Vol. 4, No. 11 
Page 2 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat 
Project inactive in November. 
3. extension of Pheasant Range J. A, Ellis, 17. L. Anderson, J. A. Harper 
A preliminary analysis of data collected by interviewing hunters on the Neoga 
study area revealed that at least 34 cocks were bagged during the first 10 days of 
the hunting season. An additional 7 cocks (20.6 per cent of the number bagged) 
ware crippled and were not recovered. Two hundred sixteen hunters in 73 parties 
expended 435 gun-hours to bag 23 of the cocks, or 15.6 gun-hours per cock. During 
the 20-day pheasant season in 1960, 111 cocks were known to have been shot with 
6.1 man-hours spent to bag each cock. The lower kill and poorer hunting success in 
1961 was caused primarily by the late harvest of corn on the area. On opening day 
of the current hunting season, November 18, only 35 per cent of the corn on the 
area had been harvested; 70 per cent of the corn had been harvested when the 1960 
season opened on November 11. 
The age ratio among 30 of the cocks shot by hunters in 1961 was 4.0 juveniles 
per adult, which disagreed consider ably with the age ratio of 29.5 juveniles per 
adult among 61 cocks captured by night-lighting prior to the hunting season. The 
combined age ratio among both captured and bagged cocks is 11.0 juveniles per adult. 
These discrepancies in age ratios illustrate the inaccuracies that may result from 
small sample sizes. However, these fail age ratios among the cocks tentatively 
indicate that productivity was good on the area in 1961. 
4. Rabbit management R. D. Lord, D. A. Casteel 
Census drives were performed November 11 on the 4-H and Sanctuary areas of 
Robert Allerton Park, Analysis of the data for the 4-H study area showed the 
largest population of rabbits on the area in the past 6 years. This large popu¬ 
lation was probably due to the curtailment of hunting on the area last year, which 
resulted in the largest winter carry-over ever experienced on the area (161 rabbits 
on 100 acres). However, a large winter carry-over is no assurance of a large fall 
population since the crucial breeding season cornes at a time when a reduced repro¬ 
ductive rate or an increased juvenile mortality late may effectively reduce the 
size of the fall population. This year apparently neither of these forces were 
adverse enough to prevent the logical outcome of a large winter carry-over -- a 
large fall population. In contrast, the analysis of the census data for the 
Sanctuary area showed a rather ordinary population in the fall (141 rabbits on 100 
acres), despite that fact that last year was the first time in many years that 
hunting was permitted on the area. It appears that although hunting will not have 
an adverse effect on a population of rabbits, a year's respite from hunting may 
produce a superior crop the following year. However, the evidence should not be 
considered conclusive since it is based on only one experiment. 
