Wild Pheasant Idea

Hunting

Wild birds might be the key to improving pheasant hunting in southern Idaho.

The Idaho Fish and Game Department is studying methods of combining wild and game farm birds to bolster struggling pheasant populations in Gooding and Lincoln counties.

So far, the research using wild and game farm birds wearing radio collars has confirmed what Washington Fish and Wildlife Department biologists learned in the 1980s: releasing wild-caught pheasant is much more successful on the long run than planting game farm birds to increase pheasant numbers.

Of 52 game farm pheasant released in early April, only three (7 percent) were alive at the end of June, researchers report. Four game farm hens survived into the nesting season and produced five nest attempts. None successfully hatched an egg.

In the first release of wild-caught birds in Lincoln County, severe January weather took a heavy toll: 31 of the 34 birds released died before June and most within 14 days of release. Of the 18 wild birds released in March, seven died before June, but they produced 137 eggs, 42 percent of which were hatched.

Preliminary results indicate that planted wild pheasants survive as well as resident birds and reproduce at least as well. Whether they increase local populations or cause a reduction in resident pheasant because of competition for space, food or nesting areas is not yet known.