Pennsylvania Pheasant Hunting – By Jake Felix
There is no other season in Pennsylvania like Autumn. The
leaves start changing color, the air starts to cool off, and, most importantly,
it is time to get back in the woods to hunt. To me and my family one of our
favorite hunting seasons is small game season, especially for the majestic
ring-neck pheasant. Pheasants are easily one of my favorite small gam species
to hunt, as well as eat. Each year, my family and I all get together on the
Saturday before the first day of rifle season for deer and go have a ball
hunting for pheasants. But over the last year, some major changes have come to
the state about pheasant hunting.
There have been many conversations about what to do about
pheasant hunting and pheasant stocking across the state. It is obvious that
without pheasant stocking, the species would not survive on their own. This is
a serious issue because raising the birds is not free and it takes some time,
so something is going to have to change. Not all hunters buy a license just to
hunt pheasants, if they even do hunt them. This means that the state can not
raise the price of the license just to put towards raising and stocking the
birds. The option that was chosen to solve this problem was to make hunters that
want to hunt pheasants buy a pheasant permit.
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Now obviously, this is not going to make every hunter happy.
But saying that, there is nothing that can be done that will make every single
hunter in Pennsylvania happy. The action that has been agreed upon goes like
this, if you want to legally hunt pheasants in Pennsylvania, you will need to
purchase your general hunting license along with the newly generated pheasant
permit. This permit will cost 25 dollars on top of your general license cost.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has estimated that this new pheasant permit
will generate around 1.5 million dollars annually. The yearly cost over the
past years to raise and stock the birds was about 4.7 million dollars. But
during last December, the state agency announced that it would close two of its
four pheasant raising farms. By closing half of their farms, they expect to cut
the cost of raising the birds by 1.7 million dollars. (Pennsylvania Game
Commission Reports, 2017.)
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To go along with the changes made to pheasant hunting,
another change is going to be made. This change deals with the dogs that some
people use to hunt pheasants. The Pennsylvania Game Commission also reported
that it will be illegal to train future hunting dogs on State Game Lands before
small game seasons. The Commission stated that you will not be allowed to train
dogs from the Monday before the first day of youth pheasant until the first day
of regular pheasant hunting. Now, this does not mean that you cannot train your
dogs at all, but you can’t train them on any part of any State Game Land. The
game commission made this law to try and keep pheasants around the area where
they were stocked. They believe that people training dogs on the game lands
drives the stocked birds away from game lands and making it harder for hunters
to have success on their hunts. By having hunters be successful, it could also
show an increase of sales for licenses and permits for years to come.
(Pennsylvania Game Commission Reports, 2017.)
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In my opinion, I think that the Pennsylvania Game Commission
is taking steps in the right directions with both of these new ideas. I
thoroughly enjoy pheasant hunting, so I care about the decisions being made
into the future of the sport. I want to keep hunting these amazing animals for
years to come, so I want the officials to do all they can to keep the pheasants
in our state and accessible to hunt. You should care about this topic for many
reasons as well. If you are reading this, there is a very good chance that you
also hunt or care about the wildlife in the state of Pennsylvania. Pheasants
used to thrive across the state, and hopefully the can have success in the
future and begin to thrive again. Pheasants also provide meals for other
wildlife. Witty predators will catch and consume the birds as a part of the
life cycle. These birds are important parts of the ecosystem. Pheasant hunting
can not only provide a tasty meal, but can help make memories that will last a
lifetime with your closest family and friends. It is important to keep them as
a part of our state and legacy.
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Literature Used
"In Pennsylvania, pheasant permit needed in
2017-18." Outdoornews. N.p., 30 Mar. 2017. Web. 22 Apr.
2017.
<http://www.outdoornews.com/2017/03/30/pennsylvania-pheasant-permit-needed-
2017-18/>.
"Measure limits dog-training on Pennsylvania game
lands." Outdoornews. N.p., 30 Mar. 2017. Web. 21
Apr. 2017.
<http://www.outdoornews.com/2017/03/30/measure-limited-dog-training-
pennsylvania-game-lands/>.
Image 1- http://www.outdoornews.com/2017/03/30/measure-limited-dog-training-pennsylvania-game-lands/
Image 4- Self-taken
Hello Jake,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post, I feel that hunters pursuing pheasants should have to purchase a special permit to hunt this species. Raising the birds is not cheap, and the purchase of a regular hunting license not all of the money goes towards raising the birds. With a purchase of a special pheasant permit, most if not all of the money will go towards raising and releasing the birds. These permits are very similar to trout stamps issued by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, to fish for stocked trout, you must purchase a trout stamp and people really don’t seem to have a problem doing that so I don’t understand why they are mad about purchasing a permit for a bird that must be stocked.
