# something needs to be done!!!!



## saugeyesam

i went to the beach city wildlife area on thanksgiving morning, and i was in awe at how dangerous these pheasant releases are. more than 100 hunters swarming thru the woods with no organization what so ever. i had birdshot rained down on my head more than once and even had a guy pull his gun up on my hound. i think these hunts need to be lottery hunts or something because its only a matter of time before someone or someones dog gets shot i shot one pheasant and as it hit the ground another two guys unloaded on it i let them fight over what was left. very frustrating. now i know why i rabbit hunt because i never see anyone else doing it. i seen more than one guy leave with more than 2 birds i asked the one if he knew the limit was only 2 and his reply was what do you care its only illegal ya get caught. i just shook my head as i head for the truck.


----------



## wave warrior

i was also there with 5 friends...been hunting the release there for at least 10= years and this was by far the worse group of guys i have ever seen!!! also the most hunters i have ever seen!! hell we got rained on by lead standing at my truck 25 min before LEGAL shooting time!!(and he missed) bird flew right over my truck!! saw several arguments a doe jump of the highwall on to the rr tracks and break its back while several guys ran up to it,cut its throat and argue who was going to get it!! and the game warden was only 150 yards away!!! this will be my last hunt there since my club raises and releases our own bird...just went with my friends because it has been a tradition for us...


----------



## brummy

this may start quite a stir but it is my own 2 cents. i live in south central part of the state. and the phesants and quail are just getting started around here aging. i have close to 300 acres that joins state land. and we see very few. so in my opinion if the state is going to release these birds the area in which they are released should be closed to ALL hunting for that year to give the birds a chance to get started. and then it would be more like a fair chase hunt. but why turn 100 birds loose with 300 people standing there to shoot them? just my 2 cents.


----------



## firehawkmph

Years ago I belonged to a hunting and fishing club. My dad would take us pheasant hunting for many years. The club leased about 7 amish farms and released birds on five different days. We had the same problems with idiots hunting and they were club members. One day we are standing in one of the amish driveways where our trucks were lined up on the side of the drive and a bird that got kicked up flew under one of the trucks. Here comes the guy that kicked up the bird, runs up and shoots the bird right under someone's truck. No one ever got hurt, but it got to the point where I would go out with my buddy and his dog in the early afternoon when no one else was around. I guess no matter where you go, whether it's fishing, hunting, atv'ing, there is always going to be some a$%holes that spoil it for everyone else. 
Mike Hawkins


----------



## MadMac

I was lucky enough to grow up with an abandoned muck farm behind my house that turned into a swamp with lots of reeds and cattails. It held a nice population of (wild) birds and was a nice place to hunt pheasants and rabbits. One year the Goodyear club I think released some pheasants in the area and they were like chickens. My dog would flush them and they would land in the nearest tree. That is not what hunting is about. After growing up hunting, fishing, trapping, etc. and then serving four years in the Army I no longer hunt. Just fishing for me. One of the biggest reasons is at least 50&#37; of the people out there have no business holding, let alone firing, a loaded weapon. It amazes me there aren't more accidents, and I use the term lightly, than there are.

P.S. I don't want to give the wrong impression. I didn't turn into a tree hugger or anything like that. I see nothing wrong with hunting and in some circumstances it's necessary.


----------



## WalleyeGuy

The exact reason why I do not hunt pheasents.
It would be a lot safer and wiser to get everyone to show up with a gun in hand and put your name in a box,
let a kid draw the names and every one take a turn at shooting a bird tossed up in the air.


----------



## ostbucks98

I would say if left alone maybe 10 pheasants of 100 released would survive the first year.MY buddy runs a pheasant farm and has his own fields.After he releases he finds dead birds all over after a month.


----------



## bassangler120

Wave Warrior

What club do you belong to, I am looking for a club to join.


----------



## wave warrior

boliver sportsmans club but last i checked we're at full membership...still have lots of open shoots and fundraisers open to public!


----------



## luv2fish

This is why I am not getting another dog, the setter is 13, and just sticking to bow hunting deer. Years ago I shot a bird at Ceaser's creek it went down on the other side of a fence where another group was and they walked up, picked it up, and put it in their bag after watching it fall. You don't argue with that mentallity. I would go to Dark County on Mondays after a release with the dog, not many people there, and usually would pick up a bird or two. Alot safer on Mondays.


