I agree, there is a huge difference in pen raised and wild pheasants. Wild pheasants will have a better chance at surviving here in Pa due to the fact that they actually know what a predator is and how to hide unlike the dumb pen raised birds. I just wonder if they have the same predators out west that they will here. Lancaster probably has some of the best pheasant habitat around. There are tons of farms with lots of fence rows and thick cover it's just that the farmers kill alot of the chicks unknowingly when they work their fields which is part of the reason for the decline here in the number of birds. I would almost bet that we have alot more predators here then the grasslands of South Dakota (not possitive but I see a heck of alot of hawks, coons and foxes). I hope it does work and we get a healthy population back but I'm not holding my breath.