# Pheasant Habitat Improvements?



## OSXer (Jul 12, 2005)

Is anyone working on improvements aimed at pheasants? If so, what has worked, what didn't work, and what is still a work in progress?

I have been trying to help what is left of the pheasant population in my area while also working on improvements aimed at deer and rabbits. So far I have planted a block of NWSG (predominately switchgrass though), cut down some taller trees that would have served as predator perches, put in some clover, and attempted to plant a grain plot for the birds. With the plot, it was a combination of no rain and deer eating the sunflowers that then led to weeds, which then became a crabgrass nightmare. 

Thus far I am not too thrilled, but I suspect it will take some time to see an appreciable increase. I've been seeing a rooster or two more often than in the past, but I haven't seen any hens or young birds yet. While I'm not out there stomping around or running my dog in order to not scare the deer just yet, I just hoped I would have seen more birds thus far.

Plans for the future include putting some effort into targeting all the *****/opossums/skunks that might cross my property, putting in some more native grass, and next year I am considering the RR route to keep a check on the weeds and plotsaver to hold back the deer.


----------



## PlainOutdoors (Nov 5, 2001)

Have you given any thought to some shelter strips to protect birds as they travel from roosting cover to feeding sites? I'm certainly not an expert, but I've read that can be a valuable addition to a pheasant habitat plan. 
Another question involves winter cover, do you have some cattails or swale type areas that can stand up to snow cover? Maybe a ditch or water hole with some transplanted cattails (?).
Also, what do you think about sorghum as a food source and cover crop? Never planted it myself, but liked what I saw from hunting it. Not sure which variety is tallest or produces the biggest seed head but it might be worth some research.
Your ideas sound good to me (whatever that's worth)! I bet you're right, you might need some patience to go with all your hard work 

Keep up the good work, 
JP


----------



## OSXer (Jul 12, 2005)

Thanks for the reply. It's nice to see that this section does get looked at. It always seems so slow in here compared to the whitetail habitat section.

I have designed the layout with shelter strips, most at least 50'-75' wide leading from my perceived idea of roosting cover to the cover and fields I have planted. My hope it to keep down predation as I suspect after a lack of nesting cover, that is the next biggest impact on the bird numbers. The one thing I've kept small is the clover plots, as I thought it was best to keep the birds close to cover if they'd end up in the open at all. 

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of land to work with, so I'm relying on some neighboring properties to provide the rest of the puzzle - primarily the heavy winter cover (though I do have switch and planted some shrub rows on the edges of my grass plantings on the windward side to help hold back the snow once those shrubs get larger) and cool season grass nesting areas. However, these same parcels are primarily deer hunted and they appear to be letting all the trees grow up into great predator perches, so eventually the effectiveness of this cover will diminish. 

Sometimes I wonder if it isn't a losing battle to bring back pheasant numbers. 15-20 years ago quail also crossed my property before it was under my watch and for years now there have been none seen or heard.


----------



## Brown duck (Dec 16, 2005)

Yup, just keep it up, you should see improvements. Of course, a lot has to do with things you cannot necessarily control, including the landscape surrounding your property (as you've mentioned). But within your property, the biggest thing is to make sure there is habitat connectivity between your native grasses, clover patches, and other habitat needs.

Check out http://www.michigandnr.com/publicat...t/Landowners_Guide/Species_Mgmt/Pheasants.htm for more ideas on habitat management for pheasants. Also, if you'd like, contact the local NRCS office for additional help/recommendations. If they don't know too much about pheasant conservation on private lands, they should be able to hook you up with someone that does. They should also be able to give you ideas on ways to defray the cost of these projects.


----------



## StevenJ (Feb 11, 2009)

It is a losing battle with Redtail Hawks in Livingston County. I'm sure the feral cats, fox and coyote don't help either. I only see about single sighting of a hen or rooster about three times a year in the winter. I see them frequently in the hedgerows along the road.

Have you been a member of Livingston County Pheasants Forever?

