Pheasant Forecast Calhoun County
Rooster Riot by Tony Hansen
ROOSTER RIOT
Tony Hansen
The Enquirer
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Pheasant season opens on Wednesday in southern Michigan and it is
expected to draw about 100,000 hunters. Pheasant numbers have been
slowly stabilizing.
The heydays are over.
But the thrill isn't gone forever.
Pheasant season opens on Wednesday in southern Michigan.
About four decades ago, the opening day of pheasant season would
look very similar to the opening of the firearms deer season does
today. A lot of sickdays, vacations and a big number of people afield.
In those time about a half-million hunters would pursue pheasants and more than a million pheasants would be taken each fall.
This year, the Department of Natural Resources expects about
100,000 hunters to chase pheasants and they'll kill just over 100,000
birds.
But don't let those numbers fool you.
Pheasant hunting is steadily improving.
The key is habitat.
"A lot of people don't believe it, but hunter success is about the
same as it has always been because the people who hunt pheasants today
mostly have access to good habitat," said Al Stewart, the Department of
Natural Resources upland game bird specialist. "The pheasant harvest
per hunter-day is about the same as it was in 1954."
Of course, there is a lot less good habitat around today than then.
But that is also improving.
If you were to look at photos of southern Michigan from 40 years
ago and compare them to photos from today, you would notice a couple of
thing.
For starters, there will be a lot less open space. Houses and paved areas are everywhere.
But you may also notice a less-subtle change.
There are more trees now than ever.
That's right. Even though we've lost a lot of wildlife-producing ground to sprawl, we've also seen a change in habitat variety.
More and more landowners are hunting deer. Deer like timber.
So you find many more mature trees than ever before.
And while that's great habitat for deer and wild turkeys, it's not the best type of land for pheasants.
But that, too, is changing slowly.
And ironically, the phenomenon that led to the rapid decline in
pheasant numbers several decades ago is also leading to a mini-rebound:
Farm fragmentation.
A lot of people are now buying small plots, about 20, 30 or 40 acres in size as mini "hobby" farms.
Most of those landowners buy that property because they want to see more wildlife.
And the word is out that there are a ton of great programs and
organizations willing to provide the means and knowledge to revert
farmland back to their original states.
Groups like Pheasants Forever are having an impact on the habitat here in southern Michigan.
The CalhounCounty chapter of Pheasants Forever is one of the nation's most successful at improving habitat.
There was a time when no in the area knew anything about native grasses like switchgrass.
Now switchgrass is common throughout the area and that can be directly attributed to the efforts of our local PF organization.
Access to prime pheasant hunting land is not easy to obtain. But it's certainly not impossible.
Knocking on a few doors and presenting yourself in a courteous and responsible manner may open up some land for hunting.
There are very few public hunting areas that offer good pheasant hunting so you will likely be limited to hunting private lands.
The daily pheasant limit is two birds and you can kill eight per season.
But, remember, that hunting pheasants is simply an enjoyable experience.
The interaction with a good dog, a well-balanced shotgun and days spent in some of Michigan's most beautiful lands.
Originally published October 17, 2004
Written By: host
Date Posted: 6/13/2005
Number of Views: 385
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