A few years ago my dad took me on a Pheasants Forever sponsored youth pheasant hunt. It is awesome to see and organization trying to get the youth involved in the preservation of habitat. Raising my own pheasants didn't bring such a big surprise to pheasant hunting. The day we went it was raining and on the chilly side. We all had to wear safety or shooting glasses and have hearing protection to be able to participate. (Who really hunts with shooting glasses and ear plugs...)
The birds had been planted earlier in the morning. The organization got the birds from a family friend of ours, so we knew the blood line was good and that the birds could for sure fly well. When you plant pheasants you spin the around to disorientate them. Then you place them on the ground with some sort of tall grass or a tree to give the bird cover.
Now the fun part begins. Usually the hunters will walk in a strait line across the field with a dog or two running in front of them. The dog will smell the bird and push them up so they will fly up and one of the hunters can shoot. If the dog is trained right they will retrieve the bird and bring it back.
However on the hunt I went on the birds were hid well and the dog didn't flush many. But when we got Gomer over to our group he flushed tons of birds. Gomer is a britney spaniel however he has gone blind and lost his hearing so he doesn't get to go on big hunts anymore. The pheasants forever youth hunt was the last big hunt he went on. At the end of the hunt I had shot two birds and I gave them to kids who had not got a bird because I knew I had birds at home.
I raise my own pheasants at home and we sell them to a lot of guys who use them for hunts. I raise ring necks, jumbos, mutants, reeves, reeves ring neck cross, slivers, amheast, impeyan, and goldens. I currently do not have all of these but I have over the years. We usually keep a breeding pair so we can hatch for the next year. I currently have 50 ring necks at my house to go into the freezer.
Happy Hunting!
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