I understand how you feel about the pheasants. You've shared your thoughts with me before. It's wonderful that you feel that way and can express your opinion and share your thoughts. It's also wonderful the others can do the same.
Here's my logic. I helped release those pheasants you saw hit on the Highway to Glenwood. They were, for sure the pheasants we (SFW and DWR) released about ten days go. I know they were from that group of pheasants because I stopped and checked, they all had our leg bands on them.
Here's why you saw them dead on the Highway and on the other lane you drove down: the Highway and the lane border the property we release the pheasants on, they are still not conditioned to all the dangers outside of their growing pens and as you know pheasants are making nests and laying eggs, so they are moving around more right now, until they get settled on a batch of eggs. Also, they eating small pea gravel, and these roads have a lot of small gravel rocks along the edges.
As of yet these pheasants aren't smart enough to recognize the danger of vehicles, so they are more vulnerable to highway traffic. It's a known condition and loses are expected due to the location of our property.
Regarding predators.
Early loses from other factors, such as the predators that you've mentioned, are also anticipated. Regarding some of the predators, we have some very good predator hunters/trappers, that patrol the Glenwood Highway property on a regular basis, killing skunks, raccoons, foxes etc. We waited until the majority of the hawks had migrated north before we released these birds, in an attempt reduce loses to those critters. Still, with all our efforts, we know we will still lose some to predation. In an effort to deal with predation, we released an extra, extra large number of pheasants in small areas, so we can "out feed" predation. By "out feed" I mean, we believed we released far more pheasants on these locations, than the existing predators can eat, based on their "need to eat" behaviors. What ever birds are left, after the predators have eaten all they want, we believe we will have a much higher probability of hatching out a batch of chicks. That's another reason you seen so many dead and gravel pecking pheasants right now, we release a ton of them, to overwhelm the appetites of the predators.
Regarding ditch banks, water, nesting, and protective cover.
SFW/DWR planted corn and milo on approximately one third of the property and cover grasses and browse on another third. The plants grew extremely well last summer and were all left in the fields to provide feed and cover for these spring leased pheasants. The corn and milo stocks act like upright spear points to diving hawks and owls and they will not attempt to dive on a pheasant in that cover, for fear of getting skewered by the upright stocks. We'll plant more cover this year. Of course, these are pen raised birds and they have not yet learned how to protect themselves, we will see if enough can survive long enough to raise a batch of chicks what will be more natural and more capable of surviving than these released birds.
We've listened to the same comments that you received from the owner of the hunting club. We too have been told, by professionals and by others that this won't work. On the other hand, we've talk to professionals others who disagree and believe pheasants can be reintroduced successfully, if certain conditions are created.
Over the years, when it comes to wildlife management, we've been told that a lot of things don't work, that when done, using different management systems, do work.
Regarding the cost.
When we purchase chick pheasants, so we can raise rooster pheasants to release the day before the pheasant hunt, for put and take hunting opportunities, we can buy mixed gender birds far cheaper than just roosters, so we have hundreds, even thousands of hens left over. Rather than releasing all those hens last fall, with the roosters, we decided to hold them over until spring, nesting season, after some of the predators have left the valley, to determine if we could figure out a way to get them to nest and have enough survive to get a wild population re-established. You my be right, but maybe your not, we're going to give it an good try, if it doesn't work, we'll try something else. Regarding the waste, we don't see it as a waste, we see it as trying to get more out money we've already spent. Money SFW members have donated through our banquets etc. So I guess, most of it is our money to experiment with, trying hard to provide everyone more hunting opportunity. If and when our membership tell us they don't want us to use their donations on pheasants, we'll stop.
Will our releasing of these pheasants establish a wild, nesting, reproducing population. We don't know, be we are going to try. Using what some believe are "best chance" techniques. We believe we should try, you clearly do not. We both get to do what we want. So you get to "not" raise and lease pheasant, where as we do and we are. You doing your thing, us doing ours.
Regarding chukars.
Chukars are great game birds. I raised bunch of them, here at my home, last year and released them, hoping they would thrive and produce a bunch more, for hunting purposes. However, people like pheasants. They are easier to hunt and youth and seniors can hunt them without as much of an investment in energy and scouting. I have not problem if you or other groups would like to raise and release chukars, in fact I would encourage you in every way to do just that. I'm sure there are lots of people that would welcome more chukars in field. No one is telling you, you can't so why don't you?
In fact, CB, why don't you come over and I'll give you all the brooders, pens and the run I built to raise chukars last year. Just so you know, there is no problem with my doing that, I can because I paid for all the materials and all the labor, the chukars and all the feed out of my own pocket. Then I released all of them so you and others could hunt them. I'll give it all to you and you can get right after it.
You can get mail order chukars from:
Dunlap Hatchery
4703 Cleveland Blvd,
Caldwell, ID 83605
(208) 459-9088
This is were I purchased mine. Mail order. Never lost a chukar in the mail, they all arrived alive and hungry.
If I sound a little perturb, I might be. It would be like my criticizing you for things you do that you believe might helpful for someone. Those of us putting in the time, labor and the resources on these pheasants are not doing it just for ourselves, it's for others too. The absolute truth is, we've release pheasants for four years in a row, hauled them around the country, feed them, medicated them, donated our money for them, and I know at least four of the ten guys that have been most involved with the local effort that have never hunted a single pheasant in the last four years. We've released them then watched while countless others, who have contributed nothing but purchasing a hunt license, shoot them. That's why we do it, for them and for you, if you care to take you shotgun out there and give it a go.
All the best my friend. Please slow down a little on those lanes and highways, for the next six weeks, while these hens are trying to raise a batch of chicks. Strange as it might seem, I hate to see them smashed to pieces as much as you do.
DC
