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Post by Buckslayer on Dec 15, 2007 21:42:50 GMT -4
would you agree to if the pgc shut down pheasant hunting for 2 years to try to bring back the wild pheasant population?why or why not?
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Post by zodiakgsps on Dec 15, 2007 22:12:15 GMT -4
That would depend. They could shut it down for 4 years & never get a good population built up if they don't do some habitat changes/planting first.
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Post by Buckslayer on Dec 15, 2007 22:28:06 GMT -4
man this girl knows her birds alright...lets hear what/how others here feel??
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Post by mrlongbeard on Dec 15, 2007 22:28:07 GMT -4
you said a mouth full ann. as far as small game goes the pgc is clueless.
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Post by zodiakgsps on Dec 15, 2007 23:21:31 GMT -4
Some pheasant survival data from the PF site:
Food Plots provide sustenance in difficult winters
The principle objective of food and cover plots is to establish safe foraging patterns that restrict unnecessary movements and provide a dependable source of food to help carry female birds through the winter in good condition. It also helps to underscore the importance of establishing food plots closely adjacent to existing winter cover. Otherwise, the plots must provide significant cover in addition to being a source for food.
Corn and grain sorghum are generally accepted as the most appropriate and reliable food sources. Soybeans, millets, wheat, rye and buckwheat, although good sources of food, tend to lodge and get buried by snow, making them less reliable food sources and forcing the birds into the open in order to utilize them.
After selecting a food plot variety, the two most critical factors to consider are the size and location of the plot. It is not uncommon for blizzards to fill the outer 25-50 rows of standing corn or sorghum in a single storm. Large (3-10 acre) food plots are most desirable for countering winter blizzards.
Nesting Cover is crucial for reproductive success
Of the several keys to solid pheasant populations - secure nesting cover, adequate brood stock and favorable weather - only one has the significance of building the foundation for the coming generation of pheasants. Nesting cover is the single most important habitat-limiting factor for pheasant populations - and the one factor that we can control and affect.
A prerequisite for nesting is secure, undisturbed habitat where grass and herbaceous plants are the dominant vegetation. Early nests are almost always established in dead residual vegetation left from the previous growing season. Later, hens select sites in new growth in fencerows, pastures, small-grains, idle areas or hay. Incubation chores end by mid-July for most hens, but attempts to renest continue if initial nests are destroyed.
Nesting cover must provide protection from predators. That requires dense, erect vegetation at least eight to 12 inches in height. Cool and warm-season grasses - referring to the temperatures in which the grass grows best - can fit that bill. Either type should be undisturbed until mid-July to allow nests to hatch. Idle grass fields also produce abundant insects for young chicks and cover for other wildlife.
Woody Cover is critical to winter survival
Farmstead shelterbelts have long been a feature of the Midwestern landscape sheltering wildlife, livestock and farmsteads from winter's harsh grip. A well-designed shelterbelt provides loafing, feeding, roosting and escape cover for ring-necked pheasants and other wildlife. Shelterbelts should be designed to contain 10 or more rows of trees and shrubs primarily on the north and west sides of farmsteads. The shrubs are planted in the outermost rows to catch drifting snow, while the tall, center deciduous (which lose their leaves each fall) "lift" the chilling winds above the farmstead. Conifers (evergreens) are on the inside four rows and effectively reduce the remaining wind and drifting snow.
Very few of our SGLS have any habitat that is like this making winter survival & reproduction very difficult at best. Most SGLS I go to do have corn plots, but not that large of areas planted & none have shelterbelts.
