Pa stocked Pheasant hunting
 

I am in Potter County Pa on my annual Archery Deer Hunt on my friends farm. It has been very warm the last two days and the deer activity has been low, so he suggested to me this morning that we hunt pheasants this afternoon. We went to a stocking site in a VERY remote region not far from his farm. Low and behold without a dog, mine is home in NH and I hope he does not read this thread, we scored two cock birds each, our limit, in a half an hour!!! It was a great break form archery hunting, but I am ready for tomorrow morning as it will be 37 degrees and the deer will be moving:)

Good luck Steve--and good shooting.

I’m telling your pup!!!😉

Well done Steve!! Too bad the only way we get pheasants in PA anymore is via preserves or the PGC stocking on the SGLs. As a kid I would hunt my pappy's farm and would walk home with two roosters and up to six rabbits every day during the small game season. His farm was loaded with small game. Farming practices, land use, predator control/trapping decline all contributed to the demise of the wild pheasant here.

Mike, Pa seems to do a very good job with there stocked Pheasant program, much better than here in New Hampshire.

I agree, the PGC stocks a lot of birds. It’s just not like when we had plenty of wild birds to chase.

We can add the total protection of hawks and owls as one of the major decline factors. Now that the leaves are off you can't drive more than a mile or so without seeing a hawk on a perch waiting for its next meal. Wasn't so long ago the back cover of the PGC's Pennsylvania Game News urged hunters to take those "vicious predators of small game on sight".

Nowadays, PA Pheasant "stocking" is usually replete with fellas following the schedule for the stocking trucks and that’s become the game bird equivalent of trout stocking with a fishing frenzy for a day or so after each dump of trout. Anyone out in the pheasant stocking areas will see plenty of road hunters cruising for birds. Also sad that many otherwise healthy hunters won't walk more than a hundred yards or so and will just concentrate on the easy ones. Much has changed here in PA and not for the better.

Great work Steve..in 37 degrees that will be awesome.

If folks would realize hawks and owls are the other white meat, then the laws might change. Just sayin'. Pointing this out for a friend.

IMHO, the predator/prey balance is not complicated. Predators will located in an area where there is sufficient targets. Once they have taken out any excess prey, their numbers will fall back. You won't have "too many" predators where there is limited prey.