Hi Jake, I agree with you, I enjoy pheasant hunting too. I fully support the Pennsylvania Game Commission in coming out with a Pheasant permit. A fully and properly funded Pennsylvania Game Commission is very important. Pheasants are not native to Pennsylvania, let alone North America. They don’t benefit the ecosystem, and there are not many if any wild populations in Pennsylvania. The pheasants are stocked for the sport of hunting. Pheasant hunting is a great hunt to get youth involved. There are many passionate Pheasant hunters in Pennsylvania and I think it’s great that the Pennsylvania Game Commission is trying to keep the pheasant program going and successful.
ReplyDeleteI am for the pheasant permits and feel this is a great way to get extra revenue into the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Having a permit system will also allow fines to be distributed to those caught without a permit, which in turn brings money into the state, as well. I feel that pheasant hunters will gain even more respect for the sport since the cost issues have had actions taken to resolve it.
ReplyDeletePutting restrictions on training dogs, though, is something that I'm not sure of. This sounds to me like maybe too much control is trying to be taken, but we will just have to wait and see.
Hi Jake, I myself do not pheasant hunt but I can still see the good it can do. The points that you made were very good and I definitely agree with you. As you said there are many hunters who enjoy hunting pheasants which is a great thing to have. Along with that a pheasant permit would be a great way to go and would help fund the Game Commission. One other point you made was that pheasants could provide food for other animals which I agree that is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteHi Jake, I liked your topic of discussion. I agree with the game commission creating a pheasant permit. I am not a pheasant hunter anymore, because I do not have a bird dog anymore, but I will purchase a permit because I occasionally stir up a pheasant while hunting. The permit will definitely benefit pheasant hunters because this will increase revenue that will be used for propogating the birds. I have been told that it cost 27 dollars per bird to raise and release so the permit will almost cover the cost of one bird.
ReplyDeleteHi jake, your topic is very interesting. i find this topic interesting because i too am a avid hunter and always enjoy harvesting pheasants. i agree with the pheasant stamp because i feel it will help the game commission with funding that they need in order to keep the heritage of pheasant hunting in Pennsylvania alive. although i hate spending money i will have no problem with purchasing this stamp because I do see the benefits that will come with it.
ReplyDeleteHey Jake, your topic is a very controversial one in this state the past couple of years. It is so fun to hunt pheasants, i go as mcuh as I can when the season starts. While some people are mad that the recent years have seen a decline in the pheasant stockings, i believe that the state needs more funding to keep this sport of pheasant hunting alive, it is a great way to get new hunters experience. I would love to see a pheasant permit put in place to allow for the funding the raise the birds. I would pay for that permit no questions asked if i knew that there would still be pheasants getting stocked. I believe that the PGC should go through with this action and make permits, it is a great idea to keep the sport alive.
ReplyDeleteHey Jake, your topic is a very controversial one in this state the past couple of years. It is so fun to hunt pheasants, i go as mcuh as I can when the season starts. While some people are mad that the recent years have seen a decline in the pheasant stockings, i believe that the state needs more funding to keep this sport of pheasant hunting alive, it is a great way to get new hunters experience. I would love to see a pheasant permit put in place to allow for the funding the raise the birds. I would pay for that permit no questions asked if i knew that there would still be pheasants getting stocked. I believe that the PGC should go through with this action and make permits, it is a great idea to keep the sport alive.
ReplyDeleteHey Jake, your topic is a very controversial one in this state the past couple of years. It is so fun to hunt pheasants, i go as mcuh as I can when the season starts. While some people are mad that the recent years have seen a decline in the pheasant stockings, i believe that the state needs more funding to keep this sport of pheasant hunting alive, it is a great way to get new hunters experience. I would love to see a pheasant permit put in place to allow for the funding the raise the birds. I would pay for that permit no questions asked if i knew that there would still be pheasants getting stocked. I believe that the PGC should go through with this action and make permits, it is a great idea to keep the sport alive.
ReplyDeleteI was really interested in your article because I also love to pheasant hunt. At first when I heard about the pheasant permit, I was not very happy. I now see the reason for the pheasant permit and I hope that the money from it can benefit the pheasant program. I didn’t know about not training your dogs on state game lands but I will not have a problem with that because I train my own dog on my own property. This article helped clear up some of the questions I had about the pheasant permit.
ReplyDeleteHey Jake, your topic causes many people from both sides to get heated some people think its a stupid idea. I personally do not have a problem with it i love to pheasant hunt i have so much fun while doing it and i am willing to pay extra money to hunt the birds. its a great way to get younger hunters involved with hunting. The additional money from permits will allow the game commission to keep the pheasant program going.
ReplyDeleteHi Jake, great blog post. I personally do not have a problem with the game commission making a pheasant permit. I myself like to pheasant its a great experience. I feel like the extra funds the game commission will receive from the permits will only benefit them and the pheasant program.
ReplyDelete