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Post by skwirl on Dec 16, 2007 13:12:29 GMT -4
In my younger years I had the pleasure to hunt Chester and Lancaster counties for small game .In those days these 2 counties were the small game mecca. As the years past and more farms became involved with clean farming practices the cover for pheasants and others small game diminished. I hate to say it but this is one we cant blame on the PGC,but the need of farmers to make more of their property productive so they could survive
If we could restore habitat then it might be possible to bring pheasant populations back to a sustainable level
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Post by zodiakgsps on Dec 16, 2007 13:32:06 GMT -4
In my younger years I had the pleasure to hunt Chester and Lancaster counties for small game .In those days these 2 counties were the small game mecca. As the years past and more farms became involved with clean farming practices the cover for pheasants and others small game diminished. I hate to say it but this is one we cant blame on the PGC,but the need of farmers to make more of their property productive so they could survive If we could restore habitat then it might be possible to bring pheasant populations back to a sustainable level I agree completely skwirl, the loss of CRP took a toll for sure. PF is actively trying to restore good habitat across the US, I plan on joining up & helping in any way I can. Not blaming the PGC....guess by "they" in reference to habitat restoration it sounded that way. I still can't help wanting to see better SGL planting/grooming though...it would benefit phez as well as other wildlife. Heck, I would love to see quail released again(wild birds relocated as they did with turkey as pen raised birds tend to not make it) & try to make a come back for them also!!! They fall into the habitat problem too though...........now there's a bird that was truly native & you see them in very few places now.......
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Post by flounderpounder on Dec 16, 2007 19:52:30 GMT -4
way too many birds of prey and foxes.... loss of habitat also
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Post by mrlongbeard on Dec 16, 2007 22:23:09 GMT -4
all this is what i was talking about when i said the pgc is clueless. with all the land we own [sgl's] little is done to help the birds or rabbits for that matter. trying to get farmers in the crp program may help.
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Post by zodiakgsps on Dec 16, 2007 23:15:21 GMT -4
all this is what i was talking about when i said the pgc is clueless. with all the land we own [sgl's] little is done to help the birds or rabbits for that matter. trying to get farmers in the crp program may help. Good point Tim, not sure why CRP is not around here anymore, I suspect money issues?? Of course as far as habitating SGLS that is a money issue for the PGC I'm sure. That again brings up would a Phez stamp with $$ from it going to stocking/habitat help?? Maybe introduce a fund just for phez, a donation type thing, although unfortunately I can't see enough dollars being raised this way to accomplish anything, but then again maybe it would, not sure it's ever been tried before.
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Post by zippyduck on Dec 17, 2007 12:49:58 GMT -4
All good points. A pheasant stamp would help, if people would buy them. Many people would just go after other game and forgo the stamp. The predator problem would have to be addressed. Too many fox, coyote and birds of prey. And any birds would have to be relocated, pen birds are way to dum for predators. As far as food plots and cover, most areas need a wholesale makeover that would cost more than any stamp can cover even with the help of pheasant forever. I unfortunately believe this is the best we are ever going to have in the eastern U.S.
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Post by dknappy on Dec 17, 2007 15:01:28 GMT -4
I think that with the help of Phez Forever we could bring back a solid population. They got it to work in Ohio. The planting of CRP on the outside of crops may even cut down the Ecoli problem here in Erie. It would slow the run off from the farms.
I agree we would have to go to North or South Dakota for the birds as they are more weary and very hearty. But Pa. was a major player in the transplanting of turkey in alot of states so we should have some barganing power.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 18, 2007 12:57:32 GMT -4
use to love going out for the birds but as far as a come back thats a tough call we use to hunt with our britts and see 8,10 12 birds a day that were natural birds then you started to get all the ones with the bills cliped and the tails croped
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Post by beddog on Dec 22, 2007 9:42:44 GMT -4
Skwirl, I too use to hunt the outskirts of Delaware county into Chester county for phez and bunnies. I hate to say it but, Delaware, Chester, Lancaster, Montgomery, Bucks, and Berks counties are probably lost causes. Way too many people and not enough habitat. I think one thing that needs to be done by someone or some agency is an in depth, county by county assessment of which counties in the state have enough open land and habitat left to manage for upland and small game. Once we know where to begin we can come up with a management plan for those areas and then get the PGC and others involved. PF sounds like a great organization and a great idea, we just need to know where to begin.
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Post by edwpas on Dec 22, 2007 10:18:34 GMT -4
Natural reproduction will never work we have far too many predertors and not enough cover, I have flushed pheasant this year and have seen a hawk take them right out of the air. The stocking program needs to be changed. I have witnessed 4 guys standing at the stock truck and when left loose it sounded like a war.
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