Anybody else having a problem with a rapid decline of pheasants? It seems{In KS) every year, the pheasant population gets less and less. Just five years ago I used to go out and limit out by the morning, and it's tough to just get one or two all day.
I think it's because of a lot of different reason because of the decline. Farming practices, droughts, predator increase, etc. They're the main 3 reasons from what I see. I just wish there was some way I could help more, or see what the KDWP was doing to help this situation. As much money as the KDWP takes in every year, they should be able to have some programs out there to help the pheasants. Or maybe there are some(besides CRP), that I don't know about. Visit My Updated Hunting Page
Yep, I agree, numbers are going down in a hurry. I don't know why, but the quial numbers in Cd. County seem as good or better than last year, but the pheasants are far and few between. Turkeys numbers are also up this year. I think, like you said, three factors determine thier numbers and it's going to take several years to recoup. thier numbers.
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I've noticed a rise in quail also. I wonder why quail would rise in population when pheasants are going the other way? The hawks and owls, are a huge problem IMO. More than most people think by a long ways. I just wish the KDWP would do something about it, and take the money that the hunters give them and put it back into the wildlife. Visit My Updated Hunting Page
What is a pheasant?
Here in PA, when I was a young hunter(early 1970`s)we had more pheasant`s than you could shake a stick at! Now they are as common as a grizzly bear.
I think hawks, owls, and maybe certain types of fertilizers are really hurting them.
Big Country, that's what I'm afraid of. Kansas becoming a state when seeing a pheasant becomes a rarity. The state is starting to loose big bucks in license sales from out-of-state hunters tired of hunting after few birds, and it's only going to get worse, unless they do something about it. Stocking, has been proven that it's not a very effective way to increase population. We can't control the drought, so it all boils down to putting more programs out to thin the predators and supply more money to farmers to practice better farming practices. Perhaps give money to farmers who will plant taller strains of agriculture, practice more no-tilling operations, leave the waterways un-bailed. And how about leaving the header up high, instead of just a few inches from the ground to grab what may be a few extra seeds. I don't blame the farmers for doing it, just would be better if some of it changed. These are just a few ideas off the top of my head. Visit My Updated Hunting Page
Hey guys, Wisconsin is in the same boat !!!! When I was younger and we would go out, we could see lots of wild birds. Now the only place you can really see any amount of birds is where they plant them and you have to pay a daily fee of like $3 to shoot planted birds, hens and/or roosters !~!!! Donlt get me wrong, these birds are not like shooting fish in a barrel, you still need a good dog to get them, but what happened to all the wild ones ???? The Habitat sure did change !
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Quail population is definately up from last year, but once again as you said the pheasants seem to get worse every year. I believe the reasons for decrease are just like you stated. Farming fencerow to fencerow, and cutting out all the ground cover does hurt. But it wouldn't hurt as bad if the predator population wasn't so high, and they had better cover available to hide the young ones. Unfortunately, there are only a small portion of us that predator hunt anymore. Alot of fair weather predator hunters dropped out when the fur prices fell thru the floor. It would be nice to see KDPW get involved with this pheasant issue. The went out last year and actively recruited tens of thousands of walk-in acres. I would like to see some of that money go into helping the habitat for pheasants.
Pheasent numbers are much better in Iowa this year however, not great. I was not sure we had any left last year. Iowa DNR it blames it on many factors, weather, heavy spring time rains, loss of cover.
I believe Turkeys have something to do with it. Turkeys eat everything including eggs, so they are killing both quail and Pheasants....
I love pheasant and quail hunting, so I have decided to stop hunting them for 5 years. This is year #3, so I have a couple more winters to go. I figure they need all the help they can get, and you or I shooting the lonesone pheasant on the property or killing 1/2 of the quail cove doesn't help any.
They'll come back. Not as they were before, but they will. Remember, everything was 'better' 25 years ago...
Decline in Pheasants