----------



## vinnystatechamp

I agree with just about everyone on this post. it is getting rediculous!! my father and i refuse to take our dogs out in the field after a release. there are way too many hunters. we thought about going to caesar's creek the morning before the release but decided that everybody and their brother would be there. a lottery draw would be a lot safer than what they have now. i think my father and i will stick to hunting clubs also around thanksgiving time.


----------



## Net

brummy said:


> in my opinion if the state is going to release these birds the area in which they are released should be closed to ALL hunting for that year to give the birds a chance to get started. and then it would be more like a fair chase hunt. but why turn 100 birds loose with 300 people standing there to shoot them? just my 2 cents.


According to the ODNR website, the state releases pen raised pheasants "to enhance hunting opportunities for this popular game bird". In other words, to give hunters of all skill levels something to shoot for the dinner table. They gave up years ago trying to restore ringneck pops by stocking adult birds...and certainly not while in season. I hear what you're saying but until more tilled farmland returns to undisturbed grassland I don't see it changing anytime soon. I grew up hunting pen raised birds at the Berlin Wildlife Area and I agree it is very frustrating -- not to mention dangerous.


----------



## shroomhunter

I used to hunt the Shreve Wildlife area but after it got so crowded I gave that up as well. I saw way too many idiots there and I never felt safe. Took up Grouse hunting then the Grouse all but disappeared. I have given up hunting in Ohio except for an occasional deer which I only do at the request of a friend on his private land. It's a shame because my son wants to start hunting but there's really nothing left and I'm certainly not going to take him to one of these hunts although it would be a great place to teach him what NOT to do! Unless you are after deer, turkey or coyote, Ohio hunting sucks! I can't see wasting the $$ on a license!


----------



## I Fish

Pheasants are not native to the entire western hemisphere. They were brought here by some prince in the 1880's. Their original habitat are mountain valleys in China. They say we do not have the proper nutrition to support wild populations. Why the state thinks it is a good idea to release them is beyond me, other than to help sell licenses. They should instead focus on returning quail and grouse to the pre 1970's blizzard levels, but they don't hold the mystique of a pheasant. It's kind of like their saugeye program.

Wild game birds are never going to make a come back int his state, until something is done about the predators. Almost every furbearing animal will eat a bird, chick, or egg. Nobody much traps anymore, so their numbers have exploded. Not to mention all of the house cats people turn loose.


----------



## ontheattack

I agree with everyone on the releases. What happened to fun of rabbit hunting and kicking up that occasional bonus pheasant, which I had done earlier this year.


----------



## misfit

i think a major factor(more so than predators) contributing to pheasant and quail pops is loss of habitat and farming practices.the blizzard really hurt them,but in the years since,a lot of prime habitat has also been lost to developement and changing farming practices.grouse aren't effected by those things nearly as much,as they prefer different habitat.you'll find good grouse numbers in some areas that are suited to them.
lots of my old quail and pheasant hunting areas in the 60's and 70's have fallen to development over the years,so even if the blizzard hadn't decimated them,they wouldn't exist in those places now anyway.


----------



## Toxic

misfit said:


> i think a major factor(more so than predators) contributing to pheasant and quail pops is loss of habitat and farming practices.the blizzard really hurt them,but in the years since,a lot of prime habitat has also been lost to developement and changing farming practices.grouse aren't effected by those things nearly as much,as they prefer different habitat.you'll find good grouse numbers in some areas that are suited to them.
> lots of my old quail and pheasant hunting areas in the 60's and 70's have fallen to development over the years,so even if the blizzard hadn't decimated them,they wouldn't exist in those places now anyway.


I couldn't agree more with you Rick. The places I used to hunt when I was a kid growing up in the 70's are all now built up with condos, and developments. The loss of habitat is the biggest reason for any decline in a population.


----------



## Smallmouth Crazy

I remember hunting Deer Creek in the 80s and seeing plenty of scary stuff, I remember one day where 2 guys got shot on the same day, one guy was putting his shotgun in his trunk and a bird broke from a field accross the street from him and headed accross the street( Rt 207) and guys started blazing away...didnt matter that they were shooting towards the road and accross the road gotta get that bird, the guy putting his gun away got some pellets in his rump I guess, I remember my Dad and I hunting in a ravine and walking through some leaves and having guys come running to the top of that ravine when they got to the top they had there guns pointed down at us, I have only been back down there 1 time during Rabbit/pheasant season in the last 16-18yrs, not much game and a abundance of crazies makes it a easy descision.