If you become a priority member, they give out lots of roundup, soybeans, corn for food plots. The banquet is in February.

I had my Corn/soybean field planted by one of the members with their planter.

*PF Chapter #465 meetings are held at 6:30 pm, on the first Thursday of the month, at the American Legion Hall on the corner of M-59 and Grand River Ave. visit our website www.lcpf.org*

http://www.orgsites.com/mi/lcpheasantsforever/_pgg9.php3


----------



## OSXer (Jul 12, 2005)

StevenJ said:


> It is a losing battle with Redtail Hawks in Livingston County. I'm sure the feral cats, fox and coyote don't help either. I only see about single sighting of a hen or rooster about three times a year in the winter. I see them frequently in the hedgerows along the road.


I hear you there. I'm planning to trap as best I can to limit the amount of fur-bearing nest raiders around my place, but the hawks and cats are a big part of the problem too. I actually like the coyotes - best chance of keeping the local cat population down.


> Have you been a member of Livingston County Pheasants Forever?


I keep saying I am going to join - just haven't gotten around to doing it yet. Perhaps your comment will be the critical motivation I need! I did take advantage of their seed program years ago when I was in high school - then came moving away for college and work, but now I'm back. 

Thanks for the links. I have read through those in the past. I was hoping that more people would share real life experiences, but the interest in pheasant habitat just doesn't seem to be here often; understandable, as even on the out west forums where there are still pheasants there isn't a whole lot of habitat discussion either.


----------



## bishs (Aug 30, 2000)

I have pheasants on my place like the 50's. My 40 acres of new growth, planted in shrubs,thickets, prairie grasses, wetlands created prime pheasant habitat. The reason it works is because there is enough farmers enrolled in CREP, with prairie grass filter strips all around me. Pheasants need large areas, 1 1/2 mile range would not be out of the question. If my 40 acre pacel was dropped down in a 5 mile chunk of mature forest, or open clean farmland; I would not have the birds. 

Prairie grasses are a good part of the puzzle, but pheasants need more. My pheasants flock up 30-50 every winter and spend cold nights and during storms in my spruce plantings, and in my low ditches that are filled with willows. They are not in the grasses when winter hits hard. Food plots help, but a pheasant that is able to keep warm, doesn't need as much food as a bird with little cover. Since my land was open farmland in 94, all areas between my shrubs and trees is 3-5 feet deep perrenial weeds Like Goldenrod. Birds Galore..


----------



## OSXer (Jul 12, 2005)

Sounds amazing Scott. I was worried that it would take a much larger area than I can impact. Numbers around me have been going down for the last 20 years that I've live on my land - in all that time the neighboring fields have fewer fences and more trees. Succession is the next worse enemy after development IMO.


----------



## SideKick (Apr 10, 2005)

I have seen a steady but still slow improvement in Phesant numbers in my area (Osceloa Co.). 20 years ago there wasn't a single bird that I was aware of, now I see 5/6 birds each year. Not stellar by any means but it is an improvement. My neighbor is a phesants forever member and has created a large swail ~1acre surounded by 15 acres of warm season grasses and he leaves 3 acres of corn. I have planted thousands of spruce, dogwood, elderery, hazel huts, apple, grapes,crab apple and sergent crabs as well as two smaller grass plantings and several food plots. I also keep a few bee hives and I feel they improve the productivity of my plants. My goal is for all plantings to provide cover and food of some sort.


----------



## michgundog (Feb 22, 2008)

OSXer said:


