Bird Releases

[Lance]

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Default.aspx?TabId=19075&EntryID=754

2008 PHEASANT RELEASE DATES

Oct. 24 Oct. 31 Nov. 6 Nov. 14 Nov. 26 TOTAL
Central Ohio
Delaware 400 400 350 200 250 1,600
Pleasant Valley 0 0 140 140 120 400
DISTRICT TOTAL 400 400 490 340 370 2,000
Northwest Ohio
Killdeer 120 140 270 250 280 1,060
Wyandot 0 0 50 50 50 150
Resthaven 100 140 160 50 100 550
Willard 0 0 100 100 100 300
Maumee 0 0 40 40 40 120
Oxbow 80 100 120 50 70 420
Turkeyfoot 150 100 150 400
DISTRICT TOTAL 300 380 890 640 790 3,000
Northeast Ohio
BeachCity 0 0 180 100 70 350
Berlin 200 240 300 220 140 1,100
Grand River 200 230 300 220 140 1,090
Highlandtown 0 0 260 110 120 490
Shreve 0 0 120 60 80 260
Spencer 180 200 140 60 120 700
Wellington 80 100 100 30 120 430
West Branch 0 0 150 60 70 280
Zeppernick 0 0 130 60 70 260
Charlemont Mpk. 100 100 120 50 110 480
Camp Belden 50 70 100 70 70 360
DISTRICT TOTAL 810 940 1,900 1,040 1,110 5,800
Southeast Ohio
Dillon 200 220 140 80 100 740
Salt Fork 0 0 140 120 100 360
DISTRICT TOTAL 200 220 280 200 200 1,100
Southwest Ohio
Fallsville 130 140 220 100 120 710
Indian Creek 0 0 240 90 170 500
Spring Valley 0 0 190 100 100 390
Rush Run 100 50 210 90 100 550
Caesar Creek 210 260 210 100 100 880
Darke 50 40 100 50 80 320
East Fork 50 0 0 0 0 50
DISTRICT TOTAL 540 520 1,170 530 670 3,400
STATE TOTAL 2,250 2,430 4,730 2,750 3,140 15,300

[Duffy]

Thanks, Lance. I've been watching for those dates!

[biznutz]

Wish the DNR didn't post release dates. Growing up we went to the Darke Co release one time, guys were almost shooting the birds out of the parking lot and alot of birds never evenleft the drop off point. I think it would benefit the sport to release these birds randomly and not let everyone line up to crush em.
Give the birds some time to get into the area, as oposed to dropping em off the night before.

[CritterGitter]

Wish the DNR didn't post release dates. Growing up we went to the Darke Co release one time, guys were almost shooting the birds out of the parking lot and alot of birds never evenleft the drop off point. I think it would benefit the sport to release these birds randomly and not let everyone line up to crush em.
Give the birds some time to get into the area, as oposed to dropping em off the night before.

They do the drop for the Saturday and Sunday hunts on Wednesday and Thursday evening. I know because I had a guy drive the truck the 1/2 mile back off the road right past my bow hunting set up with decoy and all and release the stupid things. I am a HUGE opponent of this program. I think it's a joke! How's about they spend the money on habitat improvement and try to actually "reintroduce" them instead of this ridiculous put-and-take crapola they have now. DWLA will be a freakin zoo with 1600 birds released for Thanksgiving day. :irked:

[Lance]

Yeah I'd love to see a "habitat stamp" put into place that would work towards improving the wild bird situation. Everytime I've spoken to a DNR guy about it they look at me like I've got the plague and the idea of asking for more money is just obscene. Every state around us has habitiat stamps for their special programs such as bird habitat or trout stockings and easement purchases. I wish they'd wake up and realize that you can't keep covering it all the same way.


As far as the release go, traditionally they release them on Friday. We've just had some anomlies the past few years due to how Veterans Day landed on the Calendar. It was falling on on the Fridays which is a state workers holiday so they realesed them early.

[Zach01]

Does anyone know if Delaware gets hammered hard with the the hunters on the release dates? I would imagine all the places get hit hard.

