State had to buy a 1000 pheasants for stocking this week. Too many were killed in their pens during the storm. Stocking went forward for Thanksgiving in most major areas except mad river impoundment and a couple other small places. The best places to hunt now is larger area's with hard to reach isolated islands in wetlands once things ice up like Robbin's Swamp WMA and Cromwell Meadows and Wangunk WMA's.

with the debt this state is in, honestly i dont know how any pheasant program exists.

1000 pheasants? how much that run?

perhaps stocking a bird that would live, like the grouse....

I've never seen a bird farm raise grouse but I don't know every thing either. If it could be done that would be a good idea because lots of guys travel north to have the opportunity to hunt grouse in greater numbers.

Not exactly...the freak snow storm we had in October was wet, heavy snow. It tore down the nets covering the pheasant pens and the pheasants escaped. Some of them were recaptured, some were run over by cars and I'm sure foxes, coyotes, hawks and owls ate well!



The guys hunting pheasants paid for that privelege by buying pheasant tags/stamps. I'm not sure if the legislature has "stolen" that money (by putting it in the general fund) or not, but the pheasant tag money should go for what it was intended for...buying pheasant.

As for grouse, there was a Wildlife Management Area somewhere out by Ellington (EDIT: Kollar WMA) that used to be managed for grouse. I don't know if it still is because I haven't been there for about 15 years.