AmmoLand.com

Nebraska Harlan County Lake Area Benefits from Focus on Pheasants Initiative

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

LINCOLN, Neb. --(Ammoland.com)- In response to declining pheasant populations statewide, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Harlan County Lake and Pheasants Forever have been working to reverse the trend through the Focus on Pheasants habitat improvement initiative.

The Focus on Pheasants initiative was designed in 2003 to restore high-quality pheasant habitat that benefits hunters. The program also educates landowners and other stakeholders about pheasant habitat needs.

Harlan County Lake property managed by the Corps was included in the program because of its potential for intensive pheasant management based on the size of the area, its high use by pheasant hunters and its history of good pheasant populations.

The lack of high-quality habitat, such as diverse nesting and brood rearing cover, is one of the factors limiting pheasants, quail and other grassland birds. Management activities such as prescribed burning, grassland disking, chemical treatment, grassland interseeding and tree removal are used to address those factors. These practices increase the quality and diversity of grassland plants and benefit many wildlife species.

While an area may be seen as unusable to wildlife due to haying, disking or prescribed burning, this disturbance is temporary. The benefits from resulting increase in diversity will last for many years. By rotating disturbances on a multiyear schedule, resource managers assure that the environment provides the optimal mix of cover types to enhance habitat quality, which should result in an increase of grassland bird populations.

Contact Focus on Pheasants Coordinator Jake Holt at 402-471-5413 to learn more about the program and to learn how landowners can implement these practices.

Filed under: Hunting News by Ammoland No Comments »

Early Snows Kill 1,500 NJ Pheasants & 15,000 Additional Birds May Have Escaped
Rockport Game Farm and Pheasant Stocking Update

New Jersey Fish and Game

Trenton, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife reports that approximately 1,500 pheasants died as a result of the October 29 snowstorm damage to the Rockport Pheasant Farm.

As many as 15,000 additional birds may have escaped from the collapsed pens.

Since the storm, Division staff have been working around the clock to repair the damaged pens and to recapture escaped birds. Work continues to recapture escaped birds.

After breeder birds are put aside, the Division estimates there are enough pheasants on hand to stock all the days with the number of pheasants listed on the stocking schedule through December 17.

At current estimates, this leaves some pheasants for reduced stockings for all or some of the scheduled stocking dates from December 18 through the 31st. Several options are being prepared and will be presented to pheasant stamp buyers via email and online survey within the next several weeks.

A better estimate of pheasants available for stocking will be obtained as birds are counted as part of the stocking process during the next several weeks. As pheasants are stocked and recapture efforts continue updates on the number of pheasants and potential stocking schedules for the December 18 – 31 period will be posted on the Division’s website.

Filed under: Hunting News by Ammoland No Comments »