[Lance]

I can't say for sure but I've been to 6 different places and they all get hammered in the morning. If you've got dogs wait till noon to go hunt, you'll still find a bird here and there and it's a much more peaceful hunt.

[uglykat26]

i remember growing up my grandpa released about 20 cock birds and 30 hens on our farm the next year we had 12 hens and 10 cock birds that made it 10 of those hens had nests we counted 35 poults long story short we finnally got a decent breeding going and they lasted up until the coyotes came in and completely killed em all off all in all they lasted almost 9 years breeding on there own with no hunting pressure , thats why im a big supporter of killijg every coyote you see

[MaS19]

DWLA will be a freakin zoo with 1600 birds released for Thanksgiving day. :irked:


250, 1600 TOTAL.

But i do agree with you. The money for these 15,000 Birds should be spent establishing a wild population, that is stable.

Once you been out west and hunted real pheasants, farm birds in ohio are just plain boring. My GSP catches over half of the farm birds i run him on, which makes for a really boring hunt.

[Rw50Pc]

Going on the release dates is crazy! Like Lance says I would wait till the afternoon. I usually go the day after without a dog and still kick up a few birds. I'm a big fan of safe hunting and there is nothing safe about that many people hunting the same few birds at the same time. More birds make it through the first day than you would think, they are just deep in the worst tangels they can get into.

[CritterGitter]

Thanks for the correction Mas. Delaware is a ZOO on the release dates. I hate it.

[MaS19]

Thanks for the correction Mas. Delaware is a ZOO on the release dates. I hate it.

Id never even consider going there. When i was at school at OSU, i went out there on a release day with my GSP to try to get a buddy some birds (He didnt have a dog) I got there, saw 200 people, most of which didnt have dogs, so that makes it even worse. 200 guys running around trying to kick up birds on a not very big chunk of land. So Murphy jumped back in my car and i went home.

[Duffy]

I usually go to Grand River before first light the morning after the early November release, and do my best to wade through the orange. I don't have a dog, but usually have at least one bird by mid-morning.

I've not tried Berlin or West Branch yet, though they are closer to me than Grand River, which I really like. I'm sure Lance has been to all three and could share some stories. I love going to Spencer to fish with or without the kids, and to hunt small game occasionally, but Spencer has got to be wall-to-wall hunters during pheasant, not being anywhere near as large as the others.

[Kaiser878]

I go out to beach city and kill a coupel a year! I know where they release them, I mean exactly where they release them! ha So if anyone ever wants to go and kill a couple let me know and we will go. I usually wait until a week or two after they release them! That way everyone has gotten burned out on it and the birds are a bit more wild.

[Llewellin01]

The only times i go to Public Land on release dates in Spencer or Camp Belden, and only on the two youth weekends. Take my younger borthers and cousins. And when we do go there we get there as early as possible get to out spot well before light. I got two very good dogs and get our birds as soon as possible and leave. If there is too many people already there i leave come back around 2 and still get my birds. Or wait til sunday. Spencer on opening day is rediculous. I cant belive no one has been killed there yet.

[Lance]

Spencer on opening day is rediculous. I cant belive no one has been killed there yet. Berlin is the same way. Just nuts.... :(

[GaryP]

While I'm all for habitat management and reintroduction of pheasant, if you're going to do put and take the DNR probably does it the best way possible, IMO.

I normally go after them at Grand River, I went out one Friday in the afternoon hoping the DNR guys had been lazy and released them early. They hadn't, the trucks were releasing right at dusk. The next day I went back and one spot I went to I was the only one with a dog, we put up 3 (got 2) and found remains (feathers/heads) of 2-3 more, killed by predators overnight.

Many of these birds get taken before hunters get any chance at them. Releasing them earlier will only increase the number taken by predators. Which means less for us.

And let's face it, the put and take is done to get license fees off all those drones marching in neat little lines 10-20 yds apart on Saturday morning. Those guys just want a chance to fire their guns, so the DNR obliges them. It's with a certain degree of sadness I realize they do have to be included as bird hunters, but at least they bolster our numbers in the eyes of the DNR.

