MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
T. G. Scott, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois 
November 1959 
Vol. 2, No. 11 
W-30-R-13 Ro F. Labisky 
A summary of data collected from pheasant hunters on the Sibley area during 
the hunting seasons in 1956, 1957, 1958, and 1959, and the percentage of cocks 
harvested by hunters during each season are presented in table 1. In 1956 and 
1958, normal fall weather prevailed during the hunting season, and this allowed 
for favorable hunting and moderate harvests of cocks. In 1957, hunting was diffi¬ 
cult, and the harvest of cocks was very light because there were large areas of 
unharvested corn. In 1959, cold, snowy weather early in the season caused the 
pheasants to become flighty and wild. This made hunting difficult and limited 
the harvest of cocks. 
Table 1.—Pheasant harvest data collected daring the 1956, 1957, 1958 and 
1959 hunting seasons, Sibley area.* 
Number of 
Number of 
Age Ratio of 
... 
Gun-hours 
Percentage 
Percentag* 
Hunters 
Cocks Aged 
Bagged Cocks: 
Per Bagged 
of Cocks 
of Cocks 
Year 
Interviewed 
by Bursal 
Examination 
Young/Adult 
Cock 
Crippled 
Harvested 
During 
Season 
1956 
525 
251 
12.5 
2.3 
34.0 
59.4 
1957 
443 
290 
4.7 
3.5 
24.4 
12.4 
1958 
595 
445 
6.4 
2.5 
23.0 
44.0 
1959 
461 
454 
5.6 
2.9 
17.8 
*Daily bag limit in 1956, 1957, and 1958: 2 cocks; daily bag limit in 
1959: 3 cocks. A 20-day open season, November 11-30 inclusive, in all years. 
W-42-R-9 R. D. Lord 
Analysis of data on reproduction of cottontails collected for the past 
three years shows that important differences occur in the amount of productivity 
in different years and between months within a year. The differences in 
