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Post by davet on Oct 7, 2016 11:31:42 GMT -5
Ok.....I had been giving this some thought for several years. And when I went out to Colorado and talked to a fishing guide a few birds the size of pheasants had crossed the road in front of us (yes...not only to get to the other side.....but men with guns.....real guns.....were in pursuit!!) But these birds were not the colorful pheasant birds we are use to. He told me these birds were game birds and very tasty.....but they were also the dumbest birds on the face of the planet. Then I ask him if he ever hunted (a term I am using loosely) stocked game pheasants?
Well....the point of my initial post is......why is the PGC spending millions on attempting to revive a game bird that will not (and I'm not going to say never) likely ever come back to be a natural reproducing game bird in Pennsylvania? The PGC spends millions of dollars every year for what? To keep old hunters old memories alive? Isn't this one of those tragedies that the PGC simply needs to just let go of and say......so goes the passenger pigeon......so goes the ringneck pheasant. If you want to hunt natural ringneck, go to another State. We (the PGC) will take the millions and reallocate into something worthwhile. No longer will we try to keep old men's dreams alive.
Just sayin......
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Post by ridgecommander on Oct 7, 2016 19:10:54 GMT -5
Agree for the most part. I would like to see an end to the wild pheasant recovery areas. Continued stocking of birds but only if there is a pheasant stamp to offset the costs. Since it is put and take, pheasants should be similar to trout. You want to hunt or fish for them, buy a stamp.
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Post by Dutch on Oct 7, 2016 19:21:41 GMT -5
End the WPRA's, I agree with.
I have changed my opinion of stocked pheasants and their recreational value.
I also believe there should be a stamp.
A famous WCO, I believe, admitted to killing over 60 pheasants last year. Somehow, that kind of greed needs to end, or be paid for.
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Post by ridgecommander on Oct 7, 2016 19:33:24 GMT -5
By the way. I like the thread title. "Pheasants For Never". Pretty much sums up the WPRAs.
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Post by cspot on Oct 7, 2016 19:57:16 GMT -5
Taking Colton in the morning for the youth pheasant season.
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Post by Dutch on Oct 7, 2016 20:02:49 GMT -5
They stock birds on Thursdays, and the retired guys are waiting for the trucks.
My retired brother says so. LOL
BUT, he is no game hog.
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Post by redarrow on Oct 8, 2016 7:34:42 GMT -5
They stock birds on Thursdays, and the retired guys are waiting for the trucks. My retired brother says so. LOL BUT, he is no game hog. I used to live across the road from an overgrown field that was stocked with pheasants. It was easy to tell when the stocking truck paid a visit. There would be 3 or 4 pickups with dog boxes in them parked just across from my driveway when I got home from work. The hunters and their dogs went over the place like vacuum cleaners. I'd shoot a few every year if they escaped to the brush around a beaver dam we owned just behind our yard. I think that the money spent could be used more wisely to improve things for our native wildlife and acquire more land for hunters. |
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Post by davet on Oct 8, 2016 9:09:32 GMT -5
When I was a kid, during small game season after school we had our brush pants and shotguns in the trunk of the car in the high school parking lots. (Yeah...you could do that back in the day) I would count the seconds when that bell would ring....me and at least 2 if not 3 buddies would jump in my car and about 15 minutes away.....right behind a transmission repair shop was a place to hunt. It was field, briar's, weeds, and woods. Adjacent to a farmers corn field. The tranny shop owner would say hello to us when we pulled in and we smiled and waived back. We always parked on the side of his place and ask if it was ok to park there. Thinking back I honestly believe the guy was glad to see young men out hunting as opposed to doing other things. We would hunt for maybe 2 hours and all of us would get at least 1 bird and most of the times we would limit out at 2. If not.....we for sure had the chance and just plain missed. But man.....did we have fun.
Those days are gone. Those birds were wild one's. But that spot was loaded up with 'em. We would "drive" those birds and if they didn't flush (we had no dog) in the middle of the drive....at the end of the field we had birds going everywhere!!!
So, again I ask....what are we doing today with these stocked birds? Keeping our youth memories alive? These birds may never come back and naturally reproduce here again. So...The traditional top-tier of states – Kansas, North Dakota and the mighty “Pheasant Capital” of South Dakota are the places to go if you really want to hunt wild birds. No money? Well.....save for a vacation. Broaden your children's horizon's. Let them see the country. If you really want to do it....you will find a way. Shooting these stocked birds are like shooting chickens. But...these are million dollar chickens. Meh.
MHO
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Post by Muab Dib on Oct 10, 2016 10:41:08 GMT -5
Your youthful adventures with wild pheasants sound a lot like mine Dave. Man did we have some times in cut corn and fence rows back then! And when a rooster flushed in front of you cackling all the way... As they say, "It don't get no better than that". Now...just memories. We were blessed to have had those times and hunting experiences. It's sad to think that the vast majority of young hunters will never know the thrill of hunting truly wild pheasants.
