Farm pheasants

[WILEY1]

Hey, just wanted to see what any bird hunters thought of this.
I used to live in WI and there was a place the state released farm birds. You were allowed to kill roosters or hens. But you were only given ten leg tags for the season.
What do you guys think of a system like this? Maybe charge five bucks for a public area pheasant stamp. And give each hunter so many tags. And start stalking more areas to try to cut down the "civil war looking" hunts on Thankgiving day. Let me know, and please add any suggestions or improvements.:chicken:

[harehound]

Forget it. Take the money and put into pheasant habitat like at deer creek and you will have huntable wild birds. manage the state ground for uplands birds and they will come and thrive. This is not rocket science.

[WILEY1]

Harehound,
Your rite, it's not rocket science. With our hunting pressure, we would never have a huntable wild population on public lands. Their too small. But thanks for simplifying it like that.

[Lance]

I do strongly agree with the idea of a an upland bird stamp to shoot the pen raised birds as long as they put money into building the wild bird habitat and bring in birds from out west. I think our birds could be much better with improved habitat though. There is more than enough land on many areas if converted to good cover would support the birds. Good cover and quit mowing in the paths across the fields making it easier to flush anything that moves would go along way.

[10Gauge]

Sounds like a good plan you should suggest it to the ODNR!

I don't have much faith in the ODNR to improve habitat on public lands, this requires funding and lets face it they will pour money into anything to do with deer & turkey but as upland bird hunters we are down the list close to rabbit, squirrel and coon hunters!

Having said that I give them credit for the work the do on the "small" dove fields in a few locations around the state but they could do soooo much more!

I'm personally trying to work with some land owners here in SW ohio to improve bird habitat but it is so difficult for them to understand we need overgrown fence rows, native grasses and less herbicides! Let alone "food plots" to give the birds food thru the harsh winter months. A close friend of mine bought an old farm and told me he wanted to bring quail back, the first thing he did was clear the fence rows and began clearing the undergrowth from the small woodlot in the middle of the property!?!? When I asked him where are the quail going to hide from the 8-10 hawks that "hunt" his farm he looked at me like I was crazy. "The damn things can fly can't they", was his reply!:coco:

[go2epointers]

10 Guage,
""The damn things can fly can't they", was his reply!"
That was good. I hear a lot of the same thing. People just don't understand what it takes for habitat, and they don't understand quail or pheasants. I am like Wiley1 on this though, I hate the holiday hunts because it is like a war zone and as for public hunting land, we don't have near enough managed hunting land around us, and what is managed is managed for deer and turkey which the state knows thats their bread and butter cash. I agree with a stamp if the state would actually put the money back in for upland hunters, but I feel that might be a losing battle, but I like the idea that Indiana does on put n take pheasants and thats a lottery draw. Now I know over on Indianasportsman.com I have heard of several hunters that have never been drawn and some have been drawn that has just put in, so it would have to be regulated and kept track of and now we are talking about more money for someone to keep records of all this.
I do agree with birds being placed in Ohio from wild coveys in other states but until we have places for them to be placed that they could survive on, again we are losing a battle.
Just my opinion though but would love to help bring back populations for our kids and grand kids to enjoy.

Greg Agee

[10Gauge]

greg,

since you, gunner & I (maybe oleman, too) live in SW Ohio where quail have made somewhat of a rebound since the blizzard in '78 I find it heart breaking to see habitat here in Montgomery county destroyed by "progress". 6 years ago I moved out of Miamisburg to the township and had old farms and larger tracts of ag land around me all containing good populations of quail.....but it is getting swallowed up by housing developments everyday. As rapidly as growth and progress is taking place in this area I'd be surprised if a single native quial will be found in this county 10 years from now! I hope that I will be living in Kansas or Iowa by that time on a tract of land I can manage for upland birds and hunt those little critters the rest of my days.

BTW-thanks for the tip on those birds in Piqua, we might take you up on them after calling Terry @ Buckeye!

[oleman]

Just a few things for thought

Hard for state to do much in way of habitat with 97% t0 98% of land in state under private ownership.

What they have they don't manage---Instead of manageing for wild life they lease land out to farmers to farm---How many acres of state land you think area leased to farmers---Here in SW Ohio its thousands of acres---

FOr the state to do much for the upland folks someone have to show the state how their going to make a buck...Then maybe they'll do something

Then there's predator control----Coons population has increased over 600 percent in the last 10 years----Not counting --coyotes---skunks---raptors --
foxes--.Just ask someone that traps about the numbers of predators

I live in the burbs of Cincy---Neighbor and I trap and despose of at least 50 plus coons every year--been doing this for a number of years

Them theres the subject of select cutting mature trees out of state and federal forest...WE need new growth for upland birds not mature forest.(Grouse)

Untill we get a goverment that don't favor the tree huggers--bug lovers--butterfly catchers and folks like PETA :gaga: :tsk: ----Folks we are screwed:rant:

More a number of things wrong thats need corrected before birds can be brought back to Ohio in numbers

OK I'm off my soap box---sorry for rant:bouncy: no I'm not:gaga:

[harehound]

Just got back from S Dakota and hunted three days. We limited out on wild birds everyday by 2pm. Can't hunt till 10am. Hunted a 15,000.00 acre farm that was managed for pheasants. You can not believe the amount of birds that were their. If anyone wants to go or is interested in a pointing Lab pup or started dog I can hook you up. AAA outfitters is who I used based out Michell S Dakota. I would go back in a heart beat.
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