"For the most part, conditions were fair to good in the Dodge, Fond du Lac and Columbia County area," Lobner said. "Conditions were slightly drier, with not too many days of cold and wet. Although early on, we had a couple of wet and cold days, and my suspicions are that these days were before the hatch."

Traditionally, these counties have had good hunting because of ideal habitat. These counties have a blend of grassland and farmland that provide good cover, nesting habitat and a constant food source.

"The spring crowing counts in the Glacial Habitat Restoration Area were up, and in some areas, significantly," Lobner said. "Hunters should continue to focus on the native prairie grass cover that contains a good proportion of seed-producing wildflowers mixed in, or those fields adjacent to agricultural food sources. As the season progresses, focus on the thicker cover, especially the shrub-carr marshes. This will be the key to success. Shrub-carr marshes are typically cattail-dominated wetlands that have a good mix of shrubs, including dogwood and willow that are generally devoid of tall trees. Our spring surveys in the GHRA looked pretty good, with some units experiencing a 50 percent increase over last year. Although any increase is warmly received, keep in mind that some units hit some pretty low numbers, and we still have a ways to go to see the highs that we saw years ago."

Much of the increase in pheasant numbers can be attributed to habitat work.

"This spring alone we have added an additional 600 acres of grassland habitat in the GHRA project area on properties open to public access," Lobner said. "Although these new plantings take a couple of years to get fully developed, we added comparable amounts of habitat the last several years, and much of that is coming along well and is starting to provide some great cover."

For additional information on where to hunt, Lobner suggested the DNR's Web site at www.dnr.wi.gov org/land/wildlife/ghra. They are working on making maps of the area available to hunters to download.

"This should give hunters a better idea of where all of these properties are located," Lobner said.

Meanwhile, farther north and east, there are plenty of wild roosters.

"Good wild release areas are the south side of the Sheboygan Marsh in Sheboygan County," Sparrow said. "Also, try near Belgium and Fredonia townships in Ozaukee County."

Changes in land use have had an impact on wild populations in this area.

"More houses keep going up in the country," said Sparrow, "which makes it more difficult for hunting and reduces the amount of hunting land. Hopefully, landowners will sign up for CRP improvements, which will lead to more acres of grass cover in the area. The use-value tax has been hard on the conservation practices on private lands, especially grasslands not enrolled in CRP. This is making it much harder to establish good habitat for pheasants."