I seriously want to know the argument for making a LAW that the pheasant opener can't be opened any later than Oct. 12. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard -- especially during a year like this year.
Seems like those damn mites are bad during a drought year for deer. We are under frost warning, so that should stop them hopefully, but dang, the SW always gets it bad.ALOT of dead deer from EHD
I actually kind of agree with this. No matter what, your not going to shoot all the roosters in an area, there will always be roosters to breed the hens. If a guy can find three birds good for you and don't feel bad about it. Most people aren't going to shoot limits this year and i imagine there will be significantly fewer hunter days afield limiting the overall harvest.I see no reason to shorten the season or reduce limits. Roosters eat the same food as hens and will kick hens off a food source. In a perfect world 95% of roosters would get shot before winter. One rooster can bread a lot of hens.
I seriously want to know the argument for making a LAW that the pheasant opener can't be opened any later than Oct. 12. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard -- especially during a year like this year.
I get what your saying, but at the same time it is a bit tough to plan ahead for a bird that already has less than one year life expectancy in the wild. Over a couple decades of hunting the same chunks of land i have pretty much come to the conclusion that the only thing that matters is weather, cover, food. Hunting has a very minimal impact on the birds IMHO.And what if we have another year of drought conditions next year? You guys need to look ahead a bit.
Right, but when weather is unpredictable at best; food, especially for recent hatchlings, being dependent on that weather, and disappearing cover, hunting pressure is one thing we can at least control. Have we all forgotten the time of unlimited doe tags and then subsequent bitching about not enough deer tags a couple years later?
No clue. I'm not typing with peer reviewed papers to back my claims, just a degree in zoology.Didn't PF do a bunch of research on "banking birds" in respect to harvest rates and population numbers?
I see no reason to shorten the season or reduce limits. Roosters eat the same food as hens and will kick hens off a food source. In a perfect world 95% of roosters would get shot before winter. One rooster can bread a lot of hens.
To the 2 guys that gave me bad reps for this. Did I major in biology no but I do see these birds everyday in the winter when there is 2 feet of snow in the fields. The roosters are always in the best spots for food and the hens are on the fringes of it. More than once I have witnessed a rooster kick a hen out of a hole in the snow so he can feed his belly.
I see no reason to shorten the season or reduce limits. Roosters eat the same food as hens and will kick hens off a food source. In a perfect world 95% of roosters would get shot before winter. One rooster can bread a lot of hens.