Photo By Carol Migdalski

Thanks to Wisconsin's pheasant stocking program, this year has been a good one for our state's rooster hunters.

Pheasant stamp monies gave a shot in the arm to the state pheasant program, and as a result, most of the hunting pressure was on Wisconsin's stocked public lands earlier this season. Now that temperatures have dropped and the regular gun deer hunt is over, this is a perfect time for a few late-season rooster hunts. The week after the November deer season ends, the Department of Natural Resources empties its pens onto state lands. But even after these stocked birds are shot by hunters, there are still plenty of wild pheasants, including educated roosters that outsmarted you earlier in the season.

Perhaps some of you may disagree with this assessment. Perhaps you've hunted for wild birds in excellent habitat, only to see one hen flush. Maybe you've gone to your favorite spot only to find several hunters had beat you to it. While this was likely the case in October and November, pheasant behavior changes as the snow starts falling. With a little research and some common sense, you can have a great hunt in December.

Of course, overall success of the pheasant season depends greatly on the size of broods and their survival in the critical spring months. All indications are that pheasant broods did just fine this spring. In fact, numbers could be up perhaps 20 to 30 percent from last year.

"We had some rain and cold weather in May followed by a wet June," said Brian Buenzow, the DNR wildlife technician for Rock, Green and LaFayette counties. "While we would always like to see 80-degree days and a dry May, the weather this year probably didn't affect the broods that much. Unfortunately, we won't know for sure until the harvest numbers start coming in. Regardless, we had the biggest population of wild birds that we have ever had going into the breeding season. If the hens had small broods of four young, we will have a good season."

Andrea Mezera, an upland biologist with the DNR, said that most of the statewide data confirmed there are many wild birds on the landscape.

"We had good production of wild birds last summer and a mild winter," she said. "I would expect another stable year for the population numbers. In fact, the past three years have been very stable when you look back. We are also well above our long-term mean for our surveys."

The key to wild pheasant numbers depends greatly on habitat. If the habitat is there, then wild birds are capable of sustaining their population numbers. This all bodes well for hunters, but Mezera added, "Most of the wild populations are on private land. Hunters need to ask for permission first." Driving through the countryside and knocking on doors could be your best bet if you want to go after wild birds this December, especially since most people are done deer hunting on their own land and are willing to let bird hunters on their property.