this can’t be good……

now i’m no birdologist, but those poor pheasants have got to be hurtin big time right about now. hopefully these frigid temps let up pretty quick here or they could be in BIG trouble.

They will be just fine in the right habitat….. but that is the key…. habitat, habitat, habitat…..

They will be just fine in the right habitat….. but that is the key…. habitat, habitat, habitat…..

The last few days I’ve seen a few big groups of pheasant working some corn/bean fields for food.This weather can be hard on everything,wildlife and people both.
Ryan Hale

The last few days I’ve seen a few big groups of pheasant working some corn/bean fields for food.This weather can be hard on everything,wildlife and people both.
Ryan Hale

I know winter takes some of the pheasants, especially a long hard one but i think it has to be a long hard one to take many. I’ll bet its the older pheasants that get taken. One of the very most damaging things to a pheasant is a wet spring during a hen laying on her eggs and after the chicks hatch, Pneumonia is one of the highest killers of birds in the spring. If you get decent moisture conditions in the spring the hatch will be very good, I’ve seen springs that were so wet there was hardly or a very minimal successful hatch. The next year or two of decent moisture combinations and we’ed have good pheasants. The last two years here, especially this last spring and the pheasants were pretty darned good with lots of limits with half the effort. Im pretty sure spring has more to do with a good hatch then winter, but winter does take its toll when the snow covers thier food supply.

I know winter takes some of the pheasants, especially a long hard one but i think it has to be a long hard one to take many. I’ll bet its the older pheasants that get taken. One of the very most damaging things to a pheasant is a wet spring during a hen laying on her eggs and after the chicks hatch, Pneumonia is one of the highest killers of birds in the spring. If you get decent moisture conditions in the spring the hatch will be very good, I’ve seen springs that were so wet there was hardly or a very minimal successful hatch. The next year or two of decent moisture combinations and we’ed have good pheasants. The last two years here, especially this last spring and the pheasants were pretty darned good with lots of limits with half the effort. Im pretty sure spring has more to do with a good hatch then winter, but winter does take its toll when the snow covers thier food supply.

This fall while hunting I ran into the Ag teacher from Mountain Lake. He runs a stocking program with his students. He told me that they figure that on a good year the hold over from winter is around 10%. The hunters get about the same. That means that winter and predators account for the loss of 80% of their program. I guess thats why one bad winter can do so much damage.

This fall while hunting I ran into the Ag teacher from Mountain Lake. He runs a stocking program with his students. He told me that they figure that on a good year the hold over from winter is around 10%. The hunters get about the same. That means that winter and predators account for the loss of 80% of their program. I guess thats why one bad winter can do so much damage.

Its got to be the amount of snow you guys get up there if they have that large of a bird kill, i see pheasants flocking up, as they usually do in later winter here , sometimes huge flocks in fields down here, really big flocks too. If theres that many birds that late in the winter here, with spring just around the corner, with a huge winter kill, im and neigther is anyone else and our dogs, seeing the birds that are really there when hunting starts down here. If south dakota has all the birds everyone says they have, and im sure they do, they must have zillions of them befor the harder winters up there take its toll by the sub zero temperatures plus all the snow they get. I was always told that if theres enough food to eat for them , most will make it through. Loosing 90% of the bird flock seems to be very high too me. 50% on a bad year of lossed birds sounds herendous too me. We don’t have anywhere near that kill down here.

Its got to be the amount of snow you guys get up there if they have that large of a bird kill, i see pheasants flocking up, as they usually do in later winter here , sometimes huge flocks in fields down here, really big flocks too. If theres that many birds that late in the winter here, with spring just around the corner, with a huge winter kill, im and neigther is anyone else and our dogs, seeing the birds that are really there when hunting starts down here. If south dakota has all the birds everyone says they have, and im sure they do, they must have zillions of them befor the harder winters up there take its toll by the sub zero temperatures plus all the snow they get. I was always told that if theres enough food to eat for them , most will make it through. Loosing 90% of the bird flock seems to be very high too me. 50% on a bad year of lossed birds sounds herendous too me. We don’t have anywhere near that kill down here.

We lost our birds to winter of 78,Deep snow and a week of twenty below,and they have not made a come back yet.It was so bad the birds froze on the country roads[gravel]I guess looking for food.Good luck I hope your fate is better than ours,because season after season with no birds stinks.

We lost our birds to winter of 78,Deep snow and a week of twenty below,and they have not made a come back yet.It was so bad the birds froze on the country roads[gravel]I guess looking for food.Good luck I hope your fate is better than ours,because season after season with no birds stinks.

Dan, I was shocked by that high loss rate myself and wondered how he came to that number but even if he was way off it seems clear thar one bad winter can really impact a population. I have never heard of a feeding program for pheasants,I wonder why that wouldn’t help?

