The statewide pheasant season just ended last Saturday but I have been seeing dozens of pheasants right here in Elk County, (yes we have some great pheasant hunting in this area with plenty of birds left after the stocking ends) as they came into residential bird feeders to find food during these periods of deep snow. Some of those birds survive to reproduce every year. But, they wouldn’t if those people shot them when they came in to eat at the bird feeders during the winter periods when they are still in season.
Can you explain why the stocked pheasants survive the severe winters in Elk and reproduce in the spring when the stocked pheasants in 5 C with mild winters and prime farmland and pheasant habitat fail to survive and produce broods?