> Is anyone working on improvements aimed at pheasants? If so, what has worked, what didn't work, and what is still a work in progress?
> 
> 
> Glad to see there's people out here interested in helping out what's left of the phez population in Mich. To answer your question above it seems like doing little to nothing will work. In all honestly I've seen more pheasents in Detroit and surrounding suburbs where in Detroit it's vacant lots that just grew up creating great habitat and in the surrounding subs. it appears where someone tried to make a new sub but ran out of $$ when the economy tanked there's a ton of birds in those areas too. One day in a northern sub I saw 2 roosters and 3 hens and on another day I saw 4 roosters along I-94 in the city limits of Detroit. As someone else stated the raptor predators/red tail hawks take out a lot of pheasants, there's way to many of those around. I think the DNR should put a bounty on hawks, *****, skunks, fox etc... A guy I talked to up north told me that the tall saw grass planted on the CRP lands is deadly to pheasants I guess they planted in a field near him and it trapped the birds after a huge icey snow fall and it smothered them out. I'm not sure how true it is, but the way he described I believe him. He said, before the field was golden rod and birds were real thick, then they planted that thick saw grass ( as he called it) and the birds vanished that same winter...???


----------



## ab5228 (Nov 13, 2009)

I guess I'm going to develop my hunting property into a lotted subdivision and then not sell any lots and watch the pheasant population boom.:lol: ......... Actually I'm planning to convert an 8 acre hay field on my parents land into a block of 2-3 acres of corn (that we'll leave standing), a 2-3 acre block a switchgrass and leave the rest of the field un-mowed as mixed clover, alfalfa, and grasses. We are also planning to do some clear cutting and TSI of about 20 acres of their wooded property. We may plant a small food plot (grain and forage sorghums) on a portion of another field on the property. Along with a cooperating neighboor hopefully we will see an increase in birds. We will only make an impact on a small area, but I think its worth the effort. Good luck to all those with habitat projects! If anyone has more success stories lets hear them.


----------



## OSXer (Jul 12, 2005)

michgundog said:


> In all honestly I've seen more pheasents in Detroit and surrounding suburbs where in Detroit it's vacant lots that just grew up creating great habitat and in the surrounding subs. it appears where someone tried to make a new sub but ran out of $$ when the economy tanked there's a ton of birds in those areas too.


Thanks for posting. I haven't seen it myself, but I've seen a number of comments like this on various forums commenting on the pheasants in "past their prime" urban areas from Detroit all the way to New Jersey. It seems to me that the habitat would be too fractured for it to work, but apparently not.

I think I may have read your comment about the thick grass suffocating pheasants in another thread somewhere along the way. While part of my finds it hard to believe, I keep it in mind. I am curious as to what exactly it was - big bluestem, indian grass, switch grass, or perhaps canadian rye. I would suspect switch, but I would have a hard time picturing it trapping birds given how tough the stalks are that I have seen in person. Seems that it wouldn't fall over that flat.



ab5228 said:


> We will only make an impact on a small area, but I think its worth the effort.


I agree. I haven't tried talking to neighbors yet, but am passively letting them do what they will and hoping that the status quo stays put. Most leave at least the back half of their properties as overgrown field and don't bird hunt, so I'm satisfied with that for now. I have considered going around next year and trying to get others into planting more habitat verses lawn when I make my seed/tree orders, but it might be more hassle than it's worth if they are only interested in a little bit.

To expand on what I did and how it's going:
This year my switch is nothing impressive to look at - hopefully next year it comes in better. Despite repeated RU, the late summer weeds came in and though I found switch in it this summer, I'm having a hard time finding it now. At least it isn't bare and will allow some good nesting area come spring. My small trees and shrubs are doing alright - put in over 500 (crabapples,service berry, ninebark, alder, spruce) and will put in at least 300 this next spring hopefully. Going to focus more on thickets rather than fencelines though I think. I haven't shot any birds, though I did jump a rooster right after the season opened back up a couple of weeks ago. I've taken my dog through a few times, but have come up empty. I did have roosters around this spring/summer, but haven't seen any hens. I am hoping that this next year with some more cover they'll show up and nest. I did take a decent handful of oppossums and raccoons, though I suspect it won't really make any impact like I hoped it might. 

The plan for next spring is to cut down a majority of the remaining predator perches and turn them into brush piles/hinged trees, enhance the existing and plant some more NWSG, put in another clover plot, and put greater effort towards my bird grain plot (irrigation!), oh, and more shrubs as mentioned.


