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The Facts On
PHEASANTS
M A Y N A R D M. NELSON
The Department's Upland Game Bird Specialist
Tests Your Knowledge Of the W i l y Ring-Neck
Those who know pheasants best tell us that the man with the gun is not
the most important of Mr. Ringneck's problems and, furthermore,
many of
us who hunt are not able to out-maneuver
this gaudy
immigrant.
Of the millions of immigrants
new to our continent
during the last
century, few have found a more welcome spot in the hearts of
Midwesterners —especially, those who hunt —than that capable and crafty
Oriental,
Phasianus colchicus; alias, the ring-necked pheasant.
Unlike the native
prairie chicken and quail which retreated before the advances of the plow
and the cow, this hardy Oriental bird came prepared to stay.
Yet, even for nature's hardiest, life in the wild is not without
problems.
Let's briefly review some of the questions commonly asked about
Minnesota ringnecks — and see how you score in the "Hunter's Hot Stove
League."
Q. When were pheasants first introduced into Minnesota?
A. Records of the Conservation
Department
show that pheasants
were
brought into the state as early as 1905. Successful establishment,
however, dates back to 1915 when the Game Protective League began raising birds on Big Island in Lake Minnetonka.
The first
legislative
appropriation for propagation
was in 1917.
Q. In what year did we have our first hunting season and how many birds
were shot?
A. Approximately
300 cocks were bagged in the first open season in 1924
in Hennepin and Carver counties. The pheasant liked it here and made
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a phenomenal
increase. Only seven years later (in 1930) 49 counties
were open to hunting and the calculated
kill (based on hunter report
cards) was over 1,000,000
cocks.
Q. What is the largest pheasant harvest we have had in Minnesota?
A. In 1941, 1,790,000 birds were bagged, but it should be pointed out that
a hen was permitted in the bag that year. The best year for a cocks-only
season was 1942 when /,749,000
roosters were taken by hunters. Our
best year since then was 1958 when 1,562,000 cocks were bagged, In an
average year Minnesota
gunners take home a little over
1,000,000
cocks. The take in 1962 was
900,000.
Q. When did we have our last hen season?
A. 1943, when one hen was permitted in the daily bag. Prior to that, a hen
was also permitted in the bag in '31, '33, '35, '36, '37 and '41.
Q. H o w do Minnesota pheasant populations compare with those in other
states?
A. The Midwest Pheasant Council, which is composed of technicians
from
13 midwest states and two Canadian Provinces, has some
interesting
figures on this subject. For the past five years, Minnesota
pheasant
hunters have bagged an average of 1,164,000 cocks compared to about
800,000 for the other eleven states where the pheasant is considered
one
of their top game birds. In only two other states, South Dakota
and
Nebraska, have hunters regularly taken more pheasants.
The pheasant
kill in Iowa is about the same as ours while hunters in the seven other
states all bag fewer pheasants than do
Minnesotans.
Q. H o w about length of the hunting season?
A. Minnesota's seasons have usually been shorter than those in other states
in the principle pheasant range of the midwest. In 1962, Nebraska
had
93 days, South Dakota had 61, North Dakota had 37,Iowa had 35 and
Wisconsin had 26. In 1962 the average length of the hunting season for
the 11 other "pheasant" states that make up the main pheasant range in
the Midwest was 38 days. We had 30 days. Our 36-day season this year
will probably come quite close to the average for midwestern
states.
Q. But isn't it true that the other states have less hunters than we do?
A. This isn't easy to figure since most states don't have a record of the
proportion of their license buyers who are pheasant hunters.
However,
based upon the sale of small game hunting licenses for the past five
years, Minnesota
is slightly below average for midwestern
states in
number of hunters. Since 1958 there have usually been about
350,000
small game hunters in Minnesota.
In 1962, about 200,000 of these
hunted
pheasants.
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CONSERVATION
VOLUNTEER
Sept.-Oct.
Q. H o w is it that pheasant seasons are longer now than they were 20 years
ago?
A. Pheasant research was in its infancy 20 years ago and there was little
scientific information on the effect of hunting upon pheasant
populations. Since that time, however,
research
in Minnesota
and in
other states has demonstrated
that state-wide
hunting has little effect
upon pheasant abundance the following year if the regulations
prohibit
hen shooting. We now know, for example, that there are still at least
twice as many roosters left in Minnesota after the hunting season as are
needed for breeding purposes.
Spring breeding populations
typically
consist of one cock for each three hens. Heavier hunting in other states
leaves one cock to 6 to 8 hens, yet egg fertility there is as high as it is in
Minnesota.
Nesting studies in Minnesota
have shown that
infertile
clutches of eggs are extremely rare. Furthermore, pheasant hunters to a
great extent regulate their own hunting. The number of hunters afield
declines rapidly after the barrage on opening week end. In fact,
about
50 per cent of the roosters taken by hunters during a 30 day season are
shot on opening week end and 85 per cent of the harvest is obtained by
the time the season is half over. Although long seasons do not greatly
increase the total kill of pheasants,
they are of value for they provide
hunting opportunity
to those more active sportsmen who enjoy a brisk
fall outing after many others
have put away their
shotguns.