----------



## JTRESS

I get a kick out of this thread, I grew up not far from the BeachCity Backwaters. (nobody around here calls it the wildlife area ). neatest thing to see guys get there in the morning and thinking they are going to get a jump on everybody else, they walk out about 150' and stand there. Great thinking except for the other 30 guys behind you that are going to be shooting directly at you in about 5 minutes... I have never seen a dog shot out there, but I sure would not take my dog out on opening day, any other time, sure. I have gotten rained on by bb's plenty of times out there, all comes with hunting the backwaters.....


----------



## I Fish

I can only partially agree with the changing farming practices. The reason is because there was an abundance of grouse and quail here before Europeans came and started farming. I know the Indians farmed some, but not even close to our scale. Why have they not rebounded in the areas that have not been developed? While housing has taken its toll, what about all of the state ground, such as in SE Ohio? Those areas had plentiful grouse quail before the blizzard, and still could if some reintroduction would take place. I still maintain that predators are the biggest problem facing game birds. People used to drive around just to shoot hawks and owls, but no more. *****, skunks possums, fox, coyote, mink, snakes, feral cats and dogs all eat either eggs, chicks, adults, or all three, as well as destroy nests. Birds, especially young, are very fragile and vulnerable. It's hard enough to raise them in captivity, in a controled enviroment, let alone naturally. And this does not take into account the possablitiy of disease, or adverse weather.


----------



## misfit

> I can only partially agree with the changing farming practices. The reason is because there was an abundance of grouse and quail here before Europeans came and started farming


remember,we're talking the last 30 years here,not hundreds.you can't compare what was hundreds of years ago to today,or even early settlers farming.there is just a tad more farming these days and it's completely different with millions more acres involved.predators have always been a factor and i don't believe there's been a huge increase in numbers,except for coyotes.
and again,quail and grouse typically favor totally different types of habitat.
i will agree that predators can have more impact now than years ago.once the numbers of birds were decimated by other factors,predators have most likely become more of a factor in keeping them in check.but it never was the major factor.
once the balance of nature is upset,it's hard to reverse the process.


----------



## I Fish

Whatever. All I know is we have pictures of 10'000's acres, probably 100's of thousands of Ohio landscape that are completely devoid of trees in the late 18, early 1900's. The deer were gone, but the birds seemed to survive. There is by far more wooded, or "natural", area in this state now, then there was 100 years ago.There has never been any grouse re-introduction, because nobody has ever figured out how to raise them, or just maintain them, in captivity, so their return was natural. And, I've never heard of Ohio doing any quail re-introduction, either. So, all through that time, until the mid 1980's everybody hunted and trapped, and until the 1970's, made sport of killing hawks and owls. Hence, there were fewer natural predators, as humans were smart enough, or inefficient enough, to leave some seed.
Texas DNR conducted a quail study a few years ago. What they did was release quail in an area of 1000 acres, with a 15' fence for the sides, then went back for 3 years studying mortality. They realized that 90&#37; of the deaths occured as a result of predatory birds. So next they covered 1000 acres with a net, 15' off the ground, but with no sides. Those birds not only survived, they reproduced to the point that they couldn't account for the mortality after the 1st years hatch reach maturity, because there were so many.


----------



## chase845

I had some d-bag raise his gun on my lab once too. He will never know how close he was to having lead fly his way. I hate hunting these public places.


----------



## TomC

All depends who you hunt with. Me and the same 9 guys hunt the same fields, at the same time on all the release dates. We have yet to have a major issue arrise. We usually hear people shooting early or being stupid in other fields. Since we know whos in our group and whos on the other sides of the hedrows we are good.


----------



## wildman

I've hunted public for pheasant for the last 5 years with a springer and I have never had a problem, not once. The worst thing is guys cutting a field to hunt the other side. Does it get hectic some times with the large amount of people Yes. I always seen to get birds this year my dog jumped up and caught one in mid air. That was cool The birds that the state puts out are quality bird also they run and fly pretty close to wild like.


----------

