Partially associated with the regulated township system, a pheasant propagation 

 programme at the Normandale and Codrington game farms was continued. Chicks 

 and poults produced are distributed to sportsmen's groups and to those who raise 

 the birds expressly for the townships. Most adult birds are distributed to 

 Departmental public hunting areas across southern Ontario. 



Table 8 shows the pheasant production of the Normandale and Codrington 

 Game Bird Farms combined and the allocation of birds to southern forest 

 districts. 



Table 8 



Pheasants Produced 



Forest District Chicks Poults Adults Total 



Aylmer 25,800 6,000 1,502 33,302 



Hespeler 10,385 2,300 — 12,685 



Maple 7,800 4,300 4,390 16,490 



Lindsay 6,700 — 1,795 8,495 



Kemptville — — 670 1,170 



Other 500 



TOTAL 51,185 12,600 8,357 72,142 



Information obtained by banding birds and inspection of birds taken by 

 hunters indicate a very low return of pheasants which are released as poults. 

 Excellent returns are usually obtained when adult birds are released shortly before 

 the season opens. Those raising pheasants are encouraged to hold the birds as 

 long as possible before release; greatly increased returns to the hunter more than 

 justify the additional rearing costs. 



Hunting success varied across the pheasant range in 1965. Success rates 

 appear to be declining where intensive cash-cropping is practised, while remaining 

 at more stable levels in areas of dairy and mixed farming. The following table 

 (Table 9), shows the results of bag checks and/or mail surveys of hunters in the 

 southwestern region. 



Table 9 



PHEASANT HUNT SUCCESS 



No. Hunters Hunter 



District Interviewed Hours 



Erie 319 1,318 



Simcoe 1,316 3,987 



Hespeler* 3,551 10,670 



*Estimates from mail survey of hunters. 



Birds Per 

 Hunter 



0.40 

 0.54 

 0.58 



Hours 



Hunted 



For 



Pheasant 



10.2 



6.6 



5.2 



PELEE ISLAND 



The Pelee Island hunt was held on a split-season basis on October 21 and 22, 

 and again on October 28 and 29. The bag limit for these periods was eight cocks 

 and two hens and seven cocks and three hens, respectively. 



Fourteen hundred and fifty-three hunters participated, harvesting 11,187 

 pheasants; the bag being comprised of 8,243 cocks and 2,944 hens. The average 

 harvest was 7.64 birds; hunting effort required to bag one bird was an average of 

 1.3 hours. Over six hundred more pheasants were harvested compared with 1964, 

 and 76% of the hunters were successful in taking their full limit of ten birds. This 

 was excellent hunting success considering that steady rain fell during both days 

 of the first hunt. 



41 