Dan, I was shocked by that high loss rate myself and wondered how he came to that number but even if he was way off it seems clear thar one bad winter can really impact a population. I have never heard of a feeding program for pheasants,I wonder why that wouldn’t help?

Dan and Dog,I have heard that 20% is a good survival rate for the birds to make it to spring.Hunting,weather,and predators do take a toll on them.
Now as far as feeding.I’ve heard good and bad about this also.It does not take long for predators to figure out that the pheasant are being feed in this way.But I have put out corn for birds in years past.I have no proof on the predator vs feeding birds thing but any input would be great to read.
Ryan Hale

Dan and Dog,I have heard that 20% is a good survival rate for the birds to make it to spring.Hunting,weather,and predators do take a toll on them.
Now as far as feeding.I’ve heard good and bad about this also.It does not take long for predators to figure out that the pheasant are being feed in this way.But I have put out corn for birds in years past.I have no proof on the predator vs feeding birds thing but any input would be great to read.
Ryan Hale

One thing to always remember if you are going to feed the pheasants is to also put out some gravel for the birds too. A farmer friend of mine was putting out corn for the birds during the last bad winter we had and he couldn’t understand why each day there were fewer and fewer birds until he realized that the birds not only needed feed but also the gravel to help digest it also. Just food for thought.

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One thing to always remember if you are going to feed the pheasants is to also put out some gravel for the birds too. A farmer friend of mine was putting out corn for the birds during the last bad winter we had and he couldn’t understand why each day there were fewer and fewer birds until he realized that the birds not only needed feed but also the gravel to help digest it also. Just food for thought.

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I was out working today [mail route] and found a dead rooster on a gravel road. No signs of any injury and not frozen yet. Makes me nervous :confused

I was out working today [mail route] and found a dead rooster on a gravel road. No signs of any injury and not frozen yet. Makes me nervous :confused

I do know that pheasants need grit, thats why you see them near gravel roads, quail and all birds need grit, its part of feeding chickens. Oyster shell is popular for chickens. No grit for thier gizzards but lots of food and they’ll starve to death, they need to eat a certain size grit to digest the food they eat. The grit is used in the gizzad to grind thier food. The gizzard and grit together grind thier food for thier digestive system, the gizzard is a very strong muscle that does the grinding. If you ever take a gizzard apart you’ll see the grit and gravel chips around it. The gullet under thier throat holds the food they eat until it travels through thier system to be ground up via gizzad, too im not sure from there. I believe the 20% birds left for the next breeding season but it streatches my percentage rates. But im not a

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very good biologist. It just hard to believe for me down here , especially in southern iowa where the winter aren’t as hard as around me. We do have alot of exposed corn, soybeans, they love soybeans, oats and tons of seed from weeds that i see most of the winter. Guess i’d have to see very educated proof by a very educated good biologist.

I do know that pheasants need grit, thats why you see them near gravel roads, quail and all birds need grit, its part of feeding chickens. Oyster shell is popular for chickens. No grit for thier gizzards but lots of food and they’ll starve to death, they need to eat a certain size grit to digest the food they eat. The grit is used in the gizzad to grind thier food. The gizzard and grit together grind thier food for thier digestive system, the gizzard is a very strong muscle that does the grinding. If you ever take a gizzard apart you’ll see the grit and gravel chips around it. The gullet under thier throat holds the food they eat until it travels through thier system to be ground up via gizzad, too im not sure from there. I believe the 20% birds left for the next breeding season but it streatches my percentage rates. But im not a

Quote:

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very good biologist. It just hard to believe for me down here , especially in southern iowa where the winter aren’t as hard as around me. We do have alot of exposed corn, soybeans, they love soybeans, oats and tons of seed from weeds that i see most of the winter. Guess i’d have to see very educated proof by a very educated good biologist.

Iowa DNR News on Pheasants and Harsh Winters

A recent article from the IDNR website.

bird

Iowa DNR News on Pheasants and Harsh Winters

A recent article from the IDNR website.

bird

I live in Marshall, MN and the pheasants down here seem to have made it through the tough weather just fine. I walked through one of our management lands in the area and saw a lot of birds. A rough estimate of 100-150 birds. When one bird got up, 10 more did and in some sloughs I kicked up groups of a couple dozen. About 3/4 of the birds were hens, so there should be plenty of young birds if we have a good spring.

Only 8 months until pheasant opener.
Here are a couple pictures I took:

I live in Marshall, MN and the pheasants down here seem to have made it through the tough weather just fine. I walked through one of our management lands in the area and saw a lot of birds. A rough estimate of 100-150 birds. When one bird got up, 10 more did and in some sloughs I kicked up groups of a couple dozen. About 3/4 of the birds were hens, so there should be plenty of young birds if we have a good spring.

Only 8 months until pheasant opener.
Here are a couple pictures I took:

Here’s another picture. Hard to see, but there are about 15 birds in this picture.

Here’s another picture. Hard to see, but there are about 15 birds in this picture.