[Lynnappelman]

Every pheasant hunter I talk to are having a great season. Birds harvested per hours hunted are at an all time high. Now is the time to get that dog you've been thinking about. Don'miss it! The four in season releases are resulting in bird flushes throughout the week.

 

[RyanR]

My dad and I just had a great morning today hunting with my young dog. He was really good today, hunted close and searched every inch of cover. It was awesome to watch. It was damp with no wind so his points were very close. We put 3 cockbirds in the bag. Two were shot by me and the other flushed right into my dog and he just brought it back to me, son I rang its neck and gave it to my dad. One of the birds I winged and it went into the woods and ran. Quade ran it down, disappearing into the hollow and returning a minute later with the bird!

Besides the good dog work, I was happy with my shooting. I missed the very first bird pointed when it flushed straight at me and I mistakenly tried to "aim." After that I just followed the birds with my eyes, brought the gun up and fired. I think I'm starting to get my form back, knock on wood. We even were surprised by a woodcock flush, first time we'd ever seen one on this farm. I got the gun up a second too late. Just a real fun morning shared with my dad.

 

[TucksDad]

We've been whacking 'em and stacking 'em all season long !
Three roosters and a hen yesterday. All three of the roosters were beautiful, HUGE birds. My brit didn't even bother attempting a retrieve by the last one. Too heavy for him !

 

[Caiden Creek]

I was glad to see the circus left town. Today I saw one other bird hunter at two different SGLs. Put up around 12 birds in a little over 2 hours of hunting.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

I have to disagree. The "Good Old Days" are back when the pheasants were WILD birds and not stocked. I use to hunt pheasants in SE Pa. back in the mid 70's. That WAS the "Good Old Days". The only reason the PGC is stocking so many birds now is because the extra money they have received from the natural gas industry. I do commend the PGC for the pheasant program but it's not like hunting those wily wild birds of the 70's.

 

[bpottorff]

Sorry, but the good old days are in the past. I only see stocked birds. This being only in areas stocked. If your old enough to remember the real good old days they were not the result of the hatchery truck. But if you like shooting stocked birds then you are right these are some good times. The real good old days had pheasants on private land and everywhere else. Then as the flying predators increased in numbers the pheasant numbers fell.

 

[disturbed]

I have to say this season I have seen more stocked in my area that in any other year

 

[BRN2RUN]

We are having a great season! I would like to thank the PGC for making this happen.

 

[BlackStump]

I agree. Its been a great season. I see a good many birds on private farms in my little area. Great job by the PGC

 

[stormcrow]

I agree. Its been a great season. I see a good many birds on private farms in my little area. Great job by the PGC

X2 Great job PGC!

 

[RyanR]

Good to see the Debbie Downers have found this thread. Thank you guys for bringing us all down. We're all well aware these are stocked birds but it's what we have right now and in the last few years the PGC has done a very good job of raising strong-flying birds that have had very little human contact. These birds are of much better quality than the stocked birds of old. Are they wild? No, but they provide a fun opportunity to chase them.

 

[TucksDad]

Good to see the Debbie Downers have found this thread. Thank you guys for bringing us all down. We're all well aware these are stocked birds but it's what we have right now and in the last few years the PGC has done a very good job of raising strong-flying birds that have had very little human contact. These birds are of much better quality than the stocked birds of old. Are they wild? No, but they provide a fun opportunity to chase them.

+1

 

[twistedoak]

the birds we chased so far have been real good fliers,i've seen them go for 300yds or more.
i watched one clear a corn field ,a river then land in the next county.

my only regret is,
come Monday morning birds are hard to find.
i'm working a young dog and its feast or famine..
it'd be nice to consistently find 2 a day rather then 10 one day 2 the next and little else the rest of the week
but as I said this is just a selfish musing and nothing more...
this probably varies with location.
I've also noticed a lot more people hunting this year.
not just on weekends either.
with a pheasant season this good you'd be a fool not to take advantage

 

[hihaven]

Great season! , some of these pheasants have been very challenging giving us the slip quite a few times. Thanks to Pa game commission for the wily birds they stock!

 

[RyanR]

I've seen birds fly all the way across wide open Beltzville Lake, clear the shoreline trees and land in the middle of a corn stubble field on the other side.

 

[bpottorff]

Sorry Ryan, I hope that a few people stating facts have not brought us all down as you state. Men used to be able to accept facts and not be brought down. The PGC is doing a good job stocking birds. But that is just what they are, in the good old days, good pheasant hunting did not rely on a stocking truck. Sorry again if your feelings were hurt, but cheer up the stocking truck will be back at again real soon. And as you state the birds are in good condition.

 

[Alpine Shooter]

Good to see the Debbie Downers have found this thread. Thank you guys for bringing us all down. We're all well aware these are stocked birds but it's what we have right now and in the last few years the PGC has done a very good job of raising strong-flying birds that have had very little human contact. These birds are of much better quality than the stocked birds of old. Are they wild? No, but they provide a fun opportunity to chase them.

Great quality birds but expensive, I still do not see why we do not have a pheasant stamp to support what is stocked. It is very expensive for such a short season.

 

[RyanR]

Sorry Ryan, I hope that a few people stating facts have not brought us all down as you state. Men used to be able to accept facts and not be brought down. The PGC is doing a good job stocking birds. But that is just what they are, in the good old days, good pheasant hunting did not rely on a stocking truck. Sorry again if your feelings were hurt, but cheer up the stocking truck will be back at again real soon. And as you state the birds are in good condition.

You're kind of a broken record, man. No one that posted here, including me, has any problem accepting facts. We realize they're stocked birds and we realize that a few decades ago wild pheasant hunting was a Pennsylvania staple. We're still enjoying our time in the field with friends & family and maybe a good dog. Whether we're chasing PGC-released pheasants or grouse & woodcock or rabbits & squirrels.

 

[bpottorff]

I was commenting on the title of the post about the good old days being back just posted the difference. I am glad your enjoying the birds as they are better than none at all. Again sorry that you got so upset as to having to resort to name calling, not a broken record or a debbie downer. Sometimes when you don't agree with someone its best to back up you position with facts. Most of the people on this site agree on 95% of the same things on most issues.

 

[RyanR]

Look, I get it man, the title took some liberties but I think we all understood that and also understood the spirit of his post and the title. I'm sorry I was poking a little fun at some the negative posts that just needed to point out about the "real" good old' days.

Life's short and we never know when our hunting days are up so we should all probably enjoy it more and complain a little less.