Muab
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Post by davet on Oct 10, 2016 10:53:53 GMT -5
Your youthful adventures with wild pheasants sound a lot like mine Dave. Man did we have some times in cut corn and fence rows back then! And when a rooster flushed in front of you cackling all the way... As they say, "It don't get no better than that". Now...just memories. We were blessed to have had those times and hunting experiences. It's sad to think that the vast majority of young hunters will never know the thrill of hunting truly wild pheasants. Muab So true Muab, so true. And that's why I wonder.....who is pushing the millions of dollars to keep a dying program alive? I mean dreams are dreams and we all wish the pheasant would naturally reproduce and still be wild, but wolly mammoths are not here to shoot around to get to the pheasant's either. The whole program is silly. Millions to shoot essentially tame pigeons. |
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Post by barbless on Oct 25, 2016 10:19:35 GMT -5
Disagree, state game lands are a great place to take young hunters and work dogs. After the first stocked birds are killed a lot of birds become, almost wild, and are tough to corner and flush. Great hunting with one or more dogs. Especially the last 2 weeks. The pheasants on the pay game preserves are like chickens. Those old guys who wait at the game truck releases are never going to hunt those birds after a week of survival out there. I have been hunting pheasants since the 60s and chasing down birds now is just as much fun and challenging, into the last days of the season, as any wild bird was.
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Post by fleroo on Oct 25, 2016 11:21:50 GMT -5
I agree barbless.
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Post by GlennD on Oct 25, 2016 12:26:39 GMT -5
Thanks for another view Barbless and welcome to the forum.  |
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Post by davet on Oct 25, 2016 14:15:27 GMT -5
Well, well all have our views. I still believe it's millions to kill chickens and feed fox, owls, and coyotes.
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Post by redarrow on Oct 26, 2016 18:20:25 GMT -5
Would it make more sense to stock quail?
I raised twenty five that were given to me a few years ago and let them go. They stuck around a couple days then disappeared. About half of them showed back up around the house a month or so later and again left after 2 or 3 days.
I'm sure they ended up feeding some predator, but I love their call and seeing them flush.
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Post by davet on Oct 26, 2016 18:26:53 GMT -5
It may make more sense to look at spending the dollars on creating habitat that quail and grouse will flourish in. Then the bird hunters and their dogs will have wild birds that are in fact....wild birds. Grouse are fine birds to hunt. And back when I could walk, I found them to be the best of all birds to be challenged by. I shot a lot of ammo at 'em. Missed more than I hit, and had more fun of all the bird hunting that I did.
FWIW
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Post by grouse28 on Oct 26, 2016 20:40:18 GMT -5
Was hunting today for the "tame pigeons" at a place to remain unnamed.
Had twelve cockbirds in the air, 8 points, 3 bumps and I bumped one.
No birds in the bag. I had a good shot at the bird I bumped but chose not to shoot, would rather have some dog work.
These birds are not dumb chickens after being out for a few days. Would not hold for a point. Saw my dog go on point and two seconds later the bird flew, 10 yards in front of the dog. These birds were every bit as challenging as wild birds of the past.
These birds may be the only opportunity to introduce young hunters. An opportunity for some old "pharts" that can't climb the grouse woods.
It is an expensive project, what is so hard about a pheasant stamp to offset the cost? I would gladly pay $25 or more. Our hunting license is the cheapest entertainment out there.
I don't understand guys bitching about the cost of a license and thinking nothing about the cost of a few cases of beer or a few pizzas for camp, (or a good bottle of scotch).
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Post by tcaddis on Oct 27, 2016 9:03:03 GMT -5
End the WPRA's, I agree with. I have changed my opinion of stocked pheasants and their recreational value. I also believe there should be a stamp. A famous WCO, I believe, admitted to killing over 60 pheasants last year. Somehow, that kind of greed needs to end, or be paid for. So what was your opinion then, and what is it now? |
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Post by fleroo on Oct 27, 2016 9:13:11 GMT -5
Glad you have seen the light. Pheasants to the PGC, don't hold quite the same panache that Trout do for the PFBC, but it's enough. I also believe the estimated bird chaser numbers are low. Of course, a stamp will show that to be true or false.
The guys that refer to Pheasants as "Ditch Chickens", and Trout as "Pellet-heads", are the guys that only chase Grouse with a European Deuce-Barrel, or fish world-class limestoner's draped in Orvis and L.L. Bean. Elitists to me ? confused-smiley-013
You hen't gonna get a 12-13-14 year old kid all that interested in hiking northcentral remote trickles in pursuit of a native brook, or traversing those same hills in hopes of knocking up a grouse.
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Post by tcaddis on Oct 27, 2016 10:01:35 GMT -5
I can't say all of what you've written is bs, but a lot of what a kid want to chase and not chase is in what he's shown. If you're brought up chasing the trucks, the probability of only knowing that way is probably high.
My son is different than most with the opportunities he's had. He's hunted some of the nastiest hell holes on earth in pursuit of woodcock since he's been 11. NJ allows small game hunting at 11. Does he shoot a couple phez a year..........sure. If the dogs point them and he does his part they die. The difference is how he feels holding a dead phez compared to a grouse or woodcock. He knows the work that has taken place to find those little haunts that will hold those birds and he holds those areas special. Sometimes those haunts hold a couple phez too.
I've never thought ending phez stocking was a good idea. I know the value it has for some folks. Heck, I could less about the stamp. If they impose one or not, it makes no difference to me. The only problem I've ever had with the phez program is the rules that involve dog training on ALL the gamelands due to the phez.
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