----------



## michgundog (Feb 22, 2008)

OSXer said:


> I think I may have read your comment about the thick grass suffocating pheasants in another thread somewhere along the way. While part of my finds it hard to believe, I keep it in mind. I am curious as to what exactly it was - big bluestem, indian grass, switch grass, or perhaps canadian rye. I would suspect switch, but I would have a hard time picturing it trapping birds given how tough the stalks are that I have seen in person. Seems that it wouldn't fall over that flat.


 
Yes, I posted it on the hunting dog thread, I'm not sure how truthful it is about the grass. I took the guys word for since he's a local to the area and I'm not. I do know that the area where the guy lives I use to see and hear birds all the time especially in the winter there would be huge flocks in the fields, but something happened where they are pretty much all gone now. I'm not sure if you read the rest of my posting on that thread, but I believe that on SGA's they should create areas that can not be hunted such as a refuge, like the managed duck areas have. Some of the SGA's are so large they could have a couple 100 acres left strictly alone by hunters it would be a bird factory. I think too they should shorten the season and allow 1 rooster a day limit and 5 per season. The late season should only be maybe a week long not the whole month of Dec. Also, hunting the birds from roost to roost is not a good idea either, there should be a start time such as 10:00 or stop time at 4:00. Seems like our DNR gave up on pheasants, which is really too bad.


----------



## RecurveRx (Jun 21, 2004)

michgundog said:


> Yes, I posted it on the hunting dog thread, I'm not sure how truthful it is about the grass. I took the guys word for since he's a local to the area and I'm not. I do know that the area where the guy lives I use to see and hear birds all the time especially in the winter there would be huge flocks in the fields, but something happened where they are pretty much all gone now. I'm not sure if you read the rest of my posting on that thread, but I believe that on SGA's they should create areas that can not be hunted such as a refuge, like the managed duck areas have. Some of the SGA's are so large they could have a couple 100 acres left strictly alone by hunters it would be a bird factory. I think too they should shorten the season and allow 1 rooster a day limit and 5 per season. The late season should only be maybe a week long not the whole month of Dec. Also, hunting the birds from roost to roost is not a good idea either, there should be a start time such as 10:00 or stop time at 4:00. Seems like our DNR gave up on pheasants, which is really too bad.


 
The only game law that has or will do anything to protect the pheasant population is the one that protects the hen. Outside of that it comes down to one word - habitat. Bag limit only attempts to "fairly" distribute the harvest amongst hunters. It has no effect on populations. Look at the WT pop. We mangage to kill 85-87% of all males anually yet the population continues to grow. A single cock will easily service a dozen or more hens. 

A few years back some Minnesota senator started a crusade to not allow pheasant hunting until 10:00. This was going to save all kinds of roosters. Guess what - it has had zero effect. 

Further restrictions on hunting pheasants in MI will only result in fewer people (if that's possible) hunting pheasants in MI. Fewer hunters = fewer pheasants.


----------



## Hunter10pt (Dec 2, 2007)

SE Mich had some of the Best Pheasant hunting this side of the Mississippi back in the 70's back when farmer would say with a smile "sure go hunt my land enjoy and be safe"and you would walk 40/60 acre field and get 6 to 7 good birds maybe more on good days it was a Blast!

To get that level back we need farmers to help take a bigger step in better bird hunting in Michigan. And hunters to respect the land for others to use which brings funds which brings better habitat.


----------



## RecurveRx (Jun 21, 2004)

Hunter10pt said:


> SE Mich had some of the Best Pheasant hunting this side of the Mississippi back in the 70's back when farmer would say with a smile "sure go hunt my land enjoy and be safe"and you would walk 40/60 acre field and get 6 to 7 good birds maybe more on good days it was a Blast!
> 
> To get that level back we need farmers to help take a bigger step in better bird hunting in Michigan. And hunters to respect the land for others to use which brings funds which brings better habitat.


 
Precisely. The problem is that agricultural practices have become incredibly efficient. 

Through concerted efforts, I truly believe that pockets of private land respectable bird numbers can be restored. But on a state wide basis, no, never gonna happen.


