numbers of birds on this property has improved some. I don't know if the stocking helped or not, but I don't think so. We saw some of the stocked birds a few weeks after the planting and they were not wary at all.
I would not do this again.

 

[RandyWakeman]

It takes three-five years of releasing juvenile pheasants, during the summer (they need bugs) to revitalize a resident population. That is assuming you have plenty of water and good cover.

It all comes down to the number of healthy adult hens that make it through the winter. Beyond that is the unknowable . . . weather during the hatching / nesting season.

 

[df]

We hunted this property the Ks opener two weeks ago. There was nine of us including several first time hunters.
The property received excellent rains this past summer. The grasshopper population was excellent. The property is 640 acres of grass in varying heights from 6" to 4' and there are half a dozen 1-2 acre food plots planted in milo. Also there is a small pond on the property and a solar well that pumps into a ground level tank, just for wild life.
We killed five roosters in a couple hours of hunting. The newer shooters missed several. We should have had 8-10 birds.
I was a little concerned that we saw few hens, maybe half dozen. But again, we did not hunt near all of the entire property.
So the improved weather has started the rebound of pheasant population.
Since that hunt we have seen as many as four roosters on a game camera picture.