Q. From what you have just said it sounds like you don't expect the number
of pheasants taken by hunters to increase much this year even though
the season has been extended to 36 days.
A. That is true. After several weeks of hunting the cocks that have succeeded in dodging hunters become extremely wary and are not an easy
target. During the last week of a 30 day season, the cocks taken are only
about 5 per cent of the total bag for the season. Thus it seems likely that
the additional six days allowed this year will increase the total take by
less than 5 per cent.
Q. H o w about illegal hen s h o o t i n g ? T h a t ' s w h a t b o t h e r s me a b o u t
long seasons.
A. This has been a concern to most of us but, fortunately,
studies
since
1954 have been reassuring. Hens are killed but these studies show that
only about 6-11 per cent of the total hen population is killed
accidentally
or otherwise during a 30 day hunting season. This is a low loss
compared
to that for female animals of most other kinds of game. As far as hen
pheasants are concerned it accounts for only a small part of the deaths
throughout the year. Pheasants,
like most upland game birds, have a
high rate of "population turnover." That is, the survival of adult birds
from one year to the next is usually quite low, generally 30 to 35 per
cent. As expressed
another way the total annual mortality is usually
1963
T H E FACTS ON PHEASANTS
between 65 and 70 per cent. By comparing these last figures to those
shown above for illegal shooting (6 to 11 per cent) you can see that by
far the greatest loss of hens is from causes other than illegal
shooting.
Q. It sounds like hunting has very little affect on the pheasant crop from one
year to the next.
A. This is true. Furthermore,
the fact that pheasants
have a high reproductive rate and live a short life requires annual hunting seasons if the
birds are to be used. Most of the cocks die throughout the year anyway
and with no hunting the sportsmen
would be the loser. Most of the
pheasants
we now have can not be saved or "stockpiled" for hunting
next fall. By that time they will be dead.
Q. Well, if most hens succumb to natural mortality why don't we permit a
hen in the bag?
A. During the breeding season hens are more vulnerable than cocks to
non-hunting mortality. For example, about 15 per cent of the breeding
hens are destroyed by hay mowers. However, it is possible that a small
percentage
of the hens could be legally harvested during some years
without hurting the brood stock. This might be done, for example, by
use of a tag distributed with each license, the tag being intended for use
on one "mistake" hen for each licensee. Such a technique would legalize a hen shot by mistake and probably wouldn't substantially
increase
the kill beyond the present illegal kill. However, legalizing the shooting
of hens, unless carefully regulated, might also result in
overshooting.
More study on this subject seems advisable before a hen season can be
considered.
In the meantime, it should be emphasized
that we are still
underharvesting
cocks and here is an obvious opportunity for
additional
hunting
opportunity.
Q. O.K., if hunting of cocks doesn't have much effect on the number of
pheasants next year, what does?
A. Briefly, it is a matter of land use patterns and weather. Changes in land
use in the main pheasant range since about 1940 have resulted in substantial loss of pheasant cover, especially of grassy types needed for
nesting. Even small grain acreages, which are our most productive
nesting cover, have declined 40 per cent since the early 1940 s. Mowing of
hayland starts at such an early date that only about 5 per cent of the
nests in hay hatch. Twenty years ago the figure was closer to 30 per cent.
Nesting studies in south central Minnesota during the period
1958-62
showed that only 35 to 50 per cent of the hens were successful
in
hatching a nest.
Along with the long term but gradual decline in habitat, there is considerable variation in weather conditions from year to year. A warm and
diy spring may produce a good hatch one year whereas the opposite
may
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40 C O N S E R V A T I O N
VOLUNTEER
Sept.-Oct.
occur the following
year when the spring is wet and cool. Because
of
the short life span and high rate of population
turnover, pheasant
numbers vary considerable
from one year to the next because of
differences
in the hatch and survival of both young and adults. Weather is
especially
important in determining
population
changes from one year to the next.
PHEASANTS —
THEIR
UPS AND
DOWNS
I
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500400-
4 5
46
4 7
'
48
4 9
50
5
'
52
5 3
'
54
5 5
'
56
5 7
'
58
59
6'0
61
6'"
YEAR
Pheasant
numbers fluctuate
considerably
from year to year.
August
roadside counts have proven quite reliable as a means of forecasting
the
harvest of cocks. Census figures shown above are based upon counts
made
each year along about 4000 miles of route in 65 counties. Harvest
figures
are calculated from report cards sent in by hunters.
Note that the cock harvest in 1948 iviw below that of 1946 even though
there was no hunting s e a s o n in 1947. Populations
declined in 1947
because
of a poor hatch and protection
from hunting in the fall of 1947 did not
increase the hunters' bag in 1948 over that in 1946.