This year, the production of our Department bird farms was supplemented with 

 stock from private sources which made up an additional 7,475 chicks and 1,000 

 adults. 



The Pelee Island pheasant shoot in 1963, during the two day season with a 

 bag limit of 9 cocks and 2 hens, was again very successful with 1,014 hunters 

 taking 8,492 pheasants. Of these 6,545 were cocks and 1,947 were hens. It was 

 calculated that 27.6 per cent of all the hunters bagged the limit of 1 1 birds. The 

 average number of birds bagged per hunter-hour was 0.85, and the average number 

 of birds bagged per hunter was 9.03. It also was estimated that the crippling loss 

 was 1,800, thus representing approximately 21.2-per-cent of the bag. The total 

 kill was estimated at 10,292 birds. A total of 1,306 were reported seen dead and 



LOCATION BY COUNTIES OF COMMERCIAL PHEASANT FARMS 



1963-1964 



Algoma 



Brant 



Bruce 



Carleton 



Cochrane .. 



Durham 



Elgin 



Essex 



Frontenac 



Grey 



Halton 



Hastings 



Huron 



Kent 



Lambton 



Lanark 



Leeds 



Lincoln 



Manitoulin 



Middlesex 



Muskoka 



Norfolk 



Nipissing 



Northumberland 



Ontario 



Oxford 



Perth 



Peel 



Peterborough 



Prince Edward .. 



Rainy River 



Renfrew 



Simcoe 



Waterloo 



Welland 



Wellington 



Wentworth 



York 



6 

 1 

 4 

 1 

 5 

 6 

 6 

 1 

 5 

 2 

 1 

 1 

 2 

 4 

 11 

 8 

 8 

 6 

 6 



TOTAL 147 



not picked up. Compared to the previous years the number of cocks bagged 

 decreased by 2.6-per-cent and the number of hens increased by 16.6-per-cent, and 

 the total bag increased by 1.3-per-cent. The number of hunters increased by 153 

 (17.8-per-cent over 1962). The post shooting population was estimated at 17,314 

 pheasants consisting of an estimated 3,410 cocks and 13,904 hens. 



In the Lake Simcoe District, a second consecutive survey was conducted in 

 Markham Township and from a total of 600 resident and non-resident licences sold 

 a 10 per cent mail survey indicated that 46 hunters hunting 130 man-days killed 

 70 pheasants, for a success figure of 1 .2 birds per hunter, per season. It required 

 1.86 man-days of hunting to bag a bird. In comparison with 1962, 1963 figures 

 indicated a decrease of 12-per-cent in hunter success per season, together with a 

 decrease of 17-per-cent in hunting pressure. 



53 



