Pheasant Release program

[G-Man]

There are lots of old farm field in crp around me. the problem is put and take. i travel for my job and could'nd raise my own birds. i try to get some and the usual responce oh we'll release them and you let us hunt them...not what i had i mind.. the habitat is the key and from what a phesant forever member told me it cost the state about 12-18$ a bird. 50,000 is not a lot of hunters. i would rather see a habitat program in place than just the put and take that stocks 30,000 birds a year at a cost of 360,000$ that could be used to buy acrerage and manage for phesant. for the places that are packed with hunters its because of a lack of habitat that the state releases the bird in one or two locations... i read the plan and it seems the state has really just decided that put and take to appease 50,000 hunters is really the way to go...

[16. ga hunter]

there are programs for restoration just not enough there are areas by me that hold pheasants year round not large numbers of them but year round non the less. the dec has made changes to better use the lands and money needed for the pheasant program in our state. and redirecting the funds used for habitats to just the most suitable land in the state many may not see that as much but .... i also think the state needs to do more for small game in general but do not see that being done in the near future.

[wdswtr]

"Today, more than 50,000 hunters in New York pursue pheasants annually and harvest approximately 100,000 birds. These numbers are low compared to 1968 when 272,000 pheasant hunters harvested over 500,000 pheasants."

Doc the dec has done studies and has a Pheasant plan together, read through it here..

http://www.dec.ny.go...imals/7273.html

I know for me if I were to buy some adult Pheasants it would cost me @15-20 a pop, I bet the state gets them for less. The state gets 30,000 adult birds a year to release and the take is 100,000, so that means there are "wild" birds out there, just not so many on my side of the state..lol

What you are missing is all the pheasant hunting preserves who raise their own birds or are imported to them for their hunters that are part of that 100,000. Some wild pheasant, yes I have seen a couple over the last 10 years on my own land. I had the DEC pull in my driveway with a fairly young one in their hands and asked if my birds got out as they found it on the side of the road walking in front of my house. Had to laugh as I said nope not mine and they drove away with it. One less sild one on my land now lol.

[Doc]

Doc the dec has done studies and has a Pheasant plan together, read through it here..

http://www.dec.ny.go...imals/7273.html

The kind of a study that I was talking about was something that compares the cost of the current (or proposed) pheasant rearing and management program to the amount of revenue provided by pheasant hunters in terms of fees and taxable financial benefits to NYS businesses, etc. You know, the kinds of studies they always refer to when explaining some of the financial benefits to the state of any hunting programs. They may not have ever done such a study specifically for pheasant programs.

However that link that you provided was a pretty interesting read. It just didn't quite get to the question I was asking. But they did show a significant decline in pheasant habitat in this state and why the pheasant rearing programs are getting harder to justify and more and more controversial.

[landtracdeerhunter]

What surprises me is with 50,000+ hunters afield, the DEC received very few responses. How many pheasant hunters received or knew about the this study? Maybe it's time for NY DEC to cooperate with forums like this one, at least for informational purposes.

Edited September 13, 2011 by landtracdeerhunter

[Jennifer]

As much as it kills me to say it, with the state of things and the DEC's funding, I regret that unless they have a lot to gain from such things (monetarily), we will be seeing things get worse before they get better.

It's not that the DEC doesn't care. I think you'd find that many (most?) of the individual employees do care. It's our state government that is looking harshly at what budget cuts can be made...

[Doc]

I think that more and more of the decisions are being taken out of the hands of the DEC and being placed into the hands of legislators. Look at who was pushing for the closing of the pheasant rearing farms. It wasn't the DEC, but rather the Governor (Patterson). The operating budget for the DEC is controlled (and pilfered) by the legislature. Even the Commissioner of the DEC is a political appointment by the Governor. The whole damn organization is purely politically motivated and controlled and really has very little that happens because of science anymore. Even some of the AR WMUs have been mandated by legislators. These encroachments by politicians will never get any better, and in fact I expect that they will get more and more blatant. And the worse the economy gets, the more leverage the politicians get.

[Doewhacker]

Very true Doc, so I guess if I want to keep Pheasant hunting I should befriend some politicians. lol yea right!

[Jennifer]

I think that more and more of the decisions are being taken out of the hands of the DEC and being placed into the hands of legislators. Look at who was pushing for the closing of the pheasant rearing farms. It wasn't the DEC, but rather the Governor (Patterson). The operating budget for the DEC is controlled (and pilfered) by the legislature. Even the Commissioner of the DEC is a political appointment by the Governor. The whole damn organization is purely politically motivated and controlled and really has very little that happens because of science anymore. Even some of the AR WMUs have been mandated by legislators. These encroachments by politicians will never get any better, and in fact I expect that they will get more and more blatant. And the worse the economy gets, the more leverage the politicians get.

As someone that has worked with the DEC before and has family continuing to do so, this is right on the money, Doc. It causes a lot of frustration for individuals at the DEC, too.

[Dom]

pheasants are in will be out there on sat

[Setters4life]

New York's 10-year pheasant plan is a sobering statement of what the future holds. New Jersey is worse, they don't even have a plan! Both states have resigned themselves to put-and-take and it seems enough to satisfy the pheasant hunters. http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/pheasantplan10.pdf

I remember the days of wild pheasants in N.J. along with native quail. I'm glad I experienced them.

[magnumhunt]

where can you hunt them?? where do they release them?

[Doc]

It seems that given the financial state of the DEC, perhaps there are more than a few traditional DEC programs that need a long hard look. Maybe the pheasant stocking program is one of those that needs a very close look. I think I would like to see money that is spent on some of these cost intensive programs re-routed to use for critters that are known to survive and thrive in NYS habitat. It's not like we are ever likely to see an expanding resident population of pheasants here in NYS.

The problem is that when NY legislators start wielding the budget ax, they are looking to take whatever savings and use the confiscated money on NYS general fund projects and expenses. So it's not just a case of forcing re-prioritization within the DEC, but rather pillaging and looting by the legislators for state uses in non-environmental activities.

[G-Man]

Boy i wish we had a right to hunt ammendment and a seperate game commission....

[burmjohn]

Are they not in the process of pushing a law into effect to make hunting a right and not a privilege?

[CTHunter]

Some issues as for pheasant hunting. The places I've hunted in putnam county and dutchess county have limited parking to cut down how many guys are hunting on one parcel. Seems to work. Some guys do follow or chase the stocking truck around and wait to hunt after they come. The other issue is guys who take more than the 2 birds allowed.

If everyone follows the laws there will be plenty for everyone.

Not sure why they cut the fields the way they did at The Great Swamp as really short grass offers no cover for the birds Maybe they are working on it for next year.

[Jennifer]

Some guys do follow or chase the stocking truck around and wait to hunt after they come. The other issue is guys who take more than the 2 birds allowed.

When I worked with the DEC they used to have folks around to nail the people that did this, now they don't have the staff/funding to try and catch people at it so much....

[kenny61]

Some issues as for pheasant hunting. The places I've hunted in putnam county and dutchess county have limited parking to cut down how many guys are hunting on one parcel. Seems to work. Some guys do follow or chase the stocking truck around and wait to hunt after they come. The other issue is guys who take more than the 2 birds allowed.

If everyone follows the laws there will be plenty for everyone.

Not sure why they cut the fields the way they did at The Great Swamp as really short grass offers no cover for the birds Maybe they are working on it for next year.

I emailed the DEC about the fields. With the wet spring it was never planted