I seldom go after them on Saturdays because it's just too dangerous. The one Saturday I did go out (as described above) I had some jackass who was circling in front of me trying to jump in front of any birds my dog was running. I went some crazy directions but he always showed up and way too damn close. The one time I shot one of my birds and it dropped at the edge of the woods and he pops out of that exact spot literally 10 seconds later, before I had even picked the bird up. If that bird had got up and started to run I could have shot this guy accidentally. Finally, when I decided to leave, of course this guy's coming back to his truck as I'm finishing packing my gun. I had a few words with him, took his plate and turned it over to the DNR warden. It's amazing how ignorant and disrespectful some people can be (especially when firearms are involved!).

Anyhow, I like to go after them Sunday, Monday. They've been scattered around, you have to cover a lot more ground, but there's still enough of them out there and they've actually survived a day or two so sometimes these birds have half a brain cell and can provide at least some mild challenge. There's less other hunters and the ones that are out are usually regular bird hunters. So, in my book it works out if you wear the rose colored glasses and keep a perspective on the whole thing.

Sadly, being a bird hunter in NE Ohio forces you to wear the rose-colored glasses and appreciate any upland opportunities because other than going after some 'doodles, upland bird hunting is pretty pathetic up here.

Gary

[OldSchoolSpringer]

In our surrounding states they release 30,000-100,000 birds.Our Put and take system is a sad joke.

[huntsem]

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Pennsylvania releases 110,000 birds state wide compared to Ohio's 5,000.

I have MUCH better success and ENJOYMENT hunting pheasants in Pa. compared to pheasant hunting in northeast Ohio. Pennsylvania also has more acres and better managed game lands and private land cooperatives. Pen raised pheasants are a challenge to hunt especially after they get familiar with the terrain they are released in and especially if the area has good food and preferred upland escape cover. If there's good food and cover the birds are also much less vulnerable to hawks and owls which are the pheasants predominant predator. It's not coyotes as was previously suggested. In Pennsylvania if the areas where the birds are released have good food and cover I will see birds survive and escape predators all the way up into February.

Ohio's Grand River and in general most northeast Ohio Wildlife Managers do a very poor job of managing the wildlife areas for upland birds. The limited field mowing that they do there is mostly focused on dog training areas and is too excessive for creating good field cover for pheasants. That mowing is managed to cater to quail releases for horse rider pointer field trials. Last month I even saw a limo parked near the field trial area parking lot along with all of the horse trailers and high class pointers. Most of the other weedy fields on the wildlife area are maintained with a predominance of goldenrod which is not a preferred field cover for pheasants. The crop fields that are planted there are completely harvested edge to edge with no standing crops left over winter and very little crop field edge escape cover.

Pennsylvania used to release 200,000 birds annually up until about 5 years ago. Pennsylvania has recently started a statewide pheasant management program. You can download it from the Game Commission web site, it's a very thorough and informative study on pheasants. There is talk of Pa. also starting a pheasant stamp requirement and if they do they plan to once again release 200,000 birds per year and also focus on habitat improvements and trap and transfer of wild birds throughout areas of the state with good habitat. I think the idea of a pheasant stamp is a good one and it would probably help to reduce some of the hunting pressure on the birds.

Ohio's wild pheasant populations are mostly dependent on federally funded watershed crp land management in the northwest, north central and south central parts of the state. Northeast Ohio pheasant hunters don't get much recognition.

If it wasn't for the deer and waterfowl hunting in Ohio I probably wouldn't even bother to buy a license to hunt in Ohio.

It's a damn shame cause I've got a dog that's great on birds and bird hunting is my favorite. (Did I mention there aren't any hunt-able grouse around in northeast Ohio anymore either?)


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[bmrenn]

Hey guys,

I agree with pretty much EVERY POST so far.

* Put and Take is a JOKE.

* Release dates are an unsafe circus at best.

