Ifwewant small game hunting likemany of us old buzzardsenjoyed 30-40 years ago, someone would have to replicate the good small gamehabitats commonly found back then: Numerous small farms with dense fencerows between fields; Farms that didn't use as many pesticides and herbicides back then,nor used tilling techniques that are common today; Different schedules of haying and harvesting of forage crops than are used today.

Plus several other factors that are different on today's farms than years ago when such places harbored good small game populations, many of which have proven detrimental to small game populations.

As for predators, especially hawks and owls, ain't a damn thing the PGC can do about what some consider to be too many...they're also protected by the Feds. I can see more rabbits inour back yard on most days, than we ever saw in one day,30 years ago, on goodfarm habitats. And there are hawks, owls and foxes in thewoods out back.Rabbits ain't changed a bit, only thing that's changed is,that what was once huntable ground here, is nowfull of houses.

I suppose they could try converting thousands of acres on variousSGLs into prime small game habitat, by duplicating the farming practices of the 50s and 60s, but who would pay for that and would it evenwork?

Pheasants are an entirely different issue. While they once thrived on most of those old farm habitats, they don't do well today and probably never will. The didn't belong here in thefirst place and while I sometimes miss the good ol' days of great pheasant hunting, ain't sure we should still be spending money on something that wasn't native to PA.

Squirrel hunting has never been better in most of the areas I'm familiar with, but few even bother to hunt them now. Grouse have always been up and down, near's I can tell after 45 years hunting them. Perhaps the Grouse studies will hit on something that works in a wide variety of habitats, but it's been my experience that they only thrive in limited areas of the state and are very habitat-dependant.