----------



## Hunter10pt (Dec 2, 2007)

Just by asking the land owner or yourself to take down old fence rolls,Fox,*****,Yotes must go!! This makes for a good time to get out and hunt in the cold months.
We plan on hitting up farms this late winter and Hunt the yotes, SE had a lot of corn this year and birds should benefits from this so any time in helps.


:help:save our birds.


----------



## Blackeagle (Jun 8, 2002)

I live in SE Mi and I remember the late 60's and early 70's bird numbers.

During a fox hunt one winter, which back then was commonly done by guys using trucks/jeeps to drive through fields to jump them, some of dad's friends drove a wheat stubble field of ours. There had to have been over 150 birds flush out from that one truck diving through on a shallow zig zag pattern. 

Back then I had 5 covey of quail within reasonable walking distance of where I live.

But back then there were many more fence rows & the gov. set aside fields left in grasses & clovers. Many more acres in that set aside than there are now in CREP & CRP fields combined.

Field sizes were smaller...

More of the land planted to hay fields..

Fall plowing was much less common......

And on the predator side of things........

Many of the local kids, and I was one of them, trapped for extra spending money. There were so many of us kids trapping it was competitive to get good areas/lines........very competitive. This controlled the number of possum, **** & mink in the area, as trappers take far more predators than any other control method.

Fox hunts were a common thing.

Hawks were shot on sight.....legal or not.

And there were no yotes back then at all in my area.

NOW! ! 

I've not heard the call of a single quail, or seen one in many years.

Many, many fewer fence lines.....

Fall plowing is the norm and bare dirt supports no wildlife of any sort.....

I don't know of one trapper in this same area, where it used to be competitive to get the best trapping lines. So ***** & possums are all over the place. I have to feed my cat in mornings so the dang ***** don't steal his food. And the ****, possum, skunk are all major egg/nest predators, who also get a hen now and then.

I don't know anyone who fox hunts anymore.

Yotes are common, though in my area not yet numerous.

Hawkes & owls are now also everywhere & no one dares to shoot one.

Far, far fewer acres of farm land set aside in gov. programs of any kind. Not even 20% of what once was set aside in this area.

Take these facts together and it's no wonder there are so few pheasants....and no PF chapter is going to develop enough prime habitat projects to make up for all the lost acres of less ideal, but far larger areas, that the old set aside programs & hay fields & fence lines offered the birds.

The few PF areas that exist are now only really good for predator magnets. Hawks, fox, **** & yotes cover them like fine tooth comb.....and leave very few pheasants in their wake.

A sad state of affairs, but only major changes in ag practices can reverse it, and I just don't see it happening. Farmers are in a tough & competitive line of work......and there is no money to give them reason to turn back the clock.

My last gun dog died a couple years ago & I've not replaced him, nor do I intend to. No reason to have a bird dog with no birds.


----------



## Blackeagle (Jun 8, 2002)

I can't and don't support the killing of the birds of prey to the degree that they were back then. 

Kind of nice to see them to, once in a while at least.

But a balance in nature has to include the birds of prey as well. So they do need thinned.

But we most of all need a major change in ag, perhaps if they start growing switch to harvest for making alcohol out of that could be a trigger to get the ag situation to turn more favorable.

The anti fur folks need to sit down and shut up, so at least a few of the farm kids would start trapping again. Though fake furs now look so good I have to wonder how long it would take for fur prices to rise enough to get kids interested again. That would give some control to all the **** & other pests.

Eliminate all rules against use of ANY method of fox/yote hunting. Will never have the impact trapping could give, but any help is better than none.

Even if all this were to come to pass tomorrow, I would not expect to ever see the kinds of bird numbers we once had.


----------



## michgundog (Feb 22, 2008)

Blackeagle said:


> I can't and don't support the killing of the birds of prey to the degree that they were back then.
> 
> Kind of nice to see them to, once in a while at least.
> 
> ...


 
I agree, great points made.


----------