* As what I would consider a devoted bird hunter with a great dog - I'm excluded from these "public birds" because I am scared to death of some overzealous "hunter" pulling the trigger on my dog becuase he heard something "flying" through the grass. (even though I always run him with a bell). This is what happened to the dog's mother shortly after birthing his litter (on public land out west).


SO WHAT DO WE DO.............

Last night I was at a small conservation banquet for WTU that had quite a few politicians in attendance - Looking for our votes and support as hunters.

There are obviously several of us who share logical ideas on how we can improve habitat and the overall game bird management program in Ohio (especially NE Ohio).

Can we start by voicing our concerns to these folks and asking for help?

Would it matter, or does everything come internally from ODNR?

If so, can we get some information together on what we would have to do to be heard and considered by ODNR.

Obviously, if one or two of of complain to them (or worse just complain to ourselves on online message boards - I've seen this topic on every board I belong to) It will fall on deaf ears.

There has to be a # though, at which they will start listening to us and our respective conservation groups, be that PF, QU, DU, RGS, etc.

How can we put some pressure on them to improve this program???

[Llewellin01]

I have no idea how to help this....join Pheasant Forever???? MOst of those "bird hunters" that show up on release dates could care less about habitat, wild birds, etc. They get their two birds 10 feet form thier car and that all they need. I went to spencer one opening day about 11 am. There was a guy that said he had been there all morning and seen severl people in tenis shoes, t-shirts ad shorts standing behind the red barn waiting for birds to fly by that people missed. Its rediculous.

[OldSchoolSpringer]

There was a group of guys talking about pushing for a upland stamp a few years ago but it died out.
PF gets grants from ODNR and it is basically hush money and they let PF do there own litttle thing.

I like PA new plan, however it would take a alot of pressure to get our ODNR to change its position.

[huntsem]

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I am in the process of writing a detailed photo essay on this topic and plan to write to all of the DNR commissioners, the DOW top managers and Ted Strickland (he's a hunter). I might post this online when it's ready. I think more hunters need to be vocal. Nationwide the population of non hunting wildlife organizations and supporters has been increasing while the numbers of hunters has been in decline. There should be a push by the DOW to work in concert with non hunting wildlife and environmental interests for funds and resources to develop habitat and promote education and public interest in such plans. Supporting the diverse types of habitat that is friendly to upland bird hunting also is beneficial to many songbirds, plants and many other wildlife species. There is a benefit in this for everyone.

Regarding the public hunts and bird releases. If Ohio did a better job at managing and acquiring more lands for upland hunting the congestion wouldn't be as bad. Also I personally spoke with people who've seen birds being released in large groups along side the county roads and in the parking lots. This doesn't give the birds much of a chance to spread out before the gangs of drivers have at them the next day. This also makes it more likely for the birds to fly across the road to private land where the public cannot hunt them.

If there was a pheasant stamp that would probably mean that there would be less hunters showing up in gangs without a dog at the public pheasant hunting areas. It would also mean that more pheasants could be stocked and more natural habitat could be established statewide. I suspect that most serious bird hunters would gladly pay $20.00 for a pheasant stamp before they'd pay $20.00 for a turkey tag if it meant that pheasant hunting could be improved for the parts of the state where wild pheasants have proved that they could survive.

I think that PF in Ohio mostly caters to private hunting preserves. There's is little evidence of the kind of wide spread habitat changes that are necessary for viable pheasant hunting in Ohio. If not for federally funded crp it's most likely that there wouldn't be a hunt-able wild pheasant population anywhere in Ohio.



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[ccavacini]

We in Indiana have put and take pheasant hunts on state property. It's 15.00 for two birds. We sign up on line. It's run pretty well. The birds fly well, and most of the hunters are bird (not meat) hunters.

We also have a bird habitat stamp fee..6.00 a year. The Indiana DNR buys or leases property in our prime pheasant area (Northwest Indiana counties). To access these properties, it's a lottery draw.

If you get drawn, it's like dyin' and goin' to heaven.. You hunt property --usually around 80 acres--with you and two friends. Wild birds all over. It's land that's managed for pheasant and it works.

Now the down side. The last time I was drawn was in '93. So it's the luck of the draw.

But they buy or lease more land each year...so the property (lottery) pool expands. It's the way to go.

Cary

[ohiosam]

My local game warden last year told me that the pheasant isn't a native bird and the Division isn't interested in propagating non-native species :irked:

[OldSchoolSpringer]

We in Indiana have put and take pheasant hunts on state property. It's 15.00 for two birds. We sign up on line. It's run pretty well. The birds fly well, and most of the hunters are bird (not meat) hunters.

We also have a bird habitat stamp fee..6.00 a year. The Indiana DNR buys or leases property in our prime pheasant area (Northwest Indiana counties). To access these properties, it's a lottery draw.

If you get drawn, it's like dyin' and goin' to heaven.. You hunt property --usually around 80 acres--with you and two friends. Wild birds all over. It's land that's managed for pheasant and it works.

Now the down side. The last time I was drawn was in '93. So it's the luck of the draw.

But they buy or lease more land each year...so the property (lottery) pool expands. It's the way to go.

Cary

Sounds like a good Deal

[CritterGitter]

Huntsem,

That was a great post and one of the better comments I have ever seen posted on this subject. I get the stupid survey about hunting pheasant every year. Also, when I buy a hunting license I get asked every year if I hunt pheasant. I think the state is monitoring the #'s and as they go down(should be expected with the crappy system we have now), they can use that to keep the system crappy or even minimize it even more. I wrote a long and detailed letter to the Central Ohio Upland Game Manager for the Division of Wildlife in 2006. I did not get the courtesy of a reply. Thanks to the federally funded CRP program Ohio is very rich in diverse habitat. We have a LOT of land that is ideal for upland game birds especially in the western and central part of the state. I would like to see more land aqcuisition and more done with the habitat to improve the viability of natural populations of pheasants. I think it would take great pressure from the State government officials on the ODNR and possibly some bank roll from the State level government for the ODNR to begin to care to do more for pheasant hunting in Ohio.

Oh, and I would gladly pay $40 for a habitat stamp if it meant the releases would not be a zoo and the money would go toward HABITAT for pheasants.

[huntsem]

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My local game warden last year told me that the pheasant isn't a native bird and the Division isn't interested in propagating non-native species
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The notion that pheasants are non-native and should require no support from state wildlife managers is certainly not a factor for, Kansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Illinois, Colorado, Pennsylvania, etc. etc. Why is it such an important factor for Ohio's wildlife managers? What's so native about the widespread use of pesticides, herbicides, eliminating diverse habitats and plant species, wetland ditching, etc., etc. Check out Kansas's division of wildlife web site on upland game and compare it to Ohio's!

I suspect that the current lack of initiative to improve upland habitat and resources is largely defined by the influence of large agribusiness, the real estate industry, inefficient or misguided thinking in DNR leadership and hunter apathy or lack of initiative. A periodic citizen initiated oversight and accountability study of Ohio's DOW and DNR seems like a good idea. Independent studies are a healthy process for most operations and organizations to go through from time to time. I think most of us would be really surprised by what might come out of this.

Ohio DOW should develop and institute a long range pheasant and upland habitat management plan similar to Pennsylvania's.

At the minimum in areas of Ohio where pheasants once had wild populations the public wildlife areas should be developed with upland habitat management techniques and experiments that can serve as a model for private land owners to follow and not be an the example of what NOT to do!. A stronger effort in Ohio should be made to encourage private landowners to be more aware, knowledgeable and active in maintaining at least a small portion of set aside of upland types of habitat on their lands. I know the general public would be behind this as there is an ever increasing interest among the public in viewing and supporting wildlife diversity in the environment.

Oh, and I would gladly pay $40 for a habitat stamp if it meant the releases would not be a zoo and the money would go toward HABITAT for pheasants.

Currently I'd have to spend $40.00 just for gas to travel to a part of Ohio where I "might" be able to hunt a wild pheasant population.



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